Today has been a LOOOONG day! It started with taking Collin to the ER. Collin has had a sore throat for a few days. Last night he hosted karaoke, which takes a lot out of his voice. His sore throat was so bad he could not talk or swallow. We got to the hospital at 7:15AM and did not leave until almost 12PM. Wake Med (big Wake) took 4.5 hours to get him taken care of and that was only because his mother found the nurse to finish him up. The doctor gave Collin an IV of morphine and an anti-inflammatory med. Then, they gave him percoset to take home. Now, I am not a doctor, but do these drugs seem a bit overkill to anyone else?! Our guess is that there are a LOT of drug addicts that go to Wake Med. Not to worry... Collin was feeling much better after meds and some rest. He has not been running a fever, so I doubt he is contagious.
I went to see Lennon by myself. She was still at 2lbs 10oz and wearing her cute little pink dress. Lennon is on Lasix, so her weight will probably remain the same or drop a little over the next couple of days. I was hoping for a little 1:1 time, but that was not exactly in the cards today. Apparently, some of the specialists had been trying to track me down. Nothing bad, but they wanted to check in with me.
First, the physical therapist came in to talk to me. We reviewed again how Lennon is preemie and tiny and is going to have to learn some things that she should have learned in the last 10 weeks. Yes, I know it is her job and she means well, but I am so sick of hearing every professional telling me what she should have already learned before she came into the world. It is not like we planned on an early arrival. It is tough being on the other side of the table of these developmental professionals. I find myself just wanting to yell, "Yes! I know. Can we just skip the child development class and move on to what I should do to help her in here to move forward?!"
Then, she kept going on and on about the value in using the early intervention (EI) services. I don't know how many times I have heard that this doesn't mean there is an issue; only that Lennon is automatically eligible because she was born before 35 weeks. I know what EI/CDSA does to help catch kids up and catch any issues early. This is not a foreign service to me since I work in the Developmental Disabilities field. I don't need to hear the virtues of accepting the services. I want to use them! Being able to use them right now would mean Lennon was home with us! It just irritates me to try to convince me to use a service when I am fully willing to use it, but can't. I am not the kind of parent that needs convincing.
The PT did give some good information, but it wasn't anything that I can really do while Lennon is in the hospital. Which is really frustrating as a parent.
Then, the lactation consultant came in to chat. She is only person that never seems to have "bad" news to share; only positive. She talks about how cute Lennon is and how great she is doing with trying to nurse. She really loves her job and is so sweet. It is nice to have someone to focus only on what is going well. She actually said that Lennon is well ahead of the curve in this area!
The nurse was completely wonderful today. She could tell I was frustrated and getting upset (probably since I had cried at the PT and LC). I asked her if there was any clue as to when Lennon could go home. She explained that once Lennon reaches 3lbs (only 6 more oz!!), she will move to an open crib. After that, we will start bottle feeds; 1-2/day. The nurse said that the bottles will start slowly, but after a couple of days Lennon will "get it" and take off. Once she is taking all milk via bottle/breast, she will be ready to head home! It should be between 35-37 weeks gestational age (we are at 33.5 weeks as of today). The nurse also said that I am going through what they refer to as "NICU-itis" and it would probably get worse as we get closer to going home... great!
Hopefully, tomorrow will be a little easier for all of us! Today has just been exhausting!!
It can be very frustrating. I remember our PT saw Claire for 2 months before she realized the reason she wouldn't stretch out her legs was because she had a huge liver cyst that made her always tense. It can be very hard on parents. Keep your head up! Also know they will probably change your going home date a few times. I don't mean to be a pessimist, but I wish someone told me so I would have been prepared! You are probably tired and stressed so don't feel sorry for expressing your feelings and frustations.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think the PT had been doing this very long. She is very young and immediately started in n what was "not right." it wasn't until the end of the conversation that she threw in a quick complement. She had not mastered the art of talking to parents. One of the PT's goals for Lennon is to ut her hands to her mouth... The nurses and I had already noticed that Lennon does that, so I kind of feel that she just gave us very general goals and did not personalize them to Lennon's actual needs.
DeleteI appreciate you letting me know about the idea of a changing date for going home. I am so excited, but until she is in our house, I don't want to get my hopes up to quickly. I am just so ready!