Day 48: Our Little Warrior

Hi ho, Hi ho. It's off to work Scott goes. Another week down, which means that it is getting closer to the time that Scott will be home for good. It continues to get harder and harder for Scott to leave every week. It was especially difficult, however, for Scott to leave his wife this morning. The reason behind this was that it was raining outside. Everyone knows that weather like this makes it the perfect setting to stay in bed and cuddle.

Susanne spent her morning doing some grown up things. She washed some laundry, put some clean dishes away, made a lot of important phone calls, and paid some bills. I guess you could say that she was taking care of business.

Susanne made it over to the hospital around the same time that she always does to visit with Paxton. The nurse informed her that the barium enema went well this morning and that the doctors thought that everything looked normal. This was such a relief. The plan for now was to start him back on his NG feedings, but at a much lower rate. The nurses would continue to increase the amount he was being fed every three to four hours if he did not vomit. The goal was to get him back to the amount he was being given over the weekend. If he vomited again as the rate increased, then the doctors would schedule Paxton for a barium swallow study to evaluate his upper GI tract. Other than that, Paxton was doing well.

Two of Paxton's favorite people came to visit with him today. Aunt Leenie and Uncle Loonie stopped by before they headed over to the National Geographic Museum to see the Terra Cotta Warriors that were on exhibit at this time. Paxton was very interested to hear about this because he is a little warrior himself. He cannot wait to hear more about what all they learned and the cool things that they saw.

Paxton had an occupational therapy appointment with his favorite therapist today. She was very impressed with his progress. She thought Paxton was right on track for being almost eight weeks old. She predicted that he would smile for the first time any day now. How exciting!

Paxton enjoyed some quality tummy time with his mommy. She even read him a book from one of Scott's co-workers (thanks Dawn!) called "Thank You Prayer" as he got comfortable and fell asleep. Susanne had recently started to notice that he was fighting more and more to fall asleep. He would become overtired and it would take him longer to convince himself that it was okay to get some shut eye. Susanne thinks that Paxton is too excited to sleep because all he can think about it coming home.

Paxton has had four different roommates since he has been in the IMCU (intermediate care unit). He has watched all four of them pack up and go home. Now it is his turn. Come on Paxton, show us what you got!

Right before Susanne left, the nurses changed shifts. Susanne was pleasantly surprised to see an old familiar face. Tonight, one of Paxton's nurses from the NICU was filling in for a IMCU nurse. The funniest part about the whole situation was that this was the same nurse that was on when Paxton pulled out his endotracheal tube back in the day. She mentioned that she was going to keep an extra close eye on him overnight. The nurse was just as excited to be taking care of Paxton as Susanne was. She was shocked at how much he had grown since the last time she saw him. The nurse immediately fell in love with his crazy head of hair. Susanne knows that he will be in extra good hands tonight.

Good night and sweet dreams!