Allan made it home (again) today. So far, so good. His doc says he "believes" we can "probably" manage his fluid overload on an outpatient basis. No word on whether we are talking a 51/49 probability or a 90/10. Not sure we really want to know or if it would make a bit of difference. The longer we stayed, the more paranoid we were that we were going to catch something worse by being in the hospital. By the end of the week, we were willing to take our chances at home.
Allan has done very well since he got home. He stayed wide awake most of the day which is unusual for him.
Right now, Allan is sleeping in the crib, Griffith is sleeping in his car seat and we are all hanging out in the nursery having listened to UK win the first SEC opener since 1987. Big night all around.
Time to feed Griff and listen to Wildcat round-up. We will post more later.
Enjoy all of the photos!
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Griffith - shocked that Allan is back
Griffith, hardly able to believe that we have brought that other kid back in again.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Baby steps
We are still here. Allan's lungs sound better but his potassium is still high and so they have decided to hold off on starting him back on one of the diuretics. They'll check him again in the morning and decide what to do about that. I suspect that means that we will be here through the weekend. We would love to be able to go home, but we want to make sure that we go home and stay there.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Holding pattern -- part iii
Well, it seems like a little more of the same today. Allan had lost a little (water) weight last night, but his potassium levels kept coming back high which apparently is a bit of a mystery. So they were going to do a "deep vein stick" to try to make sure that the results they were getting were accurate. And they were going to hold the diuretics until they got that result back. This was the plan at 10 a.m. What with one thing and another, they didn't do the stick until nearly 5 so I'm pretty sure that we have not advanced the ball much (if at all) today. My guess is that nothing much will come of the results until tomorrow -- at which time they will start tinkering with the meds and the feeds again. We don't have an ETA for Allan, but we aren't thinking that he's getting home for several days at least. The silver lining is that they have done an echo on Allan's heart (again) and it is fine (still). So we've got that going for us, which is nice. We watched the Man United versus Celtic soccer match today so we have our cultural fix for the day.
Griffith had a good day with Miss Flora. He missed her yesterday and was awfully glad to see her this morning. We took a big walk this afternoon and he stayed wide awake for all of it. Then we got home and watched the BBC World News because those people talk funny like Daddy. He is starting to make noises that are more than just grunts and managed to surprise himself with a coo or two this evening. We are thinking about watching Project Runway tonight, but Mama thinks that it is probably on too late. We may just have to see who is auf'd tomorrow on reruns.
Griffith had a good day with Miss Flora. He missed her yesterday and was awfully glad to see her this morning. We took a big walk this afternoon and he stayed wide awake for all of it. Then we got home and watched the BBC World News because those people talk funny like Daddy. He is starting to make noises that are more than just grunts and managed to surprise himself with a coo or two this evening. We are thinking about watching Project Runway tonight, but Mama thinks that it is probably on too late. We may just have to see who is auf'd tomorrow on reruns.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Holding pattern (part II)
Not much to report one way or another today. Allan is still in the hospital. It seems that the doctors are tweaking his medicines and formula. As someone said, this is all more art than science. They've changed up his diuretics and are adding canola oil to his formula (to add calories without adding much additional fluid). We'll see how that works and probably change it all again tomorrow. Still, Allan is working on charming the peds ward now. He feels fine and has been very awake and alert. Jennifer came and loved on him for about 3 hours today. Dr. Desai came for a visit, too. Then, late in the afternoon, two student nurses (Whitney and Kristen) came for a visit. (The only thing that may be better than nurses is student nurses. Griffith would be jealous if he knew.) Everyone agrees that he is beautiful, sweet and charming. He is doing better with his bottle feeding and, given enough time and proper distraction, manages about 2 ounces at a go.
Griffith had a good day, too. Aunt Kathy came up for a visit and fell in line with Caitlin, Angie, Cheryl, etc. etc. I'm not sure that she did any thing other than hold him all day. Unfortunately, we are going to have to limit her exposure to him because when I got home they were watching Kato Kaelin's show An Eye for an Eye. This is not exactly the mental stimulation we were looking for. Even Dr. Phil would have been an improvement. It was too cool and rainy to go for a walk but we sat on the front porch in the swing and watched the rain while singing camp songs. We had a pretty good time but I'm not sure the neighbors appreciated my tuneless rendition of Rise and Shine and Boom, Boom. Last night we tried the skip-the-three-o'clock again. It is a slow process. He had his nine and then didn't go to sleep until nearly 11. I didn't get him up for midnight and, when I awoke at 3 and he hadn't stirred, I was convinced that he had died in the night and woke him (abruptly). We'll give it another crack tonight.
Griffith had a good day, too. Aunt Kathy came up for a visit and fell in line with Caitlin, Angie, Cheryl, etc. etc. I'm not sure that she did any thing other than hold him all day. Unfortunately, we are going to have to limit her exposure to him because when I got home they were watching Kato Kaelin's show An Eye for an Eye. This is not exactly the mental stimulation we were looking for. Even Dr. Phil would have been an improvement. It was too cool and rainy to go for a walk but we sat on the front porch in the swing and watched the rain while singing camp songs. We had a pretty good time but I'm not sure the neighbors appreciated my tuneless rendition of Rise and Shine and Boom, Boom. Last night we tried the skip-the-three-o'clock again. It is a slow process. He had his nine and then didn't go to sleep until nearly 11. I didn't get him up for midnight and, when I awoke at 3 and he hadn't stirred, I was convinced that he had died in the night and woke him (abruptly). We'll give it another crack tonight.
Monday, September 11, 2006
A, B,C....
Dad and Griffith and Dr. Seuss's ABC's.... Silly Sam sipped 26 sodas and got sick, sick, sick....
In a holding pattern...
For starters, Allan is doing fine. Not great or fabulous but fine. We got a new doctor today -- once you are out of the NICU, you can't go back. So Allan is on a regular peds ward in a very big, metal crib (it really looks like a monkey baby ought to be in it). The educated guess seems to be that he overloaded on fluids (although they are doing a few tests to rule out some other possibilitites) and that they need to adjust his meds to get him back to where he ought to be. Then they need to figure out how to keep him there. The truth of the matter is that it is going to be a delicate balance with him. Very small changes make a big difference and it is going to be like that for a while. It is going to take a day or two to get this sorted out and then we'll be homeward bound again. He has had a steady stream of visitors. Caitlin came by last night. Then Jenny and Sarah came by this morning before Dad left for work. Gerry came in the early morning hours. Then Alissa came by before lunch. And then they came back by in the afternoon. Cheryl and Jennifer both called in to check on him, too. If TLC makes any difference at all, he is going to be better in no time.
Since Griffith hasn't been eating a whole lot at his 3 a.m. feeding, we got the go ahead from the pediatrician to see if we could back off of that one. If he wakes up for it, fine, but otherwise, just let it ride. Sounds great in theory. Last night, I put him to bed after his nine and decided to let him wake me for the midnight feed. He didn't get up until nearly 1:30 (and he was in NO mood to wait for his dinner). As I put him back down about 2 a.m. I was congratulating myself thinking that we would make it to 5:30 or nearly 6 a.m. before he woke again. No dice. He was still determined to get in 3 night feeds regardless of how I felt about it. We were up again at 4 and then again at 6. I'm not really sure what I think I accomplished. We'll give it another go tonight and then decide whether this is worth it or not. Miss Flora arrived at her usual time this morning, but Griffith was still asleep. I guess he wanted her to be sure that she knew that he was well and truly over her. He had waited Saturday and Sunday and his patience (what little he has) was at an end. When I left this morning she swore that she had decided this weekend that she would make a concerted effort to put him down. Of course, when I stopped by at lunch, she and Griffith were where I had left them at 8 a.m. And that's where Jay found them at 6, too. She had charted when she laid him down, though, just to prove that she did (on occasion) put him in his pack 'n' play. As if we really care. Once I got home and Dad headed back to the hospital (after putting Griffith in charge as the man of the house), all I did was hold him, too. We watche a little Dirty Dancing, ate 2nd dinner, burped (him, not me)(much) and went to bed (him, not me)(but soon). Dad just checked in and he and Allan have read The Foot Book (thanks, Cheryl!) and Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? (ditto -- dibble, dibble, dopp, dopp). I have abandoned the kids' lit for the moment and have been doing the best I can with The Memory Keepers' Daughter with both of the boys (only so much rhyming one can do before one loses one's mind, after all.)
Miss Flora has to go with her husband tomorrow for some tests so Aunt Kathy is coming to hang out with Griffith so that Mom can go and be with Allan.
Since Griffith hasn't been eating a whole lot at his 3 a.m. feeding, we got the go ahead from the pediatrician to see if we could back off of that one. If he wakes up for it, fine, but otherwise, just let it ride. Sounds great in theory. Last night, I put him to bed after his nine and decided to let him wake me for the midnight feed. He didn't get up until nearly 1:30 (and he was in NO mood to wait for his dinner). As I put him back down about 2 a.m. I was congratulating myself thinking that we would make it to 5:30 or nearly 6 a.m. before he woke again. No dice. He was still determined to get in 3 night feeds regardless of how I felt about it. We were up again at 4 and then again at 6. I'm not really sure what I think I accomplished. We'll give it another go tonight and then decide whether this is worth it or not. Miss Flora arrived at her usual time this morning, but Griffith was still asleep. I guess he wanted her to be sure that she knew that he was well and truly over her. He had waited Saturday and Sunday and his patience (what little he has) was at an end. When I left this morning she swore that she had decided this weekend that she would make a concerted effort to put him down. Of course, when I stopped by at lunch, she and Griffith were where I had left them at 8 a.m. And that's where Jay found them at 6, too. She had charted when she laid him down, though, just to prove that she did (on occasion) put him in his pack 'n' play. As if we really care. Once I got home and Dad headed back to the hospital (after putting Griffith in charge as the man of the house), all I did was hold him, too. We watche a little Dirty Dancing, ate 2nd dinner, burped (him, not me)(much) and went to bed (him, not me)(but soon). Dad just checked in and he and Allan have read The Foot Book (thanks, Cheryl!) and Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? (ditto -- dibble, dibble, dopp, dopp). I have abandoned the kids' lit for the moment and have been doing the best I can with The Memory Keepers' Daughter with both of the boys (only so much rhyming one can do before one loses one's mind, after all.)
Miss Flora has to go with her husband tomorrow for some tests so Aunt Kathy is coming to hang out with Griffith so that Mom can go and be with Allan.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Saturday night on the town
Let's start off by saying that everything and everyone is all right. That said, we had our first trip to the hospital last night. I'm sure it won't be the last. Something tells me that we'll be frequent flyers over the years with this one having fallen off (or having been pushed) off of the roof and that one having shoved a peanut up his nose or some such nonsense. Last night it was Allan (Griffith gets a bad rap for being the problem child). Allan hasn't quite settled down with his oxygen since we got home, but he's been doing all right. Yesterday, though, he kept dropping his sats -- the oxygen level in his blood was lower than it is supposed to be. It is supposed to be at 92% or so and his kept dipping in to the mid-to-low 80's, some times in to the 70s and, once, in to the high 60s. We kept having to turn up his oxygen and hold him upright on our chests to get him back in to the range that he needed to be in. About 7:30 or so (after I had just told Cheryl that he was doing great and seemed to have settled down), he started doing it again. Although he wasn't in any distress, he was outside of the numbers that the pediatrician had set for us as acceptable without letting him know. Just to be on the safe side (and because he knew we would drive ourselves nuts watching the monitor all night), he sent us to the ER -- who knew such mayhem was going on in our little town? Fortunately for us, Angie had brought dinner over so we could just leave Griffith with her while we headed out. Allan seemed to enjoy all of the attention -- a whole new set of doctors and nurses to pet him and tell him what a pretty boy he is. And, of course, as soon as we arrived at the hospital, his heart rate had returned to normal and he began satting exactly as he was supposed to (still on too much oxygen though.) They admitted him to the hospital and he is probably there until tomorrow. Dad spent the night and just talked to the doctor. They think that Allan may be a little "wet" and are restricting his fluids to see if that helps. They are also going to talk about adjusting his medications for reflux as well because that could be causing some problems, too. At any rate, he's where he needs to be and with any luck he will be home in a day or two, good as new. Allan is getting good care. Jay likes the peds nurses and some of the folks in the NICU already have been over to check as well (the transport team spotted us in the ER about 20 minutes after we got there). So far Cheryl has stopped by twice and Jennifer came by early. Allan is very popular for someone who has not mastered speech yet.
As far as our other boy, he has been the golden boy. When I got home Angie had been in charge of Griffith for about 3 hours. Although she is an otherwise competent, professional, modern woman, he had defeated her utterly. She reported that she was unable to get any thing done other than hold him (continuing the pattern set by Cheryl, Caitlin and Flora). She tried to clear the table and load the dishwasher, but he became enraged and she had to pick him up. Every time she tried to put him down it was the same thing, so she gave up. Smart girl. Resistance is futile. We had a pretty good night on our own -- he did manage to pee through one outfit and spit up on 3 more. And then he screamed at me as if my changing him was causing him actual physical pain. Still, golden.
As far as our other boy, he has been the golden boy. When I got home Angie had been in charge of Griffith for about 3 hours. Although she is an otherwise competent, professional, modern woman, he had defeated her utterly. She reported that she was unable to get any thing done other than hold him (continuing the pattern set by Cheryl, Caitlin and Flora). She tried to clear the table and load the dishwasher, but he became enraged and she had to pick him up. Every time she tried to put him down it was the same thing, so she gave up. Smart girl. Resistance is futile. We had a pretty good night on our own -- he did manage to pee through one outfit and spit up on 3 more. And then he screamed at me as if my changing him was causing him actual physical pain. Still, golden.
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