* I couldn’t get the internet connection working yesterday, which is why there was no post. And it was too late to call Adam to help me figure out what I should do. *
Day 6
Today was a great day! Nathaniel nursed! The first time was at his 4 o’clock feeding and he nursed on the right side very well. But he got too sleepy to eat much on the left side. And when I came for his 7 o’clock feeding, Mr. Nathaniel was to sleepy to wake up. But I couldn’t pass up the chance to keep trying to nurse him, so the children and I went over at 9:30 for his 10 o’clock feeding. He has been getting 50cc of milk each feeding. Well, he decided he wanted more and the nurse calculated that he got 140cc! They have a special scale that they use to weight the baby before eating and then weight them again afterwards. The scale will then calculate how much heavier the baby weighs and display the amount of milk is in the tummy. Both the nurse and I were very surprised that the difference was 140cc. She said that if he keeps eating like that, he’ll be going home in no time. Yay! I expect there will be times when he is still too sleepy to eat and of course, I can’t go feed him in the night. I would if I was alone, but I can’t leave the children here by themselves. So when I’m not there, they will give him a bottle. It’s not the most ideal, true. But the sooner he gets to eating without that tube, the faster we can go home.
I’m realistic enough to expect Monday or Tuesday to be the day we go home. But I am hoping that it could be Sunday. Adam is coming down here Saturday night and is staying all day Sunday with us. It would be wonderful if he didn’t have to come back on Monday or Tuesday. And we’d get him home sooner. But, we’ll see how well he is eating through out the night and tomorrow. Perhaps the doctor on-call this weekend will allow us to go home.
I seem to be having an allergic reaction to something. My head itches horribly. And it’s not because I haven’t showered (which has happened to me before). My eye lids have what appears to be hives on them and it feels as if they are behind my ears, too. The only thing I can think of is that I’ve been using a different lotion for my face after a shower. It’s lotion that you get from the hospital for your new baby, so you wouldn’t think there would be anything in there for my to react to. I am using a different shampoo, which would explain why my head itches. So I’ll stop using both and we’ll see.
Day 8
It’s nice to have the kind of day when all you can think of mentioning is the fact of you having a negative reaction to something. I haven’t had one of those days for awhile. I like it.
Day 7
Today was another good day for Nathaniel. Each feeding, he nurses better and better. The amounts that he eats change, of course. But he has always eaten at least the 50cc that they want him to eat. We were hoping that he could possibly come home on Sunday, but that won’t happen. He won’t be going back on the EEG machine, nor will they give him any more anti-seizure medication. (unless they think they see seizure type activity/movements) That is really good news! His doctor said (to the nurse, not to me) that they want to observe him for several more days. How long is several, I don’t know. It looks like, at this point, that it won’t even be Monday. But that’s okay. I’d rather spend a few more days here if they think he needs it, then to rush and not be sure that things are how they should be.
I defiantly am allergic to something here. I woke up this morning and my eyes were quite puffy from hives and there are hives on my scalp. And my head itches something fierce. I did mention that I was using a different shampoo/conditioner and lotion. But I have used them in the past (but not now at home), and I have never reacted to those products like this before. I thought maybe it could be the laundry soap they use, but only my scalp and eyes are effected, not the rest of my body. I suppose that it could be the pillows…. I don’t know. I did go to the hospital pharmacy and bought some anti-histamine. They are working okay. They aren’t taking all of the itchiness away, but the swelling around my eyes is not so obvious. The only down side to the medicine is that it makes me drowsy. I tried just taking one, but it didn’t do much. Oh, well. I can deal with the drowsiness much better then I can deal with the insane itchiness.
Adam is coming tomorrow evening and I can’t wait! I miss him terribly! And I know it’s hard on him to be away from his family like this. He will be pleasantly surprised when he sees how much Nathaniel has changed since Tuesday.