Hippy

We did, in fact make it home last night by about 6 PM. Unfortunately, prior to discharge, we received a call from the G.I. informing us that Keira's hip x-rays did not look good. At first I shrugged it off, thinking this is one of the many things that comes with the territory. Besides, she hasn't been in pain and she's not trying to walk on it, so no emergencies, at least.

After Keira yanked her tube out, they reinforced the tubing with extra tape. Surprisingly, they told us that if she pulls it out again we should come back to the hospital. This was slightly annoying to me, as the NICU had actually trained us to reinsert the tube. Oh well. Guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

The plan is to follow up with the G.I. in 2 weeks. We are hoping with the increased intake in calories, Keira will be more energetic, seem to feel better, and gain a little weight. It could be that the few weeks with extra food could jumpstart her energy and she will feed better on her own. Another possibility is that she will need to continue to have her food supplemented via a tube. In that case, Keira would undergo surgery to have a permanent G tube placed directly into her belly.

I went to bed stressed out last night. I made the mistake of googling hip dysplasia and what I found was discouraging: a couple of months in a highly restrictive brace or a couple of months in a cast following surgery. This poor baby! Are all of these intrusive interventions really helpful in the long run? Or should we just leave her alone?

Jeff rigged up a cool little gadget for holding the gavage. He anticipated that at his assigned midnight feeding he may well fall asleep and inevitably spill the chocolate mess all over his daughter. Worked like a charm!

This morning has been hard. Keira is fussy and I'm concerned/paranoid now that she's in pain. Nurse Hannah stopped by and graciously helped me replace K's tape on her face so that it is slightly less horrible. She even stayed long enough so that I could take a shower! I feel somewhat like I have a newborn again this morning. Or a very sick child. However, this time I have not prepared myself by sweeping away all of the other responsibilities in my life. I am really stressed that I am behind at work and have people waiting on me for reports. K has a lot of upcoming appointments and the boys need help with various things and Jeff is feeling really overworked as well. I suppose it's time for me to rally the troops again, at least for a while. I needed to post again today, as I found myself spending lots of time returning everybody's lovely messages. What can you help with? Keep making yourselves available. You are all so wonderful at that. In the next week or two, I may need people to help me with transporting the boys, helping with their homework, errands, dinner, laundry, etc. I know I need to keep from feeling too bogged down.

Right now, Keira and I are enjoying a peaceful moment sitting in the sunshine in the living room while I dictate this. We appreciate you!