Still in the Hospital ~

Ugh. As I was typing the title to this post, my computer let me know that I have used it before. :-P Oh well. We were really hoping to be discharged today. Now we're really hoping to be discharged tomorrow. :-/ I have a sneaking suspicion that if Dr. Jensen had been on today, we would be on our way home, but one of the other cardiologists was on today, so here we sit. Please do not misunderstand. They are all wonderful Dr.s and we are so appreciative of them and the care they give Jethro. However we have worked with one or two more than the rest, and so I believe they give a little more leeway when decision making, just because they know us a little better.

However, I am trusting that it's not this Dr or that Dr who is guiding this whole process, but God. And we are where we need to be. Whether it's so that when we do go home we know that Jethro is stable, or because he's going to have some more problems...I don't know, but I do know that when home is the best place for him to be, then we will be there.

So, why are we still here? Jethro was stable throughout yesterday and last night. His heart rhythm looks good for him. But, his INR (coumadin) level was on the high side and so, Dr. G felt more comfortable with us staying an extra day and having that level re-checked in the morning. The whole INR thing is a delicate dance, and definately not an exact science. We have to adjust his dosing pretty much every time he gets his levels checked, which varies from once to twice a week.

We are also working on feeding issues. When you're 3 months old, and have never taken much, let alone the majority of your nutrition by mouth...this becomes something you have to learn. He does not have an oral aversion, which is a huge blessing, but he's not too sure about stuff coming out of a nipple and going down his throat. However, they did a swallow study this morning (very interesting to watch!), and he swallows well. So, we are just going to go very slowly with him. We are going to start with a bottle-less nipple and just use a syringe to add liquid to it. As he gets used to that and takes more milk that way, we will move him toward a bottle. Please pray that this process goes well.

So, that is where we are at the moment, and what we are doing. :-)

Track season is over. Levi ran the 110 and 300 meter hurdles at State. He did not make it out of the preliminaries for the 110, although he did take 4th in his heat. He took 7th overall in the 300 hurdles, just missing getting a medal by 1 place. He was disappointed, but his Dad and I are very proud of him. Lakeside does not have a track for these kids to practice on, and they only have 2 hurdles that they set up on the football field, when you then consider that Levi is built like a football player and not a hurdler...well, he did great!