Fox is home!!

Daddy, Boba, and I are THRILLED to finally have him come home.  He's adapting nicely, and of course, we know that the real work begins now.  And we are so grateful to start down on this road, as difficult as it can be.  He is healthy, happy, and very very precious.  Thanks to everyone for showing such amazing support in the last two weeks.  Drop us a line and come visit so you can finally meet Fox!

On the up-and-up

I'd like to start off this post by quoting one of the fabulous nurses at the Sharp Mary Birch NICU:

"[Fox] read the manual on how to go home.  He is READY!"

And so he is.  In a nutshell, Fox has been doing great with his recovery.  A day after his surgery, the doctors removed the tube from his throat and started him on regular feeds; i.e., breastmilk through a bottle.  They've upped the volume of his feeds steadily, and now he is feeding like any other baby - and the best part is, he's passing his food like a healthy baby!  So all systems are go!

He's not home yet, so continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers...but we're all hopeful that he'll be released from the NICU in a couple of days.  Today he "graduated" to the other side of the NICU (the side where the healthier babies stay), and he has been breastfeeding like a champ.  Things are looking good.

I'm going to leave it at that for now and let you all enjoy the fabulous pictures.  We'll keep you posted about his homecoming.  Stay tuned!

More Drama

Well, no one says our lives are simple.

Sorry to traumatize regular readers twice in four posts, but we have another scary story.  Cause we like a little pathos in our household!

No need to skip to the end - I'll tell you it all comes out okay.

By the way, this is another Daddy post.  Mommy is bathing Boba at the moment.

A side note: Boba has been fabulous.  True, she hasn't really had to share Mommy & Daddy yet,

 but she has been an angel lately.   Note here, how she uses Mommy's breast pumps as a megaphone. 

She's really been an angel, as we've waited for Fox to come home...

...a little later than we expected...

...sigh...

So, when last we left Fox, he was bonding with family and enjoying being held by everybody.

The first 24 hours post birth proceeded pretty much as usual, except we noticed that Fox wasn't pooping and that, other than one brief latch in the recovery room, he wasn't showing any real interest in eating.  No one seemed too concerned as C-section babies often feel "full" the first day as they haven't been squeezed through a birth canal.

But, after we passed the 24-hour mark, they started paying a lot more attention, and by hour 32 or so, they decided to move Fox to the NICU, so they could monitor his systems.  It was very clear at this point that something was not functioning in the digestive system.  Now, I should stress that at no point in the process was there ever a sense of immediate danger.  Even as things unfolded, it was always in a controlled, non-urgent fashion.  Bless the hospital staff for always coming across as calm and assured.  It went a long way toward easing our anxiety.

After monitoring him overnight on Saturday, they took Fox over to the Children's Hospital on Sunday morning for a contrast enema.  They basically watched as they injected some fluids up the back door and looked for where the problem might be.

They quickly diagnosed Hirschsprung's Disease, which is when the last portion of the large intestine does not have the cells to move waste through the system.  They informed us that they would be doing a "pull through", where they would remove the damaged portion and reattach the healthy portion to the anus. Helpful link.

Final diagnosis would not occur until the beginning of the surgery, when they would take a biopsy for confirmation.  In most cases, the surgery is successful and the baby will regain "normalcy".

They also informed us it probably wouldn't happen for several days, probably Wednesday (which ended up being accurate).  So, the good news was that they thought they knew what it was and they were confident they could fix it.  The bad news is that we had to wait and wait and wait without being able to DO anything.  Very frustrating for a parent, especially when you're looking at your little guy with an IV and a tube running down his throat.

Pardon the graininess of some of these pix.  They were taken with my phone.

One of the blessings of the waiting days: he slept all the time!  If you think about it, most newborns, if they didn't have to wake up to eat or poop or pee, would just sleep and sleep and sleep.  And that's what Fox did.  Every now and then, he would peek open his eyes and gaze around dazedly.  But then, he'd drop back off.  Mommy and I visited the NICU several times a day (even after Mommy was discharged) and held him, wires and all in the very convenient, provided Lazy Boy recliners.  Maybe a few tears.  But mostly, just savoring the time we had.

Today, we showed up a few hours early and then started almost 90 minutes late.  So, it may have made the wait seem longer than it was.  Mommy and Daddy followed as Fox was led through the labryinth of tunnels, elevators and corridors that connect Sharp Mary Birch to

 Sharp Memorial to Rade Children's Hospital.  Mommy was in a wheelchair, thankfully, cause it really was a trek.  Fox was in a little mini-hospital, with tubes and monitors and a glass cage, all being wheeled along at top speed.

The (wonderful) doctor explained everything to us and we headed to the waiting room.  All told, the procedure took a little over three and a half hours (much of that time was spent sending cell samples to be analyzed looking for the point where dead cells gave way to healthy ones).  Mommy and Daddy took turns hitting the cafeteria, surfing the internet and reading Newsweek.

In one of those few times where you don't mind life being anti-climactic, they came out and told us everything went smoothly.  No surprises or complications.  As soon as the intestine was reconnected, waste started flowing out.  We walked back with him in his glass bubble.  He was already looking around, though we were assured that he was probably more high than coherent at that moment. 

Once again, I have to praise the wonderful staff.  I've just been so

thankful that Fox was born where and when he was, and with access to this level of treatment.  

Right now, it looks like we're out of the woods.  We were thrilled to hear that he might make it home by early next week!  We'll see.

The breathing tube is out.  Hopefully, tomorrow the stomach tube will be out.  And, maybe he'll be eating in the next day or so!!  And you know what happens when you eat...

Fox Has Arrived

Thankfully, it was an uneventful day, all things considered.

Per the schedule, Mommy and I woke at 4 am (by the way, this is a Daddy guest post – Mommy has other things to think about), arrived at the hospital at 5:30, prepped and went in for the C-section at 7:30. Fox’s official birth time was 7:50 am. We love our doctor.

The recovery room was also mellow. As Mommy waited for feeling to return to her lower extremities, Fox and I went through all the little baby tests (10 fingers, 2 eyes, etc.). For such a traumatic day, I was very impressed with his temperament. 

Sure, he got pissed when they stuck needles in him, but then, so do I.

He weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. After the monster that Boba was (9 lbs 12 oz), this 

seemed small to us. But we found out that after adjusting for Gestation Date (Fox arrived three weeks before Miss I’m-gonna-take-my-sweet-time) Fox is actually larger. Doesn’t look larger, but smarter minds than mine say it is so.

He latched on quickly for his first feeding. He seemed to have quite an appetite. Which was good, as he skipped meals for most of the rest of the day in lieu of slumber.

After a bit, I followed Fox to his first sponge bath while Mommy went to her room. He didn’t care much for the bath, other than the warm water rinse after she washed his hair.

Fox and I then rejoined Mommy

 in her room and crashed for most of the afternoon. We tried waking for a few feedings, but Fox was pretty clearly having none of it – “Give me a break mom. It’s been a rough day. I’ll eat tomorrow.”

Boba and Papa and Doe arrived around 6. We have been anxious about how Princess Boba would respond to sharing her throne.

Wow!

She was in heaven! She kissed, held and poked (with reminders to be gentle) her brother and was soooooooooooooooooo excited! She kept talking about all the ways they were going to play together. 

In honor of his arrival, Fox had arranged a present for Boba (with Daddy’s help): two goldfish in a small bowl. She was very grateful and promptly named one of them Nemo.

And, this being our life, Daddy had to leave the family for his evening performance. As I left, Boba was bouncing off the walls with joy. When curtain comes, I will rush back to the hospital and hopefully, get this entry posted quickly.

Back to normal...plus one!

Jason has been bugging me non-stop about writing a "happier" post than the last one I wrote...and believe me, it's not that I have nothing "happy" to write about; we're PLENTY happy in the Boba-Fox household these days! (Hmmm..."Boba Fox"...either that's a new Star Wars character or the new name of this blog!) It's just that life, as always, has managed to slam my butt into "busy" gear, so much so that blogging has taken a far, far back seat from all the other chaos going on.

But no matter. Here I am now with a much-needed update. For starters, let me explain a what's going on with sibling-in-utero, FOX! Well, as of writing this, I am officially 12 days from my due date (July 26). HOWEVER - when I had my 20-week ultrasound, my doctor determined that my due date should actually be one week earlier, but since by their standards, one week difference is not that big a deal, they left the due date as it had been determined earlier. So either I'm at 38 weeks or 39 weeks...whatever, all I know is that I'm cooked and I'm pretty sure I'm ready to go.

Well, as some of you may remember, Boba was a whopping 9 lbs. 12 oz., and that was after being 12 days late. I developed pre-eclampsia (look it up) towards the end of that pregnancy, which prompted an induction, which led to an emergency C-section after about 12-13 hours of pushing. (I might mention that I tried to do this without drugs...and my advice to anyone who is considering that route - induction sans drugs, that is: DON'T EVEN F$^%!ING THINK ABOUT IT. TAKE THE DRUGS. IMMEDIATELY.) Anyway, the main issue was that she was not dropping, which is to say that she was too big for my pelvis to accommodate.

And guess what?? A couple of weeks ago my doctor takes the measurements of my belly and says, "Hmmm. I think this one might be bigger."

Um, WHAT??!? Bigger than 9 lbs. 12 oz., are you kidding me???

So, after discussing it with our doctor, we opted to schedule a C-section for July 18, one week and one day before my original due date. The way I see it, Fox was fully cooked by week 37, by most medical standards, so having him at week 39 is no big deal. Besides, for all we know it could just be week 40 and I messed up the date on the front end, if you know what I mean! And it gives me a nice deadline to get things done (not that things are done, mind you), and there is something strangely comforting about having a date of when your life is going to change completely, all over again.

Four more days! Yee-ha!

Okay, so that's on the Fox front. On the Boba front! (This is her blog, after all!) Boba has had a glorious month since her hell week with the kidney infection, and I'm happy to say that she is not just back to herself again; she has grown and matured some as well! At the end of June, she had her very first ballet recital at the San Diego County Fair. She and 4 other little girls her age performed "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" to an audience of fans and admirers. They wore little black and white tutus that were just so screamingly cute I could have died. (Except that I wasn't there. I had to work...one of the consequences of taking a week off to tend to Boba at the hospital a couple of weeks before.) She was a real trouper and did her jumps and her turns exactly when the music prompted her. Daddy was bursting with pride and took many photos for Mommy to enjoy...Papa (Boba's grandpa) took a video which I have watched 5 or 6 or 800 times. It is too darn cute.

Then, on July 5th, we celebrated her 3rd birthday...even though her actual birthday was not until July 10th. It was a blast - exhausting, but a blast! The whole thing lasted 2 hours and yet I was more wiped out for that than I was for our Memorial Day BBQ, which lasted about 3 times as long. (Well, I am more pregnant now than I was then, of course. But still.) We had about 16 kids and their parents, a bouncy-castle, a giraffe-print birthday cake, a ton of food and drink...what can I say, it was the first child's birthday party I've ever hosted, and I thought it went swimmingly. What made it all worth it was Boba's face when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her and she blew out her candles - it was as though she couldn't believe that all these people were singing just for her. And then, of course, there were the miles and miles of birthday presents that we opened...what can I say, Boba scored. It was a really wonderful week, and I say "week" because the celebration lasted up until the 10th itself, when we opened even more presents and had birthday cheesecake! From the Cheesecake Factory! Oh, yes...the 10th was just as lovely as the 5th, and perhaps even more so because there was less clean-up!

What made all of the last few weeks even more terrific was the fact that my brother and his family were in town, so Boba got to celebrate and party with two of her favorite cousins, Joaquin and Sofia. She just adores them, so let's just say that we wrapped up June and welcomed July with a bang. (Literally, as well...we saw fireworks on the 4th, which Boba was scared by, but she got over it once she could view them from behind the relative safety of a huge window.)

So, here we are, mid-July, at the cusp of our lives transforming once again and taking in the joy of the little girl who has made our lives beautiful and profound since her birth 3 years ago. In many ways I am terrified but in others I am completely thrilled. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of all of these changes - and that's pretty much everyone in our lives! Next time I post I will most likely have pictures of our newest addition. Stay tuned, and until then....much love and kisses from Boba-Fox and Flambo and Daddy!

XOXO