nicknames
This updating business is far more difficult than I thought.
Much like having a baby. In the NICU. Twice.
Goal? 1. Give update. 2. Try out a bunch of nicknames in the context.
Thursday, my most favorite day of the week, was a rough one for Master Merritt.
Things were looking good in the morning after a great night with successful feedings, but PooPoo Broussard took a turn for the worst mid-morning - freaked his nurse out, and gave us some even more troubling signs.
Currently, we have no target for treatment, so we're treating him empirically.
Handsie McGee's labs continue to come back negative with just a few markers here and there. His lymph count is up - which could indicate something viral. BUT. He also seems to be doing better with every IV antibiotic treatment - which could indicate something bacterial.
The results of his 48 hour blood culture should be in this afternoon and that should show if he's growing something bacterial. If nothing shows up there, I'm assuming it's lumbar puncture time again. We have to rule out EVERYTHING to keep the doctors content and this Momma NOT freaking out. Please pray that we don't go the bacterial meningitis road - treatment is 21 days of IV antibiotics and the complications ... suck.
One of the big troublers right now is that The Dude isn't gaining weight & I have (had, actually - stress is sort of impairing my efficacy) a milk supply that could feed Africa. The continent. Not that great song by Toto. Also, the milk is so chock-full of fat that if you shake one of my pumped bottles ... it turns to butter. Delicious on an english muffin, I imagine.
Other troubler? He's cyclical. He typically has good nights and then crashes during the day. I have no idea how he knows night and day because this place is like a casino - no windows, bad food, and lots of beeps and dinging. I hope we win the jackpot. His crashes include him behaving as though he received DNA from a wet rag. Yesterday's crash involved some rapid-fire decision making wherein the words "feeding" and "tube" were thrown out. He has enough tubes and wires already* and we're trying to avoid this route with all our might. Even had a dietician come in and provide some suggestions which we're trying.
*I'm getting really good at swaddling around all these. All that practice on the cats is paying off.
Boose Deuce has an enormous team working to make him better. After a consult yesterday, the head neonatologist wants to run a metabolic panel to see if there's a disconnect in the "I feed you, you get lots of nutrients & grow chubby, kissable body-parts" scenario.
IV fluids are still being delivered at a fast clip. This seems to be helping.
We just really need to know what's wrong.
And this Little Man needs to get better.
We love him so much it hurts.
6 comments:
on the upside, you're going to come out of all this with the six million dollar baby..perhaps you should consider adding "lee majors" to the list of nicknames.
i'm thinking of you guys every day, hoping everything gets cleared up soon.
Thinking of you guys often. Praying you find peaceeven in this tumultuous situatio. Love yall!!
feel better little merritt. sending good vibes from loooooooosiana.
love you momma kate.
Wow Kate! I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through with your little guy! Especially because I've been through it. I know exactly what you mean about them being covered in tubes and wires. When Savannah was born she was fine at birth, then within hours she was on 100% oxygen support. I was not able to see her, though my husband would give me updates from the nursery. A team flew over from San Diego Children's Hospital to the hospital where we lived in Imerial Valley... they had to intebate her, put sirfactin in her lungs, and leave her on oxygen while they flew her back with them to San Diego. On their way out of the hospital, they at least brought her to my room so I could try and look at her through my tear filled eyes, I got to touch her little hand that was taped down to a board and covered with wires... then they hurried off with her. I got discharged as soon as possible (after having had a c-section). My husband followed to San Diego in his car. I then went home and spent Thanksgiving day without my baby... pumped like crazy and then made my way to San Diego where we spent the next 10 days at the NICU. Her total bill was around 100k -- our portion around $100 -- I thank God for our great insurance! And for the great nurses and care she received, but it was very difficult! She was on a feeding tube, IV, and a PIC line (the scariest of all). A PIC line goes in the arm, up through the arm and straight to the heart if I remember correctly... I'd say the WORST part of the whole thing was not KNOWING what was really wrong with her and the PROGNOSIS. And not being able hold my baby, or KISS her even until she was almost 4 days old. It turned out that she had Respiratory Distress (but they never said why, maybe just underdeveloped lungs) and she also had pnemonia. So we did the whole game of wheening her off the respirator while she finished up her ten days of antibiotics. She was being given my milk through her feeding tub, and then we started her on the bottle with my milk, and finally on the breast. I really thought this would be challange (considering my first, Jacob, was difficult to nurse from day 1) but she was such an amazing nurser that I was amazed. We finally got to take her home when she was 10 days old. And now, well you've seen her... you'd never know it. I'm thinking she might have a touch of asthma... now that she's almost 4 it seams to be showing up. Oh, and she was also jaundice... we still have her cool baby ski goggles.
My thoughts and prayers are with you! Welcome to the world of Mom's who can't do enough and love beyond belief! They are totally worth every moment of worry!
Best Wishes, Summer, Jacob and Vannah
Oh Katie, I'm so sorry Merritt keeps giving you scares. I'm praying he will quit giving ya'll a hard time and go home happy and healthy soon.
Katie--
You, Matt, and Merritt are in our prayers constantly. We are so sorry to hear about all the hiccups with "Boose Deuce". He is so adorable, and will pull through this in no time! Keep up the good work, Mama--
Ryan and Jase
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