More on the Sick Baby...and Is She Sleeping Too Much?

Updated on March 14, 2011
L.L. asks from Austin, MN
6 answers

I won't rewrite all of sweet sick baby's symptoms, but just add the new info.

After seeing her ped yesterday, she decided it could possibly be something called intussucession, which is the telescoping of part of the intestine in on itself. If it is the large intestine, it has to be treated immediately or the tissue can become necrotic and of course, that would be terrible. So, they did an x-ray, found nothing, and sent us to the Er at Mayo.

So, my father in law and I drive her over to Mayo, they do an ultrasound on her tummy, and do not find anything in the large intestine. Doc says that the symptoms STILL sound like this condition, but that if it is in the small intestine they WOULD not be able to locate it except on a fluke and that it would resolve itself on it's OWN within a few weeks.

I can't imagine this taking weeks to resolve, with the random fits of screaming and thrashing and you can just tell that one minute she's fine and the next she is SO MISERABLE.

Now today, she was awake maybe two hours TOTAL. Ten months old, has not been MISSING any sleep, and yet all she wanted to do today was nurse and sleep, nurse and sleep...that's it. She's on her sixth day with no solid foods, where she is used to eating three meals a day.

I just don't know what to do, because they just left it at "oh, if it's this it'll get better on it's own." What if that is NOT what it is? And should I be concerned that she slept all day? No new symptoms, just the random fits...and by random, I mean every half hour or so, and she'll have okay moments throughout the day where she'll play for only about ten minutes, and then go off again.

Also, these are not regularly bouts of fussiness...this is body thrashing, head whipping and banging, screaming and crying...for five minutes to half an hour, and then she's okay again.

Guess I'm just looking for further ideas and advice, because when you have your child at the Er at MAYO and they can't do better than "oh, if it's this, if it's not then what?" it worries me.

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So What Happened?

Just want to thank everyone for your advice and to state (so thankfully) that with as much prodding as has been done on her poor baby tummy, she has begun to improve and is finally eating and smiling again (what a scary time this has been. I mean, to have such a sweet smiley baby who all of a sudden, you haven't seen smile in a week...). Further review with both the docs at Mayo and our own clinic suggest that indeed it is intussuscession (I just can never tell if I am spelling that right) of the lower intestine and that it has begun to resolve itself. She had a few fits yesterday and today, but they were far less severe, and as I said, she began eating again.

I am so grateful for everyone's support through all of this past week with the sick baby and all the other drama, and I hope everyone has a great night! My mood is lifted, finally, because my baby smiled at me all day today. :)

More Answers

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R.Y.

answers from New York on

I agree with the other post, try a children's hospital ER if you can. The obvious signs she is in pain with no explanation is worrisome. My sense from reading this post is that your mother's intuition is saying something isn't right. Follow your intuition. I'm not usually a worrier but something here doesn't sound right.

I have had my children sleep extra if they are sick or had not slept well when sick the night before. The same with eating. They might not eat much when sick and then eat a lot when they start feeling better. A 10 month old can probably get by just nursing for a few days is she is sick (she is getting nutrition and fluids). (My 2 year old will still drink a lot of milk and just pick at her food when she is not feeling well or teething.) But it is something to pay attention to if she has other symptoms as well and they don't seem to be improving.

3 moms found this helpful

M..

answers from Ocala on

I am so sorry that you and your daughter are going through this.
I will pray for her.
If I was in your shoes I would find a childrens hospital near my home and take her there.
I pray that she will be fine and that you all can get some peace and rest.

God Bless.

3 moms found this helpful

P.M.

answers from Honolulu on

If it is an Intussusception in the small intestines, it would cause her random bouts of discomfort (think of a terrible gas bubble or cramp) but the severity of symptoms she shows would 100% make me get a second opinion. Her demonstrations of her pain level include head banging, which leads me to believe she is in quite a lot of discomfort. That, combined with all the sleeping she is doing, makes it sound like she is getting worn out. I am not surprised at all that she doesn't want to eat, because then that food has to get processed through the intestine. Go with your instinct on this one mom, I am not one to normally go against the doctors but they may be missing something. Maybe see if you can get into a GI specialist this week? Good luck!

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A.C.

answers from Madison on

I agree with the poster who stated you should videotape your daughter the next time she has an episode, so the doctor(s) at Mayo and Children's Hospital can see her distress and know that it isn't because you're an overanxious mother.

If, however, you take your daughter back and they still can't figure out what's wrong--think about taking her to a Naturopathic doctor, preferrably one who specializes in children. It will be more expensive, granted, but sometimes, they can help when allopathic medicine fails. Especially because they're looking at the whole person and not for a specific disease. And I've found that they "listen" to you a lot more than a doctor does.

If your daughter is still displaying such harsh measures of pain (banging/thrashing head, thrashing body) and she hasn't eaten solid foods for 6 days--there is definitely a problem there. But until you either have your daughter at the doctors when she's displayed the symptoms or you catch them on video, the doctors won't take you seriously. And I don't think intussessucession (sp), either, because if she hasn't been eating solids for 6 days, then there isn't anything in the colon for the colon to move/work on the food--so the bowel shouldn't be "eating itself up" or "going inside itself." That's what I personally think, but I don't know how the bowels work. If, however, there's already dead tissue in there...then yes, she would be having major pain. And I don't think the "dead tissue" stops once it starts, either. It (the diseases/dead bowel) has to be removed.

If you have not read the article on intussusception on Wikipedia, I urge you to. The recommendation is to do an ultrasound as well as an x-ray. If they haven't done an ultrasound of the entire bowel area, I would seriously raise the roof and ask to have it done. While the article does state that about 80% of the intussusceptions will diminish on their own, they still need a little help from the doctors and a few interventions (like barium or sodium enema), but if it can't be resolved or the intestine is damaged, then surgery is called for.

I hope you get it figured out, so the issue gets resolved and your daughter isn't living with so much pain.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.D.

answers from Minneapolis on

Since I am in Minnesota and I have been to both Children's and Mayo, I have gotten the same advice at both places. What you should do is if you can videotape her and show the doctors what she is doing, go to a GI doctor and see what they have to say. Good Luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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L.P.

answers from Pittsfield on

Take her back to the ER today if she isn't any better. Maybe they need to do more tests or observe her for a longer period of time.

1 mom found this helpful
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