Wednesday, August 4, 2010
I am honestly falling asleep sitting here as I write this. Not just because it is 2am in the morning but because I am going on steam at this point. As excited as I was that Trevy napped yesterday, I'm not sure I want her napping anymore. After I finished pumping around 2am last night, I heard footsteps in the hall. Sure enough, Trevy was out of bed. She had had an accident on my side of our bed during her nap so I went into her room with her, naively thinking that we would just lay down and both be out in no time. Nooooooo way! One of us was wide awake. She kept wanting to be tucked in, needing to go potty, etc. I was almost beside myself. I was so exhausted and one thing that does erode my patience in rapid order is being roused multiple times in a row after I have just fallen asleep. Needless to say when she told me she wanted to watch a movie at 5:30am, I jumped at the chance. Only to find that I was out of luck again because she couldn't decide what movie she wanted to watch. I could have cried.
Nobody slept in this morning. So we pretty much watched movies all day. There are so many things I would like to do and be getting done - like laundry, covering my kitchen table
***Resumed Thursday night prior to visiting the NICU***
Trevy woke up again last night after I started the post. Believe me, I was shaking in my shoes at the thought of another sleepless night. Fortunately, she was as tired as she said she was (I love it when my kids tell me when they're tired) and didn't have any problems falling asleep next to me. She looked a little tipsy heading back to her room so the fear was already gone by the time we got there.
Overall, Wednesday wasn't too eventful for my part. However, I received a phone call from the NICU in the early afternoon while Yvonne was here. (She and I will often get together when we are too tired to entertain our kids ourselves and that way they can play together and we can chat to keep each other awake.) It was Jane Mendez, one of the neonatal nurse practitioners. She had gone in to see Timmy because his scalp IV had occluded the night before. The purpose of the phone call was to obtain my consent for another PICC line. He was rapidly running out of options for IV placement as the vessels were only lasting one blood draw or IV placement, if that, before rupturing. He had so many bruises at the sites already on Monday when James and I saw him and the number had only gone up since then. I just wanted to cry at the thought of him having to undergo another procedure but I know having a PICC line will stop all the multiple punctures, as it is a central line and goes into a larger vessel, enabling it to remain in place longer and allowing the delivery of the antibiotic without a new needle each time so I agreed. (James did too when I told him after he returned home from work.)
Timmy looked very peaceful when I arrived last night. He was then on a feeding schedule of 8, 11, 2 & 5 and I made it in around 10, bearing a full load of Timmy's blankets and clothes. (You get a lot of strange looks walking in to the hospital with bags marked "Patient's Belongings".) I folded and reloaded his drawers while I caught up with Jenny. She showed me the bottle that she had tried to give Timmy at 8:00. It still had 43mls in it of the original 60. She said she just couldn't get him to take the rest. He seemed very tired to her. Looking at him, he had his head cocked all the way to the left (which I have never seen him do before) away from us while he slept as if to say, "Leave me alone." Poor little sweetheart. Somehow he still managed to gain 10 grams. I'm sure his cares were much as they had been the night before. Jenny did his trach cares before I got there and the ties were a little misaligned. Chris concurred that he had fought them every step of the way and it was no small feat just to get the task accomplished. As his mom and without another patient to take care of, it's always nice to feel that I have absolutely no time constraints in the evening to get things just so and, since I am now certified, I was able to slowly adjust the ties to even out the Velcro in the back.
Lisa Stephens, our clinical leader for the night and Lisa McCoskey, one of the other NNPs, also came in while I was folding clothes to check on us. I love the night shift people. Such a different atmosphere in the place than during the day. (Love the day people too, they are usually just busier.) We chatted a fair amount. Yesterday was Jenny's anniversary of sorts. (Sorry, Jenny, I've already forgotten the specifics on what you were celebrating, but happy anniversary!) From there, the topic turned to names and how no one has seen a baby named Lisa in the NICU in a long time. Lisa McCoskey said she feels like her name is going the way of Gertrude. I really don't think so. It seems like one of those names that will be making a comeback at some point. Especially when used in a good movie. It's funny how a blockbuster can spurn a frenzy of giving lots of babies the same name. Like Trinity from the Matrix movies, for instance. Jenny and I also got to thinking that our names haven't been used a lot recently either. Oh, well. The funny thing was that Lisa McCoskey walked out the door to check on other babies and Jenny asked Lisa Stephens what her middle name is. It's Michelle. Would you believe it's Lisa McCoskey's middle name too? It's also the middle name of my sister, Amy, and I also have a sister named Lisa. Yes, it was a weird conversation. Then we started talking birthdays. Lisa McCoskey's is only four days after mine. Weird, weird, weird.
I forgot to take my knitting last night so I wasn't able to start another row. Yep, finished my first strip on the pony afghan Tuesday night. It does look cute, if I do say so myself. However, considering I started it back in May, I'm not sure how fast I'll be able to whip the rest of it out. Hopefully before Timmy gets too big.
He wasn't very playful Wednesday night. Around 10:40 when I went to change his diaper and get him ready for his 11:00 feeding, he started stirring and woke up as I messed with him and was just inconsolable. I think he has reached the point where he has been poked and prodded beyond reason and he just wants to be left alone. I worked as fast as I could. Jenny already had his trach cares done again so I didn't have much to do before I was able to sit down and cuddle him. Fortunately, he does love to nurse and it never ceases to calm him down. Such a sweet little boy. If I didn't have to sleep, I would stay at his side all night. I have ceased trying to sleep there because I'm worthless past about 2am. The nurses will ask how long he's nursed and I don't have a clue. I can diliriously change a diaper successfully and latch a baby on but beyond that...
I also got a nice surprise Wednesday night. Ginny, one of Timmy's first nurses, has just come back and we got to see her again. She didn't get to see Timmy, as he was eating, but it was nice to catch up with her. And especially nice of her to say that trachs really aren't a big deal, just time consuming. Already I feel very comfortable adjusting and replacing trach ties, suctioning and switching out the trach. It seems to me that Timmy has been tapering off on his secretions lately so, with any luck, that will help to allow us to get out a little more. Constant suctioning on an infant with three toddlers in tow does not sound like a lot of fun outtings to me.
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