Eli and the Luscious Melon

It has been just one thing after another around here lately. I'm not sure if it's the added responsibility of having an infant in the house, or just a phase of life, but as soon as one issue is resolved, another comes up. Luke has struggled with sleeping through the night for months and months. I think I've consistently whined about this issue, but we finally exhausted all of our creative resources for getting him back to sleep. We decided to visit a sleep specialist. After blood work and a sleep study, the diagnosis is extremely low iron stores, which causes frequent leg movement and lots of night waking. While we are grateful that he doesn't have apnea, we are now facing many months of daily supplements in an effort to raise his iron levels.

Given our track record of late, it was no surprise to me that Eli's pediatric appointment would result in yet another health issue. The pediatrician came in the room, took one look at the growth chart and did a double take regarding the size of Eli's head. Not only is it gynormous, but he has shot to the top of the growth chart since our last appointment in January. That is tremendous growth in a very short amount of time. He needs an MRI to evaluate the fluid levels in his brain. Perhaps there is a blockage preventing fluid from circulating properly, which would cause some swelling. The treatment for this is a shunt. Ugh.

It's my personal opinion, carefully dressed in denial, I'm sure, that he comes from a long line of giant noggins and everything will be just fine. However, every time he cries a little more than he should, I can't help but wonder if he's in pain. Does it hurt when your head grows that quickly? Are there symptoms we should be aware of that aren't readily apparent? These are the things we're pondering this week, while bribing Luke to take his iron supplements.