Problem Child

Riley is our little "problem" baby. Since before she was born, there have been all kinds of little issues surrounding her health. It started when they do the screenings while you are pregnant. A new screening with Riley's pregnancy was the cystic fibrosis test. My doctor asked if I wanted to have it done, I said yes. My thought was, might as well find everything out now so that if there is a problem the doctors will be better prepared. Of course, you are hoping and praying that there isn't an issue to begin with. So, they took more blood and I had absolutely no thought whatsoever that I would test positive for the cystic fibrosis gene. I knew of no one in my family who had ever had it. I test positive. That meant Kyle had to get tested. He tested negative. Thank God.

Riley is born. They test her for the cystic fibrosis gene because, if she is a carrier, she could have a certain level of CF. I had no idea this was even a possibility. We knew she would not have full-blown CF. Depending on the level in her body, however, she could have some complications ~ such as if she got a cold it could quickly turn to pnuemonia. So, we had to take her for a sweat test at our children's hospital. A sweat test is where they strap a heated coil to her arm (she was just two month's old!) to collect sweat and find her level. Luckily the CF level was virtually nonexistent.

Also, she had a loose hip. This is very common in infants and usually corrects itself. A loose hip is basically a hip that doesn't fit well in its sockets and pops when the doctor turns the leg at the hip. As the baby grows and gets stronger it often just goes away. If not, babies are put in a diaper-type brace to keep the hip in place. Hers didn't correct very quickly, so back to the hospital to have a hip ultrasound to see if she needs the brace. Again, luckily, nothing looked out of the ordinary, so she didn't need to wear the brace.

She also had a heart murmur that they watched very closely and that went away. And she has a negative blood type. She is the only one in our little family with this blood type. It won't affect anything until she decides to have children and she only needs to be aware of it for any pregnancies. We found all this out before we even left the hospital when she was born. Again, not a big deal but when you put all the little things together I was a ball of hormonal worry.

My girls have all been small little peanuts. Never bigger than the 5oth percentile in weight throuhg their infant and toddler years. Riley, though, was very small. She was nursing and gaining weight, just not alot of weight. At her 6 month checkup her percentage of weight gain started dropping. Same at 9 months. Nothing to be concerned about, just something to keep an eye on, according to the doctors. Then, at 11 months, we went to the doctor for an illness and when they weighed her, she had lost a pound. Not good. At 12 months there was no weight gain at all. We were going in monthly and having lots of tests run. Back to the hospital for GI consultations and more tests. They tested for food allergies (only a slight milk allergy) and things like celiac disease. Nothing. So...we had had to add lots of fat to her diet. Heavy cream in her whole milk, butter on everything and cheese, cheese, cheese. (Seriously? My child?) She was also having to drink two 8 oz bottles of Pediasure a day. Of course, all this extra fat made it hard for things to come out the other end (sorry, that's probably too much information), so we had to deal with that, too.

Now, let's go back to her first birthday. She was pulling up and walking holding on to things, but didn't seem very interested in taking any steps on her own. Month after month went by and still not many steps alone and the few she did take were not normal. So at her 15 month check-up, we were sent for another hip ultrasound to see if maybe the loose hip caused problems after all. Everything was still normal. So, after a little more testing it was discovered that she has hypotonia. Hypotonia is basically low muscle tone. As soon as we found out she started receiving physical therapy.

Today she is two years and two months old. At her two year checkup, the doctor gave her a clean bill of health. She is at a steady weight, so we were able to stop going for our regular GI consultations. She is still not a great eater, but she is also a toddler - none of them eat normal! Her physical therapy is working wonders. She is still not at her age level physically, but is getting there. Riley loves her therapist and is usually cooperative at her sessions.

Thank goodness all of her issues have been little and not life-threatening. I know it could be much, much worse. You still never want anything to be wrong with your babies.

So why did I take you all on this little walk down Riley's health memory lane? Because this morning after One and Two got on the bus, I went to get her out of her high chair and I said, "Hi poodle. Are you my poodle?" She looked up at me and put her hand on my face and said, "Hi Mommy. I you poodle. I uuuuvvv you!"

And there you are. It makes everything else just fade away.