Children's Hospital
Finally got to check out the somewhat new Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. I have heard a lot of good things about it. Just really wished we could have been there under different circumstances.
Aaron just hasn't been himself lately. No idea if it is related, but he has been more cranky over the past week or so. Didn't think anything of it because he's a baby. Babies get cranky. Early morning Tuesday, Greg fed Aaron and shortly after there was a vomit incident. It has happened before. You have kids, you have vomit. On Tuesday morning I fed him around 10:30 and soon, he was just crazy. He was screaming like a madman and anything I tried to calm him down just wasn't working. His body was rigid and his little fists were bunched up so tight. Eventually I laid him down to put on my Moby Wrap, and he fell asleep on the floor. The rest of the day, he was pretty much his normal self. Around 6:00, I changed his diaper and it was evident that there was something wrong. I frantically called the pediatrician... and was put on hold for 20 minutes. I got thrown up on while I waited. Finally I was given instructions that he probably had a hernia and we needed to take him to Children's Hospital. I needed to track down my mom to come watch the big kids. There were more frantic phone calls and some text messages and me hyperventilating on the phone while I attempted to talk to my sister. And then we were off.
We arrived at 8pm and by 9pm we had been registered, checked in by a nurse, seen by a doctor, and got a diagnosis of a hernia. Apparently 1 in 3 preemie boys get them. So it was no big deal. Or it was supposed to be. But it was our little baby so it was a huge deal. We had to wait to see a surgeon who was supposed to be right down. An ultrasound and three hours later (and I got barfed on again), we finally saw the surgeon. The surgeon was able to "reduce the hernia" which involved putting his innards back behind the wall of the muscle. Greg and I (and Sean, who was along for the ride) were sent to the waiting room while they reduced his hernia since it was apparently rather painful and not something we wanted to watch. So instead I cried in the waiting room knowing my little guy was in pain. The plan was to have us sent to a room and on Wednesday morning he would have surgery as soon as there was an opening in the schedule. We waited in the ER room for another 3 hours and finally got to our room at 3am. Aaron was not allowed to eat after 4am to prepare for the surgery.
There was some attempt at sleep and lots of waiting. Aaron's cries of hunger broke my heart because it was something I could fix so easily but wasn't allowed. He cried. I cried. Morning went by and there was no surgery. We were told that there was an opening on the ER schedule for Friday so if we couldn't get in, we could come back Friday. I was about to throw in the towel and just feed my little guy (who is over 7 lbs now!), when there was finally an opening.
It was odd to be on the waiting side of a surgical procedure. I'm always the one getting the surgery. It sucked. We were amused by the family who was letting their 2 year old chew on a can of Skoal. We met a family who has two teenage sons who they adopted from Guatemala. We met an Amish family who's granddaughter had open heart surgery. Finally we could see Aaron. Poor guy. His little cry was so weak and sad. But he was out of surgery and doing just fine. Even Sean seemed excited to see him.
Because of Aaron's size and the fact that he was premature, they had him stay overnight for observation. Soon he was back to eating normally and as long as he was on Tylenol, he seemed okay. There was more waiting this morning before we could finally head for home. For now, it seems the worst is behind us. I missed Marcus and Will so much and was so glad to be back with them today.
I used to think that I was awesome in a crisis. I think clearly and act fast. After everything that happened in the past few days, I am really hoping my kids never have any other health problems ever. This being a worrying mother thing sucks.
Aaron just hasn't been himself lately. No idea if it is related, but he has been more cranky over the past week or so. Didn't think anything of it because he's a baby. Babies get cranky. Early morning Tuesday, Greg fed Aaron and shortly after there was a vomit incident. It has happened before. You have kids, you have vomit. On Tuesday morning I fed him around 10:30 and soon, he was just crazy. He was screaming like a madman and anything I tried to calm him down just wasn't working. His body was rigid and his little fists were bunched up so tight. Eventually I laid him down to put on my Moby Wrap, and he fell asleep on the floor. The rest of the day, he was pretty much his normal self. Around 6:00, I changed his diaper and it was evident that there was something wrong. I frantically called the pediatrician... and was put on hold for 20 minutes. I got thrown up on while I waited. Finally I was given instructions that he probably had a hernia and we needed to take him to Children's Hospital. I needed to track down my mom to come watch the big kids. There were more frantic phone calls and some text messages and me hyperventilating on the phone while I attempted to talk to my sister. And then we were off.
We arrived at 8pm and by 9pm we had been registered, checked in by a nurse, seen by a doctor, and got a diagnosis of a hernia. Apparently 1 in 3 preemie boys get them. So it was no big deal. Or it was supposed to be. But it was our little baby so it was a huge deal. We had to wait to see a surgeon who was supposed to be right down. An ultrasound and three hours later (and I got barfed on again), we finally saw the surgeon. The surgeon was able to "reduce the hernia" which involved putting his innards back behind the wall of the muscle. Greg and I (and Sean, who was along for the ride) were sent to the waiting room while they reduced his hernia since it was apparently rather painful and not something we wanted to watch. So instead I cried in the waiting room knowing my little guy was in pain. The plan was to have us sent to a room and on Wednesday morning he would have surgery as soon as there was an opening in the schedule. We waited in the ER room for another 3 hours and finally got to our room at 3am. Aaron was not allowed to eat after 4am to prepare for the surgery.
There was some attempt at sleep and lots of waiting. Aaron's cries of hunger broke my heart because it was something I could fix so easily but wasn't allowed. He cried. I cried. Morning went by and there was no surgery. We were told that there was an opening on the ER schedule for Friday so if we couldn't get in, we could come back Friday. I was about to throw in the towel and just feed my little guy (who is over 7 lbs now!), when there was finally an opening.
It was odd to be on the waiting side of a surgical procedure. I'm always the one getting the surgery. It sucked. We were amused by the family who was letting their 2 year old chew on a can of Skoal. We met a family who has two teenage sons who they adopted from Guatemala. We met an Amish family who's granddaughter had open heart surgery. Finally we could see Aaron. Poor guy. His little cry was so weak and sad. But he was out of surgery and doing just fine. Even Sean seemed excited to see him.
Because of Aaron's size and the fact that he was premature, they had him stay overnight for observation. Soon he was back to eating normally and as long as he was on Tylenol, he seemed okay. There was more waiting this morning before we could finally head for home. For now, it seems the worst is behind us. I missed Marcus and Will so much and was so glad to be back with them today.
I used to think that I was awesome in a crisis. I think clearly and act fast. After everything that happened in the past few days, I am really hoping my kids never have any other health problems ever. This being a worrying mother thing sucks.
posted by Annie and Greg @ 2:18 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Just remember you probably aren't completely yourself right now...with getting adjusted to two new babies and what I'm assuming is a great lack of sleep! Don't be too hard on yourself!!
Gosh! what an ordeal! glad he's fixed and i'm glad to hear you're all home and snuggled in tight again. Hugs!
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