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Friday, August 27, 2010

Mommy-ing has begun.

Poor Joshua has had a rough morning. The poor child hates to be messed with, so anything from changing his diaper to taking his temp is traumatic. He cries (only the silent kind because of the vent) and turns purple when he gets messed with. His blood pressure goes sky high as well as his heart rate. After a while his O2 stats drop and then we really gotta get him to calm down....not an easy task when he's still so connected to so many tubes.

They have taken him off the sedation to get him ready for the removal of his ventilator. Because of that, he is uncomfortable and grouchy. He also now has a NG tube (feeding tube through the nose) down his throat in addition to the breathing tube. He is gagging constantly and is ticked off at anyone who tries to calm him down.

The nurse and I have tried all morning to get him to calm down. Right now he is swaddled, looking like a little baby burrito, and it seems to be helping. I just wish they would take that dang breathing tube out of him. (I know that is what is causing him to be so uncomfortable....) I also wish I was able to do more to comfort him than just hold his hands. (I've not been allowed to hold him since before the surgery.)

It feels good to be mommy-ing him though. The little I can do to help comfort him seems to help somewhat. Holding his hands seems to calm him down so I've been bedside holding his hands all morning.

Pray that his blood gasses come back normal at 1pm so they can start extubating him after that. I really REALLY don't want to have to fight to get that darn tube out of his mouth over the weekend, but if it comes down to it, mama bear will come out and I will fight with them until it happens.

Let the mommy-ing begin!




6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awww.... he does look like a little burrito! :) So cute! You may try, while holding his hand, getting down by his ear and doing the shhhhhhhh sound. They say it mimmicks being in the womb and sooths them. Just a thought. After two little ones you probably have already tried it. lol.... If not, I hope it helps. Thinking of all of you and saying prayers!!!

Erika said...

Oh poor baby. He is so sweet & you are doing so wonderful! I will continue to pray that he'll keep doing well and that they will take that tube out of his throat ASAP! ((HUGS))

kirsten said...

You go, mama bear!! Poor little guy is just born and he has to go through all this awful stuff. I can't even imagine. I sure hope he continues to make progress and heal and get that darn tube out SOON!!

Amy Bennett said...

Oh poor baby. But take heart mama, what you're seeing in Josh is fairly common for heart kiddos. The nurses would joke that Bodie was a "sensitive soul" because anything (even something as simple as a diaper change) would send him into hysterics, he would desat, he'd turn purple, the whole nine yards. Even when he was on the step-down unit, the nurses told the aides "don't wake that one up just to do vitals - wait until he wakes up and do everything at once." He eventually outgrew it, too - I think a lot of it is just that so much stuff gets done to them at such a young age. And, for the record, Bodie is the happiest baby I've ever met now - he smiles at anyone who looks at him. So hang in there mama - it will get better!!!

Veronica said...

Oh, just saw your twitter update, I am SO over the moon happy that you are holding your little guy..... GOD IS GOOD!!!

Cheryl K. said...

You have a beautiful baby! I am so glad things are coming along for you. Everything happens in small steps. I am also following your tweets and am happy you are able to hold Joshua. Take care of yourself too!

 
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