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...