Friday, February 12

March with Us...PLEASE!

**You missed it! There was a silly e-card here with my face on a cartoon walking in the March for Babies but I had to take it down for technical reasons so if you didn't get a chance to see it you'll have to keep an eye out for similar new posts...sorry!

But you can still donate or sign up to walk...

Click here to help me reach my goal!

Thursday, February 11

You Gotta Be Kiddin Me

I'll admit it, I really thought I was going to escape this illness unscathed. No I mean, I really, really thought I would. Naive? Just plain dumb? Optimistic? Yeah, yeah and whatever.

It started yesterday, just as Bryce and Caleb both proved to really be on the mend. A scratchy throat, a body ache and a general feeling of apathy.

Now it's been quite awhile since I've been sick and I credit it to two things: I finally had my tonsils taken out a couple of years ago and should I feel a sickness coming on I take vitamin C like it's going out of style, drink lots of fluids, stay warm and go to bed early. It's like magic I tell ya.

Unless of course you happen to have a baby at home that doesn't sleep through the night. And is still a little grumpy and overly needy due to his still getting over the very same sickness which threatens to ruin your Valentine's Day.

Oy, Valentine's Day. Did I forget to mention we have our first romantic anything since Bryce was born (8 months ago) planned for Saturday night? Yep. Movie tickets bought. Dinner reservations made. Hotel reservations made. Grandma baby sitter booked.

And all I can think of is sleeping through the night.

Sad, I know.

Despite all of my complaining I really am looking forward to it. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let this little bug keep me down for long!

Monday, February 8

Home Sweet Home
part deux

We are home and so happy to be! We've already had a welcome home, Bryce visit from Poppa too!

Bryce is like a new man today. He's still on the extra oxygen and not eating full blast but the progress is impossible to ignore.

And how nice to come home to this in my inbox...



I barely recognize the baby in the picture and can hardly believe it's Bryce on the very day we began this latest healthcare endeavor with him. Yep, that was the last time I saw my baby boy truly happy - Tuesday, a week ago tomorrow.

Thanks Sweet Mary for the sweet reminder of what we have to look forward to as Bryce continues to improve, as I know he will.

It sure was scary being back in the hospital, especially in the new way in which we don't know exactly what is wrong with him (i.e. he was born to early) and exactly what we need to do for him (keep him going until he can do it for himself).

But we had a secret weapon that I'll be forever grateful for. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!

Good news! All tests came back clear, going to try to take Bryce off fluids and go home today! Virus turned into an infection in his lungs but all else is ok!

Preliminary Results

The preliminary results from the spinal tap show that Bryce has almost no white blood cells in his spinal fluid, this means that an infection is unlikely. This is wonderful news because that would have been about the worst thing I could imagine at this point.

The cultures will take 48 hours to grow, or hopefully not grow, anything. They took a stool, urine, blood and spinal fluid sample to rule out infection pretty much anywhere in the body.

His lungs this morning sound much more junky all over which leads the docs to think he has developed bronchiolitis from the virus he's been fighting. Apparently this is quite common at this time of the year, even in kids who don't have such poor lung tissue.

He also did eat a little last night and was awake more than all of yesterday combined. He's hacking up a lot of stuff this morning which makes him very angry and usually leads to a bit of a desat but otherwise I'm optimistic that he may be turning a corner.

We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Sunday, February 7

No Answers, More Questions

Bryce's lethargy and lack of appetite today were significant and have the doctors concerned that there is possibly something more going on. They've done a series of xrays and a CT scan of his head to check for possible shunt malfunction. Fortunately that all
looked good but now there is a concern that Bryce may have meningitis.

They are planning to do a lumbar puncture in the next hour or so and start antibiotics just in case.

We should hopefully know more in the morning. I'm sorry for the lack of real information but he's
pretty much got us all stumped.

I'll be sure to post more as I know more. Thanks for thinking of us!

We're Back

We kept waiting for Bryce to start feeling better but it seemed he was only getting worse as the days mounted.

His fever began on Tuesday and hasn't yet let up. Yesterday he seemed pretty good in the morning but by late afternoon he was wheezing, coughing and satting in the low 80's. He should, and usually does sat between 95 and 100, without extra oxygen. But he's been on extra oxygen for the last two days.

He scared Dad and Abuelita while I was out yesterday afternoon by turning a little blue all over and becoming extremely lethargic. So off to the ER we went for the second time in a week.

And the same old routine there: medieval chest xray (and now Caleb can vouch for the fact that my description does not even begin to do justice to its awfulness), draw blood, put in IV, swab nose. Only this time they swabbed his nose for RSV again and Pertussis, a.k.a. whooping cough, as well. Both came back negative.

We also had to call in the special forces for the blood draw and IV poke. After one poke and several nurses examining Bryce for access the NICU nurses came down and made it look like a walk in the park. Those ladies saved us, yet again. I wonder if they ever tire of being such heros.

Speaking of the NICU, I think the ER must have been terribly ready to get rid of us and Bryce's entourage of visiting RTs and nurses from upstairs. Word travels quickly in the NICU and we didn't even make it out of the car in the ER drive before we were recognized and Bryce was shuffled away by a former nurse of his.

It was looking like we might be taking him home last night again but then Bryce had several coughing spells that resulting in a complete inability for him to breathe. His entire body turned beet red and he simply couldn't get a breath in. After one I noticed what appeared to be a rash all over his neck and up his face. It was broken blood vessels from his forceful coughing.
And that's when they decided to keep him overnight to monitor his oxygen needs. The residents on the floor they put us on found his history quite intriguing. I had hoped that would encourage them to return after their millions of questions with some clue as to what is going on. It didn't.

Bryce slept quite well after we all finally got settling in right at 2 a.m. And since then he has eaten almost nothing and despite Tylenol is still running a fever over 100. But his lungs sound clearer now than last night and he isn't wheezing constantly any more.

I suspect that we will be discharged today but will be battling this thing for many more days. Unfortunately Bryce has also mastered the pitiful look in the last couple of days so even though I haven't gotten the illness yet, I'm in a lot of pain.

I'll be sure to keep the blog updated as the day progresses and we learn more. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to sign up to walk with us on May 8 at Auditorium Shores for the March for Babies (by the March of Dimes). And thank you as well to those of you who have so generously donated - we're more than a quarter of the way to our goal of $1000 raised already!

Much as the expertise of the NICU never ceases to amaze me, your love and support of us never does either.


Your gift will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.