Wow. Talk about a whirlwind.
Sorry I wasn't able to update everyone on Thursday. Things just got so busy!!! It was so different than when we had Ella in the hospital. All we could do is sit by and watch her sleep and on occasion we got to hold her. During Eli's stay, he wanted us to feed him because it was painful to lift his arm, we helped the nurses get the tape off of the IVs, and we helped him get up to go to the bathroom or for a walk. So it was much busier than what I was expecting.
I'll start with Wednesday afternoon. The day got jam packed with Eli getting a nice wipe down-type bath, sitting up in a chair for the first time, and his chest tube was taken out! Yippee! Both were hard for Eli. Sitting up was really important so that Eli could get his chest tube out. It would allow the excess fluid in his chest to exit so he could then get the tube out. The chest tube was really weird feeling and uncomfortable so we were excited to see it go so soon. Eli was such a trooper that day. You can tell in these photos that he wasn't too stoked about any of it other than matching Bun Bun in the hospital gowns that his grandma made for them. He later took a nap and played some video games!
Matching Bun Bun Sitting up!
Getting the chest tube out. Don't look too closely if you don't like that kind of stuff.
Also, look at Sharlene coaching him through it, she was amazing.
Playing video games with Dad, it was obvious we don't play video games 😆
Overall, Thursday was a great day! It started off really well and he looked great!
See? Didn't he look good?? He had a great night before and Matt woke up to him chatting with his nurse and telling her all about his friends and home life. He also got to watch TV in the middle of the night which was SO COOL to him 😆. His nurse even let him use her flashlight that was in the shape of a frog. He named it Greenie. Matt texted me updates throughout the night and I would wake up to Lily needing to be fed and read them. It was so hard for me not to be there. I felt like such a bad mom... but there wasn't much I could do as I needed to be there for Lily too.
Around 10am Eli got really emotional and cried a lot, which, in turn, was really painful. He was no longer on the strong pain meds and we could tell a bit. The whole experience was starting to get to him. He told us he just wanted to go home. We were able to get him one dose of medicine and he was able to rest. He took a nap that was a couple of hours long! It was just what he needed to get ready for the rest of the day. His nurse on Thursday was really patient with him and let him rest a lot. We gave him a "bath" with wipes and a weird shower cap thing that washes your hair with no water. I don't know if you can tell by this picture but he was NOT a fan. 😆
Eli got up again and this time it was to go for a walk! He was not so sure, but we had Penny, the therapy dog, to help lead the way!
He was so proud of himself! And check out that gown! He picked out that fabric because it looked like his pig, Starla.
We were then able to get the central line in his neck taken out. Eli really hated taking off the tape that held the lines in place. His nurse took 20 minutes wiping his neck with the orange oil wipes to help remove the adhesive. Matt and I kept telling her to just rip it off but she told us she couldn't because she promised Eli she wouldn't. He was really grateful for her and cried when she left.
We were hopeful we were going to be able to go home the next day, we just needed him to poop (weird that that's a requirement, but it shows that his body is getting back to normal) and his chest x-ray needed to show that his lungs didn't have excess fluid in them...
That night Eli got up to take another walk. This time it was to get over to the window to see 3 of his grandparents and Lily holding up signs. As he saw them, he just started crying. It was all too much and he really missed them.
Can you see us in the window?👇
Saying goodbye to Sharlene
Fast forward to Friday... Matt and Eli got a great night of sleep! Eli took a big poop and his chest x-ray looked good so we got the all-clear to go home! Eli still had 3 IVs in so we worked on getting the tape off and Penny the dog sat at the foot of his bed to cheer him on. I was a bit more gentle taking off the tape, so I was on the job!
The IVs were taken out and we were cleared for take off! Matt and I couldn't believe it! Discharge was always several hours long with Ella and now we were done in a flash. We said goodbye to our friends and were on our way.
Eli and Melanie
We went to meet up with Lily, Grandma and BB at the airbnb that they stayed at. The reunion of Eli and Lily was so cute.
Lily was so excited to see her brother!
We then headed home and Eli wanted Chickfila for lunch. While driving home, I looked back and Eli started crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he was going to miss the nurses and our hospital friends. Matt and I looked at each other and knew exactly how he felt. He experienced this really traumatic thing and yet they made it so that he missed being there. I feel like this is so telling of the impact that they all make there. They are such a gift.
We got home and got the couch ready for a healing boy!
Check out the blanket
Sharlene made for Eli!
Go Dodgers!
We had the grandparents over for dinner and Eli was so excited to see them in person again.
Things I've learned this time around...
-Hospitals are weird places... Filled with joy when a new baby comes into the world or someone is healed and gets to go home. But also filled with sorrow, families losing loved ones, parents watching their children suffer, and so much more.
-God has been gracious. We didn't really experience any PTSD and I know it's because God was protecting us. The only times that shook us a bit was watching Eli in pain and when there were 2 kids "coding" (dying). The sounds of the code blue alarm went off twice while we were there. The deep buzzing sound then the announcement of the code over the intercom brought back memories of the night we almost lost Ella and the few calls that we received saying that something was wrong with our daughter. Each time we heard the code, we stopped what we were doing, prayed and cried. We know what it's like to be the parents of a child that was coding.
-Don't forget to pray for our hospital staff and the families that are experiencing the craze, no matter what hospital. I remember on occasion to pray for them, but they really need constant prayer. I hope to be more intentional about this.
Thank you for praying for us and going through all of this alongside us. We really cannot thank you enough.
Love,
Jillian
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