Visit with Dr. Saba

I asked Dr. Saba about Wyatt's funny tailbone today. He has these creases above his butt crack I haven't seen on anyone else before. Dr. Saba told us it was a Y-shaped gluteal crease. Sometimes they are harmless, sometimes they are formed when the nerves at the end of the spinal cord are tethered instead of free-floating. The only way to know for sure is to do an MRI.

Dr. Malhotra had also suggested an MRI at various times, but didn't think it was that necessary at this point and probably not worth the risk. So, hearing this from Dr. Saba was something of a surprise. I didn't think such a simple thing like a funny looking tailbone could potentially be so serious. I am curious why Dr. Malhotra didn't mention the possibility of tethered nerves to us. I just keep thinking that with so many things going wrong, Wyatt must have some kind of a syndrome of some sort. It just seems to coincidental or maybe it's just the prematurity thing. I don't know. Anyway, we don't have to make a decision on the MRI right now. It involves sedation, which is obviously risky in an infant, which is why Dr. Malhotra thinks the risks outweight the benefits.

It turns out that Wyatt doesn't meet whatever criteria it is that they have for Synergis. He isn't premature enough, he doesn't have heart disease. I don't know what else. I specifically asked if that meant he is not at high risk for getting RSV and if we could put him in the day care center. Dr. Saba still thinks that the child care center is a bad idea. So does Dr. Shay. So, we are kind of screwed right now.

His feedings were going OK until today. He hasn't eaten much at all today. It has been hard to feed him he's been fussing and screaming most of the day. I would blame in on the vaccines, but it isn't totally atypical for him to behave like this. He gained 4oz from last Wednesday which is OK, but we didn't bottle feed him exclusively the whole time. Probably too soon to say if it is going well or not.

I asked about giving him rice cereal because I read that can help with reflux and she agreed sometimes it does. The issue would be how to give it to him since he has a hard enough time eating by bottle. They don't generally recommend giving by bottle. Usually children are fed by spoon. We could try by spoon, but it might be a little early for Wyatt. He doesn't sit up. Typically she recommends waiting until 6 months (and that would be chronological age, not adjusted) before starting any solids, but she knows that for it does help with reflux. She suggested we ask the craniofacial team what their thoughts are when we go in next week.

Our next appointment is in January when he is 6 months. We have a PT appointment scheduled for Thursday. We will be going to the High Risk Infant Clinic some time in January as well.