First Tyler’s endoscopy: This morning Tyler and John checked into the hospital at 6am (fun 4am wake up call) for an 8am procedure schedule. Unfortunately the doctor was running late so John and Tyler got to hang out and play for 3 hours! It’s a good thing I dressed Tyler in his Tigger outfit this morning – I thought, “Maybe they’ll take it easy on him if he looks REAL cute!” Well, Tigger outfit and all, they STILL had a hard time catching his veins and ended up sticking him 3 times before the nurse “team” decided to go for the foot – success, finally. Poor little guy had such a hard time the “toy lady” came over and gave him 3 toys for each attempt. Looks like we inherited more bath friends. So right around 9am the doctor arrived and took Tyler right in – well, John and Tyler. They let John hold our little Tigger until he fell asleep and then they pushed them both in the procedure room and then let John hand him off. John waited in his recovery room for about 10 minutes and the next thing he knew, here was Tyler! It was that quick! He finally woke up and John was driving out of the hospital parking lot by 10am. The longest part was waiting – isn’t that always the way it is?
Bottom line: Tyler’s GI track looked good, not obstructed. The GI doc did see little white dots along the track though – she thinks they may be allergy related. She took a biopsy and they drew blood to test for ALL allergies. We can’t wait to find out what he’s allergic to because we’ve suspected allergies for a while now but couldn’t put our finger on what he could be allergic to – he only takes a few drugs and the most elemental, hypoallergenic formula. We looked all over the internet to see if anyone has had issue with our formula, Neocate, and low and behold I finally found information. I found a conversation between mothers talking about their baby’s intolerances to corn-based formulas, which are ALL powdered formulas, including Neocate. DING DING DING! John and I immediately thought, “He must have this allergy, that’s all it could be!” So…we are crossing our fingers that this mystery will be solved and that PART of his problem will be resolved! After all, he still needs to eat! ;o)
Parker’s Anniversary: Happy Anniversary our darling boy! One year ago today Parker came home from the NICU! After his 129 day hospital stay, Parker was finally able to come home with his mommy and daddy! I remember how excited we were to FINALLY get to take him with us – we’d waited sooo long! We knew it’d be a challenge with his oxygen and multitude of drugs, but we also knew that he’d be better off at home with us. The only bitter sweet part of his homecoming was the fact that his brother was not being discharged. Tyler’s eating wasn’t on track (just the beginning) and his oxygen dependency was a little too high for release. So Parker came home alone and would be there as the ‘only child’ for 2 more weeks. Looking back at the video and pictures, I am amazed at how tiny he was – where the time go? He was such a little sweet guy who rarely cried and when he did, you could barely make it out because of his rough, intubation-damaged throat. In fact Parker still talks with a “husky” voice - very cute for such a sensitive guy.
Wow, I can’t believe it’s been a year! It seems like so long ago, but at the same time seems as though they just came home. I do know that I was in a “fog” for months after they came home – trying to keep up with pumping, their meds, feedings, oxygen maintenance. I think I’ve just recently found my brain again, but not my memory. I think that’s gone forever! What’d I just say? ;o)
So...BIG day at the Thompson’s today! And tomorrow will be another BIG day when the boys enjoy their first Halloween! Last year’s wasn’t so exciting with Tyler still in the NICU and Parker being one day at home. Tomorrow will be a fun time for my camera, that’s for sure! ;o)
Below are some pictures of Parker the day we brought him home. My video didn’t upload well because it was filmed in HD. As soon as I can figure out how to convert it, I’ll post the homecoming video. And immediately below are a couple of endoscopy pics - ewww! Enjoy!
Nothing like a little Tigger at the hospital to make people feel better. John said the nurses LOVED our Tigger Ty - they were gushing all over him! I just hoped they washed their hands before touching! Oink oink - no swine flu allowed!
Kind of gross but I thought someone might be interested in seeing Tyler's esophagus. The scan makes the white markings a little less obvious, but his track was full of them.
