Thansgiving Day Surprise :)

Normally, Kirsten would post a regular update, detailing the fun things our doctors had to say about James, and the awesome things she did to get James to the doctor, home from the doctor, and everything in between.

 

Today, it's my turn :)

 

Yesterday, November 14th, James had his first dose of Synagis, a vaccine for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), which is apparently a common ailment for cardiac babies. He'll get this once a month 'till the end of winter, so probably through March or April. He got this one at our pediatrician's office, and it was a very quick visit. We were in and out in less than 15 minutes, including check-in, weigh-in, and vaccine, which is pretty unheard of for us these days. James, however, was absolutely P.O.d. Apparently, Synagis is a fairly thick substance, so the shot is more likely to have an immediate sting to it than other vaccines. James turned the cutest, and saddest, beet red, and gave us all the most disgusted looks. I suppose I would do the same thing if I were in his place. Either way, one more vaccine down, and we were off to see the cardiologist.

 

Yesterday was an eventful day at the cardiologist. We had an EKG, they checked his BP and O2 sats, got an echo, talked with social services, and had a long talk with the cardiologist about . . . James’ eating habits . . .

 

In case we haven’t posted this recent enough for our readers to remember, James is off the charts in terms of weight, and not in a good way. He is now about 3 pounds, or about 30%, under weight for babies of his age, mostly because he doesn’t eat enough, and all our docs are very concerned about his weight going into the upcoming procedures: a cardiac catheterization toward the end of November, the goal of this being to get a clear picture for surgery in late December or early January. For normal-weight babies, it’s easier to recover from these procedures; underweight babies are at a higher risk, simply because they don’t have the fat reserves to recover, and they are generally a little underdeveloped in other ways physiologically.

 

So, to get James ready for the main events coming up, today docs are having a conference call to discuss inserting a naso-gastric tube tomorrow or early next week. This way, even if James doesn’t have the stamina or drive or hunger to eat his normal 20 ounces a day, we can literally finish off his meals or give him an extra meal or two through the tube, just like they did in the PICU and NICU.

 

This could be pretty awesome. Not only will family get to gorge themselves on food next Thursday, but we can also make sure James gets to fall into a food coma, too! J In some ways this also feels weird, like we’ll be “fattening the goose” for the holidays K

 

Either way, I think Kirsten and I are both very much looking forward to a happy bout of Thanksgiving Day Surprise meals, just a little on the heavy side, so James, too, can enjoy the peacefulness of eating just a little too much J