Intro and question about anal stenosis/Hirschsprung Disease

winterstar1

Hello everyone,

I am a first time mom and this is the first time I'm posting to this board.

My baby girl just turned a month old and for the past couple of weeks has had major issues when she tries to have a bowel movement. She strains, cries and seems to be struggling so much and when it finally happens it's quite explosive. I knew some straining was normal, but I felt like this was excessive so I asked the pediatrician about it. She did an exam and sent us to a pediatric surgeon to do a workup for anal stenosis, meaning she believes her anus is too narrow for her age.

The pediatric surgeon gave us dilators to use on her twice a day (which is so miserable for all of us, she hates it) but also wanted to work her up for Hirschsprung Disease. The work up includes a barium enema (done yesterday) and a possible biopsy.

I had never heard of either of these conditions before and was wondering if any other mamas out there have had experience with them. Seeing my baby in pain without being able to help is killing me.

Thanks in advance.