Mr X put words together in a sentence!  Sunday night he was afraid he’d be left out of the pancake dinner.  He said “I want plate!”  (OK, more like “I wah pay”).

Baby Alianna also has high blood pressure (infant hypertension).  Her readings after birth were slightly high (84 in her right arm), but they let her go home.  At her one week check up, the readings were 102 and 104 in her legs; at her 2 week check up, they were 103 and 91.  The doctor was concerned about that, because not only were they high, there was a 12 point difference between the two readings.

A normal infant blood pressure should be in the 70-80 systolic range.

She sent Alli for some tests, including a urinalysis, blood work to check kidney function, and a chest x-ray to make sure her heart isn’t enlarged.  All of the tests came back fine.  She goes back the week after Independence Day for a weight check and another BP check; if it’s still high we might have to go to Texas Children’s for a full workup.  The good news is that Alli does not have a heart murmur and she doesn’t turn blue like her brother did.

Mr X also had blood pressure problems, which seem to have cleared up for now.  They never did find a cause, despite performing kidney ultrasounds, echocardiograms, and tons of bloodwork.  I can’t help but wonder if there is some connection between the blood pressure and his delays.

I also wonder if any of the other children had blood pressure problems, and we just never knew about it.  It’s not standard procedure to check a baby’s blood pressure.  The only reason we found out X had hypertension was because of his heart murmur/cyanosis.  The only reason Alli was checked was because X had it!

Right now we have no car, so I’m not sure how we’ll be getting to that doctor appointment, but I’m sure it will all work out.