After supper it was bedtime for all the kids...haha as if Ethan was going to sleep!!! He ended up going to bed around 9:30pm the little sneak. Anyhow we sat around shooting the breeze and at 9:30pm Randy, Cory and Coby went with the neighbours to watch the fireworks, it was Canada Day after all. Chantel and I lasted until 11pm visiting and despite neither of us wanting to end the great conversation we were having we knew we needed to get to bed. She was starting her daycare the next morning and we had Ethans' appt.
In the morning we got up and headed to the University Hospital for the first part of our tests. It was a clinical test were she simply observed Ethan eating. He was hungry so he ate like a little trooper for us. He didn't have any problems while she watched so it was a little discouraging since she didn't see what we normally deal with. She did however make observations and asked sooo many questions that I really felt that she understood and legitimatized our concerns.
We had time for Randy and I to have a quick bite of lunch before the next part of the test. This was an MRI where they laced his food with barium and I fed it to him (while wearing this massively heavy and hot lead apron!) We had the same specialist in the room with us as well as a couple of radiologists. Randy got to sit in the room with the monitors and watch as Ethan's food went down.
Ethan was a trooper though and did so well on that test as well. I didn't have high hopes going into it based on the set up. They have a little chair seated next to the machine and the Xray thingy comes up beside him. It had stickers all over it and they wanted Ethan to look straight forward...I was like, then why did you cover that thing with stickers. So we had a few minutes of convincing him to look forward but in the end he did really well and they got the views they needed.
So the long and the short of the whole experience is that he does have a problem with the muscles of his esophagus. They don't move food as quickly as they should. Also liquids are pooling at the top of his throat and when there gets to be too much they go into his airways. So there is nothing they can do medically for it. It is what it is. So we are just to feed him slowly and keep his food minced for him until he gets teeth and can break it down himself. As for liquids the bottles are gone and he has to drink from a sippy cup. I'm still trying to figure out how to wean him off the nighttime bottle though (if you can help, let me know, I'm ready to go around the bend!!!) A bottle is a continuous flow and he can't have that because it doesn't go down fast enough and it overflows into his airways. So now we know why he was coughing and choking so much at bedtime. It also explains all the little colds, the ear infection...
So he is on a sippy cup now most of the time and if he still has problems with that then he will need to drink thickened liquids. This would be as thick as honey. Mmmmm sounds thirst quenching doesn't it? So we're hoping (and so is the specialist) that it doesn't come to that.
I'm guessing that we will have a follow up here with our Neonatologist specialist and he may order more tests based on the esophagus not moving food very well but we don't know.
After all the tests etc. we decided that since Ethan had been so good we would take him to Toys R Us and Chapters and get him a toy and book. We got him a sorting puzzle and a wooden block train that he can tear apart and put back together. He also got a great new peekaboo book for bedtime.
We headed to Grandma Maxines' in Vegreville after the bookstore and went for supper and had a visit. It was a short visit but she was sure happy to see Ethan and so surprised at how big he's grown. Ethan got to sit on a horse for the first time at Grandmas' and he wasn't too thrilled about it. He got really scared and freaked out. Poor little man.
Anyhow we didn't get many pictures of our trip because someone forgot to charge the battery on the camera and didn't bring the charger...oops. But I did get a couple of really nice ones of Randy and Ethan at the acreage.
Kizzy the horse did very well being patient while Ethan pitched a fit on her back...
So thanks for the emails and thoughts and prayers while we went through this latest hurdle. We are thankful that it isn't more serious and that it is something that we as a family can deal with. We got some great news in the last couple of days so wait for an update in a week or so as to what it is!
----no I am not pregnant----
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