Hi everyone!
I'm still real busy, but I thought, "Melody," (that's what I call myself), "you never really told everyone what's going on and why you can't come home." So I answered, "You know what Melody, your right! I'll do it just as soon as I get a chance to put a new posting."
Here is the deal. When I was born, I had really low blood sugar levels. Within a hour after I was born, they hooked me up to an IV and had me on some fluids with a small percentage of glucose. I stayed on the IV and had my sugar levels checked every 2 hours. At first, the little lance in my heal hurt like crazy, but after getting stuck about 3 times, I learned to ignore it completely.
After a full day on the solutions, my sugar levels were still too low. The neonatologist's nurse, Teresa (who I like to call Terry), decided that the best thing to do would be to put a line in through my belly-button so a stronger solution could be used. They also started me on a steroid treatment. I heard Terry tell Mommy and Daddy that once the steroid treatment is started and is showing results, they would have to wean me off of it and that I would be in the hospital for 2 weeks! Two weeks before I could go home. That stinks!
Because of the line in my belly-button, I wasn't allowed to stay in Mommy's room; I had to stay in the nursery. It wasn't that bad because Mommy and Daddy would come down every two hours to feed me. Some times I would eat a lot, sometimes not too much, but everyone was happy with the amount that I would eat. At first, I couldn't eat when I was being held. When Mommy or Daddy held me, I was just so comfortable I would fall right asleep. They figured this out pretty quick and started feeding me by holding me upright in my bed and I would stay awake long enough to eat! During the entire time I was in the nursery, I was pretty quiet and didn't really cry all that much.
Back to the steroids, which I am calling my Barry Bonds hours - I did really well after the first dose and my sugar went from 20 something to over 110! That doesn't really mean much to me, but Terry said that that was actually too high, so she stopped the steroids completely (I only had the one dose so I didn't have to be weaned). This was potentially good news because if I didn't have to pretend I was Barry Bonds (and take the steroids) then hopefully I wouldn't have to be in the hospital for 2 weeks extra! The line still had to stay in my belly button and they were still taking my blood every three hours, but at least there was a chance of going home sooner rather than later.
I stayed in the nursery Tuesday through Friday and each feeding they slightly lowered the amount of IV fluids, thus lower the amount of sugar, that they needed to give me. Finally on Friday morning, they stopped the glucose fluids and put me on just regular fluids! This was a major milestone! After one more blood test, they took out the line in my bellybutton and then after about an hour I was allowed to go hang out in my Mommy's room.
Now remember, I was on fluids and in the nursery from Tuesday through Friday. Mommy was officially discharged on Thursday morning. However, the great folks at the hospital told her that as long as I was not allowed to go home, she could actually stay in her room as a boarder. The nurse said as long as they had room, she could stay where she was at and that they would even continue to feed her! That was great news because we live about 30 minutes from the hospital and I was still being feed every three hours. Daddy did leave and go home a few times in between feedings and he said that it made for a long trip.
On Wednesday afternoon, the nurses tested my Billy Reuben levels. When Daddy heard this, his first thought had to do with sauerkraut but that's not what I was being tested for. Basically, the nurses we concerned that I was jaundice. I won't try to explain the specifics of jaundice and bilirubin. If you want to know
click here. Unfortunately, my bilirubin levels were to high and I was in fact jaundice. They ended up having to keep me under special UV lights 24 hours a day. I had to wear a funky sunglasses held in place by either my hat or a piece of tight gauze. Here are a couple of pictures:


Jaundice in someone my age is pretty common and is treated with the UV lights. Finally on Friday, the nurse said that they would test my blood at 6:00pm and again at 6:00am Saturday morning. If my levels were where they needed to be, I could go home Saturday morning. All I kept thinking was that I got home early enough to watch the Gator game! My levels on Saturday morning were still high, but the doctor came to see me around 8:30am and said that while the numbers were high, they were coming down steadily and that we would test one more time at 6:00pm Saturday evening and if they were at at certain point or lower, we could go home that evening! They other good news was that he said we could turn off the lights! Finally, I could sleep without having the brightness shining down on me!
Mommy and Daddy were so excited about finally being able to take me home. Even though it wasn't 100% for sure we were going to be able to leave, they packed up all of their stuff in the room and got ready to bring it home.
The nurse on duty Saturday was a wonderful woman named Madona. She told Mommy that if Mommy wanted to leave for a couple of hours she would watch me. Mommy and Daddy loaded everything up and went home for a couple of hours. They got back around 3:30 and waited for the test. The leech (the lady from the lab) came in around 5:00 and took some blood and finally around 6:00pm Madona came in and told us we could leave! Finally, we were able to go home!
We got home around 6:30 this evening and I am sooooo happy to finally be out of the hospital. Mommy and Daddy showed me my room and I just love it! Right now, I'm sleeping in a bassinet next to Mommy's side of the bed. She wants to be near me so when I get hungry she can feed me. I'm not complaining at all because after all the time I spent in the nursery at the hospital, I would rather Mommy and Daddy be close by.
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Well this is a really long posting, so I will end it now with plans on putting new posts up every day or two. Mommy and Daddy said that they will put some posting up also. I'm sure we may even see some things from Big Bro Neil. Bro is going to Disney tomorrow to perform with his chorus at the Candlelight Processional. Marie Osmond is going to be the narrator for the performance. I wonder if she is going to narrate is with a little bit of country or a little bit of rock and roll? The things that go through the mind of a 5 day old baby!
Well, I better go. I'm starting to get hungry and I think Mommy is almost asleep. I'll wait another 15 minutes or so and make sure she is asleep before I start "asking" for food!
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Love y'all and will see you soon!
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Melody
P.S. In case you were wondering, the Gators ended up winning! Now hopefully the fools over at the BCS will do the right thing and let them play for the national championship. (Just a little commentary.)