What a blessing to have amazing friends. Monday morning, Julie and Indi came over to hang out with the older kids so James and I could go to the hospital together. It was really nice. It has been over a week since we were able to go together and it was nice to hear the same information at the same time to feel like we are now both on the same page instead of just me giving James the updates every morning. Not the greatest when you're in sleep deprivation mode!
Here is our sweet little man. Still a Halloween punkin.
Still such a cute face, regardless of the double chin!
I think this will be another of my favorite shots for years to come. Something so sweet about baby feet. I love to kiss on his toes!
This was James's first time getting to see the incision. Quite the shock to see as a parent. I really am impressed, though, with how straight the line is and how neatly Dr. Cosantino was able to close it. It really does look good.
The sutures are so fine. They look like ultra-thin thread. It is my understanding that they should dissolve within the next couple of weeks.
Nancy was our day nurse. We did like her, although she didn't quite celebrate the loss of Timmy's ART line with us. It was one of the first things I noticed and I was honestly happy to see it go. Apparently it had clotted the last time Melissa went to drain it the night before and it just had to be removed. Any lines coming off just look so much better to me! I love getting to see more and more of Timmy's skin as the various lines, CPAP and bilirubin shades come off.
Timmy loves to hold on to things. His hands are constantly grabbing at any line or blanket that finds itself within range. He has been a great hand-holder from the start and it still thrills me every time his tiny fingers close around one of mine.
Yes, this is kind of like the old Sesame Street book with Grover teaching, "Near. Far."
Melissa was Timmy's night nurse again. She told me when I got there that she had signed up to be his primary, which means that she will have him any time she is on, and asked if I mind. No way! I'm flattered, thrilled, elated, relieved...to have her as one of his primaries. (Laurel already signed up for him as well.) It makes me feel so good that the nurses I feel most strongly about are the ones who want to be his chief caregivers.We talked a little more and she told me about her boys. Their names are Decklin and Marek (spelling may be incorrect). Very Irish.
This next picture is of the monitor that is connected to Timmy's ventilator. I'm understanding a few more numbers each day, but Melissa told me the numbers to watch are the ones on the bottom, in particular the bpm (breaths per minute). It's the second one from the right, 39 in this shot. This tells how many breaths the machine is helping Timothy to make. They will slowly wean him off completely. He started around 45 bpm, so already 39 is an improvement.
The other number we watch a lot is the one on the far left, 21. This is the oxygen (O2) saturation in Timmy's blood. I fear that I keep rewriting the same thing, but in case I haven't stated before, 21% O2 is room air so he wasn't needing any extra oxygen when I took this photo. That has definitely varied since he returned from surgery. I believe 35% is the highest I've ever seen or been told about. Even that really isn't a lot extra.
Timmy's current weight (taken early each evening) is 3 pounds 8.5 ounces. Talk about a growth spurt! Although I am told that much of the gain is due to the fluid retention. More really good news is that his sodium levels are up - 131 today - so he is within normal range again. Sigh of relief.
I believe I mentioned that Timmy likes to hold things. This doesn't exclude the ventilator tubing or the replogle. Just so sweet.
I have been amazed at the amount of edema every time we flip him. You can see the ripples on Timmy's back.
He's really not this blotchy, the pictures just don't do him justice.
A couple of sweet snuggly photos before heading out.
Love this little guy!***
Monday was a busy day. Between visits to see Timmy, I got a tour of the new NICU unit in the Diamond Children's Center at UMC. Oh, my goodness, it's nice! Sooo very excited for next week. The nurses are all thrilled to have more space and storage but I think everyone is a little eager to have the initial move and learning curve phase over. (Not that the nurses are learning a lot of new things, but there is some new software and it always takes a little getting used to where things are in a new place.)
Karin is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I'm not entirely sure exactly what her position is, but she was in charge on Monday and it really meant a lot that she took the time to come talk to James and me in the morning and offer to take us on a tour of the new unit. I rode back to the 8th floor NICU after the tour to give Timmy one more kiss and thank Nancy for taking care of him for the day and ended up running into Dr. Maciulla on the way out. He asked me what had happened - initially we had worried about his lungs and they were perfect and then Timmy had to go and blow his bowels. Rather than repeat all details, I asked if he had already had the rundown and he said yes and that they were thinking Hirschsprung's. This took me back a little because Dr. Cosantino had really sounded like we didn't want to jump to that conclusion, so I was holding out praying that there was some "webbing" instead that was causing the blockage. Obviously, not being naive here either, I'm just learning that it's much better to not panic until you know for certain whether or not it's worth freaking out.
Another random note, I also went grocery shopping for the first time in three months. And I've still got it! Spent $29.xx at Safeway and saved more than $30! Gotta love sales combined with coupons!
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