Heart Issues Again????

Rhett has been sleeping alot lately, and I have noticed that when I give him his bottle he takes 4 or 5 sucks then starts panting. He is struggling and I don't know why. I hooked him up to his pulse ox while he was drinking his bottle last night and his sats are dropping to around 89 when he is trying to drink his bottle. Something is going on but I don't know what.

He hasn't really eaten much of anything since he had RSV other than his bottles of pediasure. Now he is only drinking maybe two six ounce bottles a day. He is still eating some crackers, but that's it.

The thing that gets me, is that he acts totally fine when he is awake. He doesn't act extra tired or out of breath when he is playing and stuff. He is sleeping up to 12 to 14 hours a night, and taking 2 1/2 to 3 hour naps in the afternoon.

I know, why am I complaining right? I just feel like something is going on.

I don't know if I should take him in. I worry about his heart. His bradychardia episodes are becoming more frequent, and this sleeping so much just isn't him. It's so hard to find that fine balancing act of when something is wrong. He is so tough.

I can take him in to the doctor for a well child check and he will have ear infections in both ears and a massive sore throat, and he has acted perfectly fine. He has to be really sick for him to complain.

I worry too much I know.

But when your child has been through everything that Rhett has, you realize that the best thing to do is to catch things fast.

Although his heart has been fixed there are still a few things we are watching for.

1. He has leakage from his mitral valve....which could get worse over time requiring a new valve.

2. He has a pocket of fluid around his heart that has never gone away. I can't remember the big fancy name for it, but the only way of getting rid of it is putting a needle in his chest to remove it. Which is only temporary. It will eventually build up again. But if he were having issues with this, he would have Tachychardia, (high heart rate) not Bradychardia (slow heart rate).

3. He has a right bundle branch blockage in his heart. (The bundle branches are a significant part of the electrical portion of the heart.)

4. No body can explain his episodes of Bradychardia, other than it is just him. He is beating in sinus rhythm for now. But it is being watched very close.

Funny thing to me is that he never had it before they did chest compressions on him. I'm not a doctor, but I am observant, and I am freakishly adamant about watching monitors when he is hooked up to them. He was in that hospital for 4 days before he was overdosed, and he was hooked up all the time. He NEVER had a Bradychardia episode the whole time.

Not until after he coded. Now he has them all the time. Can anyone explain that to me?

Anyways, when I think of him struggling to drink his bottle, my thoughts always go to his heart. He struggled when he was a newborn with it just as he is doing now. I guess rather than sitting here typing away at the computer I should call the doctor and go through the never ending routine of chest xrays, blood work, EKG's, and questions.

Putting it down on my blog is more for my own sake than anyone else. I have to write it all down so I can see if I am missing anything. This blog is my lifesaver. So pay no attention to my ramblings, it's probably just an overly protective mom freaking out over nothing.

UPDATE.........

I called and talked to the cardiologist and bright and early Monday morning we are headed up to Primary Children's Medical Center for some tests, with the understanding that if he gets any worse, or shows any more symptoms we are to take him up there to the ER.

Guess what Monday is? My Birthday. Happy Birthday to Me.