Today was one of the hardest things that Carl and I have had to deal with as parents so far. As you know we had to take Makayla to Duke ENT for some issues with her breathing. The Dr came in and we went over her history, she asked a bunch of questions, and then told us she was going to stick a tiny camera down her nose and throat...I was thinking what?!?! She isn't even 7 weeks old! The Dr said "were going to spray some numbing spray in her nose that will last 15 minutes and she shouldn't feel a thing"...boy was she wrong! The Dr sprayed some nasty spray up her tiny little nostrils and Makayla did
NOT like it at all. Then she got a nurse to come in the room to hold her head down while I held her...Carl immediately said can I hold her head instead? Thankfully the Dr said yes so Carl held onto her head, I was holding her as tight as I could and then the Dr stuck the camera in her nose that went down in her throat. Immediately screams came whaling from Makayla...it was
horrifying to say the least!!! I have never ever seen or heard her or any baby that little so upset! It was the worst feeling watching her in so much discomfort and I couldn't do anything but cry too! Carl could not even look at her it was so bad he just watched the screen. It only took a few minutes for her to get all of the pictures and diagnose her, but it seemed like it took an eternity. After she was done Makayla's wheezing and gasping became even worse than its ever been, but the Dr said that was perfectly normal and to just give it time. Time?! Are you kidding?! My sweet little girl was miserable and struggling to breathe!!! It took FOREVER to get her calm and to slow down her breathing and she has been so miserable and pathetic ever since. Needless to say they did figure out the problem. She has a congenital defect called Laryngomalacia which is one of the most common defects in infants with breathing problems (although I have never heard of anyone with it). We were given a new stronger prescription for her reflux that is suppose to help with this as well, and we were sent home with a list of things to do that should help to settle down the symptoms. Fortunately this is a defect that should resolve itself and go away by the time she is 18 months or so which is awesome. If it does not resolve itself then we would discuss surgery at that time, but for now we will do all that we can to settle things down. Because I am no Dr and am horrible at explaining things to make it easier on myself and to avoid having to answer a million questions about it I am going to copy and paste from cincinnatichildrens.org about Laryngomalacia below. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers today...they mean a lot to us! Please keep them coming for our sweet little girls and us as you will see below we have a long way to go with this.
Laryngomalacia (Infantile)
Laryngomalacia is best described as floppy tissue (epiglottis and arytenoid cartilages) above the vocal cords that falls into the airway when a child breaths in.
- Laryngomalacia is the most frequent cause of noisy breathing (stridor) in infants and children.
- Laryngomalacia is the most common congenital anomaly (birth defect) of the voice box (larynx).
- The cause of laryngomalacia and the reason why the tissue is floppy is unknown. The part of the nervous system that gives tone to the airway is most likely underdeveloped.
Diagnosis of Laryngomalacia
Diagnosis of laryngomalacia is suggested by a typical history and is confirmed by clinical examination and flexible laryngoscopy (see diagnostic studies). Signs and Symptoms of Laryngomalacia
Infants with laryngomalacia have intermittent noisy breathing when breathing in (inspiratory stridor) becomes worse with agitation, crying, excitement, feeding or position / sleeping in the supine (on the back) position. These symptoms are often present at birth and are usually apparent within the first 10 days of life. However, noisy breathing (stridor) of infantile laryngomalacia may be present in babies up to one year of age.
Symptoms will often increase or get worse over the first few months after diagnosis, usually between 4-8 months of age. Most children with laryngomalacia outgrow the noisy breathing (stridor) by 12-18 months of age.
Other symptoms that can be associated with laryngomalacia include:
- Poor weight gain
- Difficulty with feeding
- Regurgitation of food (vomiting or spitting up)
- Choking on food
- Apnea (stops breathing)
- Chest and / or neck retractions (chest and / or neck sinking in with each breath)
- Turning blue (cyanosis)
- Gastroesophageal reflux (spitting up of acid from the stomach)
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