GI appt #1

The kids and I left the house at 8:45 this morning and got home at 5:55 this evening. We spent almost 6 hours in the car, 2 hours in the doctor's office, and the rest was spent at a gas station, Wendy's, and McDonald's. The hardest part of the day was the time in the exam room (about 75 minutes). I didn't think it would take that long so Nadia ran out of things to keep herself busy. It didn't help that this was from 12:45-2:00pm and she usually goes down for her nap at 1:00pm. For about 60 minutes I was asked questions about Ian from his time in the NICU until the present regarding his bowel movements, feeding, vomiting, etc. It was really hard to keep both kids happy in the exam room while answering questions. Last night I almost called Paul's mom to see if she could go with me as one of the routes Mapquest suggested went pretty close to their house at one point in the journey. I figured I could pick her up en route. Paul advised against it because that route involved being on backroads almost the whole way and going through mountains, and there was a chance of us getting a "wintery mix" today. Having another person along would have been SO helpful, and we didn't know that actually the temps would be in the 40's today, but we survived, thanks in part to the dvd player. Paul moved it so it was in between their seats. Ian didn't watch as much as Nadia, but he did watch some, which was a blessing. He slept 45 minutes of the trip this morning, and he slept 60 minutes on the way back home. Nadia slept 45 minutes on the way back home. Ian cried off an on for the last hour of our trip this morning, but he only cried for a few minutes on the way home. Nadia enjoyed the playland at McD's for the first time. In the past she's been intimidated by how high you have to climb to get to the top of the slide. The signs always say for ages 3 and up so it makes sense that she wasn't ready to do these in the past.

The NP was really nice and very thorough. She didn't find anything abnormal during her exam. She was impressed by how Ian didn't cry until the very end when she put her finger up his butt. She was trying to get a specimen. Since she was unable to do so, I have to take some specimens over the next 3 days and then mail it to her. It's an easy assignment since he's still using a diaper (as would almost every 14 month old!). She wants him to have an upper GI x-ray (small bowel to cecum). She particularly wants to know where his ligament of treitz is located. We'll have to make another long journey for that (to King of Prussia). Right now I am not a fan of PSU's student insurance. If we lived in Philadelphia it would be great insurance, but otherwise we have to travel more than 100 miles one way to get to a specialist that is in their network. The bloodwork he had done today included CBC, CMP, GGT, Vitamin D 25-OH, Zinc, TSH, and T4 Free. This was rather traumatizing for Nadia to watch. I was holding Ian in my lap while they were drawing his blood (they had to use both of his arms). She was rather hysterical by the time they were done with his second arm. She was screaming "MOMMY" and was obviously very scared. I couldn't hold her until they were done with Ian. I will take an Rx for Prevacid to CVS tomorrow. I am praying it's not expensive as we'll be paying for all prescription drugs ourselves until Paul gets a job. He's supposed to take 1/2 a tablet by mouth 2 times a day, and she said he needs to be on it at least 12 weeks as it takes that long for the esophagus to heal.

I was pleased with his weight (22lbs) as that meant he gained 2 lbs since January 7. They were concerned about his diet. I felt like they weren't taking into account that I put fruit, vegetables, cereal, etc in all of his bottles. They said he should either be on toddler formula or pediasure (not whole milk or infant formula) until he starts eating more solid food by spoon. She gave us samples of Pediasure (several different flavors of it) and Nutren. I gave Ian some Pediasure at 5pm at Wendy's. Let me tell you that was a mistake. I am doubtful that I'll ever give him any more Pediasure as he threw up SO many times between 7-9pm. Two of the times he threw up while sleeping! The vomiting at 8pm was the worst episode we've had since the first week of January. It took Paul forever to clean up Ian's bedroom, bed, etc. Unfortunately we ran out of mattress pads and sheets. Thankfully we have many pjs as so far he's worn 3 different pairs this evening. It doesn't matter how many calories are in Pediasure if the stuff doesn't stay in his body. I think I'm going to ask the OT if we can start trying to feed Ian by spoon again as that should alleviate their concerns.

When we got home, Ian was sooo hyper. He was literally laughing his head off while crawling around the house. He was sooo happy not to be in his car seat any more! Paul was amazed at how hyper Ian was.