I know I haven't updated in a while. It's been an eventful few weeks, unfortunately.
First was the trip to the ER for the bloody stools. Turns out, Sammy is both milk AND soy protein intolerant. I had spent three weeks dairy-free, but he wasn't getting better. The GI determined he must also be soy intolerant, and since EVERYTHING has milk or soy in it, I had to give up giving him breastmilk. We switched him to Alimentum. I'm disappointed, but he's MUCH better now, and that's what's important, right?
Three days after that ER visit, we ended up back at Children's. It was perhaps the worst afternoon of my life. Without reliving too many details, Sammy's sats (oxygen saturations) dropped and I couldn't wake him up. He opened his eyes just as the 911 operator was going to walk me through CPR. They took us to the local hospital by ambulance, but they were having a hard time keeping his sats above 60 without oxygen, so we took another ambulance ride - through awful rush hour traffic in Boston - down to Children's. We had a three-day stay, where they blamed it all on an upper respiratory bug and dehydration.
And this Wednesday, July 19th, he goes in for his second operation, the Glenn. This is by far harder than the first time around. He's a major part of our lives now. He laughs and rolls over and giggles and has his own little personality. I should be writing about all the amazing things he does, how you wouldn't know he had a heart condition by the way he looks (he's almost 14 pounds!) or the way he acts (right on target for his age, not delayed at all!), but right now, we're consumed by the idea of having to hand him over to the surgeons again and all the fears and worries that go along with that.
So please - keep him in your thoughts and prayers over the next week. We thank you for your love and support in advance.
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Because this poor kid hasn't been through enough already...
On and off since the cath, there's been blood mixed in with his poop. We weren't sure where it was coming from, the culture showed no virus, but it was there. His pediatrician didn't seem too concerned, but we were getting worried. Yesterday, which was the medical DAY FROM HELL (mammo for a supposed lump in my breast which showed nothing, the phone call with the date for Sammy's next surgery - which is almost a full two weeks earlier than I was planning on - and this), it got worse. The pediatrician made an appointment with the gastroenterologist on Thursday and wanted to see him this morning, just to "eye him over."
Yeah. Never made it to the pediatrician. Nothing like a DIAPER FULL OF BLOOD to freak a mother out and send her racing to the ER.
Turns out, after a long day at Childrens', our little monkey has an intolerance for milk proteins. The last few months of second-hand yogurt, ice cream and milk wreaked havoc on his poor little intestines - hence, the blood.
So this mama gets to completely cut out milk and soy from her diet. Sure, switching to formula would be easier, but I really believe breastmilk is best and I want to do everything I possibly can for him - even if it means forgoing cheese and lattes for a few months.
So - it's been fun over on this end. My poor little monkey.
Interesting tidbit - this time, this day last year, I was the only one who knew I was pregnant. While I sat around the living room, eyeing the test and waiting for Jay to come home, I wrote the following:
Dear baby,
There's one thing your dad made me promise: don't get pregnant before my birthday. I turn 30 on Wednesday. It's Monday, and there were two little lines on that little plastic stick screaming, "Happy birthday Mommy!"
Whoops.
I've been really tired the past few days. My period's been screwy the past few months, but I knew last month I got it on the 18th. It was early - I'm usually around the 24th, so this month I wasn't sure if I was due the 18th or the 24th or somewhere in-between. This morning I felt a little sick - it was different than the normal nausea - and I was exhausted in a way I couldn't imagine I'd ever be exhausted, so I decided to pick up a test on my way home.
Two little lines for something so incredibly huge.
I'm still trying to figure out a fun way to tell your daddy. We've been working around the house a lot the past few weeks, and we're so tired (though at least now I know the exhaustion isn't just because I was painfully out of shape!). I was thinking about hitting up when he walked through the door, telling him not to get mad, but that I have another project for him... and this one's kinda big.
I know this is one project he won't be complaining about!
I've got two hours until he gets home, and I'm bursting at the seams. Ready for nap, but trust me - bursting at the seams.
Holy crap. We're having a baby.
Love,
Mommy
(P.S. It still doesn't feel real.)
And you know what? Sometimes it STILL doesn't feel real. :-)
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"Police department, what's your emergency?"
"Umm... I'm not sure it's an emergency... I'm 7 months pregnant, it's snowing and I'm locked out of my house..."
Definitely up there on my list of how NOT to start off a much needed, much anticipated snow day.
I went out to scoot some snow aside before it got to be too much for me (Jay's gone), came back in, and forgot that I had locked the door from the porch to the house last night - and we don't have a key. When I closed it behind me this morning, I must not have unlocked it first. I tried all the different doors and windows I could, and short of breaking glass, I'm not getting in on my own. (And now we need to replace the screen on the back door - whoops! Hey, I was desperate!)
Luckily, my neighbor popped her head out, and I ran over and used her phone. They're sending the fire department! This should make for good gossip on the block for a few days. Heh. I'm sitting on the porch (where, gratefully, my work laptop was still sitting) waiting for them to show up. D'oh.
(Edited: I'm back in. The firefighters laughed with me. Thankfully, Jay had left a window open on the 2nd floor, so they whipped out the ladder and climbed right in. I'm back inside, nice and warm and feeling kind of silly. :-))
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So Samson got a very special shout out last night at the Eddie from Ohio show. A very sweet aunt and uncle got in touch with the band before the show and made a special request. EFO started off talking about how they had gotten many requests, and they weren't going to do any, except for one. This fan, they said, was an unpaid member of the audience, since he had snuck in in-utero. Then they said his name! They went on to talk about creating EFO fans nice and early on, and that babies who like EFO have been proven to attend Harvard as young adults - typical silly EFO. Then they went into "Hey Little Man" - an a cappella favorite of mine.
Needless to say, I cried through the first half of the song. We're waiting to get in touch with someone who taped the show - he figured we'd be able to have a copy of it this week or next. I'll be sure to put up once we do.
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