Not sure what is wrong with my son

Hello. My b/g twins were born July 18 and spent a week in the special care nursery. They were born at 35w5d. On Thursday my son stiffened up, turned bright red and held his breath (looked like he stopped breathing for a few). He didn't have any problems on Friday but Saturday he did this three times and Sunday he did it one time. On Saturday he had a little bit of forumla come out of his mouth and nose and sometimes when he does this he drools. He does not cry when this happens either. My son has no problems with bowel movements as I have to change him very often.

Wel I call the doctor this morning to see if I could get an appointment. They put me on the phone with a nurse and she says there is nothing they can do there for him and when it happens again to take him to the ER. I explained to her that the eposides last about 30 seconds and by the time we get there he will be over it. She said they can't run test there but they can at the ER. I asked her if it could be gas and she says no, that does not sound like gas. She said it sounded like apena. She is suppose to talk with the doctor who is at the hosiptal now and get back with me.

My FIL and MIL are in town for three weeks. I told him what the doctor said and he said that is bull and I think its gas and I would not take him to the ER. My husband is kinda of siding with him now.

I'm lost. Has this ever happened to anyone? I don't know if my husband would take him to the ER if it does happen again since he thinks it may be gas to but I don't want to take any chances. My diet hasnt' changed and neither has his. He does get EBM with a little bit of forumla that the hospital told us to do.

Sorry for the long post.

 

I haven't had this happen, but I would take him in anyway.

Even if it is gas, it sounds like he's really having trouble and maybe he needs to be put on some kind of med to help him out. That's not normal, even for a gassy baby, if he's not breathing!
Think of it this way; if it turns out to be nothing and you go to the ER, at worst you'll feel a little silly and pay a little money.
However, if you ignore it and don't go, and god forbid it suddenly becomes an emergency, you'll never forgive yourself!

Just go, and tell your FIL when he gets his medical degree you'll defer to his opinion!!

 

I am not familiar with apnea but that doesn't sound like any gas I've ever heard of. Babies sometimes hold their breathe and stiffen up when they are trying to poop and a little bit of formula will dribble out of their mouths. Sometimes it will even look painful.

I would take him in but if it turns out to be nothing don't tell your FIL!!!!!!

 

QUOTE
Babies sometimes hold their breathe and stiffen up when they are trying to poop and a little bit of formula will dribble out of their mouths. Sometimes it will even look painful.


That's what I was thinking as well.

 

Thanks for the tips. My husband is now worried that it may happen in the middle of the night when none of us are awake. His concern is that when it does happen and he drools, he may choke on it. Noah doesn't have any problems with his bowel movements so I'm not sure if that is it or not. I'm waiting for the doctor to call back and if he doesn't call back by the end of the day I may just take him in for peace of mind. Thanks again everyone.

 

I haven't had this happen, but truthfully, I'd be a little scared if it did. i wouldn't listen to anyone else on this. Trust your instincts and get him checked out. If your pedi is going to be unresponsive then (1) you need a new pedi and (2) just go to the ER if that's your only other option.

 

It sounds very similar to something my ds did, probably at around the same age. It happened with us in the middle of the night & we almost went to the ER. It seemed like he was trying to poop, & it seemed like he couldn't breathe. He was crying in between though. We were suctioning out his nose & mouth--& really not getting anything but saliva. Some milk came out of his nose too. It was very scary--I stayed up all night with him. I brought him to the doctor & he was/is fine. I think it happened maybe one more time but hasn't happened in a while. I think I would schedule an appointment with the doctor. If it happens again & you feel he needs to go to the er--just follow your gut & insist. It's probably nothing--but it never hurts to have them checked out--keep us posted.

 

trust ur instincts go to the ER. If nobody is with you on taking him then just go yourself.

Keep us updated


amanda

 

I think that when it comes to your comfort level -- you gotta just take them to the Dr -- if it turns out that it's gas or soemthing, oh well -- at least you can sleep at night.

I believe that anyone outside of mom has very little ability to have an opinion on this stuff.. and I would have had my kids at the Dr that day to figure out what's happening. (and I'm not one to rush them into the Dr for every little thing)

Bottom line -- apnea is "stopping breathing" so if there's an inkling that that could be th issue -- then I'd have them looked at. To heck with your ILaws --

it's worth the co-pay and you'll have a good laugh if it's nothing.

Teri D

 

I would take him - I would not wait until it happens again -if you don't want to take him to the ER
I would take him to the pediatrician even if I had to make up a reason to get an appointment - I would ask the pedi to order the tests he may not be able to do the tests there but he surely can send you somewhere (that is not full of coughing, sneezing,vomiting people like the ER) that can.

keep us posted :hug99:

and CONGRATULATIONS on your sweet babies!!

 

He had another eposide yesterday evening. I thought about taking him to get looked at but it wasn't as bad as the others. I called the on-call number and spoke with a LPN. Let me just say she was not very friendly. He seemed very snooty and that I was bothering her. I explained to her his situation and she said it was gas and thats it. Nothing else. I like it when you get two different answers from people in the same practice. I do like the doctors office but I am getting frustrated. When my husband came to bed last night he told me that Noah had another eposide and at 3 a.m. he had another one that lasted longer. The difference this time was that he did cry. He had more forumla coming out of his nose and mouth. It saddens me to see him going through this. I am going to call the doctor this morning and get an appointment for today. If they say they don't have one, then I will take his elsewhere. Maybe it is just gas and I'm making a big deal out of this but I hate to see him like this. We were going to put them in their nursery last night since it just got done, but I'm afraid that he will have an eposide while we are all sleeping and something happen. Luckily the onces that happen late, someone is awake. As I was about to post this, he had another attack.

Thanks for letting me vent and sorry if this is long.

 

I would take him to the ER at a children's hospital just to get a complete check. My DD had a similar episode when she was 7 weeks, and because of her age, they did a thorough and complete check up with lots of tests over 3 days. And every test came back normal. Despite my anguish and fear, I am glad that I did take her in for the peace of mind and to know that she was 100% healthy.

 

Ok, so now this is something that just didn't happen once and go away. This is recurring and he's in pain. Bottom line, it could many things....most likely nothing, but if he's crying, something is not right. Babies are just so hard to figure out.

I've been to the ER twice so far with one of my daughters and so far it's been nothing serious. I was never made to feel stupid. In fact, the ER nurse said, "Welcome to motherhood! We'll be seeing you again, I'm sure....it's not a problem to come here just to calm your fears."

I hope you got your appointment with your doctor. If not, just go....I would. And it seems to be what the general concensus is.

 

Could you possibly video record an episode to show the dr? We did this with our dog who was having seizures. Sometimes it's hard to explain things in words, so a video might help you explain what's happening.

Just a suggestion. Good luck with your son. It sounds pretty scary.

 

I would take him in, too. YOu'll never regret taking him in but you might if you don't. Better safe than sorry. Your FIL doesn't know your son like you do.

 

It sounds like what both of my sons do from time to time. They do it when they spit up (which they don't do often) and it comes out their nose and they kind've freak out because they can't breathe for those few seconds and then they catch their breath and cry and then they're okay.

 

:hug99: So sorry you are having this happen. It's never fun not knowing what is going on. My ds actually quit breathing while he was refluxing. We had a sleep study and he was on an apnea monitor for a month (I didn't really think he needed one, and he didn't have any attacks, thank goodness). But, he did continue to reflux, he just finally outgrew the not breathing during it thing. So, it could be gas, it could be reflux. Who knows, but I'd switch doctors to someone who takes you seriously. As parents we always second guess ourselves anyway, we need the healthcare people to react with care and encouragement, not make us feel worse. Sorry they've been so crummy as well.

Keep us informed as to what happens.