Parker illness update and 1 year check-up info and stats...

Well today unfortunately ended up being MUCH more eventful than was wanted or hoped. Parker did very well until we changed his wet diaper at 10:45am. When James opened the diaper we saw what looked like blood in his urine! We were terrified and James instantly went to the Internet to find out if we needed to be seen somewhere right away or could just wait and bring this up at his 1 year check-up that was already scheduled for 3:45 that afternoon. He essentially found out online that it was most likely a urinary tract infection and that we should be seen that day because medication is almost always required to clear it up but that it wasn't urgent that we be seen right away or anything. It made sense to us that we would have a UTI considering his major lack of urination the past few days. We were not however looking forward to him having to get antibiotics but knew we'd do whatever needed to be done to get our poor little guy well again! The rest of the morning/early afternoon went well (Parker slept through most of it) so that was nice for us! :)

The next major event of our day was Parker's check-up. This didn't go nearly as I thought it would! :( At first it was fine, they got his height measured, stripped him down to be weighed and we headed back to the room. Shortly after we got back to the room Parker let out a VERY intense, long cough, followed shortly by none other than MORE THROW UP!! I was starting to wonder if he was EVER going to get well by this point! I feel like this whole week has been a case of 1 step forward, 2 steps back! I was once again the one holding him and was thus covered in vomit for I think the 4th or 5th time since Saturday! Luckily the nurse was very kind and allowed me to wear some scrubs home so I didn't have to wear my yucky clothes anymore! The nurse made notes for Dr. Duff about everything that had happened in the exam room while waiting to be seen by him so he'd know what was going on when he came in.

When he got there he told us that he didn't think that Parker was getting sick again but that a lot of times when babies have gone through this intense illness like Parker has, their little tummies can become almost bloated and very sensitive. He assumed that the throw up was just due to the cough being so strong coupled with the bloated, tight belly. We were RELIEVED to hear that we weren't going to have to start all over with the pedialyte/water regime!

We told Dr. Duff about the "bloody urine" and showed him the diaper, (yes we brought it with us in a ziplock bag so he could see it). Then after he looked at the diaper he explained that he didn't think it was blood due to the fact that it was a brownish/orangish color instead of more of a pink or red. He used some fancy medical term for it that neither James nor myself can remember now but I did find it described in more non-medically terms so I'll copy and paste that info here:

"Newborns and young infants may have wet diapers that appear either orange or pink-tinged. This can be a frightening thing for new parents, because it looks very much as though the child may be bleeding or have blood in his or her urine...However, this may be a sign that some babies, especially older ones, are dehydrated. If the baby isn’t having at least six wet diapers a day, this suggests fluid intake may be too low. When children are not getting adequate fluid they may “hold” their urine and produce darker urine with a higher level of uric acid. If you suspect a child is dehydrated, you should seek medical attention."

...so essentially, Parker was dehydrated so he had a higher level or uric acid in his urine which caused the color to change. Parker had a wet diaper at about 2:45pm that didn't have the brownish/orangish tint to it so Dr. Duff said he wasn't concerned about it since Parker had been taking so much more fluids than he had been. He did say that if it happened again we would need to bring Parker back in along with the soiled diaper so that they could check everything out and make sure he was alright. Anyway, now on to the fun part of the stats from his appointment...

2/26/09 one day after Parker's First Birthday! :)
Head Circumference: 46 1/2 cm (50th percentile)
Height: 29 3/4 inches long (50th percentile)
Weight: 18 lbs. 3 oz. (1 percentile)

Yes you read that right...Parker has dropped to the first percentile so he almost didn't make it on the charts for weight! Obviously his illness played a major role in this but at least he threw up in the office AFTER he had already been weighed! I can't imagine how little he would have weighed if he had thrown up before being weighed and having nothing in his tummy at the time of the weighing! He weighed 18 lbs. 11 3/4 oz. (10th percentile) at 9 months so he weighs 8 and 3/4 oz. LESS than he did 3 months ago! He is exactly 1 inch longer than at his 9 month check up and his head is exactly 1 cm larger than at 9 months. I think his stats will be much different when we go back for his 15 month check up...provided he finally gets and stays well!!