After reading my first post, I realized I hadn't given any background info on Finnan. "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start." That was for all of you Sound of Music fans out there. Just kidding.
My pregnancy with Finnan was anything but average. We were trying to get pregnant for what seemed like forever. In actuality, it was only about 7 months. I had what is known as "HG" or Hyperemesis Gravidarum, we all know it as severe morning sickness. It was bad. Really bad. I was working in NY and taking the subway to and from work everyday. Which normally isn't such a big deal, but the morning sickness and movement did not make for a pleasant commute. The first time I threw up in my purse, I decided a gallon Ziploc bag might be something I needed to keep handy. On the weekends I stayed in bed. All day. My husband and I were sharing a house with a bunch of our guy friends. I will be forever grateful for their kindness and understanding during this time. They put up with my mood swings as well as my morning sickness.
I couldn't eat for the first 6 weeks without getting sick. I drank a lot of Gatorade. It was the only thing that worked. I got a cold during this time as well and went to see my GP. He suggested I go to my OBGYN immediately and tell them about the sickness. I thought I had to deal with being sick. I didn't realize there were medications to help make it a bit more bearable. My OBGYN wouldn't see me until I was 8 weeks along. So I dealt 2 more weeks with the HG. At exactly 8 weeks, I had a seizure. On the subway no less. On my way to work. I was taken out by stretcher and what seemed like 50 FDNY & NYPD officers in the middle of Times Square. I remember hearing "The train has been delayed due to an ill passenger." Humiliating. I couldn't speak without gagging. A man working at the stop came over and gave me a Dunkin' Donuts napkin and a pen and asked who he could call for me. I wrote "My Hus 347-539....". I was then taken to St. Luke's where I waited. I was by this time very late for work and hadn't spoken to anyone I knew. I asked the nurse where my husband was and she handed me her cell phone and said "Call him!" I thought for sure we'd lost our baby. Smooch showed up. He held my hand, tears in his eyes, and said "is everything OK? Is the baby- OK?" At that point I didn't know. A nurse came in with an Ultrasound machine and that was the first time we heard Finnan's enormous heart. Beating. He was fine. He was more than fine. He was strong.
I went to see my OBGYN regularly. Due to my medical history I was also seeing a Perinatologist. We fondly referred to him as "Dr. Nudiebar". He was an angel. I actually looked forward to my visits with him. He really cared about my well being as well as my baby's. I was prescribed Zofran in tablet form. And on my frequent visits to the ER, it was given intravenously. I was always dehydrated. No matter what I drank or ate it seemed to just disappear. For that reason, I was hospitalized quite regularly. It stunk! Smooch would come and spend the weekends with me in the hospital. He and his friends would bring me Outback takeout. When I had the meds through an IV I felt like a million bucks! Then I'd go home.
When I was finally able to eat, all I wanted was watermelon. I would eat 2 whole watermelon's a day. Then I moved on to Green grapes. I could eat a few pounds of those a day. Then I moved on to Pizza. Which I normally am not a fan of. But, I would eat 1and a half large Pepperoni Pizzas. The guys would get home from practice, see a Pizza box and say "Great! Pizza!'' Yeah, there wasn't any pizza. Finnan and I had eaten it. Then I moved on to Burgers. I don't even like Red meat. But, again that's what we wanted, Finnan and I. So my friend Brian and I would try different Burgers from around town. We finally settled on Applebees. They were the best.
Smooch and I ended up moving out around the middle of our second trimester to our own place. We had a nice apartment and some really crazy hoarding neighbors. But it was our first place together. We prepared for our baby's arrival. At the time, we thought Finnan was a girl. Her name was Campbell. We were looking forward to Campbell's arrival. Ha! On one of our visits to the ER, a different Ultrasound tech performed the sonogram to check on Campbell. We always got the same girl when we went. It didn't matter what time of the day or night we went, she was there. However, this time it was different. She asked if we knew what we were having and Smooch replied "Yes, a little girl." She said "No..." Smooch said "Yes, its a little girl." She says " Do you see this? Little girls don't have these." I never saw Smooch jump so high. Not that he didn't want a little girl, he just didn't want her to be the first. She needed protection. She needed a big brother. Campbell was infact Finnan.
At one of my regular visits the doctor said "Hmmm...your fluid is low. Its very low actually." Then there was a long pause and he said "The baby's head is quite large. Get changed and meet me in my office." I was FREAKING! He sat me down and told me I was on immediate bed rest. Strict bed rest. If my fluid didn't come up I'd be put on hospitalized bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy. I went home and told Smooch. What had I done? I read the books. I did exactly what they said. I was seeing 2 doctors. Why did this just pop up all of a sudden? In my mind, trying to figure this out, I had myself convinced that all of the amniotic fluid that was supposed to be protecting my baby had found its way into his head. That's why my fluid was so low and his head was so big. I stayed on bed rest for 6 weeks. It was horrible. I couldn't cook, clean, socialize, sit on the couch, get the mail. Nothing.
My fluid did not go back up. Finnan was born at 36 weeks via C-section. He was 6 lbs. 1 oz. He was healthy. He was jaundiced, but otherwise fine. On our 2nd day in the hospital Finnan became possessed. He would projectile vomit across the room. We had to supplement with special formula. Finnan had GERD. Nothing uncommon, just one more thing Finnan had to deal with in his little life.
Finnan received all of his vaccinations on time and I was not afraid to call the Dr. if I suspected something was wrong with him or had questions about his care. During one of our visits to the Pediatrician, she commented that his head was above average for his age. On his growth chart, his head was always on a curve of its own. It was in the 96th percentile. She wanted to do a CAT scan. This would be the first of many. Finnan's results came back and I remember the doctor saying " Everything looks fine, they noted something on the report, but said that its probably a technical issue with the machine." Last year while going through Finnan's medical records, I came across the report which clearly stated "Absence of the Septum Pellucidum. Possible technical issue with machine." I was sick to my stomach.
Finnan had been going every 6 months for scans because of his head size. At one visit the Dr. said that due to the excess fluid around Finnan's brain, we would either have to put a shunt in to drain the fluid down his spinal column or he could wear a helmet to put a little pressure on it and push it out. It didn't have to be done right now as his fontanels had not started to close. But if the fluid was still an issue when they did, we needed to have a plan. Of course we were going the helmet route. It was gonna be the coolest helmet ever! The fluid started to go down on its own and thankfully neither option was necessary.
When Finnan was 4 months old, we found out we were expecting again. We decided to make a change. We wanted a different lifestyle for our growing family. I posted my resume online. I had a few offers out of state, but the best came from New Orleans. My family was close so it just seemed like the right place to go. Finnan and I moved down and started to get to know the area. We lived with my brother and his wife for a month until we were able to move into our house. Finnan was really sick. I mean really sick. He was throwing up all the time, had horrible sinus issues, ear aches, coughing. You name it he had it. I just thought it was because of where we came from. These must be allergies. The humidity and new vegetation had to be the cause. At around 18 months old, I asked Finnan's pediatrician to test him for allergies. He'd just discovered pizza and spaghetti and always had gastrointestinal issues after. I swore he was allergic to tomatoes. Turns out it was milk! To be more specific, it was Casein. Casein is a milk protein. He was off of milk completely. This is when I got my first degree from Google University. It was in Milk Allergies. I spent a lot of time at Whole Foods and health food stores. Finnan didn't like any of the milk options. He stopped drinking anything white or creamy. Even chocolate milk. We switched to OJ with all the extra vitamins. I wanted to make sure he was getting what he needed.
My husband took Finnan to the doctor one day for a cold and cough. He needed relief, so Smooch took him to the doctor. Because he was a walk-in, they saw a different doctor. Not his regular Pediatrician. Smooch mentioned to her that Finnan had been doing some strange things with his head. He would bang his head on anything hard; the kitchen floor, the walls, the car door, the floor in the middle of Target. Didn't matter where we were. He banged his head. He'd also have these outbursts where he'd just start screaming a bunch of jibberish. This doctor suggested a CAT Scan again. She was aware of his history and obviously his head size. We took Finnan for his CAT scan the next week.
Mardi Gras Day 2008 at 8 o'clock in the evening, the phone rang. It was the pediatrician. Smooch had been at the doctors office the day before for Finnan's follow up. He met with the same doctor that was now on the phone. She said "Hi, this is Dr.X. I have the results of Finnan's CAT scan." My heart sank. It was late, she was a doctor, it was Mardi Gras Day. I just knew he had a tumor. She began telling us that Finnan was Absent Septum Pellucidum. Smooch was scribbling on a paper towel what she said and spelling it phonetically. I ran for the lap top while he was still on the phone. It took me a few times to get the spelling correctly, but thanks to Google it wasn't so hard. I found it. I could deal with this. It wasn't life threatening. She apologized for not having spoken to my husband about it the day before, but explained she had never heard of this and needed to speak to colleagues and research more before speaking to us. Smooch was very upset that she didn't tell him when he was there the day before. We now understand how she felt. At the time, there was hardly any info online or in the library about it. She advised that we needed to see a Neurologist, Neurosurgeon, Endocrinologist, Opthamologist, Cardiologist, Urologist, etc. I began making the appointments the next day. Availability for these guys was 6 months out. In the meantime I researched like a fiend. Make that 2 degrees from Google University.
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