Halloween 2015

Presenting the one and only Mr. Lightning McQueen! So happy that we were able to enjoy Halloween at home with lots of friends and family. Parker had the luxury of being wheeled around the neighborhood in his fancy wagon, while mom and dad walked him. He had a blast!

Surprise ending to our day..

So today began and ended on completely different notes. Parker woke up this morning very cranky, groggy, and just overall not feeling well. He made that obvious to everyone. He was not drinking, nor was he eating, and the team was starting to get very nervous. They began talking about putting his feeding tube back in this evening if things didn't turn around. I was heartbroken the second she uttered the words, but still able to think clearly enough to advocate for Parker. My logic was that he vomited several times yesterday and woke up with diarrhea this morning, so his tummy had to be torn up. I started asking him if different things hurt, like his nose, throat, head, belly. The answer to everything was "No!", except his belly. That's when he said "Yeah". I asked him all the same questions again, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and he answered the same way. So I asked them if we could give him something to settle his stomach and give him a fighting chance to turn things around on his own before we jumped to putting a feeding tube back down his nose. The team agreed and at 11:15 we gave him Zofran. By 12:15 he was eating and drinking, smiling and playing, and being polite to people as they came and went. The nurses and residents were amazed by the quick 180 he did. I'm happy to report that with a lot of work on his part, and our part, he just finished his 1200 ml goal. Thank the lord! They have lowered his IV fluids significantly, are giving him Zofran every 8 hours, and closely monitoring his labs. If this trend continues, we may actually bust out of here in the foreseeable future! Say prayers that he keeps this up and I didn't just jinx us again! 

Just another day in the life...

So another eventful night at CHNOLA. Parker's one and only sippy cup that we have here busted around 10:00 last night. I went to Super Target to look for more, but they didn't have "HIS" cup. I bought three different types and none of them are working. We are lucky to have such great friends, though, because I called my fellow super mom, Erica,  at the butt crack of dawn this morning and she is almost here with three of his cups from home.

Around 2:00 Jason woke me up to say that Parker was really warm. I took his temp and of course it comes back as 101.8. The nurse comes in to double check it, gets the same reading, and then comes back with the Tylenol. After 30 seconds he puked it all back up. Now we have to change him, his bed, and his IV sock. He was not happy about any of it, and we needed to find out if he could get any more Tylenol. Luckily he was able to get a second dosage and the fever broke. 

Then his IV machine went off every 2 minutes ALL night long, but the IV was still flushing so we kept trying. Eventually I turned it off, and the nurses decided to have it replaced. We went down to anesthesia this morning to get a new IV and low and behold it was completely BLOWN. It was completely out and kinked sideways, so an entire night of fluid was wasted. And of course as soon as they took the gas mask off of him, he sat up and started heaving up bile. The anesthesiologist said he could have just been from stress or nerves, but we shall see. The plan is still the same, get him drinking and get him home!

If ANYONE deserves credit where credit is due during all of this, it is my husband. That man leaves here every morning before the sun comes up to go to work, and is back here every afternoon around 6:00-7:00 to spend the night with us. It's not easy, because we are only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night with everything going on, but he has yet to complain about it once. He has also managed to go home and disinfect the house, toys, and bedding. He is truly our superhero!