72 Hour Mark

72 Hour Mark

We are in the home stretch now. All of Em’s blood work looks great. He is off all IVs, and he is only taking a little bit of pain medication. What a trooper. 

I wasn’t able to see this handsome man yesterday (Thursday) due to my 5th graders drive-thru Culmination. It has been such a long time since I saw them, and many of them worked so hard during Distance Learning… I had to be there for them. It was amazing seeing some of these elementary babies grow into some amazing and hard working middle-schoolers. They will do amazing things. I am so proud of this class considering how difficult this school year has been for them. 

Keep in mind, Emmett decided to come 2 months early. I had Emmett on the second day of school. I even taught that day! They had a sub for the first semester, and I came back in the middle of December. Then, the pandemic hits. I am surprised by the amount of relationships I was able to build in such a short amount of time. 2020. Ughhhh… 

Yesterday, Em was moved from the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to just the Children’s Unit. Here, they have a bed, restroom, and television for the parents. It is much more comfortable over on this side. They still have all the same COVID rules, only one parent at a time, so Robert and I continue to switch out. 

When I walked down the halls today, the nurses greeted me with wonderful smiles (although hard to see under the mask.). My baby wasn’t crying this time, instead, happily swaying in one of the nurses arms. 

“Oh hi mommy!!” she says in a baby tone voice for Em. “He’s only happy when he’s being carried in this position.” she explains. 

“Yes, that is my Em.” I giggle. 

Emmett is pretty cranky all the time. He LOVES to be near people, held, and cuddled. He has a very specific way to get to sleep. Everything needs to be perfect for Em. The lights out, the white noise on, the binky in, the fan on, etc. This kid is VERY demanding, but that smile he gave was extremely worth it. 

As soon as he got in my arms, he just put his head on my chest and cuddled. It was a very magical moment. It was the most precious thing, and the nurse almost had tears in her eyes. I carried him to the couch, and we played with some toys for a while. He continued to just grab my arm, chest, hair, anything he could get his arms on as if saying, “Mom,  don’t you dare leave me again!”

You could definitely tell that he needed a nap. He was rubbing his eyes, talking, rubbing his eyes, cooing, and rubbing his eyes some more. I carried him along with his handheld traveling monitor back to the crib. Even though he doesn't have medicine or fluids in his IVs, he is still “ready to go.” He has connectors in his neck, arm, and hand. Plus, he still has his drainage valve on, and I have to be very careful when picking him up. He has very strict rules. 

After I got him in the crib, he immediately fell asleep when I gently caressed his head. He slept for a good 30 minutes, and I was able to finish my grades. (Thank you Em). He woke up due to a nurse checking on him… His oxygen monitor had come off during his traveling from couch to crib. Since he was awake, and he was not going to go back to sleep due to the immense amount of screaming coming out of him, I fed him.

6 whole ounces in one sitting. Let me repeat that: 6 WHOLE OUNCES IN ONE SITTING! Ok, so if you don’t know Em’s feeding repertoire, let me explain. He will take about 3 ounces, spit out the bottle, and then just babble and talk and want nothing to do with the bottle until he says so. Which is usually in an hour or so. It’s exhausting feeding this child. Then, he usually spits it all up… Yay!

This kid needs calories. He is far underweight, the heart issue made him exhausted while eating, and he was on fortified formula to 27 calories an ounce. For him to eat 6 whole ounces of fortified formula in one sitting without getting tired, spitting it out, or anything: THIS IS A MIRACLE, my friends. A MIRACLE.

After this amazing and special feeding moment. He just started the cutest conversations with me. I pretend to talk for him, “thanks mom for this amazing meal!” He was laughing and talking, and it was just beautiful. I loved this time spent with my man today. He is getting so strong. He is sitting up at every chance he gets, but he still falls over due to lack of strength. He is rolling and moving around with all the energy of a regular 9 month old. This. Is. Amazing.

Thank you UCLA for this surgery. It was needed. My baby is finally happy.