Lessons from Vandy

What we learned from our Vanderbilt hospital stay:

1. Careful what you wish for

• All I have wanted was for a little time...just the 3 of us. A little vacation where we can just all be together. Well I got it! Nothing like 9 days of 24/7 togetherness in a hospital room. Not the vacation that I had in mind!
• I just wanted Will to be cuddly again - I missed when Will was a little baby and would sleep on my chest and just snuggle up with me. Now he is always running around and will only sleep in his crib or car seat. He does NOT want to cuddle! The week leading up to this hospital stay and the week of, all he wanted to do was cuddle and be in our arms. I am mad at myself for wishing for this.

2. Stay positive, but be realistic - Never say never

• When we first got to our actual hospital room from the ER, the nice transport man was telling us about the microfridge and how the couch pulls out to a bed. JT told him, "We'll be fine, we won't be here that long anyway." 
• We also noticed at the time that Will's IV line said "change Tuesday". JT said, "I don't plan on being here long enough to see that get changed." - Yep, we were still there! And I think we even saw it get changed again before we left.
• We went to get something to eat and the elevator stopped on the 3rd floor (surgery floor). I said, "Glad we won't be seeing that floor again!" - Of course we saw it again 2 days later.

3. Trust your instincts

• There were so many times that JT and I just looked at each and asked if we were being crazy and should we just go home. We knew that this was not the normal actions of our child. But when no one can find an answer, how else are you supposed to feel? I am glad that we didn't give up. And I'm glad that Dr. Huss and Dr. Thomas didn't give up either.

4. Be thankful

• Thankful for family and friends - There was so much love and support ranging from a simple text, to bringing dinner, to staying with Will so JT and I could escape for an hour every once in a while.
• Thankful for Vanderbilt - We take it for granted that one of the best children's hospitals in 20 minutes from our house. The nurses and doctors were all wonderful!
• Thankful for our jobs - I am so thankful that we have jobs that we can walk away from when something important like this comes up. There was a little boy not much older than Will down the hall, and I never once saw a family member there with him. His door was always open so the nurses could give him as much attention as possible. I finally asked what was going on because I couldn't believe a parent wouldn't be there. I was quickly put in my place when the nurse told me that the family was from out of state and had to work to keep the insurance so that their baby could be at Vandy getting the treatment he needed. Wow - I can't imagine and don't even want to think about what that must be like. 

5. Believe in the power of prayer


What Will learned from our Vanderbilt hospital stay:

Will - 15 Months

Weight - 24 pounds (back to his weight before he got sick)
Height - 31.25 inches

Food:
Will is pretty much off of baby food, except I sometimes give him the Sprout brand of veggies because it is the only way he will eat them. He loves carbs - definitely my kid! He eats pancakes and sandwiches almost every day. He likes chicken nuggets and turkey. He isn't into hot dogs so much anymore.  Bananas are still a favorite fruit, but sometimes he chooses to smush it up and play with it instead of eating it. He seems to only eat one thing off of his plate and refuses the rest. This is new for him because he used to eat anything. And it changes day to day of what his preferred food is. He is very polite and will hand you back the food he chooses not to eat.

Mobility:
He is walking everywhere! When we first got back from the hospital he went back to mostly crawling. After about a week he figured out walking again and now he is non-stop. All over the place! Poor Maggie can't get in a decent nap without Will closing in on her.

Language:
He continues to say "uh-oh".
At the hospital he learned the word "hi" and he says it all day long! He waves the correct direction now. He knows our routines and can figure out which one of us is leaving. When Hope comes in the morning and I grab my bag, he starts waving to me. When JT gets home at night, he waves "bye" to Hope.
Banana is "nananana". He will start yelling this in the grocery store when we walk by them.
"Gie" is every animal, including Maggie.

Toys:
Favorite thing is always Maggie!
He has learned to throw the ball and is getting pretty good at it. Maggie tries to be patient with him, but she eventually gives up and snatches it out of his hand.

We have been to the zoo a few times. He likes watching the monkeys swing, but he does NOT like hearing them yell. There are some clouded leopard cubs there that we like to watch climb trees and play with each other. Of course he calls them "gie". There is a great play area there that I am trying to get him to play more.

I apologize that this isn't a great update, but I feel like we lost an entire month with sickness. Next update will be at 18 months and I promise have to some pics!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the morning with NeeNee and then went to Gram and Gramp's house for dinner. No fireworks this year because of the extreme dryness in the area. Will sure looked cute though!

WILLpower (Vandy 6/30 - 7/1)

Saturday:
Another restless night. JT and Will actually ended up sleeping together in the recliner most of the night. I hate that he can't get comfortable!

JT brought Will a pancake for breakfast, and he did pretty good eating it. He had some grilled cheese for lunch and a turkey sandwich for dinner. Eating was hit or miss, but we tried anything we could. MAO came today and Will ate his first ice cream cone - he loved it!

Will LOVED the ice cream cone!

Will really got into playing with his toys and getting back to his usual fun self.
The resident came in and took out Will's drain tube. I was up by his head and didn't really see it, but JT for some reason watched and I don't know how he didn't faint!
Saturday evening Dr. Thomas showed up and was excited to see Will sitting on the couch playing. We talked for a long time about how crazy this past week and half has been. He told us that we were good parents and should always continue to follow our instincts about Will, because no one will ever know him like we do. What if we had given up and just taken him home Sunday? What kind of condition would Will be in now? Scary to even think about! Dr. Thomas thanked us for being so patient and letting them find the problem and fix him. We thanked him for giving us our baby back.
And then the words we have been longing to hear...discharge in the morning! YAY!!!!!!
Will was CRAZY Saturday night! He didn't want to go to bed. He just wanted to laugh and play. I can't blame him, he has been so lethargic for past 2 weeks.

Sunday:
The resident came in around 7:00 for one last check on Will and then she told us she was getting his paperwork ready. Yay! JT started packing like a mad man. I don't know why the hurry, it takes hours to get discharge stuff together. He took a bunch of stuff to the car and I stayed in the room with Will. Will apparently  knew that we were going home and chose to scream at the top of his lungs in his room while pointing at the door. If I walked outside with him into the hall, he calmed down. The nurse came in and said everything was done. He took out Will's last IV and JT walked back in right after.
Goodbye Vandy! Will was wide-eyed the entire walk thru the hospital. When we got to the car he looked shocked. We are going home!

JT and I said that we could get through this because we had WILLpower! Our little boy is brave and tough and he can get through anything!

Our hospital board in the room. JT drew a pic of our family. Then Uncle Jon drew a pic of himself as a cartoon. And "WILLpower" is the most important thing!