Rough Week

Mason had a pretty rough week last week. When he received his g-button, he began gagging and retching multiple times a day. He also began coughing frequently. On Friday we visited ped. surgery and they fitted him with a smaller and shorter button in hopes that it would take up less room in his tummy (which is already pretty small). He also visited the Pulmonologist who looked him over and ordered a chest x-ray to rule out any respiratory illness. His lungs sounded clear and his chest x-ray looked good. Unfortunately we discovered that Mason had not gained any weight since he was weighed on January 23rd. Whatever was bugging him was enough to throw him off his growth curve.

After those visits on Friday, we had the opportunity to visit Mason's buddy Noah in the PICU. Unfortunately Noah had to have an additional repair surgery due to reherniation and was struggling to recover from his procedure. We wished we could have visited under better circumstances. It was great to see Noah and his Mom and Dad again. They are wonderful parents and great friends! Noah began to feel better over the weekend and was able to come home on Sunday.

For the weekend, we had planned a trip up north, but had to cancel that because of Mason's gagging and coughing. We didn't want to be very far from UofM in case things went downhill. Grandma and Grandpa Ellinger came to see us for the weekend instead.

The button change has improved the gagging and his coughing is pretty much gone. Our best guess is that the gagging was causing him to cough. He still struggles with his morning feeds but seems to be fine in the afternoon and evening.

Mason is trying his best to turn into a roly-poly. He still needs a little assistance, but is now realizing that rolling will get him to out of reach toys. He is also very close to being able to sit by himself. I am thinking in the next few weeks, he will be rolling and sitting pretty well. His physical therapist seems pleased, but we still need to work on tummy time. Some days are good, some are not. She really wants him to start crawling before walking. I think as soon as Mason builds a little more upper body strengh, he will start. He can get his legs underneath him, but his arms don't cooperate yet.

Feeding is not going as well because of the gagging, etc. Seems that Mason has gone on baby food strike! He is refusing pretty much all of his favorite foods. He did a little better at dinner tonight so hopefully we can get back on track soon.