Looking more like his Mom lately.

Well, we've been home since Wednesday afternoon and it has been a whirlwind of a week. I've worked everyday this week and besides all the hospital stuff and catching up Karin has been dealing with daily phone calls to insurance companies, doctor's offices and pharmacies. As I've said before, being Liam's secretary, sorry executive assistant, is a full time job. We are still very tired. Liam is adjusting back to his old self although he owes us a poop and better pay up tonight.

Hopefully the weekend will be nice and uneventful. We all need our rest.

As I was writing this I started hearing what I thought was a leak in Liam's trach. After a thorough investigation I have concluded that it was actually the cat. Snoring. Lying next to Liam's crib. Good thing I woke up the boy to make sure his trach was attached correctly and that his ties weren't too loose. Awesome.

I've got a few longish posts about the hospital stay and about being hospital parents 80% written but they are in notebooks and the last thing I feel like doing at this particular moment is typing and editing so I'll once again quickly throw a few random thoughts together and call it a blog post.

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As has so often happened this week, the topic of conversation last night turned to some part of digestion.
"yeah its kind of like that coffee that I read about that is only brewed after the coffee beans have been eaten by some monkeys and shit out." I said, making conversation with Karin when without missing a beat or cracking a smile she looked at me and said matter of factly,

"oh, you mean Folgers."

I hadn't laughed as hard in weeks. Just thinking about it now makes me laugh. I am very lucky to be married to someone who after all these years still makes me laugh more than anyone else I know.

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Liam has woken up and sorry folks but he's a lot more fun than typing on this silly laptop so I am signing off for the night. Hope you all have a pleasant weekend and If I don't make it back before Sunday night, Go Saints!

The Days are Just Packed.

Liam's care can be very intensive at home and with me back at work much of that falls to his mother. The weekend is the time when I need to make it up to her by giving her a break. Its a selfish act really because the hours of the day when I work are Liam's most active and alert. His twice daily medicine regimen has him pretty drowsy both before and after my work shift. The weekend is my time to play.

I wanted Karin to get a nice long night's sleep last night so I told her to sleep all night and I would handle all alarms, suction, and med doses. She let me get a few hours sleep in the morning and then the real fun began. She plopped him into my arms as soon as I poured my first cup of coffee and the two of us drifted in and out of sleep watching the TV on the recliner. There is no better way to start a weekend.

My Mother-in-Law came for a day visit and spent the early afternoon holding The Boy and catching up with us. I knew that Karin has not left the house since we came home from the hospital so it was time for her mother to take her shopping so that they could get some alone time. Karin needs more time away from it all to decompress so I was very glad that they really took their time. Liam and I spent the male bonding time reading and watching TV. Law & Oder Criminal Intent is one of Liam's favorite shows so he was happy to see that their was a marathon of it on cable.

Liam has spent close to 90% of his life on his back in a hospital bed so time in any other position is so beneficial to start strengthening his core muscles. We spent the rest of the afternoon rolling around on the floor. I snapped the photo above while we played with a exercise two. And we sat on the floor together to watch The Lion King. I forgot how much I like that one.

My Mom & Dad came over with dinner and we all had a great meal before my Mother-In-Law headed out for home and my parents followed suit a little while later. Karin and I got Liam ready for bed. Just before getting his big 8pm med regiment Liam rolled himself over onto his side. A big move for a kid with the muscle tone issues Liam has. This may be why he has been sleeping through the night lately. He can finally make himself more comfortable by repositioning instead of needing us. We'll take any kind of Independence we can get from Liam. It was a fun moment.

I don't think I could have written a better Saturday. I laughed a lot. I smiled a lot. I got to be the daddy I always thought I could be all those days in the hospital waiting for my turn to take care of Liam.

Just a bunch of Homebodies.

We're all home now! Liam was sprung at about 4:15pm. I'm pretty tired from work and kid stuff but I need to force myself into writing here at least daily. There was only one major event for today and it is the best news of the week so far! Home.

There was so much confusion as no one seemed to know what the plan was. Since 5 different doctors follow Liam's case no one quite knew who was keeping us there so long. Each one thought we were still there because another was waiting for some results or changes. Its that lack of communication and attention to details that made up the differences between being in the ICU and the regular hospital (or GenPop as I called it). Its quiet. As all of our experience in the hospitals were in the ICU, we weren't ready for the quiet. Less equipment running, less monitors beeping, less ventilators breathing. Quiet. I was also surprised by how little we saw of our nurse. Without sounding cocky - aside from starting an IV - there is nothing that a nurse would do for him that Karin and I have not been doing for months. We went close to 4 hours without seeing a single nurse today. Don't get me wrong I am not in any way saying that the nurses themselves were the problem. They were all knowledgeable and helpful when they could be but the job is simply different than ICU nursing. Instead of 2 patients per nurse in the NICU/PICU, I think the ratio was closer to 6 to 1 up on the regular floor. The nurses were relieved to have a set of parents as knowledgeable and as independent as we were because it left less work for them. All the more reason we should have been home. If we have no use for the nurses why did we need to be there? Well Karin and I made enough noise for them to just give up and say get out of here. We didn't need to be told twice. We were in the car about 20 minutes later.

The pediatrician has been called. Nurses won't start coming until Thursday because we need some time alone first. He is in tip-top shape and we are ready to start our third experiment in home living. I'll post pics when they're ready and I plan on posting some long pieces soon. Expect tweaks to the layout and design of the site too. There's lots happening here so make sure you tell your friends to visit.

Liam is sleeping comfortably and I don't see why I shouldn't do the same.

Night all.