I have successfully completed my first "rooming-in" as "caregiver #1." I have two of these to complete (1 down & 1 to go) and Brian (caregiver #2) has one. Each "room-in" is a 24hr period where the parent provides total care for the child. Meaning...we request and administer all of his medications around the clock (8am, 12pm, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8:30pm, 12:30am, 4am, 7am) and we give his various respiratory treatments around the clock (7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm, 11pm, 3am). We also do all of his daily trach care, feeds, diapers, bath, ect...Obviously, there isn't much time for sleep. Most parents do their rooming ins right before discharge, but we decided to go ahead and get them out of the way. One less thing to worry about. So far his faster wean off of the methadone is going well; although, he was up until 2am this morning! If he continues to do well, our discharge date of April 1st is a real possibility!
The nurses were a little surprised when I pulled out my personal color coded medication chart for Drake. It seemed quite reasonable to me and it worked great! They said it was definitely a teacher thing. I'm going to take that as a compliment :)
I would like to do my 2nd room-in this week; however, the 2nd room-in must be completed with our home equipment, and right now we don't know when it will be delivered to Our Children's House at Baylor. We still have plenty of time before we go home, so I will do my second room-in as soon as our equipment arrives. It will be nice to have our own equipment for a couple of weeks in the hospital so that we can get familiar with everything.
Drake's newly discovered ability with grasping is fun to watch! This is a skill we have been working on for quite some time, and it is exciting to see him using his hands! He even grabbed my St. Patrick's Day beads last night during FaceTime so daddy was able to see it, too! One of the toys they have in the hospital for him to use is an electronic toy tambourine. I've already been searching for one online for him to have once we are home. I've never seen him show such a preference for a toy!
We are still doing the best we can with our balancing act between time at the hospital with Drake and time with Kennedy at Gran & Poppy's. It doesn't get any easier, but knowing all of us being together again is on the horizon does makes it bearable. Only 14 more days!!!
you are a super mom continued best wishes babies are so cute
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if this is the right one but it looks to be the same....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kmart.com/vtech-twinkle-learn-tambourine/p-024W005026113001P
You are doing such an amazing job with your babes. I admire your strength and determination.