Day of Life: 5
After such a good night, I was eager to see Tera this morning. Barry decided to take some time to himself, so MyGoo, Doc, and I hung out with Canon. We went to the hospital for a few minutes just to check in, then decided to get some logistical things done before MyGoo and I were left to fend for ourselves in Birmingham. Doc headed home, but not before making me promise not to walk too much. This meant that, when we went to Target, I had to drive one of the motorized carts around. It actually worked out pretty well. Canon was so interested in me tagging along behind he and MyGoo in the cart that he didn't even think to misbehave. He was so good, in fact, that MyGoo bought him a new train (Bill) to add to his collection.
After leaving Target, we went to Big Mom's to meet Barry's family for lunch, then it was back to Bob and Jamie's for a much-needed nap. I kept forgetting why I was so tired all the time, until I remembered that I'd had major surgery only five days ago, not to mention the trauma of having my brand new baby shipped off to Tube Land. Later that evening, before we returned to the hospital, I sat with Jamie while the kids ate their dinner. Canon had a runny nose, and for whatever reason - hormones, exhaustion - I burst into tears. Who was going to wipe his runny nose at home while I am here? Who is going to do everything the way that I do it? While I was trying to put on a brave face, this was going to be harder than I originally planned.
Barry and Canon went to the hospital with us to spend their last few minutes with Tera before heading back to Dothan. They left around 9:00, and when they arrived in Dothan after midnight, Barry reported that Canon had never fallen asleep. Now, I'm not quite so upset that I didn't go home with them!
MyGoo and I stayed at the hospital after Barry and Canon left. Earlier that evening, Sandra, our nurse tonight, had seen that Tera spit up some yellow-green bile. Mim, the Fellow on duty that night assumed that it was normal preemie stuff, but thought there was a possibility of some kind of barrier in her tummy. She ordered a belly scan to see and decided to drop her feeds from 6cc to 3cc until the matter was taken care of.
During rounds tonight (my first real experience with "rounds"), a large team of doctors - at least ten I think - strolled into the room. One began reading Tera's charts to update the Attending (doctor in charge) on Tera's situation. They discussed her earlier fluid issue and the fact that her feeds had been reduced. They spoke in code for several minutes, discussing TFI (I later learned this stands for Total Fluid Intake) and other various acronyms. One doctor took out what looked to be an iPhone similar to mine and began punching numbers and operation symbols into what I can only assume is a special app made just for neonatologists. I sat in the chair, looking back and forth from one scrubbed M.D. to the next and wondering when I would ever understand what they are talking about.
Finally, the Attending turned to me and said, "So, do you have any questions?"
Seriously? I can think of a few: What language are you speaking? Can you translate it into third grade teacher language? But all I could manage was "Is everything ok?" This got a few laughs from the peanut gallery, and a positive response from the Attending. Tera was fine. They would continue to decrease feeds until the spit up issue is resolved.
These are Tera's pictures for today. We have all become a little obsessed with her big feet, so they are showcased in a lot of pictures.
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