Thursday, December 27, 2012

100th Day

I remember almost 10 years ago, a friend of mine reminded me that it is all about the Benjamin's (joking of course) and we proceeded to have a great night of memories.  Well, this Benjamin is very happy today, the 100th day of Hudson's NICU living arrangement.  Hudson at this time is not in the NICU, that's right, he is still at Riley but in the Simon Family Towers (quite the upgrade from the NICU).  The reason.......we get to do 24 hour parent care to simulate a day at home with Hudson and his monitor and oxygen that will be with him 24/7.

Assuming we pass the test and competently take care of Hudson and his equipment without any nurse intervention, we can go home on Friday!!!  Kim and I have been trained on how to handle and work with the monitor system which constantly measures his heart rate and apnea.  It will alarm if his heart rate goes above 200 or below 80 beats per minute.  The apnea will alarm if he does not breathe for 20 seconds.  Every time the alarm goes off we get to log all of the information on a sheet.  The monitor system has a memory and once a light goes off we have to call the service provider for them to bring us a new monitor.  If the doctor wants the data off the monitor they can download it and provide that to the doctor for them to analyze.

The machine has gone off a couple of times since we have been in complete charge of Hudson, and it is very LOUD!!!  It is designed to wake one up from a dead sleep anywhere in the house, yes it is loud.  The reason his alarm has gone off is due to a high heart rate.  He gets fussy when we change his diaper sometimes but he quickly resolves it on his own and nothing else is needed.

While the new room is nice, we do miss the nurses from the NICU.  They were nothing short of amazing both professionally taking care of Hudson but also talking with us and getting to know us as people too. It was always reassuring knowing who was Hudson's nurse that shift and knowing they enjoyed taking care of him.  I must admit, as I walked out of the NICU today I shed a tear or two, I'll miss the times we had sitting and talking with the nurses. I cannot say enough about them. We had two nurses walk us over to the new Simon Family Tower and when they left, Kim and I got hugs.  We promised to stop by and say hi on some of our trips back for check-ups at Riley as an OUTPATIENT.  :-)  We also said we will send pictures and cards to keep them updated on Hudson.

The room we are staying in tonight is very new and we both enjoy the amenities.  These include two flat screen TVs, our own bathroom with shower, a wii, fold out couch, desk, recliner, linen closet and a window all from 8 East.  We have a door with blinds in between the window pane and the nurses can open them up to check on us without having to come in the room.  It is very nice, but Kim and I do miss the interactions with the nursing staff when we all shared one big room.

Back to Hudson, he is doing well and should be discharged on Friday - the 101st day.  Kim and I will need to check out of Ronald McDonald's house too before making the jaunt up I-65 north to Lafayette.  He has is follow-up pediatrician appointment on Monday in Lafayette, followed by a follow-up eye appointment sometime next week for his ROP (which is healing great), then sometime in the next month a follow-up with surgery, a 3 month follow-up with Urology and the Pulmonolagist sometime as well.  Just a few appointments for Hudson and those are the ones I know about and can remember.

Hudson will be on oxygen for sometime to help with his breathing.  We were told to keep him away from all open flames!  We will get that delivery tomorrow once we get back home.  He is also on an antibiotic for his stomach incision that has developed a small amount of puss.  His bottom looks great! He has great vocal cords! Overall, he is great!  His weight today was 8 lbs 1.5 oz.  He will get his first of three shots tomorrow to help prevent RSV.  Our friendly reminder about Hudson....

Hudson is still a sick little boy with no immune system right now.  His lungs are not the greatest and we ask that visitors give him time to get accustomed to his new home and keep him healthy by not bringing in any outside viruses or bacteria.  His body is exactly like that of a cancer patient, extra care and caution has to be taken.  We do not want to go back to the ICU.  We know there are lots of people who have prayed and given us words of encouragement for Hudson, please give us time to help Hudson adjust before visitors come see our bundle of joy.  We know everyone understands and may contact us to inquire about stopping by to see him first.  


 Hudson loves feeding time, especially when Mommy does it!!!

Our nurses have been awesome to help decorate Hudson's area with crafts and pictures. 


A view of Hudson's area in the NICU.  That was his home for 100 days.


Hudson's new room for 24 hours.  Notice a difference?  And yes, the bed is just a little big for him.


One of two flat screen TV's, the red wagon I had to borrow to wheel all of our stuff over (it was piled high of stuff). The pull out couch and window. 


The view from the window, its nice but Hudson wants to go home. 


He loves his feeding time and Mommy is the best around to give it to him!


This is his travel equipment. On the left is the monitor that watches his heart rate and apnea's.  On the right is his portable oxygen tank that travels with him when he travels. 


"I get to go home tomorrow if I am a good boy tonight???"   - Hudson

1 comment:

  1. AAAGH!!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED! We will be praying that all goes well for all of you. Please post pictures every once in a while...I know how motherhood is, so maybe one a year? (lol)

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