Ping Pong and back to Ping again

This morning they put Greydon back on the nasal cannula, which is good. Reverting back to the c-pap didn't relieve his stressful breathing like they hoped it would, so they put him on the nasal cannula since it is so much more comfortable and he can lay on his belly.

Kristen went over and I met up with her after my class, and then we went to a little make and take scrapbook class thing put on by the parent support volunteers at the NICU classroom. They try really hard to provide some moments to not think for an hour. They precut everything so you can just stare at the sample and plop your own together using as little grey matter as possible.

We got a bite and went back to the hospital and helped change him and be there while they messed with him to take vitals and such so we could touch him, hold his hand, maybe even kiss his little tummy and cheek. He was still working hard breathing though.

I've been doing ok keeping the house clean looking, but today three of Kristen's friends from work came and scoured and deep cleaned for her, which is so thoughtful and made such a nice difference. Kristen likes things clean, and it has been bugging her to not be able to do her old routine.

We are still having people drop by with food to warm up, or a gift card to grab something on our way, both of which are just so dang thoughtful and nice. It's not that we are physically incapable, it's more like you really don't care if you eat or not, so why bother going through the drudgery of making a nice meal. It's a reality I don't think I could've grasped without being along for the ride. (Should I admit that we are eating an influx of cereal?)

When we went back to the hospital Greydon had his sad little c-pap strapped back on. He just isn't breathing as well as he should be. Again, his numbers are ok. His blood gas levels like to hang out just below where they want them and his respiratory rate is just higher than they like it usually, but just barely. They also took him back off feedings. He wasn't getting the bile back like before, but his little gut is pretty distended with gas and air. His bowels are filled also, you can actually see the loops of his bowels through his skin they are so full. They gave him a suppository to try to get things moving, I made sure to look the other way, poor little guy.

So he wasn't too happy again tonight.

We dropped some fabric pieces off to Aunt Karen who so kindly offered to sew up the edges for us so we can use them in his little star-trek bed and feel a little more involved in his care by choosing his linens. It sounds small, but anything small is a pretty big deal to us right now.

I'm not sure she was expecting the big ol' bag of fabric we showed up with... we might need to get her sewing machine a tune up by the time she is done with them.

Just to prove that the camera can get pointed at something besides Greydon, here's a pic to help you get an idea of where we are spending lots of time lately.

This is about half of NICU nursery A, the critical care NICU. Eventually preemies get moved to NICU nursery B when all they have to do is grow before going home.

This pic makes it look smaller than it is. It opens up with extra rooms down on the left, and more beds in the open common area as well. We are all the way at the end on the right, in the corner. It's nice that it is a little more out of the way since we have two walls instead of all curtains. I think they put us there because they knew we'd be there awhile.

We hear interesting snippets of conversation all around us. We see people coming in and getting checked out. It's a very transitional place.