MRI for baby

[elliefant]

My baby has the date for her mri scan (she will just turn 12 months then). The appointment is at 10am and I've been told no food or drink for her from 4am as she is having an anesthetic. The problem is she has a bedtime bottle of milk at 8pm and sleeps through till 7am when she expects her breakfast - so by the time the scan is done and she has recovered it will be over 12 hours since she had anything!!
I was thinking of trying to wake her up at 2/3am and try to get her to drink/eat something - I really don't mind if she takes ages to re-settle as hopefully she will have a lay-in!!
Has any-one been through this if so what worked for you? Any advice for the actual mri would be appreciated as well x

Hi :-) my baby had his MRI last week, as you know. I couldn't find our other thread to update on!!

He had to starve from midnight as we had to get there at 8. I woke him at 11 for a bottle but he didn't take much. He then woke at 3 and cried for hours!!! He settled in the car on the way, then was ok at the hospital.

They took them down in age order so he was first on list as youngest.

Once we got to the hospital, they weighed him etc and out his id bracelet on. We then waited a bit before being taken down to the MRI place. We were taken into a room and the anaesthastist talked to us. We could stay with him till he was asleep. They used the gas to put him to sleep, then out the canula in afterwards. It was heartbreaking leaving him and the 40 mins he was gone felt like forever.

When we were let back in, he was crying and hungry!! We fed him then went to the childrens ward for a couple of hours.

He was a little sleepy for an hour or so but no other effects.

We should get our results this week or next week.

How are you? I'm getting more worried about him now cos he is 8 months soon and still notaking any attempt to sit/ hold objects. His weight is also now way below bottom centile (13lbs)

She may not be happy and it is obviously not ideal but she will be fine to last without food or drink as a one off. When my ds had a general he was allowed to drink water a lot closer to the anaesthetic so had water when he woke up. It might be worth checking whether you could give water at 7am instead of milk (do check though as you don't want them cancelling because of it!). I think I woke him a bit earlier than usual to fit this in but I can't remember if he actually drank any. She will be distracted by getting up and to the hospital. My ds was very grumpy when he woke up from the general (not MRI) and drank a load of water and milk before he felt happier but was then fine and wanted to play.

DD2 had an MRI at 11 months, with a similar timescale. Do you really not need to be in the hospital before 10am? With DD2 she was admitted onto the day procedure ward right at the start of the day and that worked as a great distraction -- she went straight from waking up into the car, drove to the hospiral then into the ward where there were lots of new things to look at, a well-equipped playroom, etc., and she completely forgot to be hungry.

The thing that slightly freaked me out was after the MRI when she was coming out from under the anaesthetic -- because it was only a fairly light dose I'd been expecting her to just look asleep but actually she was properly unconscious, a bit greyish, etc., and took ages to come out of it properly. That hit me emotionally when I really hadn't expected it to. She had to have a CT scan this year, aged just three, and the anaesthetic for that seemed a lot lighter. Both times she had a cannula in the back of her hand when she woke up and was really REALLY annoyed by it.

Thanks for replying ladies - I was just told the appointment time is 10am so I assume I have to be at the hospital for that time. I will definately find out if she can have plain water instead - I think its going to distress me more seeing her little face at 7am expecting her usual breakfast! - distraction seems to be the key factor here!
beccablob I bet your glad the mri is over and done with please update me when you get the results pm if you cannot find a thread. My baby is just starting to sit unaided (11 months and 2 weeks) What have they said about your lo weight, are you managing to wean him? Some days I try to forget she has problems and just enjoy her but other days I'm fretting about everything!!

We definitely had different cutoff times for non-cloudy liquids (water, breastmilk or Ribena-like drinks), cloudy liquids (any other liquid including milk other than breastmilk) and food. But I can't remember now what they were; it's certainly worth checking.

I was dreading the nil by mouth thing but actually with all the distraction it wasn't an issue.

Thank you - I've just double checked the info its 2am not 4am when she can have last milk feed!! But she can have water until 7am. I'm thinking of hanging out her bedtime for an extra hour and giving her something like porridge or weetabix at the same time - it may not make a difference but I'd feel better!! Then when she wakes I think I will just have to get her straight up and distract her with toys or a walk till its time to go.

elliefant I will def update when I have results. Will try to pm... I'm new to this site!
I too am trying to enjoy him. It does get to me too tho, especially when we are around other babies. We were in a playgroup and met a 4 month old who was more advanced :-(.

I am weaning him but he can only tolerate the really runny veg purees from Ella's kitchen pouches. He has been on high energy formula on prescription for over 2 months and his weight is worse if anything :-(

How was weaning for you? Is your LO small?

beccablob I haven't had my baby weighed since she was almost 8 months and she was just over 16lb - seeing the health visitor this week so I'm sure she will be weighed then. My baby looks tiny all over but she wears 9-12 month clothes. Its only looking back that I realised we did struggling with weaning and even now I have a few issues. I also used ella kitchen stage one pouches because she struggled with anything thicker, I gradually got her eating lumpier and finger foods by 8/9 months. Now though she won't touch meat but I think that's quite common, everything has to be mushed up still and she cannot tolerate hard foods (carrot sticks apples etc) nor anything stodgy ie mash without some sort of sauce. Pasta and bread are a no no- she choked on bread longest few minutes of my life trying to clear it. I have family with young babies they taking over her, the one who's 2 months younger is walking round the furniture while my baby just lays on the floor playing. I filled out the milestone questionnaire for her 12 month check up there's only a cple of things she's able to do- that hit me hard :( Have they said how long the formula your using will take to make a difference? Maybe go to gp and see if there's anything else they can do or try and find out why - he's eating n taking milk so he should be putting on a steady amount xx

He is almost 8 m

He is almost 8 months now and was 13lb a week ago. That is below bottom centile :-( he can't even grip a toy so miles off finger foods. I am v worried.

I think I will avoid all health visitors and their development questionnaires... The paeds can deal with that side of things!

I worry so much when looking into the future. He is like a small baby still at 8 months nearly. What if he makes no more progress :-(

Xx

Sending you hugs beccablob - Is he getting physio - sorry if u mentioned this on another thread - if not chase it up and if he already is keep up with the exercises they do really help. Don't worry about finger foods for now just keep on with whatever food he enjoys and try him on things like fromage frais, the pudding jars (even though some pple don't agree with using jars its better than nothing) my baby loved rice pudding ones and apple crumble n custard they were just the right consistency for her. Try not to look to far into the future - even though my baby is behind she has made progress and is lively and socialable I don't even think about when or if she is going to walk or talk let alone things like schooling etc that's just too over whelming xx

elliefant thanks for the advice... Those pudding jars sound like a good idea.
He has a referral to the development paed who apparently will refer on to physio but not heard yet. Who referred you?

My gp - I waited 2 weeks and then went back to gp who re-referred me I had an appointment within the week! I found my gp a lot more helpful than the health visitor x

My dd had an mri at 10 months. She couldn't roll/ sit etc so we decided to swaddle her and just do it. It was 8 min all in all, she was calm for Half of if but did then shout. Her head was wedged so pics were fine. I know it might sound mean but I lent in and held her hand and she saw me in the mirror. I decided a brief scream then a cuddle would be less stress ful than a ga. They did talk about timing it to sleep through but in my opinion it's impossible as it's so loud. Is this an option for you?

Hi there

We had our results back. A very brief phone call. Normal brain structure (yay!) but small (obv!). So I am relieved in one way but there is still no reason for his obvious issues!!

Waiting on the development paed referral now so he can hopefully get physio etc x

beccablob that's really good news! Maybe your gp can chase up the referrals? Have they taken bloods for genetic testing? I was told they would do that at the same time as the mri for my baby. X