How do you Kangaroo?

Prior to March 2007, if you'd asked me what a kangaroo was, after arching one eyebrow and looking at you funny, I would have answered "an Australian marsupial" (also, a common noun - but just for the benefit of this story).

If you'd have asked me the same question prior to June 2009, I would have told you that "kangaroo" was actually a verb... its a NICU activity wherein you hold your unclothed child against your naked chest to encourage a calmer, more controlled breathing pattern and parental bonding. See the example of the verb kangaroo below, me and Will circa late March 2007.

Well now, the former Australian marsupial and naked hug has yet another new meaning. From now on, a Kangaroo is actually a proper noun... the brand name for Will's new feeding pump. See the pic below if Will this morning in his hospital crib, testing out his new Kangaroo and feeding tube.

So things are looking up here. The 36 hours post-op were a little rough going. Will was in quite a bit of pain after his feeding tube surgery. Finally late last night, we were able to take Will off of morphine. He's now getting ibuprofin every 6 hours and seems to be doing well on that. Additionally early yesterday afternoon, Will was changed from NPO (which somehow in Latin means "no food by mouth") to allowed to consume clear liquids. After he tolerated clear liquids for a while, he was allowed to start trying out the feeding tube - first with clear liquids, and then a slow flow of Pediasure.

He's been doing super ever since! He's playing with toys and parents, and flirting with nurses... back to his pre-op self. Its good to see him back. They are slowly working Will's tube feeds up to his routine feeding rate that we'll have at home, and once he tolerates that well and gets back to his normal mouth feeding pattern, they'll send us home with a Kangaroo and a couple of visits with a home nurse. We're anticipating our discharge sometime tomorrow, Friday.

Can't hold me down! Despite all of Will's monitor lines and a new IV in his foot (hence the large white board on his left foot), he was in no pain last night and resumed his kicking!

Post-op notes

Just a quick update to let you know how today went... we woke up bright and early this morning and gave Will his second Steri-soap bath and made it to the hospital to check in at 6:30a. It was nice to be the first scheduled surgery of the day, as once we checked in, we were immediately greeted by our surgery nurses, anesthesiologists, and then within minutes, the surgeon was ready.

We felt no fear going into this surgery, so the hour long surgery wasn't nearly as bad of a wait for us as surgeries-past. We went down to our regular surgery waiting spot, the UNC Hospital cafeteria, and got some breakfast.

We got back up to the pediatric surgery waiting area just in time to see our neurosurgeon - though of course, he wasn't there to see us!! We talked with the parents of triplets for a while, one of whom was being evaluated by neurosurg today. We thought having twins was rough! It was nice to pass the time talking about our children and various experiences that having preemie multiples share.

Within minutes, our surgeon was calling our name, and told us that everything went really well with Will's surgery. Nothing unexpected, and we could see him soon. When he woke up, I went back and saw him (only one parent allowed at a time)... he wasn't really a happy camper coming out of anesthesia. We sang "Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore" about 800 times, and then Nate stayed with him until they had a bed ready for us on the 5th floor of the hospital.

So we've been up here for about 7 hours now, and Will's been having a rough go of it... he appears to be in more pain than we expected, and the order that the doctor wrote for Tylenol just isn't doing the trick. We tried a narcotic pain medicine, but Will was still huffing and whining, which is an indicator of pain. Every time we tried to pick him up, he would cry - I think because the new g-tube area is still very tender and no matter how careful we are, it gets a little jostled when we move him. Every time Will wants to move, he lifts up his legs in his normal pattern, but that pulls on his abdominal muscles, which hurts! So he catches himself with a painful start, and we know that he's about to get Old Man Face and cry. We feel so bad for him, but there isn't much we can do.

Now he has gotten morphine to manage the pain, and was finally able to take a nap. He just sneezed and that doesn't feel good, neither do the hiccups that he's gotten a couple of times today. Laughing and yawning also seems to be tough on his little body, so we're just doing our best to make him comfortable and get through the night.

Nate has gone home to stay with Luke and I am at the hospital. Will and I are about to bunk up and watch a movie... I wonder if his souped up hospital crib will hold my weight. I think he needs some mommy cuddling time.