We are home! We finally got out of the hospital today at about 3pm. We literally had no extra room left in the car after we shoved in all the stuff we had been collecting over our 3 week stay there. It is so great to be home, but it feels a little strange now since we have been so used to being in the hospital.
Chris and I had to do some grocery shopping right away after we got home, but since then we have just been hanging out here all night. Elijah was definitely happy to get out of the hospital, but he still had a pretty cranky day today. He is clearly frustrated that he can't move like he used to. He can pull himself up to standing, but he can't walk very well. And he can't stand up without assistance, which is really frustrating him. He's also pretty attached to Chris and I, he doesn't want us to leave the room. It is totally understandable that he is having a hard time, but it is definitely hard to see. And it's hard to comfort him because he just doesn't understand why he can't do what he could before.
Tonight he was so grumpy that we put him to bed right before 7pm, which is way earlier than he's been going to bed at the hospital. Poor kid is just worn right out! So are mommy and daddy :-P It's unfortunate because we still have to give him drugs every 6 hours, which means midnight and 6am tonight... no fun. We have to keep him on a tapering schedule of one of his sedatives. It's not a large enough dose to really effect him much, but you can't just stop cold turkey with it or he will have withdrawals. So we will be giving him this medication every 6 hours for a little over a week longer.
Even though our poor kiddo is still having some troubles, we are all more than thrilled to be home and out of that hospital! Tonight we unpacked, did some laundry, played with the kitties, ate some supper, put Elijah to bed, and watched a movie. It was great :-) Now I don't know why Chris and I are still awake because we are so exhausted!
Thank you again everyone for your prayers and support. Praise the Lord that we came out of this and we are actually home! I still can't believe the miracle the Lord worked on our behalf! I am planning on posting a blog of Elijah's journey in pictures someday, we'll see when I get around to that. In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers whenever you think of us. Since we never did find out what happened to Elijah, we are going to be on the lookout from here on out. Please pray for his continued health and safety! And please pray that we can all catch up on our rest and get back to the real world! Thank you so much, we love you all!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
September 27th
Sounds like we are getting released tomorrow! Praise the Lord! I will let everyone know if all goes well. In the meantime, here is a picture of Elijah cruising the hospital halls this afternoon. He pretty much thought this was the coolest thing ever.
P.S. Today was my wonderful husband Christopher's birthday. I am so incredibly grateful to have a husband who stands strong with me through all of our trials and who never goes a day without letting me know how much he loves me. I couldn't ask for a better husband or a better father for our child, I am so blessed to have him in my life. I love you Chris! Happy Birthday baby!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
September 26th
I know I didn't write a post yesterday, but yes, we are still here at the hospital... There just hasn't been anything new happening, we are basically just waiting to be released now. Chris asked the doctor this morning when he thinks we'll be able to go home and he said maybe Monday, so we'll see...
Elijah is still playing like crazy and starting to be a real stinker again :-P Today he was pretty cranky, I can tell that he is more than ready to get out of here! He doesn't have much freedom to just go and do whatever he pleases. He's also cutting a tooth so he has been grumpy about that as well.
I forgot to mention the other day that he got his first vaccine ever. I'm not entirely happy about it, I still wasn't decided about whether I wanted to vaccinate him at all. However, after everything he's been through the doctors were really pushing it and I actually do agree with them that in his case, he will most likely benefit from them. He didn't get sick from anything that we could have vaccinated him for, but it is just scary to us and to the doctors that he got so sick, so fast. So we hope to be a little more prepared if at all possible for future problems. I still don't like the idea of vaccines and I'm not going to do all of them. This is a personal choice, some people might criticize me, but I have to do what I think is best for my child.
He's doing a lot better with his physical therapy, getting really close to where he was before he got sick. Not walking yet, and still a little unsteady on his feet, but he can pull himself up and stand for a little while. I am amazed at how quickly he is progressing. I don't think any adult could bounce back as quickly as this little kiddo. Even after my c-section I don't think I recovered this quickly! He's so strong and so brave, it just melts my heart.
We are really getting anxious to get out of the hospital now. It wasn't so bad before since we didn't know when he would recover. But now that he is doing so well and we know that he is healthy enough to go home, it is so frustrating to be stuck here! But the end is in sight and when that day does come, I have no idea how we are going to pack up all the food and clothes and food and toys and food and books and food we have here!!! Did I mention we have a lot of food :-P Thanks of course to the wonderful friends and even some new acquaintances from our church. We have been so well fed! We have also received numerous monetary gifts and we are so grateful for that as well. I hope to get out individual thank yous to all, but for now I just want to say, thank you so much!!! We are so blessed.
And of course, if I have not mentioned it before, we are so incredibly grateful for all the prayers and encouragement we have received. We ask that you continue to pray for Elijah and for us. We can never get enough! The Lord is so good and so faithful to answer our prayers!
I've noticed that adding pictures to my posts has been a real hit, so here's another one for you all. Here is Elijah getting a bath and discovering the greatness that is bubbles :-)
Elijah is still playing like crazy and starting to be a real stinker again :-P Today he was pretty cranky, I can tell that he is more than ready to get out of here! He doesn't have much freedom to just go and do whatever he pleases. He's also cutting a tooth so he has been grumpy about that as well.
I forgot to mention the other day that he got his first vaccine ever. I'm not entirely happy about it, I still wasn't decided about whether I wanted to vaccinate him at all. However, after everything he's been through the doctors were really pushing it and I actually do agree with them that in his case, he will most likely benefit from them. He didn't get sick from anything that we could have vaccinated him for, but it is just scary to us and to the doctors that he got so sick, so fast. So we hope to be a little more prepared if at all possible for future problems. I still don't like the idea of vaccines and I'm not going to do all of them. This is a personal choice, some people might criticize me, but I have to do what I think is best for my child.
He's doing a lot better with his physical therapy, getting really close to where he was before he got sick. Not walking yet, and still a little unsteady on his feet, but he can pull himself up and stand for a little while. I am amazed at how quickly he is progressing. I don't think any adult could bounce back as quickly as this little kiddo. Even after my c-section I don't think I recovered this quickly! He's so strong and so brave, it just melts my heart.
We are really getting anxious to get out of the hospital now. It wasn't so bad before since we didn't know when he would recover. But now that he is doing so well and we know that he is healthy enough to go home, it is so frustrating to be stuck here! But the end is in sight and when that day does come, I have no idea how we are going to pack up all the food and clothes and food and toys and food and books and food we have here!!! Did I mention we have a lot of food :-P Thanks of course to the wonderful friends and even some new acquaintances from our church. We have been so well fed! We have also received numerous monetary gifts and we are so grateful for that as well. I hope to get out individual thank yous to all, but for now I just want to say, thank you so much!!! We are so blessed.
And of course, if I have not mentioned it before, we are so incredibly grateful for all the prayers and encouragement we have received. We ask that you continue to pray for Elijah and for us. We can never get enough! The Lord is so good and so faithful to answer our prayers!
I've noticed that adding pictures to my posts has been a real hit, so here's another one for you all. Here is Elijah getting a bath and discovering the greatness that is bubbles :-)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Elijah in the Hospital
Here is a video I took just a few minutes ago of Elijah playing in his hospital bed. As you can see, he has no idea what happened in the last 3 weeks, praise the Lord! :-)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
September 24th
We had so many amazing accomplishments today! This morning Elijah could not quite totally hold his head up on his own, or sit on his own, or pull himself up, or stand. And by the end of the day he was doing all of those! He's sitting up in his crib right now playing with a puzzle, acting like nothing ever happened. It is absolutely amazing. He's not up and walking yet, and he can't stand without holding on to something, but with how quickly he has been progressing I don't think it will take long!
He's also eating normal meals now. Maybe not the huge amounts he did before (I'm guessing his stomach shrunk up a little bit since we've been here), but he's probably eating the regular one-year-old kid portions now :-P
The greatest news of all is that since Elijah was being so wild and crazy all day he was constantly setting off his monitors, so they took them off! They will put them back on at night, but they said there's no reason for him to have them on when he is awake and playful. Also, they took out his feeding tube since he's eating now! AND they unhooked his IV fluids from his PICC line! So the line is still in, but it's just taped down and he's not connected to anything. So now he can move around freely, which is GREAT because he was getting himself all tangled up :-P
So since he got completely unhooked this evening, we were able to take him outside of the room a little! We brought him down the hall to look at the fish tank, and into the playroom for a little while. We also brought him back upstairs to visit the doctors and nurses up in the PICU and they were all thrilled to see him. They were all talking about how unbelievable it is to see him looking well. One nurse even referred to him as the "miracle baby". It's clear to us that with the way the doctors and nurses talk about him, they didn't expect him to make it. So he truly is a "miracle baby," God most definitely worked a miracle in his life.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord for what he's done in our baby's life!
He's also eating normal meals now. Maybe not the huge amounts he did before (I'm guessing his stomach shrunk up a little bit since we've been here), but he's probably eating the regular one-year-old kid portions now :-P
The greatest news of all is that since Elijah was being so wild and crazy all day he was constantly setting off his monitors, so they took them off! They will put them back on at night, but they said there's no reason for him to have them on when he is awake and playful. Also, they took out his feeding tube since he's eating now! AND they unhooked his IV fluids from his PICC line! So the line is still in, but it's just taped down and he's not connected to anything. So now he can move around freely, which is GREAT because he was getting himself all tangled up :-P
So since he got completely unhooked this evening, we were able to take him outside of the room a little! We brought him down the hall to look at the fish tank, and into the playroom for a little while. We also brought him back upstairs to visit the doctors and nurses up in the PICU and they were all thrilled to see him. They were all talking about how unbelievable it is to see him looking well. One nurse even referred to him as the "miracle baby". It's clear to us that with the way the doctors and nurses talk about him, they didn't expect him to make it. So he truly is a "miracle baby," God most definitely worked a miracle in his life.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord for what he's done in our baby's life!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
September 23rd
We are out of the PICU! Woop, woop! We moved down to the regular pediatrics floor at around 3:00 this afternoon. Our new room is much smaller, but it's kind of nice because now we can sit on the couch and be really close to Elijah, also we can see the tv :-P And this room has its own bathroom!
It feels so great to be out of the PICU, we feel like we've made a HUGE step towards recovery. Things are much more relaxed down here, we don't have a nurse sitting outside our door at all times, or coming in the room all the time to check everything. We can pick him up and hold him anytime we want, we don't have to ask permission or anything :-P We also got to give him a little food today. The speech pathologist came to look at him this afternoon and gave him some apple sauce and he took it great, so he told us that we can start him on a soft foods diet. So tonight he got some mashed potatoes and gravy and some cooked veggies. He was definitely enjoying having some food again. We are starting it off slow, so hopefully he will keep doing well with that.
He's also started talking more and his voice is getting better and better. And he's playing more than ever, as well. He wants us to read to him all the time! It's so funny, he will grab my hand and then put the book in it :-P What a goofball. He is also moving around like crazy, kicking his legs, trying to pull himself up on the crib rails (not succeeding), and he even rolled over today! He wants to get around so bad, but he gets all tangled in his tubes and wires. We're working on getting rid of those!
Here's a picture of Elijah feeling much better!
It feels so great to be out of the PICU, we feel like we've made a HUGE step towards recovery. Things are much more relaxed down here, we don't have a nurse sitting outside our door at all times, or coming in the room all the time to check everything. We can pick him up and hold him anytime we want, we don't have to ask permission or anything :-P We also got to give him a little food today. The speech pathologist came to look at him this afternoon and gave him some apple sauce and he took it great, so he told us that we can start him on a soft foods diet. So tonight he got some mashed potatoes and gravy and some cooked veggies. He was definitely enjoying having some food again. We are starting it off slow, so hopefully he will keep doing well with that.
He's also started talking more and his voice is getting better and better. And he's playing more than ever, as well. He wants us to read to him all the time! It's so funny, he will grab my hand and then put the book in it :-P What a goofball. He is also moving around like crazy, kicking his legs, trying to pull himself up on the crib rails (not succeeding), and he even rolled over today! He wants to get around so bad, but he gets all tangled in his tubes and wires. We're working on getting rid of those!
Here's a picture of Elijah feeling much better!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
September 22nd
Another great day today, Elijah was awake and playing practically all day! I think he might have taken a total of 2 hours in naps all day! It's so strange since he's been so out of it and sleepy until now. I guess he's trying to make up for all his lost time :-)
Since he's been more awake and playful, he is also starting to try talking a little more. His voice is still very raspy, but it is getting better and better. He's also moving around a lot more. The physical therapist came in today to take a look at him. She said he's doing great with his arms, but she wants him to start moving his legs a little more. So we need to rub them and help him exercise them a little bit. She also helped him sit up and work on his neck control. It's a little strange because he's almost like a little baby again, learning how to hold up his head and sit and roll over and such. It will probably be a while until he is fully recovered and walking around again. I'm assuming when we go down to the peds floor we will have more freedom for him to get out of the crib and work on moving around.
We held him some more today, which we love of course, but it also seems to get him worked up and it gets all the cords tangled and what not. So it is pretty difficult to hold him, and we are hoping he will have less attached him when we go to peds floor.
Speaking of going down to the peds floor, we may be going tomorrow, but that's not a guarantee. The doctors up here are being cautious with him because he is prone to crashing so quickly. But today he has been fantastic so we will see!
That's all for today, we are so thrilled to see our baby recovering and being himself! Keep the prayers coming, they are working! :-D
Since he's been more awake and playful, he is also starting to try talking a little more. His voice is still very raspy, but it is getting better and better. He's also moving around a lot more. The physical therapist came in today to take a look at him. She said he's doing great with his arms, but she wants him to start moving his legs a little more. So we need to rub them and help him exercise them a little bit. She also helped him sit up and work on his neck control. It's a little strange because he's almost like a little baby again, learning how to hold up his head and sit and roll over and such. It will probably be a while until he is fully recovered and walking around again. I'm assuming when we go down to the peds floor we will have more freedom for him to get out of the crib and work on moving around.
We held him some more today, which we love of course, but it also seems to get him worked up and it gets all the cords tangled and what not. So it is pretty difficult to hold him, and we are hoping he will have less attached him when we go to peds floor.
Speaking of going down to the peds floor, we may be going tomorrow, but that's not a guarantee. The doctors up here are being cautious with him because he is prone to crashing so quickly. But today he has been fantastic so we will see!
That's all for today, we are so thrilled to see our baby recovering and being himself! Keep the prayers coming, they are working! :-D
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