Yesterday I went into the Special Care Unit and saw that they had the feeding tube out of Caleb! He has been consistently taking bottle by mouth and needed only a few reminders at each feeding! I was overjoyed. Then they told me that it looked like he would discharge Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Say What?! We were over thrilled! I spent longer at the hospital on Wednesday so that I could go get his car seat to them for a 90 minute sit test (who knew?)...and figured I would rather enjoy my son then look at the bumpers of the rush hour traffic. lol
This morning I scurried around finding bottles, and formula, and diaper bag, and all the other little things I would need sooner rather than later if he did indeed come home on Thursday. I admit that I was feeling a bit nervous about bringing such a little one home. I wasn't so sure but I knew that God would never put me where He wouldn't give strength.
When we arrived at the hospital this morning, we found out that he would not discharge today because they wanted to watch a few more things over night. No biggie. We would find out when he would discharge when the doctors did their rounds at 10. So we waited. Baby Boy sucked down a bottle and lots of cuddles given and then came the docs. They gave his report and said that he would go home tomorrow!!! Whoohooo!! We called our social worker to set things up. We called the pediatrician to set up first visit. We called family and updated FB (So none of this news up to here is new to you FB peeps.)
Two hours later, baby boy was asleep on his daddy when the bells and alarms on his monitor went off. He was in a "Brady" as the staff called it. This is when the baby's heart rate drops suddenly to a below normal level and maintains that range for any length of time. These incidents are common in pre-term babies since the part of the brain that teaches them to breathe/suck/swallow are still developing. While the occurrence of Brady's are scary, they do not pose any serious threat in and of themselves. The length of time, the drop in other vitals, and whether or not they self correct with out stimulation are areas they monitor. Caleb's went 20 seconds. While the other vitals did not change and he did self-correct, the length of the episode caused the docs to "reset" the monitor period. So, all in all we wait another 5-7 days for Caleb to come home.Now that I am over the initial shock of everything, I am relieved that he will be getting the monitoring he needs. Eric and I (and the staff) only want what is best for our boy.
So, Caleb doesn't get to come for another week. We maintain the course we have set and visit daily and wait for our boy to get stronger and more "mature." He is in a good place. I am so grateful for the Special Care Unit. I want him home, but only when it is best for him to be here. The Docs are smart people who study along time to do what they do. We are gonna rely on their knowledge and keep our boy under their care.
Thanks for the prayers and love. Our bigger boy is cared for daily some pretty awesome people who have my gratitude. It is so nice to be able to leave him knowing he is probably having more fun with his friends than he even does at home. HA! Mommy is boring he told me. Almost 2 year olds say crazy things. I leave you with one more "Joshua-ism" to make you laugh.
Last night I asked Joshua if he wanted Caleb to come home. Joshua said, "Yes, maybe I can fart with him." I sighed and laughed and know that this is only the beginning of life with boys. I am no stranger to it. I grew up with 3 brothers. Life is gonna get crazy!
Goodnight, friends. This mama is worn out. Thanks for your prayers. Your prayers are touching our lives, as well as the lives of the staff and other babies. (I told them there were hundreds of people praying for them.)
No comments:
Post a Comment