DISCLAIMER: if you don't want to read about throw-up, bowel movements, and gross stuff, please skip this post. :)
Now that we are home, I thought I'd share a little more about Jack's ordeal that landed him up in Primary Children's for ten days. After his first surgery, the surgeons told us that some side effects could happen, such as reflux, but that his bowels should be working well. They never mentioned that a side effect of abdominal surgery could be the growth of adhesions (scar tissue) that can cause bowel obstructions.
He had been such a trooper through the whole thing, eating like a champion and never vomiting even once!
Fast forward five months. Jack is a chubby, happy little guy. No problems gaining weight or eating. Gradually he began to become a fussy nurser. I thought it must be teething. Then he got a mild case of RSV and who eats well when they are congested? He would nurse and cry afterwards or sometimes throughout the whole session. I tried ora-gel, thinking numb gums might help. His nursing didn't improve but he was still a happy baby overall.
Then, after a peaceful Sunday, Jack became inconsolable. Completely unlike himself. He would not sleep unless he was held and then for only 30 minutes at a time. This lasted all night long. He had no interest in eating and I started to worry about dehydration. Then in the middle of the night he vomited. Lots and lots. It was scary.
Monday morning, he acted a little better, still not wanting to eat, but was taking and holding down Pedialyte by syringe. (he won't take a bottle). I thought it was the stomach flu. We took him to the doctor who told me he was mildly dehydrated, and that we should expect diarrhea to hit next. I told the doctor that he hadn't had a bowel movement in almost a week and half and had no fever. (Jack has always gone about a week between BMs so I wasn't super concerned).
Monday night was a good night. Jack was given a blessing by Dusty and Jeff, and actually slept all night long. He did throw-up once in the night however. I was certain that his flu was almost over. I should mention that his vomit was a horrible light green/yellow color. Almost neon.
On Tuesday, Jack still had no interest in nursing and was still vomiting intermittently. I felt that some of the pedialyte must be getting into his system since he could hold it down a couple of hours. However, Jack seemed to get worse and worse. I was starting to get pretty freaked out. We were giving him a syringe full every five minutes, but he seemed to get more dehydrated. By the night-time I felt we should go to the ER (in hindsight I should have listened to this feeling) but decided we could wait until morning.
On Wednesday we went to the doctor first thing in the morning. Cubby came to be with Tyson since I knew that we would probably be sent to the ER and could possibly be there a long time. I packed a bag with my breast pump (I had been pumping this entire time), the pedialyte, and loads of burp cloths. By this time, his vomit was as horrible dark green almost brown color. I knew it wasn't the stomach flu anymore, but something more ominous.
Sure enough, the Doctor sent us over the ER to get Jack hooked to an IV and get some fluids in his tiny body. He was acting very lethargic by this time and the nursing staff
could not get an IV in his body. He was poked and poked. Dusty mentioned to the ER doctor that we thought it might be an obstruction and the Doctor ordered an x-ray of his abdomen. Watching him be squeezed into the tube for the x-ray was the first of my mini-meltdowns. They tried to get him to cry to expand his lungs and he wouldn't cry. What baby won't cry?
Sure enough, his bowel was obstructed. Life Flight was notified and Jack was being sent up to Primary Children's. We decided that Dusty would fly with him so I could go home and pack and gather Tyson. Instead of getting an IV, they gave Jack an IO, which is where they drill into his shin bone. Finally getting some fluids into his little body, he began to wake up. When Life Flight arrived, they put an IV into his scalp and started a morphine drip. I guess the ER here is timid about scalp IVs.
I drove up with Tyson to Salt Lake and met up with Dusty, Lauren and my parents, who had driven to meet us there. Jack was lying in the ER screaming and screaming. I told the nurse that I needed to hold him and finally got him calmed down. We were led to the Operating floor and the anesthesiologist took him from us.
A few hours later, our wonderful surgeon, Dr. Downey came to speak with us and told us about his obstruction and adhesions that had been removed. He likened the obstruction to a balloon that had been squeezed by a tight string. All he had to do was cut the "string" and the intestine was open again. He called this occurrence "extreme bad luck" and was a side effect from his first surgery. We were able to go to the recovery rooms and meet up with our sweet Jack. His finger nails had been just sharp enough that he had clawed his face after the surgery.
His recovery was amazingly quick all things considered. Since we had been through all of this before it didn't seem quite as daunting this time. I felt more traumatized for sure because this was unexpected; but being in the hospital wasn't overwhelming. I knew to ask for a breast pump and kit and we knew all about the resources and how the nursing staff works. The infant unit was wonderful. The nurses were sweet and confident. They all loved our sweet, happy baby.
Jack was rarely left alone. It seemed that even if we weren't there, some relative, either Grandparent or Aunt was there. Only at night when he was sleeping was he alone in the room, although I did stay a few nights after he began eating better.
The process was much like his first recovery from surgery. We waited for his fluid to clear and decrease from his stomach and for poops and bowels sounds. This all occurred about four days after his surgery. When it came time to actually begin feeding him, he wouldn't nurse at all! He would just laugh and smile at me. Then the plot began to thicken. His PICC line (which was feeding him intravenously) got a staph infection. The line had to be removed. Add to this the fact that the IV team could not place an IV at all, so he couldn't receive fluids, and we had a serious problem. He
had to begin eating.
I prayed and cried and prayed some more. Finally Jack began to nurse a little at a time. It was enough to keep him going. After a few days, the IV team could get an IV in and he could have antibiotics.
The antibiotics worked and we were eventually released. I am so grateful to my family who visited and got me out of the hospital occasionally.
Both hospital stays were very different. This time, I didn't feel as alone, and ten days is very different than a month. It was nice to have a hospital room as opposed to being in the NICU with lots of other babies. I felt much more prepared this time, knowing what to expect and what to take with me. We were able to stay in the Ronald McDonald House again. Our room was amazing this time. It had just been redecorated and remodeled by some design students. Just a shout out, that if you want to donate to anything, the RMH would be a good choice. It's incredible and such a haven when you are in stress. Community members cook meals almost every night and they have a shuttle to the hospitals. They have washers and dryers, books, movies, lobbies with couches and TVs, fridges to put food in, etc. Such a great endeavor.
We are hoping that this is the last of this sort of thing. Mostly for Jack's sake. It's hard to watch your child go through painful things. But we are glad that he is okay and doing well now.
