They originally told us to be there by 6am but then said we really don't need to be there til 6:30 because all we would be doing is sitting in the waiting room. So 6:30 was fine by us and we got there right on the dot. They took us back to the recovery room and started the paperwork. It started off with a woman coming in (I did not see her wash or sanitize her hands) and started to ask us questions. Like what kind of medications he is on, what does he eat, when was the last time he ate today, and he was full term right? Eek?!?! What did you just ask? Um no. He was 3.5 months early. Oh really. Ok. Any surgeries? Was he in the hospital then for a little bit? Um a little bit, yeah I would say 113 days is a little bit. So then she wanted to listen to his heart beat. Still no cleaning of hands and I didn't say anything. Then more doctors came in and out and then they were on the phone with other people talking about Ethan where I could hear them (not to mention everyone else). So then they came in to give him a shot in the leg to help with pain. The nurse didn't clean her hands. This one I asked if she would since she was going to be giving him a shot! She had no problem doing that and said she completely understands and that she cleaned her hands before she got the shots.
So then onto the anestesiologist. She came in to introduce herself and said that she was going to read over his file and be back to talk with us. When she walked out it looked like she had a witchcraft book in her hands. You know the huge books that takes all your body weight to carry. Later we found out that that was his medical records! So lets see, you saw the book full of his medical records and you see that he is a baby and you assumed he was full term?!?!? Anyways, then the doctor came in. He said "So are we ready?" Um, well you tell me? Then he said "do you have any questions?" Um, well maybe. At this point I would have thought he would take the time to review what he was doing. But nope. So then they decided they should do a blood test to make sure he is not anemic. So they poked his heel. He just sat there (if you remember they did this a lot to him in the NICU.) Well she didn't get enough blood so she had to poke him again. This time he screamed! It was so pittiful! Oh I hate seeing him like that! But he calmed down pretty quickly once the mean lady was gone ;) I had Ethan dressed in a little halloween sleeper that my mom had sent him. I thought it was a good time to be festive ;) The operating nurse came in and she had a halloween scrub hat on. She of course liked his outfit. It was weird to see them taking him to the operating room. The bed was just a full size bed so they didn't roll him on it. One nurse rolled the bed while the other one carried him. You see, every other time he had to go anywhere (ie the plane or other NICU rooms) he had to be rolled in a intubater or an issolette. SO off to the waiting room we went (after a few tears from mom.... this was the first time leaving him since he has been home and now they were going to cut him!)
So Mark and I sat in the waiting room. We ended up sitting right outside the door that doctors and other patients walk out of. To get out of the door you have to push a green button and then turn the door knob. The sign is really small on how to operate it though. So of course when we walked out I was like running into the door then trying to turn the knob 100 times until Mark saw the green button. So we laughed. Only this was the first of many laughs. We were not the only people that did this. So while we were sitting there we would see someone walk to the door and basically run into it trying to get out. It was hilarious e-v-e-r-y-t-i-m-e! Maybe you had to be there ;)
So the surgeon came out after an hour and told us the hernia surgery was complete. He did well. He said that he thinks that when we flew to Seattle to have it reduced in May that he thinks it ruptured the sack. There was not a sack there. He had to do a little bit more surgery on the left one because of it. He said it increases the chance of it reocurring later in life but hopefully it wont. He then said that he was unable to do the circumcision because um well um... the equipment was not big enough for Ethan. So of course there was a little laughing but then he said that he had to have another surgeon perform the circumcision because it had to be done a different way. So eventually that surgeon came out and said everything went well and now we had to do a follow up appointment with both surgeons. He told us that he was out of the operating room and that they would be coming to get us shortly.
So once we they took us back to his room we found it empty. Um ok. So we stood there for a minute and then they came down the hallway. One was rolling the bed and another was holding him. They handed him over to me and the one nurse walked out. So I was standing there holding Ethan who was SCREAMING and naked wrapped in 2 big bulky blankets with blood on them. The nurse that was in there was so worried about wrapping his toe to see what his oxygen levels were. I was worried about getting situated to where I could feed the poor little guy. Then she decided she needed to get his temperature. She scanned his forehead and said "oh its 99.3 but it's probably high because he is crying." Um, yeah, so why did you just take it now. How about worry about getting him fed and then he will calm down and then you can take his o2 and temp. I was a little upset too when they brought him in because they had a bottle that they said they tried to give him but he didn't want it. Well no *%&*$ shirlock.... he doesn't eat formula not to mention I did not give you permission to give him that! It says every where on his paperwork that he is breastfed and I know I didn't give you any milk! Really people?!?!? (sorry, this still irritates me!)
So then the nurse left and the oxygen machine kept beeping because the pulsox was not on his toe. It continued to beep and no one came. Yeah, that's nice. So eventually she came in and we asked if she could turn it off and of course she did. (How she still didn't notice the beeping when she cam in I have no idea.) Well then she said well we can get this IV out and you can go home. I said, um well the anestesiologist said that we need to stay for the day because of his history. She said "oh she didn't tell me that." So then she left. Later she came back and took some things off of him and said that we can stay as long as we want. (Oh yeah, because I really WANT to stay here...no it's for his health!) So then we told her we were in no hurry because we didn't want to get home and have to go to that emergency room since we didn't have a good experience there before.
Later I ran to a few stores while Mark held Ethan as he slept. I guess the nurse decided to have another nurse take care of us. She came in to check on Ethan since he was screaming and asked if he had any tylenol yet. Mark said no. SO she got him some and almost instantly he was better. Hmmm tylenol. Yeah I might want that too after getting cut! We found out the new nurse used to work in the NICU and she was telling us how pediatrics really scare some people (I think she might have been specifically referring to the original nurse.) Which is fine. I don't think I would want to deal with children in the hospital either but for goodness sakes if you are not comfortable with it DON'T DO IT! That could have explained why she brought us some adult wipes and not baby wipes. Why she asked if we wanted the breastmilk microwaved and why she seemed to take better care of us vs Ethan.
So eventually Ethan had woke up and ate a bottle, his eyes looked back to normal (they were dialated at first), and he seemed just tired. So we headed home. He has been recovering like the champ that he is. He is back to himself for the most part. He still isn't eating his full amount of food but I don't blame him. It took me forever to get back to normal after having him. Which, by the way, his hernia scar looks just like my c-section scar! We thought it might put him a little behind on his rolling over and sitting up but nope. He is moving like he was but now he is almost rolling over from his back to his tummy too! Not yet, but close.
Thank you everyone that emailed, called and texted for your prayers, best wishes and speedy recovery. It means a lot to us. I have some pictures to post but that is taking some time to get to. So hopefully soon.
It is also Mark's birthday today! Happy birthday honey! I took some cute pictures of Ethan and daddy this morning that I hope to post soon as well.
Like having your little peanut be taken away to be cut open isn't stressful enough, you have to deal with medical staff not doing a professional job! ARGH HOW frustrating! I don't blame you for being ticked at all!
ReplyDeleteHowever, the important thing is that Ethan is AWESOME and recovering fast! I am so glad to hear that he is doing good and is getting back to busy schedule of rolling over etc. so fast. Good Job Buddy!