The cardiologist called at 9 this morning, and Knox’s monitor results looked perfectly normal! Yay! We will have one last follow-up visit in three months, then he’ll be released. I’m so thankful!
Today is his six month check-up, as well, and I am dreading it, as usual. Shots…. yuck. I’ll post more later today about Knox’s newfound obsession in life. You won’t believe what it is.
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Knox is officially wired. We went to the cardiologist this morning for his hopefully last appointment ever, and he was outfitted with a halter monitor. Basically, there are four sticky leads and wires on his chest that go into the actual monitor, which looks almost exactly like an ipod. It took all of 7 seconds before Knox grabbed the wires and tried to yank them, so we had to change outfits into a onesie to keep them contained and shorts with a pocket for his “ipod.” The halter monitor has to remain on for a full 24 hours (so no bath tonight… good thing he hasn’t been pooping up a storm all day… not). So far, he hasn’t pulled out any wires, but I don’t expect that trend to continue. If he does, we just have to write it down for the doctor and then plug them back in. Should be interesting to see how he sleeps with this thing strapped to him tonight! I take it back tomorrow for it to be read by the doctor. We should know on Wednesday how it all looks. If all is well, Knox will be released from the Cardiologist for good. I’m praying that everything stays as it should be!
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We had our follow-up visit with the pediatrician on Thursday. The first was last week, so it’s been nine days since we were there last. At the first appointment, Knox had lost some weight, which is normal, and he was about 6lbs 14oz. This week, he weighed 7lbs 11.5 ounces. That’s a weight gain of 13.5 ounces in only nine days!! Great job, Knox! The doctor was very pleased with this, and said Knox looks great, overall. He also said “He’s got some hair, doesn’t he? That’s so cool.” It cracked me up. We go back again in a month, around the same time we have a follow-up with the cardiologist.
The initial cardiologist visit on Monday went great, too, and the doctor anticipates no long-term issues with Knox because of the SVT. We were very happy to hear that! He will stay on his medicine for six months and then go off of it. They did an EKG on him when we were there, and it looked great. Basically, most babies grow out of this fast heart rate, and that’s what they think Knox will do, as well. We have not seen any evidence of another Tachycardia episode since he’s been on the medicine, which is definitely a good thing.
Today, our little guy is THREE weeks old! How did that happen?? I do believe he is in the midst of a growth spurt, as well. He wants to eat constantly. He had been going about four hours at night between feedings, but now, he doesn’t go two and a half before he’s wailing for more. That’s fine by me, he’s a growing boy and needs more food! I really love breast feeding, and I feel like things are improving on that front. My right nipple is feeling much better- I think it must have been bruised or something. It still hurts when Knox latches on vigorously, but feels better when his latch is correct. Sometimes I have to re-position him five or six times, but it’s worth it for a pain-free nursing session.
We re-visited the lactation consultant this week because of the nipple pain I was having, and to check on Knox’s latch and how much food he was getting. Everything looked great. If your hospital has lactation consultants available when you have a baby, utilize them! It makes me feel so much better to know that he’s getting enough food, and I’m doing things right. Breast feeding doesn’t always work perfectly right away, and it really helps to have a pro show you the ropes.
Lifting his head all by himself:
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He let me take a five hour nap today. It was heavenly. The days and days of no sleep finally caught up with me last night. I did all of Knox’s feedings in the hospital, the nurse in the NICU told me that I was the first mom she has seen in a VERY long time to do all of my baby’s feedings in the special care nursery. Well, I can say, it was exhausting, but I couldn’t have imagined NOT doing it. Anyway, I have tons of breastmilk in the freezer (I pumped the whole time I was in the hospital) so we prepped a Dr. Brown’s bottle for Trevor to feed him with while I slept. I really didn’t want to give him a bottle, but like the pediatrician told me this morning, you need sleep to produce lots of good milk, so I went with it. Trevor held Knox the entire nap. He was telling me how he changed his diaper and got poop all over himself (Trevor did his first diaper change EVER in the hospital- somehow I ended up getting peed on… go figure), he’s trying so hard to learn, and he is really doing a good job at Daddyhood so far.
We finally got released from the hospital at 6:30 last night, what a long day of too much waiting! His echo came back looking good, and with that, we were out of there.
I felt like I was going to Disney World or something, it was the most amazing feeling to step out of that hospital with our baby in tow.
Knox got his first bath last night, which he despised, to put it mildly. Around bedtime, he started to get all nasal and snorting, which scared the mess out of me. I was terrified he was getting sick. Luckily, the pediatrician squashed that fear this morning. We had our first appointment, and Knox looked great. We go back next Thursday for a weight check since I’m breastfeeding. His billyrubin level went from 12.7 yesterday to 7.6 today, which is amazing, so no worrying about jaundice anymore.
The cardiologist’s office is pissing me off, royally. They wouldn’t let the NICU schedule our appointment, instead, they said the pediatrician’s office had to call them for a referral. Even though this cardiologist was treating Knox via the phone ALL week. Whatever. So, they finally called me to schedule the appointment. The neonatologist said it was of “the utmost importance that Knox is seen this week.” So, naturally, the douchebag on the phone scheduled him for NEXT Monday. I don’t think so. He argued with me on the phone, wouldn’t let me choose the doctor I wanted to see and was generally a butthole. So, I am going to call in the morning and speak with the office manager, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll have the pediatrician call them and set him straight.
That’s all for now, I am going to get back to holding my little man and trying to straighten up the house. I need to get him over his aversion to my right boob, too, because it HURTS even after pumping an entire bottle out of it.
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We’re in a breast feeding room at the hospital waiting for Knox to get discharged. He is off all of his monitors and hanging out in here with us, which is such a great feeling. The first doctor, Dr. P, that he had in the NICU is back on today. Last week, Dr. G took over. Dr. P is much more aggressive and detail-oriented and was our favorite, so we were glad to have her back. Let’s just say she was pretty pissed when she found out that Knox’s echo (that had been ordered) had not been done by the other doctor, yet. This meant that instead of going home at noon, we are still sitting here waiting on results.
She felt the echo was not necessary and saw it as a hindrance to our leaving because they will be repeating it at the Cardiologist’s office this week, anyway. I see her point. Knox’s first visit to the pediatrician is tomorrow morning at 8:15. I LOVE his pediatrician- he was actually my doctor from the time I was six months old until I was, oh, 21. 
I still haven’t found a doctor as great as him (but now I have an excuse to go see him, again). He called me this morning to check on Knox and make sure we were scheduling an appointment. He had me call him at home the day Knox was born to give me advice on all of the health issues that were being discussed upon his admittance to the NICU.
I’m not sure when his cardio visit is, yet, the nurses are making it right now. We have his medication all filled and will be giving it to him twice a day for probably six months. It’s apparently gross, so we have to mix it with breast milk and give it to him in a nipple- not the most convenient method, luckily I’ll be home for a while and should get better at it by the time I have to give it to him outside of the house.
Anyway, the bottom line here is that I am getting impatient and can’t wait to get out of here!!
P.S. A week and two days later, my vagina is killing me. These stitches hurt like a bia-tch, I’m always leaking funky stuff and pooping is NOT a pleasant experience. Just so you know. Thank goodness for my Vicodin.
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Hi, I'm Jessica: a formerly primped-to-perfection Southern belle turned obsessive, neurotic mama that's forgotten what it's even like to wear high heels. Loves Jesus, married to a HOT firefighter, blessed with a wild one year-old after infertility and currently pregnant with baby boy #2.
