Recovery

Isaac will get plenty of love with 2 moms to take care of him!

Thursday, March 1-

Since Tuesday when we got upstairs, Isaac has done nothing but get better and act better. He hasn't had any pain medication for 2 days now, he is more and more alert each time he wakes up, and looks healthier all the time.

Isaac came upstairs at aprrox. 5 lbs. Wednesday he was 5 lbs. 3 oz, Thursday 5 lbs 4 oz, and this morning he was 5 lbs. 8 oz! He is growing, it helps they have increased his feeds on a higher calorie formula, but he is doing great.

He still gets his daily poke to check his blood. They are keeping a very close eye on his calcium level, it has been low for 4-5 days now, and he even gets a ride on the elevator every morning to get his routine chest x-ray. The nurses come in every 4 hours or so to bug him, with random appearances from the cardiologists, nurse practitioners, and other specialists assisting in his care. It is humbling to realize how many people are watching closely and working together to make his stay as successful and positive as possible. It feels good as a parent to see the level of commitment every patient receives.

 Isaac got dressed for the first time.

 Here is his car seat test. They wanted to make sure Isaac could make it home with no troubles.

Upstairs was as busy for mom and dad as it was for Isaac. Mom and dad needed training. We needed to be trained in infant CPR. We even received our very own practice infant, so if you are interested, please let us know, we'll teach you too. Isaac was most likely coming home with a feeding tube, so we both had the opportunity of putting in an NG or a feeding tube through his nose into his stomach. We practiced giving medications, flushing, and feeding through his feeding tube. Oxygen training was easy. It is simply plug in and  change to the correct setting. We both passed this test.

Mom preparing to give Isaac his very own feeding tube, again.

Isaac was certainly busy too. He got 3 visits from the speech therapist, to help him to relearn to suck-and-swallow. He was getting stronger and better, but still needs plenty of practice. He also got visits by the Ear Nose and Throat doctor (ENT). Isaac's tongue is tied and the ENT came to evaluate whether this was inhibiting his ability to suck. We decided to let it go for now, knowing the some time in the future it will need to be addressed.

He had his hearing test and passed. The physical therapist came and checked out his range of motion and passed. He even has had the Wound Team come in to check his bottom. He is on a higher calorie diet which in turns leads to extra #2. We were rubbing his poor bum raw with all the diaper changes. Isaac is pretty tough, this barely even phased him either.

I must admit that these few days were tough. The days were long and monotonous. Looking back at them, they were absolutely wonderful. Isaac was growing, getting stronger, looking healthier, and the those in charge of his care were continually impressed by his continued and progressive recovery. Why or how can I complain? Heavenly Father has been most generous in His love and care of Isaac and his family over the past 9 days. In our best case scenario, we were looking at 2-3 weeks. Here at day 8 and 9 the doctors and nurses readily confessed they were loosing reasons to keep Isaac in the hospital. Prayers were being answered and miracles were happening. Isaac must have some important, unfinished business he needs to complete. I am starting to wonder if this experience is more for his parents than it is for him. Maybe we need some refining to help him get him where he needs to be.