Sawyer won’t let a little thing like being in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) stop him from being charming, adorable and naughty all at the same time. Yesterday when we went to visit him, we got half way to the room when we realized we’d left some things in the back of the car. Being the absolute gentleman that he is, Adam told me to go on to the room and he went back to the car to get them. When I got there I picked up Sawyer and sat in the rocker and started to hum and sing to him. What did he do? He stuck his finger in his ear. Yes he did. So I stopped singing and said, “I’m sorry. I’ll stop singing if you don’t like it.” This promise made him smile. So I said, “You little stinker, you’re just as bad as your dad. You think you’re soooo funny.” This got an even bigger smile. I have a feeling that sweet little smile is going to get him out of a lot of trouble in the future.He’s just so cute I had to laugh. I’m no Mariah Carey, but I don’t think I deserved THAT. I’ll take that as confirmation that my future as a rock star is unlikely.
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/Yesterday Sawyer only had one episode, but it did not require stimulation. It was after not having eaten for about 18 hours, so they can’t blame it on feeding. They wanted to see his discharge papers before doing any GI testing for his reflux. We took those in last night. They’re going to probably do a pH test where they put a probe in his stomach for 24 hours to measure the frequency and intensity of his reflux. He’ll have to be off the reflux meds for a few days before they can do it. He is eating a lot better. This morning the nurse could only get him to take .5 an ounce, so I told her we had been offering him .5-1 ounce every hour or so and he usually took it. She tried that and it worked. He gradually took more and more each time. When we were there he took 2 ounces from us, which is his minimum every 4 hours. Hopefully his appetite is coming back.
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/At the hospital Adam decided to read Sawyer’s discharge summary, which details everything they did while he was there. In the middle of the summary it reads, “Parents deny substance abuse.” My response was, “I don’t remember having the opportunity to deny abusing substances. When did they ask that?” Adam reminded me that during the admissions process they asked me that. I vaguely recall the experience, though if someone had asked me about it, I couldn’t tell you when it happened or what else it was associated with, thanks to the magnesium sulfate I was on the first few days in the hospital (that is some awful stuff). Anyway, I just wonder if people ever confess to it. “Do you abuse substances?” “Yes I do, frequently.” An article I read in one of my magazines was about how many women secretly smoke or drink during pregnancy (shame on anyone who does that. I think there’s a special place in hell for them) and deny it instead of letting the doctor help them quit. I can’t imagine it’s easier to confess to using cocaine or something like that. We just thought the wording was so funny. We deny it, as though we were positively guilty. They just couldn’t manage to beat a confession out of us. I suppose the legal department told them to use that wording to cover their rears. Gotta love lawyers (and I can say that. We have a family full of them.)
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/Brinlee and Kimball are doing really well. All three of them are really good babies. We’ve been very blessed. They eat, poop, stare and sleep these days. They are so cute and are such a joy to have at home. They all have such distinctive personalities and likes and dislikes. Getting to know them is so much fun. We’re getting a system down, although this new complication of hospital visits is complicating things again. Hopefully Sawyer will get to come home soon and we can all get back to life as we know it: eating, pooping, staring and sleeping.