9/5/2007 - Evening Update

We just got back from the hospital. Thank you all for your comments and words of encouragement!

Mom and I got to the hospital at 8pm, right on time to be let in after the shift change. We got to watch the nurse go through all of the vital checking and then Dylan got there so Mom went home.

I got to watch the nurse empty the ostomy bag and then I got to change his diaper. Let me tell you, I felt like an idiot. It's one thing to change a diaper on a regular baby. It is a whole other deal changing the diaper on a kid that has 8 different leads coming off of him...okay, I'm exaggerating, but still. There are a lot of wires looping around him to monitor his vitals, and it's kind of hard to manage all of that, plus attempt to not get peed on (we all know how little boys are). Luckily, I made it out of the experience dry while Dylan just sat back and told the nurse "she didn't go to daddy boot camp." I didn't see him knocking me out of the way to get that diaper changed, though. :)

After the change, Everett started rooting around and attempting to suck on his fingers.


So, the nurse decided we should skip all of the formalities and get right to feeding even though we were about a half hour early. She said that we should take advantage of him rooting around. So, she sat me down and we got started. Let me tell you, my expectations were low for this first try. I figured we might be able to get him to nuzzle at most. Dylan held his breath in anticipation.


Well, this little sucker latched right on. Now, I'll clarify that this was not a proper latch by any means, but still, he got the idea. :)


He doesn't quite get the sucking concept yet, but I'm excited that he accomplished as much as he did. This is making me very optimistic about the days to come. He managed to swallow a few times, and then he promptly fell asleep. :)

They started his feeding through the tube, and once that was done, it was Dad's turn to hold him for the very first time. We wanted to make sure that Everett would be amply supported, so we had Dylan put on his floatie lend a hand.


And then the big moment came.


I was wrong. No tears. But, of course, it didn't take Dylan long to get his hands on the camera and take the first in a series of what I'm sure will be millions of self portraits to come.


That is how we know that Dylan is feeling better about this whole situation. His mind is back inside the camera again. :)

So, we had an eventful evening. I'm really proud of the little guy. As usual, he has far exceeded our expectations. I know that we still have a rough road ahead of us as far as feeding goes, but I am so excited that he was able to do so much tonight.

I'm off to bed to get some rest. Tomorrow I will try to feed him at 9am, 3pm, and 9pm. We may switch off between bottle and breast. At this point, we just want him to latch onto some sort of nipple. :) We'll sort out the difference later. :)

xoxo
Margot