The Last 7 days...

We have been in the step down unit for a week now and Stockton is doing really well. The doctors changed his NG (nasogastric) tube feeding to bolus feedings each day. This means that he is getting 2 ounces in a short amount of time so that he can start feeling hunger in between. I told the doctors yesterday that I wanted to start feeding Stockton more bottles. He now starts each feeding with a bottle and we put what he doesn't finish in his NG tube. Stockton started getting 60cc (3 oz.) but it was just too much for him. I noticed that with the last 10cc that he would get fussy and sometimes even spit up. I changed his feedings to 50cc and the doctors agreed that it was better. It is very important for heart babies to gain weight and Stockton has been doing really well. We put less than a teaspoon of formula in my breast milk so they can boost his calories. On Tuesday night Stockton managed to tug on his NG tube a little so they just put it back down. Then on Wednesday he spit it completely out of his mouth. They replaced it a few hours later down his left nostril this time. Stockton has his stitches taken out of his belly from where the dialysis and chest tubes were. They are healing really nicely. The nurses say that he is the loudest crying heart baby that they have heard. They took Stokcton off telemetry and they told us they will take out his PICC line on Monday. HURRAY! He has had that stupid thing in since August 3nrd. (The same PICC line that caused his body to crash. We hate that thing.) Stockton still can't take his entire feeding by mouth but it up to taking 30cc at a time. We are so proud of his improvement.

 We have started the discharge process but we will most likely be here another week or so. They are very careful with Norwood patients and want to take things very slowly. They give us a little information each day. The doctors and nurses basically told us to be hermits for the next few months until his next surgery. They gave us a huge list of "not to do's" and important contact information. For example if he has diarrhea or is throwing up and get dehydrated then we need to bring him to the hospital and he bought himself 24 hours on IV fluids. They said any sickness he gets can push his next surgery back 4-6 weeks. We are not to take him to any public places especially in the next 4-6 weeks. )No church, no grocery store, no family reunions) They also told us to do our shopping during off peak times and to change our clothes once we got home and then wash our hands. This is making us second guess letting Tylee go to nursery. We are not to let children touch or hold our baby and the recommended not to have any other children in the home. We know many people want to see Stockton but that is just not possible. We can't have every person come over and shower nor can we trust where they have been. We basically just need to protect this baby from everything we can. The docs said that it is so important to keep this little guys healthy that it would be best to limit how many times we open our front door. They really are so worried about this that they try to scare you straight because it is so important.

On Monday night I was going to stay at the hospital by myself. This was going to be Seth's first night away since Stockton was born. I started to feel a little chest pressure so I took some Tums to see if it would go away. Well, after a few more minutes I realized I was starting to have a gallbladder attack. Ugh! This would be my third one now. I didn't have my pain medicine that the doctor prescribed me so I called my Mom and Seth. My mother said she would stay the night at the hospital so I could go home. I can't tell you how painful these are and how thankful I am for pain medication. I slept for 6 hours straight which is the longest stretch in almost a month. I am so thankful for my mother and Seth. My Mom has helped us out more than she will ever know. Seth continues to be the stronger one of us and I am happy to lean on him. I am so grateful to be apart of such an amazing family.