Motherly Instinct....

Just over a week ago... (9/16/10) our little Kruze had to undergo emergency surgery at 29 days old for...
Pyloric Stenosis-

A narrowing of the outlet from the stomach to the small intestine (called the pylorus) that occurs in infants.

It was such a sad thing to see but he is now doing so good & will hopefully be a very chunky lil monkey soon. :) I first noticed that Kruze's eating & spitting up... aka (projectile vomiting) was very abnormal at about 2 weeks of age. I had mentioned it to the pediatrician at his two week appointment & I was told that it was most likely reflux that it was very common in babies. I left the appointment somewhat at ease & figured we'd deal with it, but was still unsure as to the problem. Feeling frustrated a few days after dealing with nursing the poor guy & using a towel to lay across us each time knowing it was coming back up, I decided to try to look into what may be causing the problem. The first thing I turned to was the nursing pamphlet they hand out to you when you leave the hospital. I turned to the section discussing reflux & vomiting & read the part that talks about pyloric stenosis. It said, "When a baby continues vomiting forcefully after most feedings, you should suspect that either he is sensitive to something in your diet or he has a pyloric stenosis. Pyloric stenosis is an obstruction of the stomach that typically develops at about two to four weeks of age. Although the condition is most common in first-born males, it can occur in females. Typically the vomiting becomes progressively worse; the baby eventually stops gaining weight, or loses weight, and my become dehydrated. In the breastfed infant the condition my go undiagnosed longer than in a bottle-fed infant, since breast milk is digested much more easily than formula. The baby's weight may not be affected until the obstruction becomes nearly complete. Frequently waves can be seen moving across the baby's lower abdomen from the left side to the right just after feeding and prior to vomit ting. X-rays confirm the diagnosis. The obstruction is corrected with a relatively simple surgical procedure."
Just after reading this my visiting teaching partner calls me, & I'm trying not to bawl... I just knew that Kruze had more than reflux, but because I was trying not to be a paranoid mother & I pushed it to the back of my mind... until it continued to happen more & more often, getting worse each time. Until, the time my sister saw it happen almost two weeks after I had read in the booklet & she said, "Kens that's more than just reflux, get him to the Dr. tomorrow." It was too late to make an appointment that night so I had to make an appointment the next morning. We ended up seeing the pediatrician that next afternoon (9/15/10), & the Dr. was still unsure about what was going on. He still thought it was reflux but I asked him about the pyloric stenosis. He said it possibly could be but that was hard to diagnosis but he'd get an X-ray scheduled at the hospital. The next available time for that wasn't until the next morning (9/16/10) at 8 am. We planned for that and then the Dr. also informed me that Kruze couldn't eat for 4 hours before the X-ray. I thought to myself... "This is gonna be a LONG night."... Later that evening we had dinner with some friends and afterwards Doug & our friend Adam administered a blessing on Kruze. Can I just say how peaceful & happy Kruze was all night long. I didn't get to feed him anymore after 12:30 because he slept until 4:50 that morning. I gave him his pacifier and he slept until about 7:30 and did awesome! :) He's such a sweet boy. I was so grateful that Doug was willing & able to give our little boy a blessing & I know what a difference it made. The priesthood is amazing! We were at the hospital just before 8 and they didn't see until about 8:45, all the while Kruze continued to sleep. By 9:10 the radiologist had made his diagnosis... Kruze had pyloric stenosis & had to undergo surgery. It was pretty heart wrenching watching our little one get poked & prodded with needles n such but as soon as we found out that our neighbor & close friend Rob was performing the surgery all uneasy feelings went out the door... we knew then that he was in GREAT hands. :) This surgery consisted of one small incision on the right side of the abdomen & then making one slit through the muscle (the pylorus) so that Kruze's food could then pass through to the small intestine. At 12:30 p.m. they wheeled little Kruze into surgery, & at about 1:30-1:45 p.m. he was out of surgery & then admitted into the NICU to be monitored & cared for. He spent one whole night & almost two full days in the NICU. We are now glad to report that Kruze is home, keeping his food down, happy, healthy, & doing well! We love him so much & we are happy he's apart of our lives. :)