Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Home!
12 days and three surgeries later, we're finally home! We were able to come home early Monday afternoon. Things have been going well so far, and we've definitely already been able to see a difference in Declan's alertness. We also did a weight check yesterday and were happy that he didn't lose any weight from being in the hospital, so now we can focus on plumping him up. I'll work on posting pics and more details soon!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Unexpected Delay
We are currently still in the hospital with Declan, and it has been an emotional past 48 hours. He was transferred to the heart center on Saturday morning, which we were really excited about. He was doing great as far as pain and alerness, and there were no negative side effects from the surgery. He had also started eating well, and was eating more than he normally did before the surgery, which was a huge excitement.
Late Saturday morning, however, he had a hard time keeping down his milk. He started spitting up a neon yellow color substance and seemed like he was having stomach troubles. They suspected horrible acid reflux, so we stopped feeding and put him on an IV to give medicine time to kick in. Sunday afternoon, he was able to take a bit of Pedialyte and then later we tried feeding again a little bit of milk. As he was taking that, he spit up more of the neon yellow and continued to do this, so it was back to the IV with a consult in to the doctors. They did know that this was not something related to the surgery, although it could be a strange effect from a medicine.
Overnight Sunday he started spitting up bright green fluid, and the nurses assured us they would make sure we had answers for the problems as soon as the doctors could look at him. He had an upper GI test done Monday and this showed some sort of blockage in the intestine, but they weren't sure what. The radiologist suspected a narrowing that they may have to go in and open up, but nothing serious. The next thing we knew, however, a couple of people from the surgical team came to talk to us and let us know that Declan would be going in for emergency intestinal surgery within the hour because the green fluid was a very bad sign. No one has ever mentioned anything wrong with the intestines, so this was quite a shock to us and was difficult emotionally since we already had so many other things to worry about, not to mention fear of problems of having a major surgery only four days after heart surgery.
The surgery itself took about three hours, and it turned out that he had malformed intestines--this means they began twisting around each other so food cannot get through (it's pretty much like when a garden hose gets wadded up and kinked in several places). So they had to manually take it out and unwind it. Definitely not a pleasant thought!
At this point we are back in ICU, but we should be able to head back up to the heart center this afternoon if all continues to go well. We're looking at another possible 5-7 days in the hospital, so it will be another long week for us. Right now we are so extremely thankful and blessed that problems happened when they did. This was totally unrelated to the heart surgery, and he just so happened to have the problems while we were still here but had already recovered mostly from the first surgery. Had it gone on much longer, his intestines would have started dying off and we would be dealing with some major permanent damage. So while we really wish we didn't have to deal with two major surgeries back-to-back, we're so very glad we have answers and a fix for the problems he was having over the weekend. We're just hoping this is Declan's last surgery for a long time! Oh, and while they were at it, they also took his appendix out--it wasn't causing problems, but because of the malformation it ends up in the wrong spot of the body so if he were to have problems with it later in life, he would probably be misdiagnosed. Too bad they couldn't go ahead and take out any other potential unnecessary problem organs!
Late Saturday morning, however, he had a hard time keeping down his milk. He started spitting up a neon yellow color substance and seemed like he was having stomach troubles. They suspected horrible acid reflux, so we stopped feeding and put him on an IV to give medicine time to kick in. Sunday afternoon, he was able to take a bit of Pedialyte and then later we tried feeding again a little bit of milk. As he was taking that, he spit up more of the neon yellow and continued to do this, so it was back to the IV with a consult in to the doctors. They did know that this was not something related to the surgery, although it could be a strange effect from a medicine.
Overnight Sunday he started spitting up bright green fluid, and the nurses assured us they would make sure we had answers for the problems as soon as the doctors could look at him. He had an upper GI test done Monday and this showed some sort of blockage in the intestine, but they weren't sure what. The radiologist suspected a narrowing that they may have to go in and open up, but nothing serious. The next thing we knew, however, a couple of people from the surgical team came to talk to us and let us know that Declan would be going in for emergency intestinal surgery within the hour because the green fluid was a very bad sign. No one has ever mentioned anything wrong with the intestines, so this was quite a shock to us and was difficult emotionally since we already had so many other things to worry about, not to mention fear of problems of having a major surgery only four days after heart surgery.
The surgery itself took about three hours, and it turned out that he had malformed intestines--this means they began twisting around each other so food cannot get through (it's pretty much like when a garden hose gets wadded up and kinked in several places). So they had to manually take it out and unwind it. Definitely not a pleasant thought!
At this point we are back in ICU, but we should be able to head back up to the heart center this afternoon if all continues to go well. We're looking at another possible 5-7 days in the hospital, so it will be another long week for us. Right now we are so extremely thankful and blessed that problems happened when they did. This was totally unrelated to the heart surgery, and he just so happened to have the problems while we were still here but had already recovered mostly from the first surgery. Had it gone on much longer, his intestines would have started dying off and we would be dealing with some major permanent damage. So while we really wish we didn't have to deal with two major surgeries back-to-back, we're so very glad we have answers and a fix for the problems he was having over the weekend. We're just hoping this is Declan's last surgery for a long time! Oh, and while they were at it, they also took his appendix out--it wasn't causing problems, but because of the malformation it ends up in the wrong spot of the body so if he were to have problems with it later in life, he would probably be misdiagnosed. Too bad they couldn't go ahead and take out any other potential unnecessary problem organs!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Surgery Update
Declan's surgery this morning went well this morning and he is recovering well so far. We had to be here at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. for prep work, which really just consisted of sitting in a little cube-like room for a while and someone would pop in every so often. They took him back around 7:20 and then we spoke with the doctor around 10:00 a.m. and were finally able to see him in the ICU a bit after 11:00. He already has his breathing tube out but is on medicine for the pain and has several lines. Overall everything is going really well.
Thank you for the thougths and prayers, and we will keep everyone updated as Declan continues recovering!
Thank you for the thougths and prayers, and we will keep everyone updated as Declan continues recovering!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
One Month Old!
Time flies when you're having fun. . . and taking care of two kiddos under two. It's amazing to think Declan is officially one month old today (and it's amazing we've been parents of two kids for a month now and haven't totally screwed anything up yet). It has definitely been a crazy, busy, and extremely emotional last month with a lot of things we could do without, but we wouldn't trade it for the world since we have such a great family:
I'm not sure how tall Declan is now, but on Friday he weighed 6 lbs., 10 oz. Definitely a slow gain for the month and he's still a tiny peanut, but I have to remind myself it's not too bad considering how far we've come in the past month.
From this:
To this:
We still have a ways to go in some areas, but right now he's pretty much hitting all of his one-month milestones with flying colors except for the always waking up to eat on his own. He effectively poops, pees, follows people with his eyes, practices holding his head up, hates cooperating with diaper changes, and spits up with the best of them. He very rarely cries, but when he does, it's quite forceful. And he very patiently puts up with his older brother's antics--who adores him, by the way, but doesn't always understand that Declan is an actual person that we have to be careful with. But more on that another time.
In traditional fashion, Declan now has his own Build-A-Bear animal, appropriately named Squeaks for Declan's often squeaky noises.
In other news, Declan will be having heart surgery on Thursday, so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers (and poor Callum who will have his normal Mommy and Daddy time interrupted again for a few days). They have been monitoring his heart since just before he was born, and the surgery is for closing the valve that is open before birth and should close after birth, but his hasn't. He is having some other issues possibly related to this still being open, so they need to take care of it ASAP so we know if it's related to know how to work on the other problems. It's not an open-heart surgery and in the world of heart surgery is relatively minor, so we're hoping for a very positive outcome and a fast recovery!
I'm not sure how tall Declan is now, but on Friday he weighed 6 lbs., 10 oz. Definitely a slow gain for the month and he's still a tiny peanut, but I have to remind myself it's not too bad considering how far we've come in the past month.
From this:
To this:
We still have a ways to go in some areas, but right now he's pretty much hitting all of his one-month milestones with flying colors except for the always waking up to eat on his own. He effectively poops, pees, follows people with his eyes, practices holding his head up, hates cooperating with diaper changes, and spits up with the best of them. He very rarely cries, but when he does, it's quite forceful. And he very patiently puts up with his older brother's antics--who adores him, by the way, but doesn't always understand that Declan is an actual person that we have to be careful with. But more on that another time.
In traditional fashion, Declan now has his own Build-A-Bear animal, appropriately named Squeaks for Declan's often squeaky noises.
 |
| Getting acquainted |
 |
| Official one-month photo |
In other news, Declan will be having heart surgery on Thursday, so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers (and poor Callum who will have his normal Mommy and Daddy time interrupted again for a few days). They have been monitoring his heart since just before he was born, and the surgery is for closing the valve that is open before birth and should close after birth, but his hasn't. He is having some other issues possibly related to this still being open, so they need to take care of it ASAP so we know if it's related to know how to work on the other problems. It's not an open-heart surgery and in the world of heart surgery is relatively minor, so we're hoping for a very positive outcome and a fast recovery!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The newest Green!
I began working on a lengthy post about our newest addition, but can't seem to find the time to finish it. So lest he feel slighted, I figured I should go ahead and add a quick post in hopes I'll get to a longer one later. So without further ado:
It was a rough start for him with just over 8 days in the NICU, and we still have a lengthy list of doctors to visit (too bad they don't have something similar to a frequent-flyer program for that!) due to some potential problems, but we are thoroughly loving our time at home with him! Callum loves having him around and often likes to hold him and try to burp him. We just have to keep a close watch since he doesn't yet understand the meaning of being gentle.
Declan Rupert
August 24, 2011
12:40 a.m.
6 lbs., 18.5 inches
August 24, 2011
12:40 a.m.
6 lbs., 18.5 inches
It was a rough start for him with just over 8 days in the NICU, and we still have a lengthy list of doctors to visit (too bad they don't have something similar to a frequent-flyer program for that!) due to some potential problems, but we are thoroughly loving our time at home with him! Callum loves having him around and often likes to hold him and try to burp him. We just have to keep a close watch since he doesn't yet understand the meaning of being gentle.
Monday, July 18, 2011
4th of July!
We had a nice relaxing 4th of July attending my aunt and uncle's annual party. Callum was able to go swimming for the first time this summer. He wasn't too sure of the idea of swimming at first, I think because the water was still a bit cool, as you can see.
After a few minutes, though, he warmed up to it and loved it.
Hopefully we'll have a chance to swim a couple more times this summer.
After a few minutes, though, he warmed up to it and loved it.
Hopefully we'll have a chance to swim a couple more times this summer.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Summer!
It's been a fun summer so far in the Green house. We've been busy the last few weeks trying to organize and slowly get ready for kiddo #2. Hopefully he/she doesn't come very early because we have a lot to do still to get ready, it seems. On the plus side, we have managed to move the furniture around and the new nursery is now painted, so it's definitely coming along.
Since I've been extra neglectful to the blog lately, I thought I would do a snapshot of Callum at 20 months, so here goes.
Loves:
-Trains--every time he hears one at home, we have to go outside to watch, which is great except the trains that go past are usually really long and slow.
-Books--he's always been a reader, and this has not changed as he's gotten older. He loves to stall for naps/nighttime by insisting on more books.
Sometimes he likes to find unusual places to read.
-Comics--he loves all books, but he especially loves the comics section of the newspaper. This is how I found him one morning as I was trying to clean up the kitchen.
-Talking--he will talk to anyone and everyone and is definitely not shy about people. He has an extensive vocabulary, which can sometimes be both a good and bad thing at the same time. It's great when he can say what he wants, but it's not so great when he says it over and over again.
-Eating--he especially loves bananas (he usually asks for one the first couple of minutes of waking up every morning), crackers, cheese, green beans, spinach, pasta, pizza, and beans. He's generally a great eater and we can't complain about most of his choices.
-Drawing--he loves to use pencils/pens/crayons, and whatever other writing utensils he can get his hands on. He likes to color, but he also likes when we write down letters and he points them out. He can recognize several of them, including A, C, F, G, O, S, T, W, X, Y, Z. Colors--now that's a different story.
Callum's pretty easygoing usually, so there are definitely a lot of loves on his list right now! I'll try to update again soon with the not-as-fun dislikes :).
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