Laryngomalacia

Last Wednesday Gracie had her two month check up and we're happy to report that she has gained two pounds and grown an inch. She is now 11.02 pounds and 23 inches long. Our little girl is healthy and happy, even after having two shots and an oral vaccine.

While we were at the appointment, we mentioned to Dr. Haugen that Gracie is a loud breather, chokes quite often when she's eating and tends to gasp for air. Ryan and I have mentioned it before to both pediatricians while we were still in the hospital and also to Dr. Haugen at Gracie's previous appointments, but everyone had said not to worry and she sounds fine. But that still didn't sit well with Ryan and I. So, we mentioned it again, and Dr. Haugen listened to Gracie breathe one more time, and said that it sounded like she has "Stridor" which is floppy cartilage in Gracie's throat which causes the noises when she breathes. To make sure, Dr. Haugen referred us to Children's Hospital to meet with a specialist.

Thursday afternoon Children's called and said that they wanted to see Gracie ASAP and for us to come in on Friday morning. Ryan thankfully was able to get the day off, even at such short notice. First, Children's Hospital is FANTASTIC!! We had been there before for Payton when she was 4 months old. Children's Hospital is full of super friendly doctors and nurses and definitely make you feel comfortable, not scared.

In order for the doctor to see what was causing Gracie to have noisy breathing, they had to put a scope up her nose and down into her throat. Gracie sat on my lap while the doctor inserted the small camera. She did really well considering how uncomfortable that must have been! She cried towards the end, but thankfully it only took 15 seconds.

Well.. Dr. Haugen was right, Gracie has Stridor, also known as Laryngomalacia. When Gracie breathes in, there is floppy larngeal tissue that blocks her opening of her airway. The collapse of the tissue into her airway causes non-smooth air flow which then makes her have a low-pitched fluttering noise. Thankfully it's something that she should grow out of, but if it's still happening later down the road (18-24mo), they can do a simple surgical procedure to remove the excess cartilage.

With the Laryngomalacia Gracie sucks harder to feed, which causes her to swallow more air, produces more gas which makes her vomit and be more spitty. This also is often associated with acid reflux. So, we need to keep Gracie laying at a 45 degree angle when sleeping and keep her propped up after feeding. All of this now makes sense on why she loves to be sitting up rather than laying and why she gets so fussy towards the end of the day with all of that gas! The dr said that's probably why she loves to sleep in her swing or carseat since she's propped and not acid-y.

click on the picture to enlarge

Here's a diagram on what's happening inside of Gracie. Poor girl! She's still a happy little girl and we're glad we know that her breathing will become easier as she grows!