My Grand River Hospital Stay

Mom and Dad stayed with me during my first two days at Grand River.  I was just a little man so they needed to keep an eye on my sugar levels to make sure they didn't get too low.

I learned very quickly about a procedure called the "Heel poke" in which a small cut is made on the surface of my foot and they can take a small blood sample from it.  Unfortunately they did this every 4 hours! 

My sugar or glucose levels were sort of low (under 3) which made everyone a bit worried and I couldn't leave until we got two readings over 3.  The nurses told mom and dad to make sure I ate enough and gave them some guidelines of how much I should be getting.

They tried to feed me the traditional ways but even though I could latch pretty good, I didn't have a great suck reflex, and even when I tried my best, I would usually just get tired and go to sleep. 

This was frustrating for mom and dad who were already pretty sleep deprived and stressed from all the blood tests.  Mom and dad held me lots and dressed me in a fun little bear outfit.  my Grandmas and Grandpas came to see me and so did my dad's friend Kyle, and my uncle Brian and his girl friend Paige.  Mom and Dad ate some interesting hospital grub and we all did what we could to sleep between feeding times.

As the time passed, we kept trying to feed, now using a bottle but I was still just a tired little man.   We tried different bottles, positions and we even tried a special little feeding tube attached to dad's finger.  After awhile we were getting some decent meals into me but never really as much as the "rule book" suggested. 

The nurses kept testing my sugar levels and after a roller coaster of ups and downs and 24 heel pokes, on Monday morning we got two good ones in a row.  The hospital decided that meant time to go home!  So at about 9am, mom and dad poured into the car and we all traveled  back to our house. 

With Grandma Philp in tow, we arrived at our house and Mom went to bed.  Dad on the other hand was off to the office.   He had a lot of work to do as tax season was winding down.  After putting in a good day at work, dad came home to see me.  We sat together and had some food and then we both tried to sleep.  It was nice to be home.