Being poked in the head is no fun!

Hi all. Tonight was another busy night for the boys.  Busy for them, and busy for their monitors. They were alarming all night. Did I mention that stresses me out? they think it's funny to do it at exactly the same time too. The nurses said that happens a lot, they "talk" to each other. How about we not stress mommy out, and just try waving at each other for now on. They had new nurses tonight, and they were ones that we have never met. This makes mommy stress out a little too. I like when the nurses are consistent, it makes us feel better. I know that nurses need days off, trust me I do, but if I was a millionaire, I would hire 4 specific nurses to be their full time nurse. Thankfully, Brady's nurse came and checked on him tonight. She was head nurse tonight so she wasn't assigned any babies, but she hung out with us for a little bit anyway. He for sure likes her. While she was talking to us he opened his eyes a few times and was trying to look for her above his head. Normally this might make me jealous, but hey, if he is looking for her and likes her voice, that tells me she's good to him, and he trusts her. I am good with that. That is the kind of thing that helps me sleep at night. While she was there she checked on little Patrick too. I guess we will start with him.
Patrick
Patrick is doing well on the inside, but still looks rough on the outside. This poor baby is having a rough couple of weeks. The doctor came around during rounds and said that he is doing well.  As I write this I am knocking on any piece of wood I can find. His chest x-ray looks much better she said. His nurse showed it to us, and it does look much clearer than even two days prior. His belly films also look good. The surgeon came down and started to pull out his drain.  It did have a little bit of drainage so instead of pulling it completely out, she pulled it like a inch, and will pull some each day. I say take your time doc. If it gets pulled out over a week, I'm okay with that. As long as he is doing better. The culture that they took on the 10th is still negative at the 48 hour mark. They are happy about this, and have decided that they will try and replace his PICC line tonight. Thankfully Brady's nurse, the one he loves, was the one who placed Brady and Patrick's lines last time, so she will do Patrick's again tonight.They said that they would probably raise his Fentanyl so that he is okay during it.  He did have one catheter blow in his little arm, so it was all swollen. They had to replace it, so he got another one in his head. Craig held his little arms and talked to him while they placed it. He will be the toughest kid around when he gets bigger. Craig said when he is old enough to get vaccines, he will probably just take the syringe, do it himself, and shrug it off.  I tell him everyday that he is so brave, and I am so proud of him. I love this kid, he is such a trooper. The nurse a few days back told us that she had to have another nurse hold his arms while she did his diaper change because he is so feisty. She said you are 1 lb! You are not a two nurse baby! This is ridiculous, haha.  His oxygen was a little higher tonight because he was stressed out during all of the hands on and the cath. Hopefully in the morning it will be back down when everything is done. He looked tired still tonight. He didn't really open his eyes at all, but he did wave his hands around. I would have liked to see more activity because I get nervous when they are quiet, but as long as he is stable, I deal with it.

                                                                               My little swollen arm :(

                                                                                 Another head catheter :(

                                                                        Finally resting. Our poor little man.

                                                                            My own special bin!

Brady
Brady was doing okay also. his monitors were going off a lot tonight. He had a little bit of a spa treatment tonight. His nurse let me put some lotion on him tonight to help his little dry skin. He did not like this..at all. He was kicking like crazy, haha. She also gave him a little hairbrush and she brushed his little head. I laughed and said it looks slicked down from the lotion, so it looks like he is going for school pictures. I love him, and I don't care how hairy he is, I love it. His oxygen has been up and down the last two days. They think this may be because of his PDA. Sometimes the hole is small, which causes it to sound really bad when they listen to his chest. It also messes with his O2 levels, I guess when it opens his O2 drops. It is kind of frustrating. He did get an echo today but the results were not in. Craig overheard the doctor ask someone about the results, so we will call at 2 or 3 am to see if she has the results. They don't want to do another dose of the meds, so we will see what the next step is. Hopefully it is smaller. Otherwise, his urinary culture is negative.  They may start feeding him if the echo is better, but if not they will hold off.  Basically, we are just waiting on those results.

                              Getting my lotion on!             

Getting my hair done.

                                                                 My own special bin just like my little brother!

                                                                    Down for the night, dreaming of coming home

I will post an update of the echo results if we get them tonight. Otherwise, we should have them tomorrow night. In the meantime, we are going to try to get some sleep tonight. Craig was up all night, and I think I am getting sick. Hopefully it is nothing, and just us being tired and run down. if I get sick I can't go to the hospital, so I won't be able to see the boys til I am better. So fluids, and rest for me tonight!
Thanks always for your thoughts and prayers! Love you all!
Em, Craig and the boys!