Henry goes to the Gastroenterologist

Henry went to the gastroenterologist last week. That is a specialist that I never imagined taking my six month old baby boy to see. However, it seems to be the best place to get some answers on our little guy. It was extremely sad to walk into Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and see so many sick children. Yet, comforting to know that Vanderbilt Children's can help really sick children so a little constipation is not too much to worry about. Nothing like seeing so many sick children to revitalize my prayer life making me even more thankful for my two healthy children. It was truly heartbreaking to see the anguish in the parents eyes while watching their precious children suffer.

I was apprehensive about taking Henry because it seemed like such a big step. Carl was out of town so I was on my own for this visit. It's never fun to take your child to the doctor but this was a good experience. Everyone from the receptionist to the nurse were super nice and more importantly super helpful! First order of business was a weight check, of course Henry has no problem in that area. His nurse even told him that he was a hause cat. He's a big boy weighing in at 18 pounds. Henry was just smiling away during his appointment. He is such a happy baby!

I ran through Henry's medical history with the nurse before the Nurse Practitioner came in to check him out. Stacey was excellent. I was convinced that she would not know how to help him because she was the fourth medical professional for Henry to see. She was very concerned about Henry's condition and immediately began creating a plan to help him. His x-ray was fine in regards to his organs but there was an excess of poop inside his body. That's not surprising, considering this has been going on for nearly two months. A specialist has little tips and tricks that the other doctors did not have since they see a wider-range of problems. A gastroenterologist knows more about tummy issues than I could ever imagine. Stacey suggested splitting his reflux medicine into two doses and administering it with a spoon rather than a syringe. That has made a HUGE difference because he is getting more of the medicine instead of it just dribbling down his chin.

Stacey performed a rectal exam and there was some blood in his stool. That could mean a variety of things but most likely it could be from trying to pass his BM or the presence of a food allergy. I opted to take the conservative approach first which is a medication called lactulose. Conservative is a relative term since we have tried so much but at least it was not so invasive as some of the other options. Henry takes 4ML's a day along with his reflux medication. It seems to be helping a little but not like the NP expected it too which means a barium enema might be our next step.

I will delete this post when Henry is older so that it will not cause any embarrassment to him but wanted to post our experience to help other moms. Several moms have either emailed or commented to me, that their children suffered from constipation too. It's hard to find any real solutions on the Internet and every baby is different. Be sure to check with your doctor regarding your own child.

Things that we have tried:

warm baths
rectal temperature
massage
leg exercises
prunes and pears
fruit juice
eliminating solids including rice cereal and oatmeal
squatting positions
suppositories
Miralax

My parents were here during Christmas and we were all sitting in the den searching the Internet for ways to relieve constipation. There are some pretty wild suggestions out there!

We just got back from Henry's six month check-up. Thankfully, Carl went with me since it was Evie's three year check up too. It was pretty crazy having two kids at the same appointment. Pediatrician suggested giving the lactulose one more week before doing anything more invasive. There was no blood in his stool this week so that's an excellent sign. My best trick for getting your baby to go to the bathroom: put your favorite outfit on him and then put him in the exersaucer. Works like a charm and that's laundry that I am more than happy to wash if it makes my baby more comfortable. Let's just hope this keeps working for Henry.