I know what some of you are thinking from looking at the title "wait...I didn't know they left?" Well let me explain the past 24hrs.
Yesterday we were scheduled for discharge. The only thing holding us up was making sure there would be a home health nurse at our house when we got home to teach us how to administer the antibiotics. We got a call at 10 am letting us know that would be set up at 6pm. So we knew for sure that we were getting discharged.
When we came in though, Haddie seemed to be a little lethargic and her belly was a little big. We had been concerned the day before about her puking after bottle feeding...something entirely new for her. Then yesterday we see she is not exactly herself but the doctors didn't say anything about it. So they gave us some papers and told us we were free to go. Kate was pretty nervous leaving the parking garage because she felt something wasn't quite right with Haddie. I felt it too but we both chalked it up to us being paranoid first time parents.
Hadassah's heart rate and breathing were ok. We still have the monitor and had her hooked up. Her breathing looked good on the monitor but after feeding her it sounded liquidy (new word I just made up). Her belly also seemed to be getting bigger. We already had a doctors appointment scheduled in Parkersburg this morning so we decided to wait it out and see what he said.
Dr. Tomlinson, our regular pediatrician, had her get labs and an X-ray. Results showed that Haddie's stomach was a bit frozen up. He called the doctors at Akron and they decided it best that we go back there rather than going to Camden Clark. Camden doesn't know her and last time we took her there they freaked out and we took a $37,000 helicopter ride (thank the Lord for insurance).
So we are back in the hospital again. We should have trusted our gut yesterday but sometimes it's hard to figure everything out. Haddie is doing well really. She's a bit lethargic and her belly is big...but they are working on that. Not sure on timeline but we think it may be a couple of days until they get things back to normal. Kate is probably going to stay the weekend at her parents and as long as things are good tomorrow I will be headed back to Belpre to get some much needed work accomplished.
Thanks for praying for us and loving us. We hope you can meet Haddie real soon. God has a plan and we will keep rolling as always. We actually feel better being back here because we knew something wasn't right...and now they can figure it out so the next time we go home...we can smile about it.
Having a child with chronic illness/needs grows the parents' flexibility like no other thing! Continuing to pray for precious Haddie and her Daddy and Mommy. GIGATTAATTGIG
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ReplyDeleteSo, I'm going to share a stereotype with you that I heard when I was shadowing in the NICU a few years ago. The residents told me that, generally, PICU parents are "paranoid, first time parent" types. The PICU parents are the ones who are more likely to freak out when their baby coughs or has a low-grade fever. Taking a healthy baby home and then having them get sick leads to that stereotypical paranoia.
ReplyDeleteThey contrasted this with NICU parents. Now, it's been a while, and I was in the NICU at the time, so they weren't really describing NICU parents. But I think what they were getting at was that the NICU parents were less likely to, I dunno, over-react about the little things because they understood the context better. For example, there has probably been a time when Haddie had some symptom like a high fever, a rough cough, or something that the nurses and doctors saw as "normal" under the circumstances and weren't worried about. Some symptom that, in a healthy child with no other context, would cause a parent to worry. Now, you've seen that, and you know what it's like when Haddie's fever/cough/etc. is "okay" and when it's not. That gives you a unique perspective, such that your "first time parent paranoia" is likely to be different than most.
It is just a stereotype, and please forgive me as I am sure there are tons of parents who don't fit the stereotype, and even when parents are being "paranoid", I'm actually appreciative that they have so much concern for their little one. But I just wanted to share, in case it helps you decide when to trust and when to question those instincts.
On more thought--I can also say, as a NICU survivor myself, that I have seen a bit of this in my parents. I've seen a young mother of twins with one girl in the PICU telling my mother what the doctors are likely to need to do for her daughter. My mother looked at her and said, "They survive that." I saw the young mother's eyes light up with hope as she glanced over at me (late twenties at the time) and then back at her and said something like, "She did?" My mother nodded, very affirmingly, and the relief was visible. (Note: this young mother was actually a "NICU mom" herself; this was just scary stuff she hadn't heard of before and didn't understand yet...)
I'm lifting your little one up in prayer, as so many did for me thirty years ago, and sharing your posts on Facebook more often than not. Know that we're rooting for you, adoring her, and reaching out to God on your behalf. And also know that, odds are, your instincts as "first time parents" are going to be very different than most. Because you've been through the valley, and so you'll know how to see the mountain peaks for what they are. And smile about them. :-)
God bless,
Tara Fox
(friend of Jonathan and Julie Ransom)