It has now been almost two weeks since Eli has come to live with us. I can honestly say it has been one of the greatest, and most trying times of my life all at once. We went from being able to go, eat, sleep, and do what we wanted, to having to schedule everything in three hour increments.
So how is Eli?
The first thing we did after arriving home was to go in for our first doctor appointment. They measured and weighed him. He is now 17 inches long, and at that time weighed 4 lb 13 oz. The doctor said he looked good. We went ahead and scheduled the appointments with a cardiologist for his PDA and surgeon for his hernia.
The rest of that week we continued our usual routine. Wake up at 9, 12, 3 and 6.. on both sides of the clock to change and feed him. Every other day Meagan will give him a bath. My favorite thing is to lay down with him for a nap.
Last Sunday some people from the church threw us a shower. We were able to get lots of clothes, supplies and baby stuff. It was great to have so many people there. We are grateful for the friends we have.
Tuesday we took a little trip to Arkansas Children's Hospital for his Cardiology and Surgery check up. We met with the cardiologist, and they did an EKG on Eli. Meagan and I were both surprised how long it took to put on all the leads, but how short the EKG actually was. Later the doctor came in and listened to Eli's heart. She could not find any evidence of the PDA, it had completely closed.
We then went to our appointment with the surgeon for Eli's hernia. They want to wait a little while to see if he can get off the oxygen before doing the surgery. So sometime in the middle of June we will travel back up to have that surgery completed.
Eli has been doing well here at home. It seems every day he takes more and more formula at his feedings. When we first got home he averaged about 40 cc per feeding, now he's up to an average of 53, and many times takes the complete 60 that we fix right now. I almost forgot, when they weighed him at Arkansas Children's he weighed 5lb 2 oz. So he definitely is a growing boy
Some of you were wondering how the dogs were doing. The answer is awesome. Mia and Honey are the ones who are most curious about Eli. Mia came in for almost every feeding at first and laid down in the room. When I am gone, and Meagan is feeding him, Honey will lay down half in the door, half in the hallway with ears alert.
We have not taken Eli out into the general public yet, and will not for a little while. However we have had a few people drop by and say hi. I'll close this update with some of those photos.
My friend Amy F gave me your CD as a gift for my little girl. As I was listening tonight I decided to go order a couple for friends who recently had or will have new additions to their family. This CD has been magic to get our little E.G. to sleep. (I hope it works as well for a friend who affectionally calls her daughter "Ms. Screamy Pants!) In trying to order the CD I checked out your blog as well. Congrats on getting to bring Eli home. He is a handsome young man. You are in good hands at ACH. I hope you quickly get to the point you no longer need to visit them! As someone who has had to spend time with my daughter in the ICU there I know first hand how well you are treated, but very glad when we could go home. From one parent to another, discuss with your doctor about getting the whooping cough vaccine if you havent yet. If I had been more forceful about getting mine before leaving the hospital and suggesting those around me get theirs maybe our daughter would not have gotten it.
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