This past week...

Since Liam was born, he has been making these horrible breathing noises which sometimes sound as though he is struggling for breath. We had asked several doctors about the noises but were assured that they were quite normal and were probably as a result of him being a c-section baby (fluid can get trapped in the lungs and can take awhile to work its way out). Liam also suffers from severe acid reflux and has been on Prevacid since about he was about a month old.

The past few weeks he has started to eat significantly less and often cries out in pain and arches his back during feedings. It is a pretty awful feeling to know that your child is hungry but is in too much pain to eat. I took him to he doctors on Monday and once again asked about his breathing. After examining him the doctor said that he probably had stidor, possible airway constriction and was possibly aspirating (he has had several episodes of turning purplish blue during eating/choking).

We were able to get into an Ear, Nose, Throat doctor on Wednesday who performed a scope of his voicebox. He was diagnosed with laryngomalacia, which is considered to be a common condition in infancy. It means that the soft immature cartilage of the upper larynx collapses inward during inhalation causing airway obstruction. This creates a high-pitched squeaking noise on inhalation (stridor).

Fortunately, treatment is not necessary in 99% of cases. The only reason they would ever have to do surgery is if Liam did not put on weight or if he continued to aspirate on a regular basis. The doctor gave us an analogy that if an individual were to go to McDonalds and get a straw and breathe through it, they could do so for a very long time - possibly indefinitely. However, if the same person were to run around the block a few times and then try to breathe through that straw, they wouldn't have enough oxygen. When breathing rapidly through the straw, the straw would eventually collapse.

We were pretty freaked out in the beginning, but after doing research and talking with friends and family, we are finding others who have similar or the same condition. In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense why Liam had so many issues with breastfeeding and why he only wants to sleep in his swing. We also have an appointment with a pediatric Gastrointerologist on Monday to see why his acid reflux is so bad - since gastric contents can cause the back part of the larynx to swell and collapse even further into the airway we need to address both issues.

He is scheduled for a barium swallow test this next week and he will probably have an upper GI scan at some point. Please keep him in your prayers. We want to resolve this issue and get him eating and growing to his full potential as soon as we can.