At the same time Owen developed a condition called pyloric stenosis which is a tightening and lengthening of the pylorus muscle at the base of the stomach. This caused his stomach to empty very slowly which meant he was always full. He would take a bottle, but would projectile vomit most of it during the course of the feeding or immediately after. At first we thought it was a poor adjustment to being on all formula due to my infection. We also tried different bottles thinking he was getting too much air. Then we thought it had to be acid reflux. The morning he vomitted onto our nightstand and the floor while I was holding him on the bed was when we finally called and made a doctor's appointment (although we had talked them several times throughout the course of the week). I went in thinking for sure that we'd switch to another formula or leave with medicine for acid reflux and I left only to head to Memorial Regional hospital with my 3 week old for an ultrasound which confirmed the diagnosis of pyloric stenosis. I was immediately put on the phone with the peditrician who saw us and told to go to St. Mary's that they would do a direct admittance into the hospital and that Owen would be needing surgery to correct the problem. I managed to maintain my composure until I got to my car at which point I lost control. I called Chris who was out of town in Lynchburg and told him (through hyperventilating cries) to come home and then I called my mom who took off from work (thank you Mom) and rode with me to take Owen to the hospital since Chris had to meet us there. My dad met us there too with dinner and caught the doctors and nurses off guard for a minute since he was in his police uniform and often works security in the ER at St. Mary's.
Owen was becoming increasingly lethargic and was extrememly dehydrated upon getting to our room on the pediatric floor. They had to put an IV in his arm. Poor guy...it took 3 tries, but they finally got it. We were told it would be a very long night and he would probably cry through most of it. The nurses suggested that we take turns holding and comforting him. It wasn't the easiest night, but he slept through most of it! Our sweet Owen. The nurses said they had never seen a baby with this condition be so calm. The next morning Owen had his surgery. Again, I was a wreck at the thought of my brand new baby who I already loved so much being put to sleep with anesthesia...what if he didn't wake up? I cried and cried that morning. All the grandparents were there with us to help us through. Owen did great and the surgery was laproscopic-the incisions looked like tiny scratches on the surface of his skin. He was wide eyed when we walked back into the room to see him.
We thought we'd be going home in no time as we missed Hannah immensely. I felt very torn leaving her in someone else's care at such a young age, but I couldn't bear to have Owen at the hospital without his mommy. Anyways, to be able to leave the hospital Owen had to keep down pedialyte, then a half and half mixture of formula and pedialyte, and then all formula over the course of 6 feedings. Everytime he spit up we had to start over. The poor little guy had not eaten anything in a day and half! He had trouble keeping down the formula and we got stuck at the half and half combination for a couple of feedings and then the doctor wanted us to take a break for 6 hours and give his body more time to heal and then start the process over again. We finally were able to make it through the feedings without spitting up by holding him upright for an hour or so after each feeding. We were exhausted! We spent a total of 4 nights and 5 days in the hospital with Owen. I am so grateful to all of our family who helped out with Hannah and took care of us and to my mom and my mother in law for putting up our Christmas decorations. We were so happy when we finally got to bring Owen back home and be together with Hannah again.
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