Stone's Surgery: Part 1

Meet Stone.

Stone at 9 weeks

This our beautiful baby boy. Born September 11, 2012 at 4:55 pm. He weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. Now at one day short of 10 weeks, he weighs a whopping 14 pounds even and is 2 feet long.

Mommy and Stone 9.11.12

Today is a hard day for my family. As I type, my son is in the operating room having surgery. Matt and I are sitting in the hospital cafeteria trying to keep busy during what is expected to be a 4 hour wait or so. A perfect time to start blogging again as over the next few weeks I should have plenty of time to update while waiting for Stone to recover.

A bit of background...

Sorry if this is all a bit fuzzy or confusing... it's been a long week.

The day Stone was born I had a feeling something wasn't right. I did not think it was major. Once they moved us to the mother/baby floor a few hours after Stones arrival I was admiring my work and he sprayed me. Right in the face. Neon yellow spit up. And it went everywhere. I called the nurse who reassured me that it was just normal baby spit up and that the color was just colostrum. Being a second time mom, I knew this wasn't just normal baby spit up. My suspicion was reflux as Evie was diagnosed and treated for it when she was a baby. He continued to spit up throughout or stay at the hospital, each time, a bright yellow color. The nurses and doctors still did not seem concerned and told me that if it was reflux, they would not diagnose him until he was at least a month old.

Stone - just a few hours old

Stone - 1 day old

So we took him home. My milk came in and he was instantly a fantastic nurser. My boy loves to eat. He would eat, spit up a good amount while burping, and then about a half hour to an hour after his feeding he would spit up what seemed like the rest of his milk. Projectile. The spit up appeared to be white so I kept assuming it was just reflux and at 4 weeks his pediatrician would prescribe something to ease the acid.  And that is exactly what happened. Except it didn't work.

At 6 weeks old, after two weeks of giving Zantac religiously, Stone was still wiggling in pain from his belly and throwing up his feedings. At first his doctor did not seem concerned as Stone was gaining weight. They encouraged gas drops for pain, to continue the Zantac and call back in a few days if he still seemed to be in pain. Stone was still in pain after a week and I noticed something that I didn't notice before, or maybe I did and didn't think much of it.  EVERYTHING Stone spit up on was stained yellow. Burp rags, bedding, blankets, my clothes... it was all dingy. His spit was yellow and because it was mixed with the milk, I couldn't tell until it dried on white. He was also spitting up so forcefully that he would gasp and suck it back down into his chest and gag and choke. Middle of the night episodes were the scariest.  I can't remember how many times I have jumped out of bed to lift him up to keep him from gagging and aspirating.

Finally, I called the doctor back after my mom (a nurse) told me she just thought something was not right.  I told them about the yellow color, how it would shoot when it came up, and how he was sucking it back into his lungs. His pediatrician decided it was time for Stone to see a GI doctor.

Stone on morning of surgery - 11.19.12

Dr. Hart...

Dr. Hart, a local pediatric GI doctor, was wonderful. He checked Stone over and told us that he thought Stone needed some tests run. He told me he thought Stone was either suffering from some allergies to milk or that he had a condition called Pyloric Stenosis that would require a quick and easy surgery to correct.  Dr. Hart sent us to labs to check blood and scheduled an ultrasound to check for Pyloric Stenosis.  He did mention that if the ultrasound came back normal that he would have Stone undergo a barium x-ray to make sure his "plumbing" was correct.

His labs came back normal. The ultrasound was normal. I was happy that there was no pyloric stenosis as I didn't want my son to have to undergo any surgery, no matter how minor it was.

Stone now had to undergo a barium x-ray. Essential what they did was have him drink this thick milky substance and took x-rays of his belly in intervals of 30 minutes to track the flow of his intestines.  After the very first x-ray the doctor reading the tests told me there was a problem. He immediately told me that he suspected that Stone has something called intestinal malrotation and that further x-rays would reveal if that was the case. And it was.

I was referred to a pediatric surgeon who we were to meet with on Monday morning. I was told that if Stone's vomiting became worse and he became lethargic over the weekend, then we should take Stone to the ER immediately. I was a bit terrified. The doctor at the hospital had explained to me Stones condition a bit, but I was still fairly clueless.

Heading to the hospital on 11.19.12

Dr. Wattsman...

On Monday, September 12, 2012, we met with the pediatric surgeon. We have been so lucky to have wonderful doctors looking after our little boy, and Dr. Wattsman just continued that trend. She showed me Stones x-rays and explained that Stones intestines had not properly rotated when they were going from the umbilical chord into his belly when I was approximately 10 weeks pregnant. In a nutshell, this puts him at risk for a condition called volvulus (twisting of the intestines) which would require emergency surgery and usually results in loss of intestines and/or death. She said because of the way his intestines are in his belly he is at a high risk for volvulus and that she recommended surgery to correct his malrotation.  She told me that the surgery would take 3-4 hours and that Stone would have to spend at least a week and half in the hospital... the first few days in the PICU.  Hearing this was scary. But the thought of an emergency situation where my son could lose part of his intestines or even his life was much scarier. Matt and I had discussed the possibility of surgery before his appointment and decided that if the doctor recommended it then we'd do it. So I told her to operate. And I signed my name to a consent paper. That was hard.

Stone in his snazzy hospital gown

A week later....

Here we are a week later. Stone woke up in a great mood this morning, especially considering that he last ate at at 11 pm last night.  Matt got the opportunity to give him a bottle of Pedialyte (the first time Matts ever bottle fed him) and we loaded up to head to the hospital.  Once we got here we checked in and waited for them to walk us back to pre-op.  In pre-op they weighed him, measured him, took his temperature and blood pressure and asked us all sorts of questions. Stone was so good. He was smiling at us and the nurses.  We met with the anesthesiologist  Dr. Allen, who is one of the top pediatric anesthesiologists in the area. We also met with Stones surgeon Dr. Wattsman who reassured us the importance of Stone having this surgery. In a matter of minutes after talking with the doctor, Dr. Allen came with a thick warm blanket and took him from me. We gave him kisses and told him we loved him and they took him away to the OR.

Daddy and Stone before surgery

Mommy and Stone before surgery

Now Matt and I are just waiting on an update.  We don't expect to be able to see him until after lunch time. After his surgery they will take him to recovery for a bit and then we'll meet him up in his room in the PICU.

Please take a bit of time today to pray for Stone. Pray that his surgery is uncomplicated and that he has a quick and smooth recovery.  Also, please pray that the surgery is a success and he can find some relief from the pain he's been experiencing the last 10 weeks.

Thank you so much.  I'll update as soon as I can.