Tracheomalacia: weakness and floppiness of the walls of the windpipe (trachea). Bryce's pediatrician confirmed today that his wheezing is a symptom of a damaged trachea, not damaged lungs. After reviewing the list of symptoms, there's no doubt in my mind that this is the right diagnosis. In practice, it doesn't change much. He still has some degree of chronic lung disease, and babies with tracheomalacia are also especially sensitive to respiratory infections and at risk for aspiration-induced pneumonia. In both cases, the treatment is the same: wait until he outgrows it. However, and this is a big however, babies typically outgrow tracheomalacia at 18-24 months old, as opposed to 7-8 years for chronic lung disease. Wheezing until 2011 is a big improvement over wheezing until 2016!
Torticollis: tightness of neck muscles which causes the head to tilt to one side. This is the condition that the occupational therapist identified at Bryce's NICU follow-up, and the pediatrician confirmed this one as well. Bryce doesn't care for the stretches or the new focus on tummy time, but it sounds like there's a good chance that this will be enough to cure the problem.
Tentative: unsettled in mind or opinion. Bryce's reaction to his first taste of rice cereal! Most of it came right back out, but we think he may have taken a couple small swallows. He definitely didn't choke or throw up, and we couldn't ask for more than that.
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