Zoo Pics

Here are photos from our latest zoo trip. Don't worry, there was lots of goat petting during this trip, too, but there were so many children harassing the goats that I couldn't get any good photos!

These peacocks were wandering around, and this one came over and stared me down while I was waiting for the kids. Amazing! I remember Aunt Jean had a bunch of peacock feathers that I loved playing with.

Happy 28!

Today and yesterday we celebrated Mike's 28th birthday! We went to the zoo, ate delicious Peking Duck, had a chocolate birthday cake, and Amelia and Colin gave him special foot rubs. Colin put his thumb on the top of Mike's foot, rubbed in a 1 inch square circle, and said, "Does that feel good, Dad?" It has been really fun paying extra attention to the smartest, funniest, and most wonderful guy we know! We love you, Mike!

I met Mike when he was seven and I was almost nine. Here he is a couple of years later in 6th grade, looking very adorable.

Here he is at age 19. What a handsome devil!

Jack Update

I just wanted to post an update on Jack's progress. We saw the speech therapist last night, and she gave us the go-ahead to suspend tube feedings and try to do nursing all day today. So far it's been going just fine. Jack still isn't quite ready for baby food yet. We'll be doing weight checks throughout the weekend to make sure that he's getting enough calories, and if all goes well we'll be taking the tube out soon! The physical therapist saw him today and thinks he has a little way to go still. Our pediatrician said that his head control is like a 4 month old (he's seven months right now). Life is slowly getting back to normal, and we're really glad.

Our First Snowman

Sunday and Monday brought a huge storm and about a foot of snow (a lot by PA standards). We got a healthy blanket on the ground, so we decided to try making our first snowman. It turned out smallish (toddler sized) and actually pretty creepy looking! We only had a baby carrot and sticks to make features. The kids love him, and have been checking on him every time we leave the house.

Colin's Turn

Colin is getting his tonsils out in May. They are enormous, and getting in the way of his sleeping and eating. Poor little Colin. I was hoping for a long break from the hospital, but I guess one more night won't kill me.

On the Subway

Today on the subway Mike sat near a crazy lady. After a lengthy rant, she turned on Mike and said, "I curse you man. I curse you to the graveyard. That's the latest thing in Philly, cursin' to the graveyard." We had a hearty laugh about it when we got home. I'm glad that Mike has been cursed in the hippest, coolest way.

Are you a "scoundrel" or "bandit"?

Sarah brought little presents for the kids with her, and Jack's present was a little package of fake mustaches. We got a real kick out of ourselves in them! The best part of the gift was that each mustache shape had a name. (This post is on Sarah's blog, too, I stole the photos from her!)

These are "The Smarty," "The Scoundrel," and "The Rogue."

"The Bandit"
"The Casanova"

Going Home!

We're going home!!! Our bags are packed, Mike is loading up the car right now, and we're getting ready to say goodbye to Dupont! We're going home with a feeding tube, so Mike and I have to be able to put one in by ourselves in case it should come out. We practiced on poor little Jack last night, so they agreed to discharge us today. Jack still takes most of his nourishment through his feeding tube, but he can nurse twice a day in addition to the feeds that he gets every three hours. We're coming back to the hospital three times a week to meet with our therapists, and we'll be seeing a lot of Jack's regular pediatrician, too. We've been told that Jack is probably about 2 weeks (or so) away from eating totally on his own. Jack has been such a little trooper, and we are so glad that he's almost well. Hooray!!!

Success

We had a "nursing trial" today, and it went great! Jack was able to nurse for 20 minutes without aspirating anything. Based on our success today, it looks like we'll be headed home with the feeding tube on Thursday or Friday. The nurses are going to start teaching me how to insert it by myself tonight. He also had a great physical therapy session. He was trying very hard to roll over, and doing really well on his tummy. I think he'll be rolling any day now. He's also sitting up by himself for a few minutes at a time. Overall, he's cheerful and feeling ready to head home.

Snowdrops

I came home two nights ago and look what I found! All over the side yard there were snowdrops that had popped up out of the ground. I thought those were only in fairytales! I love this place!

More Jack Photos

I took some photos of Jack at the hospital today that I thought I'd share. This is day 19 of our hospital stay.

Here he is laughing at Mike, practicing sitting, and drooling.

Sarah brought my kids and her little girl to the hospital for a visit. Here is Jack with Cousin Evie. She's only a month younger, so we love to compare their sizes. The picture is a little deceiving, Jack is actually much bigger than Evie!

Next Week!

We talked with our Speech Therapist yesterday, and she told us that we might be going home next week! I hope so! She said we would probably be taking Jack home with a feeding tube (yuck) and heading back to the hospital daily for appointments with her. She said we're kind of at the halfway point with his feeding recovery, and even though he's starting to nurse again, he still won't have the strength or stamina to be able to sustain himself for a few more weeks. At least going home is now on the horizon!

Last night I went home for the first time in 7 days. It was nice to get out, and I made it home in time to put the kids to bed and watch Survivor with Sarah. I noticed that Colin has started calling Amelia just "meel"! He is such a cute little lazy boy. I miss Amelia and Colin so much! I'm looking forward to getting home and being their mom again!

Private Room

Yesterday, Jack and I were moved from our horrid room with roommates to a fabulous private room with its own bathroom! Before I was just using a public restroom, and now I can even shower right here in my room! I'm so happy! Jack and I listened to music, danced around, and spoke at a normal volume (as opposed to our roommate-conscious whisper) to celebrate.

Other Jack news- he now has one feeding tube going into his nostril and down to his intestine, and another tube going into his other nostril and going into his stomach. He got the second tube yesterday to see if he could tolerate feedings into his stomach. We're hoping that the muscles are all working and doing the important job of keeping food down. If he doesn't have reflux, then they'll remove the tube going into his intestine sometime today. The doctor told me that if everything goes well this week we can talk this weekend about formulating an exit plan. Yippee!

Botulism

Poor little Jack! He contracted botulism and was hospitalized on February 3rd. We've been to two hospitals, spent time in an emergency room, pediatric ICU unit, and a regular pediatric unit. He has seen zillions of doctors, residents, attendings, nurses, and aides. He has seen respiratory, physical, occupational, and speech therapists. Jack has been intubated and then extubated (4 days on the ventilator), hooked up to a bipap machine, two IVs, a feeding tube, pulse oximeter, flux capacitor, and various other probes. He has taken lots of medication including one very special drug flown over from California that costs around $50,000! Overall, not a fun 12 days (and counting) for him (or me)!

As you can tell from his photo, he is doing very well now. He still has a feeding tube, and will keep it for a couple more weeks until he is strong enough to swallow, gag, and nurse on his own. He is feeling great and loving the nurses. He plays with toys and waves his little hands all day! We're so grateful to see him recovering so fast and looking forward to getting out of the hospital in a couple of weeks. He may have a little delay with walking, sitting, and rolling, but he will catch up soon and be perfectly normal! We're very lucky to have wonderful family and generous friends who have helped us get through this.

Sunday Best

I was shopping some after-Christmas sales recently and I came across an awesome suit for Colin that was dirt cheap. It looks GREAT on him! We put it on for church today and he kept yelling, "I look like Daddy! I'm Daddy!" It was adorable. I couldn't resist taking photos of him looking so sharp. While I was at it, I took some of Amelia and even talked Mike into posing for a few. Poor Jack missed the fun, he was taking a nap.