Then I got a phone call from the doctor tonight. The head of the NICU doctor. Were we to make a list of people you prefer not to receive unexpected phone calls from, his name would be very near the top. When he announced himself on the phone I felt as though the floor had been pulled from under me.
But Michael is probably fine. His abdomen was somewhat distended this evening. The nurse was troubled by this and they did some further evaluations. An x-ray revealed nothing more than some extra gas; however, in preemies (all newborns?) excess gas can be a sign of an infection.
The decision was made that he needed to be watched more closely. So back to the NICU Michael has gone. He's also not allowed to eat for the time being (probably at least 24 hours, he'll be soooo mad!), and has won himself a new IV and a tube into his stomach to suction out any extra gas or leftover food. Poor baby. I'm going to go see him in the morning, as usual, and he'll probably be plenty hungry by then. I guess his labs looked okay tonight, but they will do another x-ray and more labs tomorrow and reevaluate things. I guess Michael is just not sure he is ready to say goodbye to the hospital. He is still growing like a weed and I'm really praying this doesn't set him back too much. He weighed just over 5 lbs. 4 oz. yesterday, when I took these photos. I tried to get another with the cell phone, so you might be able to tell better how he's grown, but it might be too different from the earlier one (which is underneath) to really offer a good comparison.
More wait and see. Which has kind of been the story of these last two months. You'd think it gets easier after a while. . . not so much.
6 comments:
Oh no *hugs* I am so sorry to hear he's not coming home yet. Better that they watch him there where they can immediately care for problems though. I hope he's 100% better and ready for travel very soon!
He has grown. He looks great. Beautiful baby.
You poor thing. And poor Michael. But isn't it wonderful to know they won't be sending him home until every little thing checks out. I guess that way you can be really confident that when he comes home, he's really ready.
He is so sweet. I can't believe he's almost a month old! He's changed so much already.
He is looking wonderful. You've sent scale photos before, but the first time I really understood his size was seeing him with that BINKY! Ha ha! Oh, look at him courageously managing a binky that to him is about the size of a SALAD PLATE!
I agree- that paci makes him look small! But he looks so much more filled out in the face than that earlier picture!
He has decided to hang in the hospital longer- he just wants to be really REALLY sure that he's ready for life on the outside. What a good boy. =)
I'll be hoping that you'll bring him home soon- when everyone is ready.
Kisses for Michael!
Sorry about this setback. Hopefully it is just gas- babies just ALL seem to have trouble with that, preemie or no.
And hey, Michael has now reached the weight of my Addy when she was born four weeks early! And she was basically healthy, so maybe getting over five pounds is the magic number? Here's hoping!
I remember phone calls such as the one you described... Queue horrible, sinking feeling in the stomach now, accompanied by pounding heart and sweaty palms.
Hang in there, darlin'. Michael will be home before you know it.
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