Kirsten Wayment: My Sick Baby :(

This weekend was really stressful for my little family. I had to experience things that no mommy wants to experience. Seeing my sweet baby sick and in pain and knowing I could do nothing about it was probably the hardest thing in the world.

My sick baby :(

Friday morning as I was changing his diaper, Camden pooped a strange maroon liquid that almost had a jelly consistency. I automatically panicked and went online to do some research. What I had found wasn't anything good. I knew I had to take him to the Emergency Room, so I called my mom and we took him to Primary Children's Hospital.

Once we were in the room we met with one of the Emergency Room doctors. She was very nice. I explained to her what I saw in Camden's diaper, how he had been much more cranky lately, how he had been rejecting eating after only 5 minutes of feeding, and how pooping just seamed like a miserable task. She gave me a list of a few ideas that she thought it might be. Once again, the food allergy to dairy and protein came up, a tear in the anus, something internal, or what I was most nervous for... Intussuseception. When I was researching things online I had come across Intussuseception, and was really hoping that that wasn't what the problem was. I immediately panicked more.

(I'm assuming, like me, you don't know what Intussusception is, so here is the definition:
Intussusception (in-tuh-suh-SEP-shun) is a serious disorder in which part of the intestine — either the small intestine or colon — slides into another part of the intestine. This "telescoping" often blocks the intestine, preventing food or fluid from passing through. Intussusception also cuts off the blood supply to the part of the intestine that's affected)

We then met another doctor who wanted to do an anal exam. (Poor little Camden was a champ while getting a finger up his bum.) As the doctor pulled out his finger blood drained right out. Confirming that what I had seen in his diaper had actually been blood. I think at this point the doctors really felt like there was a pretty serious problem. After an ultra-sound, and an X-ray they still could not spot the problem. They told me that it didn't completely rule out the idea of an Intussuseception, but that it most likely wasn't that. Which was good news. But still not knowing what was causing his problems was bad news. Next they ordered his blood to be drawn so they could see if there were any abnormalities. Everything came back normal. Which again, was good news. But left us no answers.

Cody left work early to be here at the hospital with us. After hours of waiting in the Emergency Room with no answers they told us that they would like us to stay over night so they could monitor him and also monitor his diapers. He was hooked up to an I.V. and the nurses would just come check on him throughout the rest of the night. Ilene and Kim came to visit Cam that night and Kim was able to give him a blessing. It's amazing to be able to have blessings for such scary situations as these. After the blessing I felt so much more comforted. Camden is so lucky to have such awesome grandparents, on both sides!

Saturday we mostly just hung out at the hospital. They continued to monitor his diapers, but took him off the I.V. and heart monitors. Seeing my baby all tangled up in the wires was tough so I was glad when they took them off! We talked a little to the G.I specialists and they told us what they planned on doing next. They informed us that they wanted to do a colonoscopy to scope out what Camden's colon and intestines look like from the inside. They also told us that they were going to scope his stomach as well, so they'd be doing a upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy, and that they would give him an enema before the procedure to clean him out and that he couldn't eat after a certain time because he would have to be put under with anesthesia. My poor baby. The procedure was scheduled for Sunday morning at 9am. So we would be staying another night. They also told me because there was still a suspicion of a milk allergy/intolerance that they wanted to try a special kind of formula. The formula is awful smelling and by the looks of Camden's face when he eats, it's awful tasting. It's a challenge trying to make him eat. It was obvious he wanted nothing to do with it. To keep my milk supply up while he was using formula, every three hours I had to pump and freeze my milk, because there was a possibility that I could switch back to nursing after they found the problem.

Saturday was also Cody's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! It wasn't much of a day for celebration because of the circumstances, but we did manage to go to dinner and for a drive through the neighborhoods around the hospital. It was nice to get out for a little while and relieve some stress. My mom and dad came to spend some time with the baby so he wasn't left alone while we were gone. I'm so grateful for them, our parents are always so eager to help. Especially when it comes to Camden. For Cody's birthday dinner he wanted to go to Kobe Sushi in Holiday because it was on Man Vs. Food and he wanted to try the Level 7 Atomic Roll. (Which he didn't even end up trying!) We had a great time! The Japanese man making the sushi was so interactive with us! When he found out that it was Cody's birthday, he made the whole restaurant sing and he made him a special watermelon plate saying Happy Birthday. The people we were sitting by just had the chef surprise them with some of his favorite rolls, ones not on the menu. He created some interesting things! He also suggested we try a Yum Yum Roll, which Cody's new favorite! We decided that next time we are going to be adventurous and have the chef surprise us! We just have to be willing to pay a lot more because they are such special rolls! I'm sure it would be worth it! WE LOVE SUSHI!

Sunday morning at 6:30am Camden was given an enema and prepped for his procedure. They came in at 9 and wheeled him away. Cody and I waited in the waiting room for about 2 hours eager to hear what the results of the colonostopy and endoscopy were. Once they came into the room they told us what they had found were small patches of blood vessels and ulcers in the colon. None of them were actively bleeding but they were sure that that was the reason he had so much blood in his stool. But they were still unclear as to why he had this. They sent some of the ulcers and parts of the colon and intestine to be biopsied. So we were still without answers. When Camden woke up it was so sad. He slept most of the day because he was so lethargic after the anesthesia. His cries were horse and quiet. It honestly broke my heart. He slept for a good part of the day. When he did wake up, we tried feeding him since hadn't eaten since eleven the night before. He wanted nothing to do with the yucky new formula. The nurses informed us that we wouldn't be able to go home until he ate normally. We ended up having to stay another night anyway because our doctor wanted to make sure we were here the next morning when the biopsy results came back.

Today is Monday, June 11, 2012. We still haven't heard anything about the biopsy. We are waiting to see if the results come back as an infection or an inflammation of the blood vessels. They still believe we are dealing with a protein allergy from the breast milk, and that Camden's body just has a weird way of showing it. A few minutes ago the doctors came in and told us that they would like to see what Camden's small intestine looks like, so around 3:30 they are sending him to get a CT scan, which means they will be putting him under again. It also means that he cannot eat until after the procedure. We are hoping to get more answers from the biopsy and the CT scan, but we have been informed that whatever it is, IT'S NOTHING LIFE THREATENING. I feel confident in our doctors and nurses. I'm comforted by the thought that we are at Primary Children's and they specialize in making babies better. Cody and I are doing fine, as good as we can be for the situation. We are worried, but still calm. We really just want to know what is going on so we can go home and sleep in our own bed, instead of spooning on a pull-out recliner.

I was going to wait to post this blog entry until we really found out what was going on and had some real answers to give everyone. BUT, I decided that I am going to use my blog to keep people updated on Camden's progress. So if you are interested, keep an eye on our blog and hopefully it will answer any questions that you have. Keep our sweet baby in your prayers! We love all of you so much!