Last weekend, the boys had a little project to make Great Grandma Bobbie a birthday card for her 91st birthday. In honor of her birthday September 6th, we are sharing their artwork!
I made them a palette of “paints” out of rice cereal and different food purees.
They really got in to their painting, although Trevor thought it was lunchtime! He wanted to eat his paper!
Brendan needed a little help to get started, but had a blast smearing the stuff around. Take that speech therapist!
They are quite the little artists! We hope Great Grandma liked it!
It was just another recovery day for Brendan today. He is still heavily sedated and very tired, and he is very puffy and still has a bloated tummy.
He did like to play while he was awake. He is happy to have his key chain.
He shakes them so hard you almost can’t see them
A PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line did get ordered for him so he made the trip to radiology this afternoon. Since this new IV in addition to the one in his hand will make him nearly impossible to hold, I got in a few hours of cuddle time.
The checkup from the surgeon was good but he does not think Brendan’s guts are ready for digestion. He cleared him to have his oral medications but he wants to wait two more days before he can have any food. So the TPN starts tonight to give him the nutrition that he needs to grow and heal.
Trevor had a good day at home with Gramma. I am not sure why, but Trevor had to test fit a “naughty step” today.
Trevor is not naughty! He just has a little secret…
All this time I have been watching and waiting for the top two teeth to pop through. He has been miserable teething but they just weren’t showing up. Imagine my surprise when I look in his mouth and there is another bottom tooth! Not only is the left one popped through, but the right one looks like it is only a day or two away.
Since Brendan’s top two teeth have not cut in yet (they sure should be any day now!), that means that Trevor takes the lead in the tooth race. He is going to celebrate with a cold one (chewy hammer that is).
Add on to yesterday’s post with the photos from my real camera:
These are the pictures in the pre-op waiting room. The last images of the poop bag! Good riddance!
Chomping on his glow thumb, he really found that to be fascinating
Still on leftover anesthesia and happy meds, smiling funny
These are the Trevor pictures from yesterday (surgery day)
While Trevor waited, he wrote a touching get well letter for his brother
“Hey! This is private stuff!!”
Trevor just played in jail all day
He likes to play with baby jail from the outside!
So cute! He mimics well!
And now on to today…
Trevor had enough jail, and decided to do some new exploring in to the deep dark basement of the jungle.
Brendan had a very hard night. His little body is so tolerant to pain meds and sedation, he kept waking up and crying. I am glad I was there all night to comfort him when he woke up. He really was scared. Today he was just miserable and had a hard time getting comfortable.
Brendan’s got a few post-op issues. The first is that any abdominal surgery makes the bowels freeze up (a lot of people experience constipation after surgery). He is not allowed to have anything (food or meds) in his tummy until they can hear bowel sounds and movement in his little gut. It is not moving yet – so he is missing all of his regular medications. Now that it is almost 2 full days, he is starting to feel the withdrawal/adjustment. He is getting morphine and ativan around the clock.
With his gut not getting food, he is feeling hungry. (IV fluids aren’t very filling) His little tummy and intestines are filling up with air and his belly is so big and bloated and uncomfortable. He needs to pass lots of gas! His other big problem is that he is not peeing at all. They have had to drain his bladder with a catheter several times. He had an abdominal xray to make sure things were OK, and then at about 7PM tonight, he finally made his own peepee pants! We all celebrated!
All of the air and iv fluid and no pee made Brendan swollen. His little belly was so hard. Right before I left tonight, he passed a couple of big giant farts and he felt better!
The new Gtube in his tummy allows his stomach to be vented. The nurses use a really big syringe to draw the air out and did it several times tonight. It just doesn’t help with the air in the intestines. They are leaving the syringe connected to vent continuously for now but they are very worried about him pulling on the new port. So he has to wear a mesh tube to cover it up. (clothes are just too hot)
Brendan also had to deal with some bleeding around his trach stoma today, the hospital circuit that attaches has so many sensors and crap that it was heavy and clunky and strained his neck badly. His trach ties were on extra tight and I think it was making his face a little puffy. Changing that out seemed to make him feel better too.
Getting his bed all fresh and more like home made him more comfortable. He was in a good mood for a short time and even smiled at trying to get the ice out of my cup.
Brendan got a visit from his old NP tonight. She joined the crowd of people saying “Oh, he is so big!”. He appreciates the cool stuff she brought and hopes to see her again when he is feeling much better.
It will be interesting tomorrow. Brendan is either going to get a PICC line and TPN or he is going to get his meds and some food through the tube in his nose. It will be a surprise. Bill is with him overnight, I hope those boys have a good sleepover and both get good rest tonight!
