This is part four of Autumn’s story. The rest of her story can be found here:
part one, part two, and part three
Although Autumn’s pregnancy, labor, and delivery were uneventful, her second child had them on their toes since birth. There were many unknowns and scary moments. The pediatrician believed it was allergies and allergy testing would provide some answers. But Autumn wondered if there was more going on. There were so many things that didn’t feel right, like random puzzle pieces that didn’t belong anywhere.
The red rash
First, there was the rash he was born with, it was red, scaly and covered most of his body. It was initially written off as ETN: But it wasn’t. Then it was attributed to a dairy allergy. However, when he was put on a hypoallergenic hydrolyzed formula, the rash didn’t go away or even improve. This was strange since most people Autumn talked to had said as soon as they started their child on a hypoallergenic formula, their rashes improved. So why didn’t her son’s rash get better?
The lack of interest in food
The second and most puzzling was his lack of interest in food. He never put food in his mouth. He never even attempted to reach out and grab food. And when it was time to introduce solid foods into his diet, he didn’t want it.
For Autumn, this was a red flag. His behavior certainly wasn’t typical. Babies show SOME interest in eating so why was her son not interested? However, as was consistent throughout her story, the pediatrician dismissed Autumn’s concerns even when Autumn begged for intervention such as feeding therapy. The pediatrician remained adamant and refused to send any referrals until after Autumn’s son turned one. This delay meant by the time he was finally seen, he was almost 18 months.
The crying
The third and most problematic was his colic, especially at night. In fact, he never slept through the night. He always seemed uncomfortable and woke up crying several times. The only way to soothe him was to bounce him. And as he grew, this became physically harder for Autumn to do without her arms fatiguing. She had to resort to using an exercise ball to bounce him. This was the only way she could get him to stop crying and go back to sleep.
The crying disrupted so much of their lives. It got to the point the only way for Autumn to get any sleep was to spend the night in her son’s room. But it wasn’t the crying that bothered Autumn because babies cry all the time, it was the fact it sounded like he was in pain or extreme discomfort. It wasn’t the typical fussy baby cry.
There wasn’t anything tangible Autumn could produce to show he was in pain, it was her intuition telling her. Unfortunately, gut feelings don’t really count in the medical world. So she recorded her son’s nighttime crying and presented it to the pediatrician to show how much distress he was in. Unfortunately, Autumn’s concerns were dismissed, and the crying was blamed on teething, gas, night terrors, etc.
Still thinking horses
This is one of the most frustrating parts of Autumn’s journey. If the doctors had taken the time to put all the clues together and LISTENED to what Autumn was telling them, it clearly pointed to more than just allergies. But all the medical professionals insisted on only thinking horses.
Two years later when they finally got a diagnosis Autumn would realize she was right all along and all her concerns were valid. But at this stage of her journey, the doctors were hoping the allergist would be able to provide some answers.