Well, we are 3 weeks and 5 days into the the reign of H and he's doing well. He is feeding well, around 120ml a time give or take. Given that, its no surprise that he is putting on weight well and at last check was nearly 1lb over his birth weight.
That's not to say its all been complete plain sailing, in fact H seems to have been delighting in scaring the crap out of me over the last week and a half. It started a week ago last Friday during an unusual period of quiet in the house. H was asleep in his basket and I was sat reading with a cup of tea. I noticed his legs move and thought he was waking up, but he wasn't crying so I left him to it. A few minutes later he started gurgling quietly but, assuming he was playing, I didn't pay much notice. A minute or so later I got up to let the dog out in the garden and happened to look over into the basket.
His eyes were wide and there was milky vomit around his face and head. He was pale - verging on blue. I picked him up, turned him on his front and tapped his back to clear his airway. A couple of taps did the trick and he soon was screaming.
I was not, but god knows I felt like it.
Thankfully my mum was around to help me get him cleared up and bring me down off the ceiling. I was used to him choking a little but when we gave him thick things, like Infracol and his antibiotics, but that isn't a problem when you're there on hand holding him. The fact that this was nearly two hours post feed, he was in his Moses basket and I was completely unaware until I happened to be passing...that freaked me out.
I spoke to the midwife, the cleft team and got H checked by the GP. Thankfully everything seemed ok with him. I was a bit of a wreck for a few days mind; jumping up every time he coughed or spluttered, or when he didn't cough and splutter, or for any reason at all really. It had happened once before in hospital, but elevating one end of the cot seemed to sort it and it hadn't happened again until that day. I am not generally a worrier where kids are concerned (although after reading this blog you may disagree). I generally take the line with my 3 year old that as long as it doesn't involve fire arms, a blade or poison, he will be fine and if he hurts himself he won't do it again in a hurry. This is in stark contrast to my sainted mother-in-law who has a coronary every time my eldest goes within 5 meters of a step. How she raised 3 boys, especially THOSE three, without having continuous breakdowns is beyond me.
After a few days I calmed down and carried on as normal, but then it happened again last Thursday. Thankfully it wasn't as bad this time, I was in Aldi (other supermarkets are available) and I noticed at the check out that he was struggling to breathe. I got him out and cleared his airway and he seemed fine. I think a combination of him being sat in his car seat and me noticing sooner helped.
Another call to the ever present and ever helpful cleft team and the GP, H has been put on infant Gaviscon and it does seem to be helping. There is less coming up and he seems a bit more chilled out generally. It's funny, but during all of the discussions we had as a family and with Doctors and Midwives after the diagnosis, it had never occurred to me that H's airway would be in any way compromised (for want of a better word).
So for now I'm keeping an eye on things, but the Gaviscon does really seem to be helping. We are also making sure we keep H upright for 20 minutes after a feed, which he isn't too keen on as he tends to go into a milk coma. In the mean time I am hoping H is getting all of his 'scaring mummy' urges out of his system, ideally before he reaches his teens and can start doing genuinely scary things!
In other news.
A massive welcome to any readers who found their way here via the BCH newsletter. I hope you find this blog helpful and that you enjoy reading it - even if it is only to laugh at me! If you would like to keep up to date with the blog and sporadic other posts, I have a Facebook page and a twitter account. Come and say hi!
https://www.facebook.com/CleftDiary/
https://twitter.com/cleft_diary
Finally, H and I are off to our first Happy Faces group on Friday in Warwick. Maybe I'll see some of you there.
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