Sleepover on the 8th Floor

This is mommy reporting in from a looonnnng night and today's news on Cole.

Matt left us for the night and I fell asleep on the bench in Cole's room for about 30 min. Just as I get to sleep good, there is someone barging into the room to check vital signs, collect information on Cole's last feeding, weigh dirty diapers, give medicine, etc.

From our experience earlier in the evening, I was as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof every time one of the nurses came near Cole's crib. I did experience what the nurses go through on a nightly basis when we are not there to help. Cole was up about every hour knocking his O2 line off or ripping his oxygen out of his nose. Obviously, when he would do that it would set the alarms off on his monitors which would in turn, wake me up. When he wasn't doing that he was working up some more mucus from anesthesia and he would cough himself awake and start crying.

This morning, I was frustrated from lack of sleep and my nerves were raw from our precious baby boy being in so much pain. I looked like someone who needed to be committed by the guys in white. I laid back down about 5am but woke up when I heard Dr. Watts talking to our nurse at 6:30. He asked how Cole was and if he was eating well. Cole is still eating like a champion by the way! He's making headway with 8 ounces every time he eats. I was trying my best not to look like the insane mother I represented at the moment. Dr. Watts told me that they would probably take Cole's drainage line out today or tomorrow and he could possibly go home Saturday! Amazing!

I gave up on sleep when Dr. Watts left because Cole was ready for breakfast. I hung out for the day in Cole's room. At one point today we were trying to get some motrin in Cole after he had just eaten and he threw up most of his formula. I picked up Cole, his wires, and his drainage tube while the nurse stripped his bed and put new sheets on.

While she was gone to get some other items for his bed an older lady came in with a miniature collie. LCH has volunteers and some of them have special dogs to bring in for the children on certain floors. She asked if she could come in and if Cole would even like a dog at this age. I wasn't sure, but told her to come on in and we'd see. She held the dog close to Cole's feet so the dog's fur could rub his toes. He semi-smiled because it was the first person to come near him that didn't pull tape off his skin or pull a wire or tube out of him or try putting something nasty in his mouth. The lady said some very simple sweet words about how we would be in her thoughts and prayers and she really felt for any parent up here dealing with a child in the hospital like this. I was standing there trying to be soldier like and then couldn't anymore and couldn't keep the tears back. I haven't really let myself cry for any of this. She stepped out while I continued to give the people in white more reason to commit me.

Matt came a little after lunch and we hung out with Cole until they came in to take Cole's drainage tube out. They had already given him something for pain because they said this would be pretty painful and they couldn't give him morphine anymore. Matt and I went to the waiting room so we couldn't hear him but could watch for when they came out of the room. When they finished, they unhooked Cole from everything and let us walk the floor with him to give him and us a break.

I think I forgot to mention that as of this morning they turned Cole's oxygen off to see how he did without it. He did great all day and so they removed the oxygen line. Cole's oxygen levels will still be a little better than expected because of the amount of collaterals still in there. Good for now, but it means a future trip back for more coils sooner than we would like.

While we were walking the floor we decided to visit the Nurse Manager together as a family. We explained what had happened the night before. She was extremely understanding and helpful. We explained to her that we completely understood the shortage of nurses, the nurse to patient ratio, but that we were nervous to leave Cole in their care after our experience. We were careful to explain that we did not want the previous night's nurse reprimanded because she was truly sorry and really did care about taking care of Cole. We were concerned parents at the time, but it was or opinion that she honestly forgot to get his medicine. It was an honest mistake, but we wanted to make sure that it does not happen again tonight. The Nurse Manager assured us that it will not and she went out of her way to make sure all of the nurses and managers knew that they are to "stay on top of his pain." This means pain medicine is not optional or waiting until he is past the point of no return.

There are some pictures of Cole throughout the day. Right before we left this evening he was smiles even for our nurse Jenn. Enjoy the pictures below and have a great night!