Journey of Tattooed Mom out of her element.

First and foremost I would like to say that even though things appear to be changing, it does not mean it’s a good thing.  We are still in ICU which is never great.

It seems some people feel that with every little moving forward action, it’s a time to celebrate, it is FAR FROM that.  Until he is home, it’s not good…period.

They took the tube out yesterday at 4:00 pm.  They put him on 70% oxygen and have been suctioning him and giving him chest PT’s to help break it up.  As of this moment right now he is still breathing on his own.

They have decided to take out most of his IV’s and start feeding him through his tube in his nose because he is not ready to be mouth fed yet.

We will see how things go and go from there.  Keep him in your thoughts.

I received my normal 5am wake up for his daily X-ray.  Went to the bathroom and came back and slept for about 3 1/2 more hours; 8:30am.  I decided to have another bathroom break and when I walked out, I went downstairs to the cafeteria for something to eat.  My breakfast consist of a bagel.  When everyone including the people that work here tell you that the food sucks, it is best to listen.  I also had first hand experience and they are right.  *gag face*

SO I come back to find about 6 women around him. Apparently, he pulled his tube out.  Which is exactly what happened next door with a little girl who has the same thing.  It is Friday the 13th after all.

Well, they put everything back in and he is ok for now. It seems while it was out he was still struggling and having issues.  They decided to paralyze him in a drip so his lungs and him can rest so he will be prepared when they do take it out which it should be soon.

I spoke with the attending yesterday and he said he has the H flu which they have vaccines for it to get rid of it which is good.  I spoke with the resident and she said he has Bacterial Pneumonia. 

I asked for the Dr to see what is going on and shall share later.

Sitting here watching my son being attached to all these IV’s and tubes and whatnot, is enough to make me go crazy or even postal. (the details of his issues can be found at  My mommy Blog ) In this time of great stress, you always have to managed to keep yourself sane.  I have done everything from updating My Myspace, My twitter, and even my facebook to keep from going mad.  Let’s not consider the fact I am ALREADY crazy just don’t have it on paper.  Which is good because I am allowed to have a concealed carry permit. Scary isn’t it?? I have taken pictures of my son, to show people this isn’t as simple as one may think.  Even though it seems it’s not a big deal to most, I want you to look at this and tell me it’s no big fucking deal.

With that being said I have had to make myself useful and attempt to keep my humor about me.  I did catch one photo op that was intriguing, it is raw so bare with me on that.  I will blow it up later

THis is what I have to do while I am waiting for my baby to get better..

I am sitting here trying to figure out what is going on.  Being a virual infection, it needs to ‘run it’s course’.   What’s sad is I’m ready for the course to be run and ready to take my son and go home.  I’m expecting things to get better, but they remain stagnant.  They gave him a 2nd blood transfusion and there is no change.  His anemia is gone for the time being, and his immune system is great yet he still is in the same condition…..

I am stressed, hurt, worried, depressed, pissy, I have so many emotions running through this head of mine and it is not good.

Postal comes to mind….

Tuesday morning, Mikey woke up crying but you could not hear anything. It was like he was horse. I heard some congestion and called the Dr’s office. They told me there is nothing they could do and no meds they could give him. They said to make sure there was a humidifier in his room. Later that evening, he was feeling hot and not acting right.
I called the Dr on call and told her what was going on. I had just checked his temp and with the ear temp checker, it ranged from 99.9-100.9. She said he needed to get checked in the morning. In the meantime, to give him infant Tylenol, and to call first thing in the morning and schedule an appointment. I went immediately out and bought the tylenol along with baby rub and stick on temp monitor.
I put it on him and it said over 100. She did mention that if at any time I felt uncomfortable or his temp gets over 101 to go to the ER. The next morning I called and made an appointment for 2:15pm.
The whole day he didn’t want any bottle or his pasifer and slept most of the day. I knew something was wrong. I took him to the Dr and he was weighed and temp taken. It was 102.2. not good. The Dr came in and listened to his chest and knew he felt hot. He then consulted with my main Dr and he ordered a chest X-ray and test for flu and pneumonia. Unpon doing that, they concluded that he had pneumonia due to what they heard, saw and the X-ray wasn’t very helpful. They told me they were waiting for a Dr to call back from Pitt on suggestions on what to do. This b/c nash was NOT equipped well for the specialty of children.
So, I waited and cried a little. My friend Kristy who is also a nurse came in and stood with me and let me cry on her shoulder which I greatly appreciated. The whole time I was between phone calls with mom and Thomas. Thomas was on his way home.
After a little bit, the Dr came in and told me that Pitt was sending an ambulance to pick him up and they were waiting for him. To take him to the ER since they did not pick up at a Dr’s office. I drove over there panicing and shaking the ENTIRE time not knowing. They take us back and set him up, take blood, weigh him, take his temp etc. I also find out at this time he is ANEMIC and has a low blood count which attributes to his paleness.
Next thing I know, they said the HELICOPTER is on it’s way and will be here in 17 minutes. Ok, even worse. They confirm that he has pneumonia and the upper part of his right lung has collapsed, yeah you heard me, COLLAPSED. I’m staying strong the ENTIRE time I was breaking down inside. They had 8 nurses at a time in there all trying to get him hooked up and booked up to prep him for Pitt. The helicopter arrives and they introduce themselves. At this time the Dr’s decide to put a tube down his throat since he is struggling so bad to breathe. Needless to say my wonderful Nash general hospital took more then once to do it and cost the helicopter nurses alot of down time and it seemed to waste time. Then it was curled and they had to do it again. THe East Care nurses could have done it, but it wasn’t their house, you know? SO I don’t plan on going back there, ever.
They get him in the incubator and ready for take off. I say my goodbyes and go home. Luckily, the helicopters go over my house in their flight path to and from pitt so I was able to see him on his first helicopter flight even though it was VERY bad circumstances.
IT’s 10:00 and we are finally at Pitt in the Pediatric ICU (PICU). He looks as he does below and they do more work on him assessing the situation. Come to find out he actually has RSV which is a virus and isn’t as bad as pneumonia but could turn worse at any time. His lung was not collapsed, but the virus just blocked the airway and deflated the upper part of the lung.
I am still here and we have to wait it out. He’s not ready to be weened as they tried and it didn’t work well. Last night was bad.

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Well, 9 months have passed and I gave birth to a baby boy.  Michael Thomas High, 7 lbs 2 oz, 20 1/2" long.  Yes, it was my first child and it was something that I don’t plan on doing again.

I went in to get induced because it seems he was refusing to come out.  I got setup and dressed and got into the bed after the weighing, IV setup and everything.  So I laid there, waiting while people were in and out visiting.  It’s hard to be modest when you are sitting there nekkid under a thin ass sheet.  A few people stayed with me all day besides my hubby.  My g’ma and mom which was surprising. 

About 10:00 am, they decided to break my water.  I had 23% fluid in my tummy, so I had more then most.  So, he stayed lively due to all the room he had to float around in.  When he broke my water, it was A LOT.  I did not realize how much comes out when it breaks so I knew NOW what would have expected when and if it happened naturally.  Needless to say I’m kind of glad it didn’t happen on it own because I would have ruined my floor, bed, car seat, where ever it may have happened. 

They then fitted me with the IV pack to help induce the labor about 11:00am.  I laid there, waiting…..waiting……I started having pains but not very bad and often.

There was discussion of the epi. I wanted to wait until I needed it, right at the last point.  Well, they needed to do a C-section for someone at 2:00pm so I had to make a big decision to do it before then or I had to wait a few hours.  Not knowing what to expect, I said let’s do it and about 1:30pm he came in and gave me the epi.  It took a while b/c he kept hitting a nerve, but he did it and I started to feel numb.   Well, apparently, there was a ‘hot spot’ in the top thigh of my right leg so I felt every labor pain there for several hours.  He came in after the C-section and gave me more epi. juice, didn’t work, and then gave me a strong ‘narcotic’ hoping it would work…..it didn’t work.  Around 700 pm or 7:30 pm, he decided to give me another epi.  That one worked, yet they decided to try to start pushing at 8:00pm.  I pushed yet he didn’t want to get past my pelvic bone, so pushing didn’t help too much.

The epi quit working, but he didn’t want me numb so I knew when to push.  Needless to ay for 2 hours, I pushed and felt the pain as I had all day.  I was tired but managed to push him out with the help of the vacuum.  In the process, he ‘lacerted’ me and I needed stitches and now my private area isn’t pretty anymore….lmao

It’s completely worth it looking at my son, but once is enough.  I have my son and my step daughter so I’m happy.

It seems I need to refresh this for some time.  I am currently 39 weeks which means I am a week away from my full term.  Most women have their kid between 37-40 weeks.  Apparently, I am the ‘lucky one’ that gets to make it full term.  I go back next Wed. to discuss inducing me.

I started having back pains/labor Christmas day that lasted all day.  I then had it on and off since then and went to the Dr on Monday to make sure what it was.  I managed to not have moved AT all from the 2 weeks before of 1.5 cm.  Which sucks considering they would put me in at 3 cm or more.

Being my first kid, this has been a good and bad experience for me.  I have been so grateful and excited to be able to get pregnant with such a great man, my hubby. 

I have had an awesome pregnancy up until the last month.  I have asked myself and others WHY would a woman want to do this more then once.  I am sure once I have him and am able to see him all of my bad thoughts will change.  I hope. 

We will see, wish me luck

TM