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“His MiniONE® Balloon Button has kept him healthy through it all. He was able to grow and get stronger while he practiced drinking and I am thankful for it every day!”
– Eli’s Mom
After Eli was born, everything seemed normal. He had a little jaundice, but otherwise he was healthy. Then, soon after, I noticed his cry started to sound different, so I asked about it. They said he probably had gas, but throughout the night it sounded worse, so I kept asking until they sent someone in from the respiratory department. She said she thought she heard something, but it was probably nothing. I asked to see a pediatrician anyways. His cry continued to get weaker until you could hardly hear him. After the doctor came in, Eli was transferred to a children’s hospital three hours away where he was diagnosed with mild laryngomalacia. Laryngomalacia is a condition where the larynx is floppy and falls into the airway making it difficult to breathe, cry, and eat. Most kids that are born with it have a mild case and it does not cause any medical or feeding issues. They usually grow out of it by the time they are one year old.
We were able to take him home thinking he would just grow out of it. He was strictly breastfed and it was becoming increasingly harder to feed him. He would breastfeed on and off all day, coughing, and sometimes vomiting. Eli’s doctor placed him on a reflux medication, but it didn’t help. After eating he would have difficulty breathing, would cry for hours, his breathing would pause throughout the night, and he always sounded congested as if he was sick. We took him to everyone we could think of. We took him to the ER, the pediatrician, and a lactation consultant. We were told it was just his condition or that my let down was too fast and he was doing great at breastfeeding.
It continued to get worse, so I sent his gastroenterologist a message begging for her to help. I told her everything that was happening. The gastroenterologist had him re-admitted for two weeks to the children’s hospital where they performed a sleep study and a swallow study. After these tests, it was determined he had central and obstruction sleep apnea and was aspirating.
He was immediately given an ng tube while we waited for a g-tube to be placed. Once he had his tube placed, the crying almost immediately stopped and we got to take him home. Since he was unable to eat or drink anything by mouth, he had a MiniONE® Balloon Button placed to provide the nutrition he needed. He started therapy and eventually we were able to start trying to introduce foods. The first time he was able to try baby food it felt like Christmas. He tried pureed bananas and he loved every bit of it. Even now his favorite food is bananas.
Eli is currently eating completely by mouth. He is still in therapy to work on consuming liquids and that is his last obstacle to overcome before he can have his tube taken out. I am happy to say that Eli has outgrown the laryngomalacia and his breathing is now better. His MiniONE® Balloon Button has kept him healthy through it all. He was able to grow and get stronger while he practiced drinking and I am thankful for it every day!
