Results from the doc!

Well, we got a call yesterday morning saying that Dr. Hatch had a death in the family and needed to cancel Alaric's doctor's appointment for today. It would be a few weeks before we could get in....unless we could get there in the next hour! So- we hurried to get ready, woke up Mara from her nap and jumped in the car. I'm so glad we did!

Dr. Hatch was wonderful-very detailed, asked lots of questions, really listened. We were with him for over an hour- unheard of in our HMO world.

He did a short physical exam where we learned Alaric has an embilical hernia ( outie belly button) that still hasn't closed on it's own. He also described our little booger as a bit scrawny ( he has very low percentiles for height and weight)

We've set up a constipation plan of action increasing his fiber intake, lowering his juice intake, continuing with his full dose of Miralax and beginning to keep a journal of his bowl movements ( I know it's thrilling for you all), struggles, and our concerns.

When he did a family history of his experiences in the NICU ( which included an intestinal infection on day 20 of life) and the medical history of both of our families, he did have some concerns-specifically with the large number of Auto Immune Diseases, most importantly Celiac's Disease.

So, here's the plan...

Do a full Nutritional Blood Analysis ( Liver Ensymes, etc) so we have a baseline to start from for future comparisons.

Do a Celiac's screening-blood test. Based on the results of this screening will determine if more tests will be needed. We'll know in 10 days.

Come in for another appointment in 7 weeks.

If the blood tests and celiac's test come back normal, there are still a few options for other testings but we are starting with the least invasive at this time ( see story below about the lab experience).

We feel GREAT about Dr. Hatch and getting him on our team. He was wonderful to work with and we feel really good about our plan for now.

Thanks everyone for your prayers! We'll keep you updated!

***A TRIP TO THE LAB! While I ran out of the hospital to get to a meeting, Brian stayed behind with Alaric to do his bloodwork. He has had his blood drawn before for his allergy tests. Although there were some cries, he didn't know what was happening so I was able to keep his mind occupied with the process of unwrapping a sucker and presenting it to him. Not this time. Bri was challenged with the logistics of holding Alaric's arms down, opening a sucker, and being a supporter. The technician got the first line in, Alaric saw it, freaked out and pulled it out of his arm- SCREW THE SUCKER- he was pissed and began screaming. With the support of another technician, they tried the other arm and got the line in and the blood drawn as quickly as possible. He ended up getting a pile of Lighting McQueen stickers, a sucker, and a trip to McDOnalds ( what we do for our kiddos). When I saw his hours later, there was no more drama- just stickers to show and his story about pulling out on of his 'shots'. Brian was exhausted! We hope to be done with that for awhile!