Recovery

Cade continues to be recovering well. Yesterday, I went the the hospital to keep him company because I knew that he wasn't feeling so great. I got to the NICU around 11:30 and they still had him intubated. The nurses were rooting for him to pull out his own tube! But, I guess when the doctor rounded early in the morning, he had some spells where his heart rate dropped. He had never had bracchacardia (heart rate drop) before but I guess it's a common side effect of the anesthesia. But, by noon, when the doctor rounded again, he was doing much better and they pulled the breathing tube. He went back on the nasal cannula and started breathing on his own right away. Unfortunately, it was very loud in the NICU and Cade was upset. His neighbor's family came in with a 4 year old who was autistic and a 2 year old. Let's just say they were not quiet and were soon removed from the NICU. I understand that you can't always find baby sitters but loud children do not belong in the NICU. Even that family's baby was having a hard time with all the commotion. Since Cade was doing so well and would be better off in the ICC, his nurse asked the doctor if he could be moved back there after his head CT scan and his x-rays. The doctor agreed. Yeah! So Chris (the NICU nurse) and I took Cade down for his CT scan and he didn't make a peep. He stayed so calm. Maybe the blinking lights on the ceiling helped. He looked very tiny in that big machine. Then, it was off to x-ray where he was a very good boy too. He just got a little angry when we had to told his arms and legs but actually stayed relatively still. Chris was so impressed by him that she fell in love with him. She picked him up after x-ray and had to cuddle with him. Then, she looked at me and said, "I suppose you should be doing this." I said, "No problem, I get to cuddle with him everyday." Cade is a very popular baby. Chris told me that she thinks this calm patience is his disposition. I hope so :) I think he gets my attitude when confronted with medical procedures which is "OK, I know you have to do this so I'll stay calm but please get it over with quick." We headed back to the ICC and, I hoped, some peace and quiet. But, it was loud in there too because Cade's neighbor is going home soon and the whole family was there for a conference. I was able to close the curtain and block out most of the noise. The doctor also ordered that Cade could start back on minimal formula so I tried to give him a bottle but he was too tired after his big day. So, I got him to sleep and went home to get Sean. We headed back to the hospital after dinner and Cade was feeling a little better. He did have some more spells and it got a little scary. Sean tried another bottle with him and he just was not into it. So, we gave up and put the formula through his NG tube and then gave him his pacifier. Well, he was alert and sucking on that pacifier so I'm not sure why the bottle didn't go well. I think Cade was worried that he was going to miss out on something because he just stayed awake most of the day. Maybe his shunt is making him feel better. I eventually got him to sleep and we left for the night. This morning we called for an update and he hadn't had any spells overnight and took one bottle. I think we are on the right track.