Friday, January 29, 2010

Like riding a torturous bike.

It may be missing a seat and hurt like hell but you never forget how to ride.

Liam is back in the hospital.

He will be fine and although we pushed for it hard we are not admitted into the ICU. Unfortunately, we are setting up camp on the 4th floor. He hasn't pooped in three days and his full belly is affecting his breathing but more importantly we are unable to give him his meds by I.V. at home and so a short stay here at Hasbro Children's Hospital was necessary.

It amazes me how quickly we all adapt to our roles when we get back into 'hospital mode'. The little things we've learned that come back so quickly. The parking spot in the garage that no one knows about and the secret that going through the RIH ER will get you into this hospital quicker. The subtle wrist flick to show the security guard the bracelet that says 'visiting hours don't apply to me' even with your arms full of stuff. That certain elevators shut down at night and on the weekend. That it is always, always a better idea to get your dinner somewhere else instead of getting a tray of the hospital food. Its like we never left. We know how to survive this.

It came on quickly, as it always does. He was fine until yesterday afternoon. After tolerating his 3:00pm feed Liam started showing signs that his belly hurt. He was cranky and irritable and didn't want to be touched by anyone. He didn't even take his 6:00pm feed and by the time he needed his 8:00pm round of meds he was distended and angry. If he was awake he was crying; and Liam doesn't cry.

We kept a close eye on him overnight with the help of our night nurse. He didn't seem any better in the morning and by 7:30am it was apparent that we would be heading to the hospital for an x-ray at least. 8am is a perfect time to go to the emergency room. No line at check in and no wait to be seen. Walking in with your baby on a ventilator usually lets us skip to the front anyway, but today we didn't even need to.

X-rays are not showing anything serious and there is no reason to get surgery involved yet. The kid is just full of shit. For today the plan is to give his stomach a rest and let him get his meds and nutrition through his IV. Tomorrow we'll try something more aggressive. We've been weaning him off of a particular medicine that helps with his motility and this is probably just his body showing us that he would prefer it if we didn't do that. Once we get what is backed up in there out, we can simply start up the med again to keep him regular.

Karin will be spending the night here with him tonight and its my turn tomorrow. Liam is riding out this hospital stay the way he rides them all out. By sleeping through it. He hasn't woken up much today and I don't expect much activity out of him tonight. His mom will be with him to keep him comfortable and I'll be at home tossing and turning in bed and feeling guilty that I'm not here even though only one of us are allowed to sleep in the room. (not counting Liam of course)

That's where we're at. Just passing time while Liam gets better. There are a limited number of channels on the tv in his room and yet I am always able to find some flavor of Law & Order to watch. Guess how many you think we'll see and I'll post the tally on Monday. Have a good weekend everybody and pray that my little guy poops.

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