This week in the life of Wyatt - his three weeks were up. By this Monday, he was admitted to CHEO for moderate dehydration, and losing weight. At the time, we were also considering aspiration (confirmed through xray, that there was no aspiration, however, there could be a case of chronic actelectasis). We rushed him to CHEO on Sunday night for vomiting copious amounts of blood, and we were surprisingly sent home with a prescription for anti-nausea meds.
Needless to say, Andrew and I decided in the early morning to contact Wyatt's CHEO pediatrician for a second opinion. Three hours after making the initial phone call, with Dr. Issa's AMAZING nurse, Erin, we were admitted, and had an IV line pushing fluids through his tiny, little veins.
I think as parents, we always have to look beyond the initial decision that medical staff make, and really look at the bigger picture, which is their child. Also, we shouldn't be too sleep deprived when we decide, that yes, we do agree, with what could be, a just as much sleep deprived, doctor. Because, it's simply mathematics in the end:
x represents sleep deprivation
x + (1 dad x 1 doctor ) = 1 not-so-great decision
I think that is where our problem lay on Sunday night, when my husband came home with a sleeping Wyatt in his infant car seat, parked the seat in the crib and left. Anyway, I unbuckle him, and cover him up in his crib for the night, which is at around 2 in the morning. Dad is already asleep by now. Wyatt's feed finishes about thirty minutes later, I stop it, unhook him from his feed line, and Jude, our middle child, like clockwork, wakes up. I go to his bed, and dad is sleeping soundly next to Wyatt.
By eight in the morning, I'm calling CHEO for an appointment to see our Pediatric doctor, Dr. Issa. Her nurse, Erin, calls up within thirty minutes of the phone, and says "Come in as soon as you're able to. We'll be ready for you."
By 11:30 am, Wyatt is being hooked to IV line, because he is moderately dehydrated. By 4 pm, Wyatt is entering into his isolated room, on 4 East. If it weren't for the MDU Clinic at CHEO, I really don't know what we would have done. The system works, and Wyatt is an example of why CHEO needs systems, such as the MDU Clinic, to be accessible by complex care patients. As his parents, we saw the proverbial crack, and jumped over it; instead of falling through it.
Wyatt has now spent almost two weeks in CHEO, quickly gaining his lost weight back. He is now on Peptamen Jr., and we'll be starting his blenderized diet this weekend. We're pretty excited about it actually. We bought all of the ingredients two days before he was admitted, and unfortunately, most of the ingredients, papaya, pears, and carrots have gone to our pig. Yes. We own a pig.
Wyatt will be celebrating his first birthday soon, so stay tuned for Birthday Photographs!
It's official, we've hit the second longest stint at home - tomorrow it will be three weeks! (The longest stint so far has been 6 weeks, between the months of Dec-Jan). Not that Wyatt hasn't had his health issues, in the last three weeks he has thrown up blood, had fevers, constipation, coughing, runny nose and teething.
Wyatt's Gtube site has some pieces of skin growing around it, but I'm not too sure if that's a good or bad thing. We may try to have Wyatt seen by his PED before the end of this week, just to make sure everything is ok. He hasn't had a fever, but he goes through bouts of discomfort, and it's hard to say if it's normal baby stuff, or if it's his operation site.
We got some good news from CCAC last week, they are to increase our nursing hours an additional 12 hours, which means Barbara will see Wyatt for three of his 10 o'clock feeds, and five of his 2 o'clock feeds. Mom is very excited! And I'm certain if Jude understood that it now means mom gets to spend that much more time with him, one on one, he'd be excited too!
Wyatt and his chiropractor, Dr. Hazel seem to be a good match. Wyatt loves going to the chiropractor, and having his adjustment. He is very talkative after the session, usually poops, and then falls asleep. Luckily, mom doesn't have to make the trek into Kanata, dad does it! Which is great, because it means I get 2 hours of uninterrupted peace and quiet to pump, do laundry, dishes, get our daughter ready for school. Oh, and he's also happier after his sessions, and sleeps better.
On a side note of normalcy, we went on a family outing this Sunday, and it was utterly, uneventful. The kids had fun with clowns and balloons, bouncy castles, dad showed the kids different army vehicles, and mom took pictures! It was a tonne, of cheap, wholesome, family fun at the Military Family Appreciation weekend. We'll definitely be going there next year; for both days!
Wyatt driving one of the NAVY boats:
We also had one of those rare outings to his grandparents, nana & pepere:
He's also taken a huge liking to playing with his big brother Jude; I think I have another boy who loves trains.
Wyatt has also started to 'actively' sign with me, he does 'eat', 'milk', and 'all done'. He's also signed 'dada'. He has danced on his bum for me, and can go from his belly to sitting position! Here's hoping we go another week without being admitted! Wyatt's birthday is in four weeks, so I'm hoping we're home for it. Fingers crossed!
