Laryngomalacia

Madelyn has been having some breathing problems. It appears as if she is struggling while inhaling. This has been happening off and on since about 3 months of age. We videoed it and the doctor had told us earlier that this was typically something called periodic breathing which could be very scary looking. Over Trish's birthday weekend it seemed to be happening a lot so we called the doctor on Monday, September 14th. The doctor decided to send her in for x-rays that afternoon. I met Trish at the imaging center, and waited for them to call her name. Trish volunteered to go back with Madelyn and said they put her in a tube type contraption to restrain her and Trish held her arms up so they could get the xray. Only one of us could go back, so I had to sit outside and wait but I could tell you she didn't like it much because she screamed pretty loud. When the x-rays were done we were expecting to go home and they asked us to stay while the radiologist reviewed the results. The next thing we know, the radiologist came out and told us that our Pediatrician was on the line, I think I got a little nervous at this point in time. I just wished someone had told us what was going on. Trish talked to the doctor who told her on the x-ray there was a cloudy spot around the heart wall and inflammation. Eventually she told us that she believed that this could be some residuals from a virus or possibly a sign of asthma. She said she would review the x-ray and call back the following day. The following day she called back and said she was "underwhelmed" with the x-ray results and they were better then she thought. She said there were signs of strain but not due to a virus or asthma. She said she was going to do some thinking and we would discuss at Madelyn's 6 month visit which was a week later.

While waiting for Madelyn's 6 month apt cousin Kate called us to find out how Madelyn was doing. She is great and so helpful. She watched a video of Madelyn's breathing problems and had some co-workers look at the video as well. Everyone agreed it was an upper airway issue and that she needed to see a specialist.

On Monday, September 21st Madelyn went to her 6 month appointment. We discussed the breathing issues and the pediatrician had already written a referral for a pediatric ear/nose/throat doctor. Everything else went great at her appointment and she is in the 90% for height. She is going to start eating fruits and veggies and by the time we go to her 9 month appointment she should be eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. YIKES!

Wednesday, September 23rd we went to see the specialist. The doctor was very nice and made us feel very comfortable. They did a scope of her upper airway and larynx and determined that she had laryngomalacia and acid reflux. She was very upset during the scope (a tube went up her nose and down the back of her throat) but they did let me hold her. The doctor was very quick with the procedure and confident with his results. The doctor wants to monitor her but thinks she will outgrow the problem by 12 months.