12/8
Wow, I can't believe how much has happened! On the day we left ICU (please don't ask me days they sort of run together now), I believe it was 12/4, most of McKinley's tubes came out. The only ones left were the IV push and the drainage tube. It felt soo good to be able to hold him without all the leads and wires all over the place. He had such wonderful care in the PICU, I was afraid to go out onto the floor. They told us, we would have more input into his care. All I could think of was, "What the hell are they talking about? I'm not a nurse!" Actually it was more about pain management than anything else. We learned after the first day to give him Tylenol or Motrin every 4-6 hours. This kept him on an even keel. Ever since he's had the tubes and leads out he turned into Mr. Happy. He smiles at all the nurses and can't wait to see people. All I had to do is walk him around the unit in one of their baby carts and he was happy as a lark! How, after just 5 days can he be so happy? How can tylenol really help this little boy that had open heart surgery?! It did, and it has! It's been amazing just how fast he has responded to everything.
Now we are home, god it felt good to walk through the front door, go pick up Emma and sit down at the kitchen table. Oh! To be normal again!
Unfortunately, a problem occurred! Yep, you knew something had to happen to break the sheer pleasure of coming home.
I ended up picking up Emma alone, as Brian ran upstairs to throw up everything he had eaten for days. You have not seen a man so pale! Lucky for me, Heather came over for dinner to help me with the kids. Emma had a 2 hour nap and was going strong, I however really wanted to see the back of my eye lids. Heather left and I was still going strong. Just imagine the house now, Emma running around, McKinley smiling and laughing. Now imagine what happens next... Dog food all over the floor as Em wanted to feed the dogs, after she finished that it was stickers in the dogs water dishes as she wanted to see what would happen.
Finally, 7:30 came and I ushered the little mess maker upstairs, only to realize I needed to bring up the porta crib as Brian was sick in our bedroom. I thought of making him go downstairs for a brief moment (it surely would have caused me less marks on the wall), but I was brave! I finally got the porta crib upstairs, both kids are screaming bloody murder. Oh my god! One wanted to eat and the other wanted to go in Mommy's bed. Please take me away Calgon! It eventually returned to calm about an hour later and I looked at Emma's bed. Oh lord, that awful mattress! Well, the night went well, I crawled out of bed twice to feed Mac. My back is protesting every single movement of mine now. It is 6 am and we are all awake. Brian said every day when Mac was in ICU that Emma slept in, what happened to that? This kid was up and ready for another day!
Now back to Brian, he came out of the bedroom looking pasty and sweaty. I cringe and tell him to back away. Of course, good wife that I am I also tell him that I will be shipping him off if he doesn't feel better soon as I don't want the kids to get sick.
Well, I better run as I have to run behind the cyclone called Emma and pick up again. Can you imagine it's only 8 am?