"You will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I." Isaiah 58:9Nathan had trouble with his increased feeding last week and a series of tests were done. It looked like he had a small (one inch) section of his intestine that had a stricture, or narrowing. This would block the intestine to make the larger milk amounts too difficult to digest. Because the boys are identical twins, Alex had this same spot on his intestines, his just happened to get infected. The surgeon was consulted and after a lot of 'waiting and seeing' Nathan ended up in surgery on Sunday. We got to be with Nate the morning before surgery and after. Everything went well and Nate will have a few days of recovery and then start eating again in about 3 days. This will lead to more 'waiting and seeing' but we are hoping that things will be resolved.
I thought it would be good to just get a little info out because we've had a lot of people asking about visiting, helping etc.
The NICU has times each day where they feed the boys, change their diapers, etc. This happens every 3 hours, usually 11, 2, 5, 8 around the clock. When we visit it has to be one of these times. The NICU has a staff change over from 6pm-8pm so we can't visit during that time. Monday through Friday Jim and I eat dinner and we leave for the hospital after 7pm and get home around 11-11:30pm. So, if you want to call the best time is before 6pm. I think my favorite thing that friends have done is just to ask, 'what can I do to help?' Every day is different so I may want a distraction one day or I may want to be alone the next, so when someone asks that I can tell them what would help at that moment. The hardest thing for us to do is make future plans. We just deal with what we have to one day at a time. When people ask us when the boys will be home it breaks our hearts to have to say that we have no idea. I love rides to the hospital and a few friends have seen the boys for a while and then I can stay in the NICU and have Jim meet me there for the 5pm visit. We love anything with nutritional value that we can eat for dinner. We also love knowing that we have friends and family sending good thoughts our way and helping, that is the best support and we really appreciate it.
1 comment:
I was hoping the nicu expression of three steps forward, two steps back would skip you, but ahhh...God wants to teach you patience I guess! I'm so proud of you for how you're handling all of it. I remember the nicu rules when my nephews were there, almost military in nature. But, so good to know they're in the best hands at this stage in their life.
Thank you for the updates on what you need and how to be there for you. I think we have all wondered that, it's good to know how we can best help you right now. I know that when they do finally come home later you'll probably need the most help! Glad they've both had a good day. Can't wait to see them again soon. Let me know if you need anything. Love you all! ET
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