At The Hospital Part 3

Wowie Kazowie Batman! Baby J just weighed in at 14 lb!. He hasn't registered that high on a scale in quite awhile...months actually. I was so shocked. I had them re-weigh him in. I think he was supposed to be weighed much earlier this morning because the nurse was surprised when I asked if they were going to weigh him today...she thought it had been done about 7am. Anyway, yesterday morning he was 13 lbs 9 oz...so that is a 7 oz gain IN A DAY! It is most likely because he can't throw up or not absorb the IV fluids. Further proof he is not absorbing enough.

Snug was happy to visit us at the hospital. He got to ride in a wagon, bring a balloon and eat some Cheerios.

Last night was a rough night. Baby J just could not go to sleep. By midnight he was doing a whiny moaning sound and just could not settle himself. I gave him 2 more oz of PediaSure thinking maybe he was hungry. After a few minutes he threw that, along with what the nurse assessed to be everything he had had in the past few hours, up. That was very discouraging. About 1 am I asked that they please contact the doctor and ask again about the IV or NG tube. I was done waiting for "something to stay down". He was very lethargic and doing this awful moaning sound, hadn't had a decent urine output all day and I don't care how much spit he had, he was not well. Period. They started IV fluids shortly afterwards.

Baby Jail


About 3am Baby J woke up and wanted to nurse...rooting and grunting galore. He nursed like he hasn't in a few days and was drifting to sleep when he was done. He slept until 8am. In fact he slept through vitals checks, that I barely remember either, I was pretty tired. We actually slept through Dr. M coming to tell us about tomorrow's procedures, but the intern did a good job explaining it later. They were worried that if they started an IV he wouldn't want to eat, but it has done the opposite...he is more alert and happy and wanting to eat. They started him on a medication this morning to settle his tummy so hopefully he won't upchuck anything else today.


A very sick Baby J last night right after they started his IV.

Tomorrow he is having two procedures done.

1. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy

For this he can have nothing after midnight by mouth until after he has recovered from the anesthesia. He will be put completely under for this procedure because Dr. S. says it is considered invasive. They will look at his esophagus, stomach, and the beginning of the small intestine. If they find any suspicious areas they will do biopsies.

2. An upper GI. He will drink some barium (and keep it down) and then have a series of X-rays of his abdomen. This will show how food moves through him.

We don't know yet what time these will be done or when we will have results. If he continues to gain without an IV we will get to go home!

Ok, on a non-medical note here is what we are doing besides watching lots of cable on closed captions and trying to let him rest.

I got to take a room temperature shower this morning, apparently they will never have a child scalded here in a shower. Hypothermia may be a problem however. I used the baby shampoo provided to Baby J, but his hair really isn't that dirty at this point, and he can't have an immersed bath because of his IV anyway. He was happy to share. I smell baby fresh. I have also been using his baby lotion. My hands are very dry after using hospital soap and washing my hands at least two times an hour. The towels are about as soft as the tissues. I had #1 bring some tissues from home because poor Baby J's nose is getting rawish.

After I got out of the shower I tried to take Baby J out of the baby swing. One of his favorite pastimes is sitting in the swing in our open door watching other kids and families. The nurses routinely do this with babies who don't have anyone here with them so they don't feel lonely. (Isn't that SO SO SAD???) When I went to get him out, the safety clasp wouldn't open. After three of us had worked on it for awhile one nurse got it undone...I think his swing times are over.

This organization gave Baby J a blanket as we were being admitted Friday. We were scared, overwhelmed, and he was agitated. As soon as they wrapped his new fleece blanket around him he relaxed. Thank you Project Linus. Click on their icon to learn more.

I have to admit I kinda like giving him a bottle. He will take one from me now, even directly after nursing (which is going much better today, supply still low). He gets so excited to have it, being that it is filled with vanilla cake batter PediaSure that he is learning to L-O-V-E. I am kinda afraid he will never ever take anything else to drink after being on it for a few days. That was my admission for the day. I thought I was going to have a problem giving him bottles (when he tried formula at home it is almost always from someone else) but it is actually a nice cuddly time. I just love being with him and hearing his happy little hungry sounds. I love knowing he is getting enough calories. I have been assured before that my milk supply is adequate (pre-hospital stay) but it is reassuring to see all that creamy liquid going down into his mouth.

Thanks for the praying, tomorrow will be a long day I'm afraid.

He, Baby J is a boy. Everyone who comes in says "she". Clearly there are too many baby girls in Dayton being named J******.