That Darn Ruffle Dress

 

The dreaded think of a baby curse has struck again, it seems like every time I consider trying to get pregnant something happens which puts my plans on the back burner.....
It started innocently enough early yesterday afternoon while shopping for some new clothes for Maxwell, across the store my eyes became glued to a beautiful toddler sized yellow retro ruffle dress that resembled what I always imagined a daughter of mine wearing.
 I debated about buying it just to have, to put away as a wish for the future - I left the store with the notion that I would return for the dress after Maxwell's appointment with the allergist.
The intent of the appointment for Maxwell was to do a scratch test and see if Max tested positive for a cow milk protein allergy. His test was negative but within a few hours his face broke out in blisters so as instructed we need to return on Monday. The intended test was actually the most minor part of our visit, the doctor checked out Maxwell and me and asked random questions such as is Maxwell clingy, accident prone, prone to tiredness, does he get bluish tinged lips and he asked me to show him a picture of Dom.
This seemed very strange to me given that he was an allergist but I would later find out that he is also a pediatrician.
We went over all  of Maxwell's medical history stemming all the way back to my anatomy scan during pregnancy where I got called back in because they needed a second look at his heart. We discussed his unexplained seizure episode which landed him in the hospital as an infant, his hearing loss, his gastrointestinal problems, his lactase deficiency, his failure to thrive diagnosis and subsequent weight issues.
He went through all of Maxwell's tests and proceedures and he was very annoyed to see that he didnt have a chest x-ray or ECG while in the hospital this past winter.
He went on to explain that Maxwell has a chest deformity called Pectus Carinatum and a heart murmur, I had always thought that Maxwell's chest stuck out simply because he was thin.... apparently I was wrong, this deformity gets worse with age and at the least requires bracing and at its worst corrective surgery.
He went on to explain that until now multiple doctors have all been exploring Maxwell's symptoms individually but perhaps they should be considered together and possible syndromes should be investigated.
First thing this morning we went to the hospital for an X-ray and an ECG along with some other heart related test. I confirmed that a referal was sent to pediatric cardiology and the doctor sent a referal to genetics (which will take months). At the end of the month at Max's weight check up we will be discussing heading over to orthotics to get fitted for a chest brace.
You see.... again this is clearly not the time for a pregnancy, not only will Maxwell have some medical issues to deal with (in conjuction with the issues faced by Kurt, Riddick and Nick) but if he indeed has a genetic syndrome then we will have to do genetic testing on our frozen embryos prior to transfer.
Its always something around here.........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectus_carinatum