One icy February morning, my nine-month-old son would not wake up. He had slept two hours past his usual waking time. He was recovering from a stomach virus he got from daycare, so I thought he needed the extra sleep to heal. When he did awake, he started crying and he arched his back violently. I called the doctor, but my son had stopped crying by the time he returned my call. I described to the doctor what had happened, and he assumed that the issue had resolved itself since he was awake and he had stopped crying.
I tried to feed my baby, but he wouldn't nurse. He started crying again, and then he fell asleep. I let him sleep for another hour and then I tried to wake him. Again, he wouldn't nurse. He would arch his back and cry, and then he would stop crying and fall asleep. After a while, I called the doctor's office again and the receptionist told me to bring my baby in.
The fresh air woke my little guy, and he was happy on the way to the doctor's office. The receptionist saw his smiling face and she said, "You've been worrying your parents today." As we waited in the exam room, my son began to cry again, and he had diarrhea that looked bloody. The doctor came in, and he sent us to the Emergency Room.
After a battery of grueling tests, an ultrasound showed that my baby had a medical condition called intussusception. This is when a part of the intestine folds in on itself causing severe pain and obstruction. An ambulance drove my baby and me to a Boston children's hospital to undergo a procedure to fix the problem.
When we arrived, my son was more alert. Seeing that, the ER doctor ordered another ultrasound, which showed the intussusception had resolved on its own. My son stayed in the hospital for two more days under observation until there was no more blood in his stool.
Intussusception is most common in male babies from five to ten months old. It can be life-threatening, so if you think your baby has these symptoms, contact your doctor immediately.
