Phinehas’s CT Scan was this morning and it went great! Really, I was so thrilled with how well it went.
We couldn’t feed him after midnight, which I was worried about because when he wakes up in the morning, he gets a bottle. That’s just how we live life. Since I knew that couldn’t happen this morning, I woke him up last night at 11:30 p.m. to do a bottle. I think he was confused, but when mom puts a bottle in your mouth, you just start sucking! He took most it and then went right back to sleep.
We had to leave for the hospital at 6:15 and my plan was to wait as long as possible before waking him up. But he woke up on his own around 5:30. Uh oh! Changed him and then started entertaining him in the hopes of taking his mind off not getting a bottle. Seemed to work!
At the hospital, the nurses were great. They all loved him because he’s just sooo cute (of course!) and he was in a great mood, smiling and laughing.
They did sedate him, but that just involves a liquid drink that helps him to sleep. So nice that it didn’t involve needles or an IV or gas! I rocked him for about 10 minutes while he fell asleep and made sure he was really asleep. Laid him on the rolling bed and then Jeff went with him to the CT Scan. Took 15 minutes tops and they were back.
They got the images that they needed. Phinehas slowly woke back up about 15-20 minutes later. We gave him just a couple of ounces of water. Waited a few minutes to see how he would handle that. Since he did just fine, we gave him some formula. He wanted more, but we were hesitant. He seemed to accept that and then we left!
We got the results even before we left the hospital. The pediatrician called and said that it showed “mild to mid” craniosynostosis, so the recommendation is to see a pediatric craniofacial surgeon. We have an appointment for January (the earliest we could get in). If he recommends surgery, we’ll get a second opinion first. The hospital was great enough to make us a CD of the CT Scan so it will make it very easy to get another opinion. (Which the CD is pretty darn cool – you can play around with it and see different views of his skull. Fascinating!)
The effects of the sedation are: he might be more sleepy than normal. He might be less sleepy than normal. He might be more hungry than normal. He might be less hungry than normal. He will definitely be more gassy. And we should expect “one really messy diaper”. He might not have good balance or head control today, so be careful with that. He’s actually been sleeping for 2 hours, so that’s pretty darn good for him!
Praising God that this went so much better than I feared!
