My Little Levi

I’ve been taking Levi every 2 weeks or so to his pediatrician to weigh in. His weight gain has been slow over all since birth. He’s never lost weight, but gained much more slowly than he “should”. He’s exclusively breastfed, so that made things tricky. I don’t know exactly how much milk he is getting. Dr. Puranick has been wonderful though! He’s really been working with me to do our best to continue breastfeeding, but also rule out any health issues. “We’re cautiously optimistic”, he always says. And he never brought up formula. After our last appointment, he decided to run blood work. Levi’s heart sounded great, but he wanted to test his kidneys, liver, and pancreas. That was on a Wednesday. The lab at that office poked Levi 3 times and couldn’t draw blood. I thought Eric was going to come unglued. We left, but knew we had to go back to do it all over again. Talk about defeated.

The doctor’s office called me later though to suggest I go to Texas Children’s Hospital. They would be better at drawing blood on a 3 month old. We went on Friday and it was a much better experience. Eric kept saying, “He doesn’t need it. I don’t want to go.” Such a protective Daddy. I, of course, convinced him that it’s better to know for sure. I truly believed a nurse would call to tell us that the results were normal, to continue nursing as usual, and Levi is just a smaller baby. No.big.deal. By Monday morning, the blood test was so off my radar, I didn’t even know why I saw “Dr. Haney” show up on my caller ID. When I answered to hear Dr. Puranick’s voice, I immediately thought.. Oh sh**. This can’t be good. Or the doctor himself wouldn’t have called.

The test for Levi’s liver came back elevated. He needed to see a GI doctor. And I probably need to start supplementing. It was a Monday morning and I was working on potty training with Brady. Didn’t see that one coming! Talk about a lousy day. I was on the phone 2355 times that day with Levi’s pediatrician’s office, Tricare, and the GI they were referring us to. It paid off and we had an appointment for Wednesday morning 9 am.

We don’t have a lot of answers yet, but they should be coming soon. Dr. Imseis said that elevated liver function (LFTs to be specific) on blood work can be because of a cold, fever, or the flu. That’s unlikely since Levi wasn’t sick, but they are running it again to make sure. Along with a slew of other blood tests, a urinalysis, and an ultrasound. Elevated LFTs can also mean liver damage or liver disease. The doctor felt and listened to Levi’s chest and stomach, which checked out perfectly. But that only reveals so much. Today, they were able to draw blood, but only enough to run half the tests that were ordered. This is particularly depressing since the nurse drew blood from Levi’s head. And I didn’t want them to need to do it again. She tried his arm first, but not much blood flowed. She was a PICU nurse for 10 years and gave me the impression she knew what she was doing. Another nurse was there to hold Levi down, so I didn’t watch. I faced the wall and cried. How do people go through this regularly with their sick children? Babies??

The ultrasound is scheduled for next Thursday and we will also do the urine test that day. The nurse is going to let me collect the urine myself that morning in a bag (a medical one that they gave me, in case you pictured a Ziploc), instead of a catheter. Thank God! Our next appointment is on the 31 and we will do the remaining blood work that day. Shortly after that we should have some answers. I did get to speak with a nutritionist and an occupational therapist today. I need to start supplementing Levi’s breast milk. Ok. Except. He won’t take a bottle. So, I’m going to make a 4 oz bottle of formula (made to have higher calories than regular formula) and start giving it to him in a syringe. I’m still going to work on the bottle situation, but at least for now we can keep nursing as usual. I will just slip the syringe in hoping he won’t even notice, or give it to him after. I PRAY this will get us some extra ounces on the scale. He’s still only 11 lbs 3 oz.

I felt very nervous, but good overall when I left the office. Then I sat in the car and read over his paperwork. “Failure to Thrive”. Stab me in the heart, why don’t you. I haven’t jumped to any conclusions or let my mind wander as to what could go wrong. However, seeing those words written about my baby really hurt. Looking at the band aid on his head, that hurts too. But I really trust these doctors and nurses. We went downtown to a very nice office. Everyone was very helpful, kind, thorough, and good at their jobs. They assured me we should have this all figured out before we move next month. And they will help us find a great doctor in NC.

One step at a time. And LOTS of prayers.