I am thus far NOT thrilled with our local government-sponsored pre-k outfit.
Yes, I filled out the app late, but why lie to my face and tell me all letters will be going out 8/19 when they obviously aren’t? I just called to check (because I haven’t gotten anything) and was told (by someone else) “Oh, no, those letters were from applications filled out in June. I know there’s a waiting list.” Oh, really? The lady I talked to obviously lied about that to me, too. GRRR.
So it looks like pre-k is out for the time being.
I still find it hard to believe there’s all this rigamarole…where I grew up, if you were the right age, YOU GOT IN AND WENT TO SCHOOL. (Unless I just didn’t know otherwise. Mom?) Though I’ve had other friends tell me the same thing…
Owen picked out his Halloween costume at Costco today as a reward for being a good boy at the hospital. I had hoped he’d go for Iron Man (since we already have the real mask and arm band) but no, he wanted Robo Knight (one of the Power Rangers). He has never watched Power Rangers (as far as I know) and really only wanted it because it was called Robo Knight. 🙂
Of course, he had to put it on for daddy.
And then of course I made him pose for me:
Edited two hours later to add: He still hasn’t taken it off!
Almost as soon as we got home and walked through the door, Tom happened to Skype. Within 30 seconds, Owen told me he had to poop! WOOHOO! So all three of us went in the bathroom (yes, Tom came with us) and…OWEN POOPED! It was still all water but he did it all on his own!!! I was amazed, really.
As we were both praising him, he gets off the potty, points to his mouth, then points to the toilet. Huh? I didn’t think much of it because he has a recent habit of being silent while mouthing words and pointing. But then he leaned over and barfed. Again and again.
One one hand…WHAT?!?!
On the other…YAY!!! He finally realized what was coming and actually remembered that we told him to barf in the toilet!
So Tom got to watch him barf from halfway around the world! And I didn’t have anything to clean up!
Owen: Can you wipe my face?
I’m pretty sure it was just the pizza plus the milk he had when he got home. I guess I should have given him lighter fare for at least a day or so.
I heard Owen get up at least once to potty during the night and I was up myself at 5:30 but then we both slept in until 7! Wheee! Sadly, it was probably the best I’ve slept in awhile, the uncomfy bed notwithstanding.
We got introduced to our new nurse at shift change about 7:30 and it was funny—she said, “Hi, I’m Sarah, and I’ll be your nurse today…for a few minutes.” 🙂 She came back about 7:45 to remove his port and discharge us. Owen got special new Ninjago underwear for the day.
Then it was down the elevator! Also, notice the rug. 🙂
Walking out, he says “That was fun!”
Wait. What? He obviously was only remembering the past nine hours during which he was sleeping and watching TV…and not all the crying and whining and tubes and needles and general crankiness and pooping over the past two days.
On the way to the car I tried to have a conversation with him about how pooping was really important and how he really needed to keep up the good work so he didn’t end up back in the hospital…and he didn’t seem phased at all. I’m sure I’ll be having that conversation more than a few times in the coming weeks.
The only bad thing about getting discharged first thing was that I had been planning on going to Costco…but they didn’t open until 10. So I decided to waste time—we went to Trader Joes and Once Upon A Child. 🙂
Owen did pretty well [trying to] sleep with the lights and vital checks and trips to pee. I wasn’t super comfortable but it wasn’t awful. I turned my lights out at 10:30 and was up at 11:30, 12:30, 3:30, and 5:30—finally getting up for good about 6.
And even though he had strong doses of meds all night…he still didn’t poop (he did pee a few times). He’s a tough bugger, apparently. Or, rather, his poop is the tough bugger. 🙂
He spit up at about 6:15 but it was just phlegm. I had to call the nurse so we could change the bed and get him into a gown. His B also got a little wet so I just threw it in the Family Lounge dryer (I was going to pack an extra B and forgot). Bad mom.
An upset stomach (nausea) can be a side effect of too many meds, so they turned them down (they had been up to the max level). Then he vomited at 7:15 and the tube came out. Ugh. Which means we likely have to go through that torture again. We’re waiting to hear the official next step—though I’m sure it means the tube goes back in because he still needs the meds to poop. 🙁
At least I don’t feel bad for being unsuccessful with the Miralax regimen at home—if they can’t get things going with serious drugs over 12 hours…what hope did I have?
Yep. Another tube. And an enema. Joy.
But before that happens, here’s a happy Owen, cleaned up and in his second gown of the day.
“Mom, I’m gonna lay like this. This is great!”
Of course he’s happy now—he doesn’t know what’s coming. 🙁
Nurse: [Grabbing Owen’s toe.] I think I’m gonna eat this.
Owen: No! I need it! [Taps his toe on the bed.]
Nurse: So I can’t eat it?
Owen: No, toes are for walking, not eating.
It was four hours before he got the second tube. FOUR HOURS. This is walking with the nurse to the treatment room.
This is getting the drugs via the port.
This is Owen on giggle drugs (Versed).
This is putting the tube in. It was a different tube and was done in under 30 seconds this time. Phew.
After he calmed down, they have to blow a puff of air through the tube to see if they can hear it in his belly. Owen wanted to listen, so they let him.
The same as yesterday, we had to wait for an X-ray to confirm tube placement. The air puff can be enough confirmation at some places but here they want to make absolutely sure.
The same as yesterday, he was a hot mess as the drugs wore off. Fine one moment, crying the next.
He wanted to see what he looked like:
It took FOREVER for the X-ray confirmation. So long, in fact—well, at least to me—that I completely forgot about it and panicked and called the nurse (and when I couldn’t get him, snagged the pediatric liaison in the hallway) saying he wasn’t connected to his medicine. I blame lack of sleep.
Tom Skyped in and Owen burst into tears and did NOT want to talk to him. After we hung up, Owen was sad he didn’t talk to him. But didn’t want to talk to him if he called back. Stinker.
Owen finally fell asleep about 1:30 so I ran down to grab a quick bite (and they had a volunteer sit with him in case he woke up while I was gone). Then I took a half hour nap, too.
He can’t easily get to his normal left-hand thumb, so he adjusted. 🙂
They RE-started his meds about 2:30 and planned on doing the enema once he woke up.
As a side note, there have been a few machine snafus—nothing life or death—just annoying.
Of course we get the wonky machine that beeps when you unplug it (it doesn’t hold its charge, apparently) so it starts beeping immediately. That’s nice…especially in the middle of the night. Or when Owen is napping and some other random steady beeps happen. I just push whatever button it’s requesting to shut it up—then go find the nurse.
And I have yet to ask about the nurse call button. No one ever shows up when I press it. Luckily there’s not been a real emergency and I can find someone at the nurses station. (I’m not talking doesn’t show up immediately. I’m talking doesn’t show up after three calls in 15 minutes.)
So…turns out I was using the call buttons on the bed when I was suppose to be using the one on the remote. Yeah, that wasn’t told to me, even when I was talking to the first nurse the first night (about telling Owen not to push that one for fun). I asked some random nurse who was standing outside our room and she cleared it up for me. I used the right button and someone answered in a minute.
Which, oh yeah, Owen pooped! Just a mere 21 hours after starting the meds and 26 hours after being admitted. Hallelujah.
But of course he didn’t go on his own. I had to practically beg him to “just try.” Which he finally did…and then let loose. Yay! But he wasn’t happy—he was crying and drooling. 🙁 I assured him it was okay and that’s what we wanted to happen!! I’m hoping that means we won’t need to do the enema.
He had to pee about a half hour later so I said “Let’s try to poop since we’re already here.” More whining and crying. I almost had to force him on the toilet. Once there? More poop. I just can’t understand how he can hold that all in without feeling uncomfortable or like he’s got to go!
When the nurse finally made it in (he had been admitting a new patient) he was thrilled at Owen’s pooping and agreed we’d hold off on the enema. He said he’d have Owen try to poop while I went to grab dinner.
On the way down, I actually noticed the mat in the elevator. I’ve been in it at least four times since we got here.
When I got back from dinner, I found out from our awesome male nurse that Owen call(s)(ed) him a doctor because he’s male. This is odd because Owen’s pediatrician is a woman (but his GI specialist is a man…) so it looks like we need to have a little talk. Rodney got a kick out of it regardless. 🙂
As we were just sitting there:
Owen: I don’t like needles.
Me: Well you’re done with shots.
Owen: Phhhheeeewwww!! Complete with hand wiping across forehead move.
Me: [Laughing]
So I made Owen poop four more times and the last three were (for all purposes) clear so we’re just waiting on the final word from the doc to get the last X-ray! And he’s already off the meds!
If it was any earlier we’d get to go home tonight…but since it’s a bit of a drive we’ll stay and try to sleep and check out first thing in the morning. (Had he not barfed up the first tube, we’d be about SEVEN hours earlier in this process and surely headed home tonight.)
At 9:30 he was given a clean bill of health—and the okay to eat! Of course, I hadn’t brought ANY snacks (I assumed we’d just eat after he was discharged) but the vending machine had his favorite crackers!! So he was a happy boy!
And the tube should be coming out shortly! (I just wish that part wasn’t taking so long because it’s already WAY past his bedtime (it’s currently 9:45). I know this situation is a bit unusual, but still.)
The doc said he’d cancel the nightly vitals checks so hopefully we can both get some decent sleep…and when the nurse came to take the tube out a little after 10, she said fluids were done, too! YAY! So now at least if he has to pee, he can do it alone (though of course I’ll still hear him). He was excited that he could now potty alone. He still has the port in just in case.
But oh. Taking the tube out. He screeched and cried so much while she was just taking the tape off I was flabbergasted. I mean, I’m sure it didn’t feel great, but I thought his reaction was way overboard…which I blamed on him being overtired. The actual tube removal was nothing in comparison and he about ripped it out himself.
So…an eventful day. Hell, two days. Overall I’d have to say it went much better than I thought. And I really hope we never have to do it again.
The hospital finally called about 10:30 and my sitter came over and even though I was mostly packed and prepped, we didn’t leave until noon (and that included turning around—thankfully before we left the subdivision—to get his B that he forgot to grab).
They weighed and measured him—holy
cow! He’s at 59.8# and 46″ tall!
Just chilling, waiting.
You can see where I get to sleep in the background.
Once he was watching TV he was okay…but he did keep asking for snacks. Poor kid…the last thing he ate was cereal for breakfast. I was going to give him a snack on the way then forgot…and of course all he can have is clear liquids.
I talked to the doctor and she’s really nice. Gave her the quick run through on his status. Of course, the past few days—that he’s been completely off Miralax—he’s pooped just fine…so I was thinking the Miralax was the issue. But…he had pooping issues before the Miralax so we really need to do this to make sure we’re starting from scratch. The doc agreed, saying the X-ray would, of course, show us what was going on.
Getting the X-ray—it came right to us!
Then it was more waiting. And then the doc came and said “Oh yes. He needs it.” She took me back to see the X-ray. She said it’s not that bad, but you can definitely see it in the lower part of his intestine. So I went back and explained to Owen that the picture showed he had lots of poop in his body—and he wanted to see it. So I took him down to see it and the doctor explained it to him as well. By the time I finished talking to the doctor I came back to see this:
Yeah, he loves the adjustable bed. 🙂
Then he was playing doctor with his patients. He diagnosed the turtle with something-I-couldn’t-decipher-poopinosis. Thank you, Doc McStuffins. 🙂
Then. Unfortunately, it was time for the blood draw and tube down the nose. He was a rock star with the blood…
And LOVED his special Spider-Man webbing…
And then they started the drugs. And it was hilarious seeing him loopy.
But then the torture began. Three people holding him down (while he was wrapped in a cocoon) while one nurse tried to insert the tube. And she couldn’t get it. She tried twice. Then another nurse tried. Then they went to a smaller, shorter tube—which went really quickly, but he was already through the roof. Poor kid.
Then back in the room he was a hot mess. Part of it was the meds, but most of it was just him not being comfortable or having any fun. He didn’t want his B, the TV, a movie, or any of his prizes. He didn’t want me to sit with him. He didn’t want dinner (which is good since he can’t have any).
The hardest part is he’d be calm one minute then crying the next saying “I don’t want this [the port in his arm] anymore.” Or “Can I take this [the tube] out now?”
One of his calm moments watching TV:
Then he’d ask to see what was on his face so I’d show him and/or take a picture.
Everyone has been nice and the place is quiet, but there’s a lot of waiting. At our 3.5 hour mark (after arrival), he still wasn’t even getting the stuff to make him poop. I know there’s a process…but I wanted it to go faster. 🙁
This is where he landed since he didn’t want to be in his bed.
He actually told me to take a picture!
Then they delivered his “clear liquids” dinner. I got him excited about the “orange ice cream” but he didn’t like it. And of course he said no to trying jello and broth. And I knew he wouldn’t like the tea or cranberry juice. Since I was starving I had the broth (my only option for food on a Sunday night is in the main hospital—and I’m not sure I want to leave him alone…and I forgot to bring snacks). I also tried the orange italian dessert and honestly can’t blame him for not liking it. The lemon jello wasn’t thrilling, either.
Then they came back to take another X-ray to make sure the tube was in correctly (it was).
So while I was trying to work on this blog post, I kept getting errors. Come to find out:
SERIOUSLY? Adult and pornography? I called the number and didn’t get anywhere. The guy couldn’t do anything (he said “it’s Sunday—no one is here”). And he had no idea if anyone would do anything anyway. So, so much for using free wifi. 😐
Owen finally asked for some juice about 6—then drank an apple and grape juice—then seemed in better spirits. I “took a walk” to check out the vending machines and ended up with cheese crackers. I guess that’s dinner. Though I did check out the cafe menu for tomorrow…and I’m definitely eating there. 🙂
After about an hour or so, Owen announced he wasn’t cranky anymore. 🙂 And then he had more fun playing with the bed and was just watching TV.
They started the IV about 7 and when he wasn’t pooping by 9 they increased the medicine. As we’re going to bed now (9:30) he still hasn’t pooped…so I anticipate a sleepless and messy night.
Yeah, speaking of being here overnight…there’s no way I could NOT stay overnight (I laugh now that I was even considering it). And obviously no one is in the room with him aside from me—plus he has to drag the IV with him—so I’ll be doing all that. Which I’m fine with…but they should really tell you that beforehand. Of course I’ll have zero problems paging the Nurse if there are any messes. 🙂 (But she told me to page her when he gets up so she can take his vitals then instead of waking him up.)
So, two cute stories:
I needed to hit the vending machines earlier so I made sure Owen was okay that I was leaving for a few minutes. Sure, no problem. A little while later I told him I “needed to go for a walk to stretch my legs” (which really meant another trip to the vending machine) and he says “Don’t be a stranger!” Where does he get this stuff?! 🙂
He loved his Spider-Man web hand, but wanted to take it off since it was interfering with him holding his juice. So we took it off but then he had to go potty. Well, somehow, in the 10′ round trip between the bed and toilet we lost the glove. I searched but it was nowhere! So I had to hunt down a nurse to ask for more webbing.
Nurse: Oh, does he need it for his IV?
Me: No, he lost his Spider-Man hand.
Nurse, chuckling: Ahhh! No problem.
We put “try a new food” on Owen’s chore chart this week. He tried:
avocado
ham and cheese sandwich
cotton candy
popcorn chicken
spaghetti with butter
The two days he missed were the only two “holes” on his chart for the week.
The only one he really truly liked was the popcorn chicken. He came back for more, then asked for it at breakfast the next morning (we had a few as leftovers —a mom had brought them to pool playgroup). He said he liked the spaghetti (it was fun to eat) but he refused a second bite. The others were definite NOs. But he’s so frustratingly finicky that he flat out refused to try chicken fingers—even though I said they tasted exactly like the popcorn chicken.
One of the playgroup kids had a birthday today. When telling Owen what house it was at, I told him “where you had cake and there was a waterside.” So we get there and as we walk in the front door, you can see straight through to the back yard where they have a bounce house set up. Owen was EXCITED. Before I know it, he’s in front of me pulling his shirt off and asking if he can be naked—I’m guessing he thought it was a water slide! I explained it was just a bouncy house (NOT a pool!) and he didn’t need to be naked. 🙂 Thankfully he was still excited!
Owen was playing with the Ladybug bubble machine and I called it a she.
Owen: It’s a he.
Me: How can you tell it’s a he?
Owen: He has boy eyebrows! See? [He points to me, then to him] YOU have girl eyebrows and I have boy eyebrows. The moms arrived just them so I couldn’t ask him to expound on that.
I was on the laptop outside while Owen was playing.
Owen: I have a diagnoses!
Me: What do I have?
Owen: Computerosis!
Me: How can you fix it?
Owen: Get off the computer and come play with me!
🙂
Owen has been looking forward to seeing Planes for two weeks…and today was the day! As we were getting out of the car, he said “Mama, thank you for taking me to see Planes!” Aww.
It was another sensory-friendly movie and I found it much less thrilling today, which is disappointing because I thought the last one was great.
I’m not sure what was going on but the lights and sound kept changing for the first 15 minutes…and when the sound was down—with all the other noise going on—you couldn’t even hear it. (I was seriously going to leave if it didn’t get better.) The lights were way up (as compared to last time) which wasn’t bad…but the off and on was annoying. Plus they started a few minutes before 10 so we missed the first minute or two (since there are no previews). Plus there were more people and more kids and they were MUCH wilder this time (which is what I expected the last time).
It was half price ($4 vs. $8) but I’m not sure it was worth it. As it is, I want to see it again because I really missed the first 15 minutes because the sound was so wonky.
But Owen LOVED IT!! Since it’s in the same world as Cars, there were some of the same characters that Owen recognized—like Brent Mustangberger and the Sushi Chefs! He walked out saying “That was a great movie! It was so awesome!”
I had a good time visiting with a high school friend today—and our kids had A BLAST in the pool and playing hide and seek (he’s 4, she’s almost 7). It’s very surreal to me to remember all the times she and I spent together in middle and high school…and then be sitting there watching our kids play.
It wasn’t until just now when I went to post this picture that I realized that Owen isn’t even in the picture (you can just see the top of his head)! But this is the main group of kids that Owen plays with—I didn’t even try to ask for a posed shot!
We had an invite for the beach today, but I just am not ready to take Katie and Owen to the beach. Owen would be fine, but I have no idea if Katie will be a content to sit and play in the sand baby or if she’d be a run up and down the beach baby—and didn’t really have the energy to find out today…so I passed…but invited others over for the pool. One mom came over (the same one who went out to dinner with me on my anniversary) and it was great.
Getting ready for the sun:
This is what happened when I asked the kids to pose. She did and Owen looks like he’s attacking her! 🙂
Unfortunately, Katie was a total crankypants—the first time since she’s started this recent teething episode. But she liked the watermelon (and wanted to share, as you will see in the video).
I finally got out the baby pool we had when Owen was little (Tom just found it before he left):
And it was HOT. And with the running around with the kids and getting the air compressor out of the shed, yada yada yada, I really wanted to go in the pool. Ruth said “Sure, go ahead!” So I did! I spent about 15 minutes in with the kids—and Ruth even got Katie into a swim diaper and then brought her to the pool with us! Then Ruth even got in up to her knees to cool off. It was really, really great and I appreciated it immensely!
The good news? At least it wasn’t at Sam’s Club or in the car (we had just got home).
The bad news? It was the one morning I wasn’t sitting out there with them and Mr. Tattletale—who normally gives me a play-by-play of everything—didn’t feel the need to tell me. 😐
The good news? We have a leather couch.
The bad news? It has A LOT of button holes and stitching.
Ugh. Teething sucks. (Especially when she’s never acted like this before.) Poor kid.
Someone had a bath tonight and wore her new jams. Thanks again, Gramma Jean!
Then Owen wanted to take some pictures so I handed him my big camera and of course it’s heavy and he can’t remember to keep looking through the frame (or even keep looking at the screen) so he got a lot of nothing…but he did get these two!
We decided to give the bounce place another try since some of the moms were going. Owen HATED it before but that was two years ago so I was willing to try it. I explained it would be like the big water slides but without water. He seemed interested so I kept my fingers crossed.
We walked in and once he saw everything, he was almost vibrating with excitement! YAY!
There was a toddler (under 4) area and Katie spent some time there…
Today was Owen’s four-month check up with the pediatric GI. Unfortunately, we really haven’t seen much progress.
He’ll have good days and bad days, but pretty much every day he still has poopy underwear. Some of it is a matter of him not wanting to poop (which he admits) and trying to hold it in, but some of it is still the liquidy stuff that I don’t think he can control—which would mean he’s still backed up (impacted). But since he does seem to poop quite a bit (quantity-wise) I just couldn’t fathom that he was still backed up. Also, it seemed to me that when he has normal poops (i.e. not the soft squishy stuff) he has no problem going—he knows he needs to go and he goes and it’s perfect. We gave up on the daily mineral oil after the first few days because it just gave him diarrhea every single day (which is NOT what it was supposed to do).
So in talking with the doc and telling him everything…he said he thinks that Owen is still impacted. Especially when he asked if I felt that Owen was really ever fully cleaned out (like when we did the 8-hour no-food clean out)—like did he ever just get down to pure watery poops—and I said no. He asked if the semi-regular clean-outs after that were any better (we’ve been doing a semi-clean out about every three weeks) and I said no. So he said that if it was HIS son and he was at the four-month mark with no real progress, he would admit him for a hospitalized clean-out. Which could take anywhere from 3-5 days. IN WILMINGTON.
Hospitalization may sound awful, but he assured me they do A TON of them and it’s really no big deal. Some of the worst cases he’s seen? They remove 10# of poop from the kid! He doesn’t think Owen is that bad, but he thinks it’s the best bet to make sure we’re basically starting with a clean slate so-to-speak. He also warned that it isn’t the magic solution, though it can work wonders and a lot of parents said it was a miracle and wished they’d done it sooner. Of course, it won’t help with his emotional issues about not WANTING to poop, but at least we know we’ll be starting from scratch.
At this point, I’m game to try ANYTHING so I said of course we’ll do that. They said they can pretty much get us in whenever, so I just had to figure out Katie care since she can’t stay there with us. I can also stay overnight, but I don’t need to so if I think he’ll be okay then he can stay by himself.
Of course Owen was there listening to all of this and I was worried he would be freaked out or would refuse to go or would have a meltdown…but the doctor said “Kids don’t mind it at all! They can watch TV, movies, and play XBOX games!” Owen’s ears perked up. The doc asked if Owen would mind going to the hospital and he said no—and he actually wanted to go right then and didn’t understand why he couldn’t. 🙂
So I contacted my sitter (the same one we used when we went away for the weekend) because I know her summer nannying job is over, and she said she can do it…so tomorrow I have to call to schedule. I’m hoping for Sunday because I have a dinner outing planned Thursday, an old friend (one of my high school classmates) coming in from out of town Friday morning, and a birthday party and BBQ to go to Saturday. Then just hope it only takes two days and not four or five.
We were trying to get out of the house and I had Katie in one arm and her diaper bag in the other and the shoes I wanted weren’t on the rack so I kicked out some other sandals and was trying to put them on but I just couldn’t slide my foot under the strap. Owen was watching me.
Owen: Mom, here, let me get that for you. And he squatted down and held the strap so I could put my foot in. Then he did the second one. What. A. Kid.
Owen had unspooled about 50′ of hose off the deck playing fireman. I told him he had to reel it back in. He was trying and trying and couldn’t get it.
Owen: Mom, I just don’t have enough force.
Me: :!
Owen: I’m going to go play with my Legos. You watch my sister. Tell me if anything happens and I’ll come running.
Me: Owen, can you let Maggie in?
Owen: Moooom! I’m not done talking to my troll!
Owen: Remember when I was this age? [He holds his hand up to his eyebrows.]
Me: Owen, do you want to go outside and play?
Owen: No.
Me: Why not?
Owen: The sky is gray.
Me: That’s okay. It just means the sun isn’t out so it’s not super hot.
Owen: No. I like it better inside. It’s nice in here. The fan is on. I can’t argue with that!
Yeah…she hasn’t been feeling the best lately. Well, let me rephrase. She seems to feel fine and isn’t really exhibiting any crankiness or anything…she just seems REALLY tired. And last night she had a bit of a fever (102) so I gave her some Tylenol before putting her to bed a little early. She slept normally (all night) and her fever was down to 99 this morning. But she was falling asleep on me at 10 (see above photo; her normal nap time is around 11:30-12) and her temp was 100. So when I just put her down for a nap she didn’t make a peep (which is unusual) so something is definitely a little off. Logically I know it’s nothing bad—likely just teething—but I still have to keep my brain from freaking out thinking it’s some warning sign I’m missing…
