We spent 2 hours in the emergency room today and left with no resolution and little comfort. Here’s the whole story.
Two weeks ago to the day, Andrew had this complete screaming fit. Aunt Laura was here to witness it and we were all very nervous but he had terrible diaper rash and had diarrhea all day, so we figured it was all related. He screamed and thrashed himself around for about 30 minutes, but once the Tyl*enol set in, he was fine.
Two days later (3/4), Lois’ mother had him when he had another fit. She had never called us before and she was panicked. I left work early and we all met at the pediatrician’s office. He, of course, was not crying by the time he got to the doctor.
The pediatrician checked him from head to toe and was pretty confident he was having gas. (I did post about this briefly). We did a “poop smear” test the next day to check for any blood in his stool but it was negative.
The very next day, he had another one. Screaming bloody murder, throwing himself around, totally and completely inconsolable. We called the doctor’s office. The nurse suggested giving him a warm bath, if it was gas, he would calm down. We gave him gas drops and a warm bath and he was fine.
4 days went by before he had another one, we continued with the gas drops and a bath and he calmed down.
A few more days went by and on Tuesday (3/11), he had 2 major ones in one day. The first one lasted almost 1.5 hours. Lois left the grocery store with him, drove 20 minutes to pick up K*n from day care, Andrew screamed bloody-flippin-murder the entire time. The day care staff were all nervous that something was terribly wrong. K*n’s mom, Suz, heard him 2x that day and was sure something was wrong. D (who has 4 kids of her own) told Lois to tape his episodes to show the doctor what he is doing.
He’s been fine since Tuesday. Until today.
This afternoon, he had 2 major ones. We taped a few seconds of the first one to show the doctor. This was after about 30 minutes, after we had walked around with him, tried to give him a binky, a bottle, took him outside, showed him the dog, switched him back and forth between both of us over and over again. Sat down. Stood up. We tried everything.
We had the open house today, so we were hanging out at Laura’s with the girls. When we tried to leave, the second “attack” started. We got nervous and halfway home, we decided to go to the ER and have the girls’ mom pick them up there.
He screamed the entire time the triage nurses were trying to check his stats and one of the nurses seemed really nervous.
Of course, by the time we got in to see the doctor, he was mr. happy child and everything was okay. My BFF (Nurse J) assured me over the phone that I was not overly neurotic (she heard his cries) and that we should try to get an x-ray for peace of mind.
The doctor (a pediatric physician’s assistant) checked his belly, his ears, etc. and said they had no reason to do any tests, he seemed fine. She advised us that he had a molar coming in and that was most likely the cause.
This is his third molar coming in, so I’m pretty sure that teething is not the problem.
But his belly isn’t hard, he is pooping normally so he doesn’t seem to have a blockage or anything. He is eating normal. He doesn’t have a fever. He doesn’t cry when he pees (we know this because he ran off without a diaper on last night and 5 seconds later peed all over his rug. He didn’t cry when he peed, he was actually quite proud of himself)
We have no idea what is wrong. The pediatrician tells us its gas and the ER tells us its his teeth. We feel like assholes for dragging this kid around.
But when I look back at this video, I don’t feel like we are totally nuts.
In the car today, when we decided to go to the hospital, he was looking at Lois as he was screaming and just grabbing at her shirt like “help me!” And we were so freaking helpless.
The timing is inconsistent. It’s always been in the afternoon or evening but sometimes it’s 2 times a day, then nothing for 4-5 days. It’s probably happened 8 times in 14 days.
He has never done this before. When he was 2 months old and gassy/colicky/refluxy, he had similar fits, but the kid is 13 months old. He shouldn’t be having so many gas issues, right?!?!
We haven’t been changing his food. He’s been on whole milk for over 2 months (could it be a milk allergy?!!?)
Our friend D wants us to make an appt. with the pediatrician for Tues. and bring the video with us. Maybe we can just have an ultrasound done or something?!?!!?
ugh. This poor child. We don’t want something to be wrong with him other than gas or teething, but we’re are just not sure that we are buying the answers we’ve been given so far. And we are so exhausted.
Any advice or comments are greatly appreciated.
In other news, we had our open house today on our condo and not one person showed up.
And I have prepared my “personal testimony” for the state judiciary committee tomorrow and I’m taking most of the day off work to go up to H*rtford to do this. Now, I find out that there may be press there and my story may be really good for the media. I am all of a sudden nervous as hell.
And Marlis comes in from Norway on Tues. night.
And I am about 15 hours behind in my hours this month at work.
I don’t think this is going to be a night (or week) with much sleep.
I just hope my poor boy is okay.
cristin said,
March 17, 2008 at 2:40 am
Will he take formula again? If you’re worried that it’s milk could you do a trial run without it? Although, it doesn’t sound like a lactose intolerance because he would have runny diarrhea and major stomach pain around two hours after drinking of eating it. Well, thats my understanding of lactose intolerance as explained by my ped because I was worried my middle son was lactose intolerant (how many times in one comment can I say ‘lactose intolerant’?).
Good luck. It’s heart breaking and terrifying to know there’s something wrong. I’ve been through a lot of scary moments with my three, those things stay with you. Try to be strong.
cristin said,
March 17, 2008 at 2:43 am
Oh my god. I didn’t watch the video before I commented, but I just watched it. Something is bothering that baby. Thats not normal. That is pained crying. I could cry for him and you guys.
I’m sorry. I wish I were more help.
Blondie said,
March 17, 2008 at 3:04 am
No, that’s not normal. He’s not reaching for any part of his body, so it doesn’t seem to be a stomach thing or his ears hurting or anything like that.
Don’t know what to tell you, but I hope you get it figured out soon.
Stephanie said,
March 17, 2008 at 3:06 am
The poor little guy. Yes, there has to be something wrong. If your pediatrician doesn’t agree, then go somewhere else. As for the teeth, that’s what the first ER told us about Bella; we took her to a different hospital and it turns out that she had a UTI and now has to have some test run to be sure there is no blockage. Bottom line…………he’s your child and you know best. Don’t take teeth or gas for an answer.
Good luck and I’ll be thinking about you and your little man.
my cowgirl alter-ego said,
March 17, 2008 at 5:04 am
poor baby. i hope he’s better soon and you guys find out what is going on. hugs to you all.
J said,
March 17, 2008 at 8:42 am
Oh that is so heart breaking to watch. Poor little guy.
I agree with the pp…you know your child best. Don’t settle for gas or teeth.
Wendy said,
March 17, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Poor little one. I wish I knew what to write to make it better for all of you. Keep us updated and I’ll be thinking about you this week.
Jude said,
March 17, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Oh my gosh, that poor baby! I had to stop the video before it got even to half way. I was crying myself. I hope you guys find out what is bothering poor baby Andrew.
Angele said,
March 17, 2008 at 3:21 pm
OMG WOW… the only thing I can think of is acid reflux. Because he has a history of that and he seems to be refusing to want to drink anything for fear of maybe making it worst. I would think that because he’s on solids he may be less likely to spit up but then again I want to spit up when I get it bad like I did this morning.
I have a hard time believing that molars would do that to a kid. The pattern is inconsistant with molars.
I thought maybe growing pains. But this would be a severe case of it indeed.
I might start to see what’s happened or what is done from 1hour down to 15 minutes before he has an episode, sorry I didn’t know what else to call it, and see if you can narrow a pattern to something that might be setting it off or it’s completely random.
Angele said,
March 17, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Also maybe try leaving him on the ground to see what he does. It might be the classic tantrum fits like Riley has once in a blue moon. Tell him your there when he needs you that it’s ok for him to work things out. As long as he’s not hurting himself. It could be a classic tantrum.
KJ and the kids said,
March 17, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I’m so sorry ! It’s hard when you feel like somethings wrong…and you want to fix it and there is nothing that anyone can seem to do.
I hope he feels better.
Stacey said,
March 17, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I was gonna say what Angele said. Riley has done meltdowns like that on some occassions and it’s just been a tantrum. Like yesterday she was way overtired and did the exact same thing. I had to put her down and she’d reach for me but if I did pick her up, she’d push away. Finally I took her in the car and drove for a little so she’d fall asleep (she was having no part of being in her crib and we wanted to go out and have her sleep in the car anyway). Babies have no voices and so they can get very frustrated when they really need/want something (i.e. a nap) but can’t tell you. I wasn’t alarmed by your video like others were as I’ve seen it with Riley. Maybe not as frequently. Can you try and see what is going on before the meltdowns and try and figure out if there is possibly anything that might be setting him off?
Sorry we don’t have answers but I wanted to say that even though some people haven’t experienced it with their little ones, it doesn’t mean that some kids won’t have meltdowns like that and still be healthy. Kids differ so much. {{{andrew and moms}}}
Angele said,
March 17, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Sorry one last post cause we do truly care about this;
A tantrum is an emotional outburst wherein the higher brain functions are unable to stop the emotional expression of the lower (emotional and physical) brain functions. It can be categorized by an irrational fit of crying, screaming, defiance, and a resistance to every attempt at pacification in which even physical control is lost. The person may not stand or sit on their own. Even when the “goal” of the person is met, he or she is not calmed.
“Happiest Toddler On The Block” could explain this behaviour better and it’s all normal. I would however try and observe and remember what is happening or what Andrew is doing just before this happens. DId he want something? Did he get hurt? Is he hungry? Is he tired? Is he over stimulated? Are you stressed out? Cause babies sense more then we know. Is he mad? Is he wet? Is he bored? This one I find huge. Riley gets most tantrums when tired and bored.
ok I’m done littering your blog!!
merr said,
March 17, 2008 at 7:54 pm
OMG! WOW! That was hard to watch, very heart breaking. Poor little guy. I have no clue. I would take him to the doctors and have tests done to rule out anything. Like Stacey and Angele said, could be a tantrum. I know that doesn’t sound like a good answer to you. I have had kids freak out like that, and I just have to put them down and let them deal. I hope you guys can get it figured out. Let us know ASAP!
denise said,
March 17, 2008 at 8:21 pm
You know I couldn’t watch the whoe thing either. You need to maybe get an ultra sound or something. My Cameron is a tantrum guy but he has always banged his head. Please keep us posted.
Kelli said,
March 17, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I know that cry. My foster daughter sounds just like this. She has extreme food/enviromental allergies. Yes this can start all of a sudden with no prior history. My advise would be to have him allergy tested at an allergy clinic, they would be able to give you the results within an hour by doing scratch tests.
Ivy said,
March 17, 2008 at 11:53 pm
One of my twins did this!!! He was diagnosed with pretty severe reflux. Even at 13+ mos. old. We used gas drops in his bottle/milk which helped a little, but after a few doses of Rx prilosec – the screaming fits disappeared.
I sure hope he feels better soon – that seems like an “I’m not feeling well” cry.
rachelle said,
March 18, 2008 at 1:35 am
i sure hope things go better, i feel for you! poor little guy. our drew may have some dairy and egg allergies, and he still burps with “leftovers” … that never quite went away for him. our doc, which we love, gave us a referral to an allergist and i did not even have to fight her for one (we did end up in the er with a swelled face).
hope things go well, and you figure out what it is and how you can make it better.
ps. andrew’s hair is growing in its super cute!
Erin said,
March 18, 2008 at 6:06 am
Oh I’m so sorry. I hope you find out something soon. Mateo has tantrums but they don’t last very long and they’re always triggered by us taking him away from something dangerous or putting him in his crib when we think he’s tired, or something like that. I’m not an expert, but that doesn’t seem like just a tantrum to me (the video). : (
meg said,
March 18, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I am so sorry that you guys are going through this… I am sure it is scary as hell. I hope it gets resolved very soon. and NO you are not neurotic…i would be the exact same way.