Wednesday With Cole

I just got home from spending all day with Cole. I arrived around 9:30 this morning because I wanted to make sure I was there when moved him up to Progressive. When I got there he was sleeping peacefully so I just hung out in a chair for a good part of the morning. Later, He needed to take about 4 different medicines by mouth so we had to start the process of waking him up. He was hungry when he woke up so we used that as bait to get everything else in him. I fed him 3 ounces and he fell back asleep. I slipped out to the waiting room to have a little snack and make a couple of calls.

When I came back in, Cole was not happy. They had just taken out his central line (this was in his neck like an IV and went down through his jugular to monitor his heart). Next to go was one of the IV's in one of his hands. This made him even more upset. The other IV was left in the other hand just in case they need to give him something quick. This is a good idea instead of trying to find a vein and start things all over again when he needs something fast.

Once that was over I was able to hold Cole for a little bit. He calmed down and fell asleep in my arms. I have rubbed that poor little baby's head so much he might be bald when he comes home.

After this, I put Cole back in his crib and adjusted the lines and wires that are left, which aren't many, and was preparing to head home for a bit. Our nurse, Matt, had me wait just a minute and asked if I could make it back in an hour? They had a room being cleaned to get ready for Cole up on the 8th Floor in Progressive and they prefer to have mom and dad there when they move up there. It made no sense to head home then.

Our other nurse, Beth, prepped Cole for the ride up to the 8th Floor. We got everything unhooked in the room and hooked back up to a portable monitor and portable oxygen.
Cole was wide eyed and checking everything out as we traveled through the halls and up the elevator. He is HIGHLY suspicious of anyone coming near him right now, even mommy and daddy. You can tell he's not the most trusting baby right now. They said not to worry, we would have our happy smiling Cole back in some time.

I was told today that he is going to have a horrible headache for about 2 weeks from all the blood and pressure in his head right now. This will last until his heart starts adjusting to the "plumbing being re-wired" for his heart to function as close to normal as possible. We were also told not to lift him under his arms for about 6 weeks so the breastbone they had to break can heal back together. We will be scooping him like a newborn under the bottom and behind the neck for a while.

After Cole and I met his new nurse in Progressive, Jennifer, we changed his diaper and he was crying like he hadn't eaten in a few months. In response, I started one of the 2 ounce bottles for him. He went through that in no time. I gave him another bottle thinking he would only eat about an ounce of that and he polished that one off. I was getting nervous because he was still wanting to eat more and so I stuck his paci in and we sat him up and did the "pounding" on him. This is actually soothing to Cole even though it looks and sounds like it hurts. It breaks all the yucky stuff loose that is in his lungs and throat right now from anesthesia. He gave us a great burp and still wanted more to eat, so he polished off another bottle and was still making noise about wanting more. I opened a 4th bottle and he ate that with no signs of being full! Just like that, our little man has his appetite back in full force with 8 ounces! He went right out like a light to sleep peacefully. I sat with him just staring at him and rubbing his little head bald for a little longer and decided to try missing 5 o'clock traffic by a hair so I can come back with Matt tonight.
I am going to stay with Cole tonight, just because the nurses are very overworked up there in Progressive and they have one nurse to 3 or 4 patients. It's not that Cole will be on his own but it won't be like living the high life in CVICU.

God Bless and we shall converse later.