Mamas Fought the Doctors and...

Mamas won. Today was a very long day. Bobby hardly slept last night, from a combination of being too tired, hunger, teething, etc. That continued into this morning. And into this afternoon. And into this evening.

The doctors wanted to postpone feeding Bobby until tomorrow (he's been exclusively IV fed since Wednesday) but we thrashed around until we got our way. The concern is that Bobby will reflux and cause further damage where his laranyx is already hurt from the breathing tube. So, they put in an NJ (nasojejeunal) tube. Unlike his regular NG (nasogastric) feeding tube that goes nostril to tummy, this one actually goes into the beginning of the small intestine. Bypassing the tummy means avoiding reflux. It's not a great solution long term because it requires continuous feeds 18-24 hours a day and if he pulls the tube out at home we have to go the emergency room to get it reinserted. But it will hopefully give him some help now. The biggest fear is that being fed into the intestine won't take away his tummy's hunger pains. Sometimes that happens. We'll see.

We also got them to give him some sedation. Bobby is the kind of baby that does not tire himself out. He just gets more and more and more agitated. And the hospital setting is the worst place to try to comfort him. We can hardly hold him because he has so many wires poking out, and the way he likes to be held (on our shoulder) is out because his chest needs to heal from surgery. If we do get him calm then someone upsets the apple cart by examining him. So we got some drugs. They aren't a miracle cure - they only last a couple of hours, but at least we get to take a breath before the next round. Valerie was here last night while I went home, but I've already warned her that I'm not feeling so selfless tonight - I think we're going to need to take shifts.

So it's been a rough day in all these respects, but we haven't lost sight of the main thing - the reason Bobby is so crabby is because he's much, much better and is ready to get home and get back to normal. From his mouth to God's ears.