Friday, August 19, 2005

Okay, we're back with pictures...

I'm on a waaaay slow connection, so I'll do the pictures in two posts.



This is the Mallorys' Neonatal Nurse Practitioner(or NNP to those of us 'in the know') giving Mama the scoop. It had been all good news up to this point.



"How long have you worked here sonny?!?!? I need to talk to your supervisor...STAT!!!" Mama wasn't happy to hear that the mean nurses and doctors have been pricking the babies little footsies to draw blood--and this is a genuine photograph of the exact moment of her discontent.




If you were there you would have heard the nurse saying "Would you put that stinkin' camera away already? We're trying to conduct official nurse business here, and this clearly violates section 1.840.3 of the Mommy-Nurse Code of Ethics, paragraph 6. MAN! Some people..." Okay, not really. She's really nice. I promise.


Every kid in the ICU needs a picture of "light savers" to brighten his day.


"Soooo...I like the babies and all, but can we go now?"

We have to make up for some lost time with the whole 'sick' scare, so I'm putting up a bunch of pictures. Turns out Amy was just having allergy flashbacks, so none of us are sick, thankfully. We went and saw the babies today in thier new room. Room 2 is kind of like a hallway with 6 or 8 seperate 'rooms'. Our babies get thier own room together, with one nurse between the two of them.

Usually they take babies off of the ventilator and put them on the CPAP(tubes in the nose that force air into the lungs--I guess the babies usually hate it). Then after they do well on the CPAP, they put them on a nasal cannula, which is basically just a tube with little nubs that go into your nostrils. If you've seen people with the oxygen tube over thier ears and going under thier nose--that's pretty much it. It usually takes babies at least 2 or 3 days to go from the CPAP to the nasal cannula. Dawson went from the ventilator to the CPAP, and on to the cannula in about 3 hours! That's my boy. They fed him his first milk through a tube going into his mouth. They say the babies usually don't tolerate the feedings very well at first, and it takes a while for them to stomach the milk. Well, Dawson took 2 milliliters, and when they suctioned his stomach to see how much he wasn't able to take--there was nothing left! The little guy must have been hungry. The nurse couldn't believe that he sucked it all down on the first try. That's good, because as you can see from the pictures, he needs a little meat on his bones.

Mallory was pretty sedated today. I think they've adjusted things a little after discovering her high tolerance for pain medication, so she's reeeeeeally happy now. She should be off of the ventilator tomorrow, and on to the CPAP. Mallory used to be the photogenic one and Dawson just sat there like a bump on a log(except not nearly as exciting). Today it was all Dawson. They turned him on his belly, which he seemed to like, and we actually got a shot with one of his eyes just cracking open.

Well, Jake and I go home to Idaho tomorrow for 6 days, then we'll be back down. Jake starts Kindergarten Monday, and I really need to get back to work(real work). Jake and I will be traveling back and forth every week, and Mom will be staying here for the duration. The fun never ends!

Anyway, this is the last night to hang out with my family for a while, so I'm outta here.

Thanks for everything,
Ryan & Co.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

its sabers amy

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