Friday, May 21, 2010

Bad night, better day (updated with photos)

Quinn had a tough night. He repeatedly stopped breathing when he cried ("I will hold my breath until this cast is OFF!") and then the heart monitor indicated an irregularity. That meant an EKG - challenging with only a small chest hole for monitoring stickers. Then blood work - even more challenging because of his very deep veins. It took two teams of nurses and two needle sticks to get it right. So neither of us got much sleep.

The only thing that kept Quinn calm was back to back to back playing of the very annoying, "Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, cock-a-doodle-doo" by The Wiggles. Quinn found it at the beginning of a fairly ancient Barney VHS tape from the hospital library and it was love at first listen. So listen we did, and did, and did, and did.

Today things are a little better. A cardiologist said Quinn likely has a very common early heartbeat in the upper chamber that 9 out of 10 kids grow out of. He's being fitted with a monitor today and will wear it for the next 24 hours. We also had visits from a car seat specialist, and a physical therapist who helped us figure out how to lift Quinn and get him in and out of his stroller. A cast tech cut some off the bottom of his cast because he couldn't sit up straight, and cut some out of the arm pit because it was sticking into him. And that was all before lunch!



We went down to the cafeteria for lunch and Quinn watched the giant ball maze for a long time, and the fish tank for a long time, both of which he loves.


After lunch he played in the activity room with BaBa and NaNa while I filled prescriptions, got travel letters, got release instructions and filled out release paperwork.

He's back to saying he wants to go on a train ride and directing which Barney songs he wants to hear, so he's definitely getting back to normal.

3 comments:

China Dreams said...

Sorry to hear about the rough night and the scary heartbeat incident. Hope it's uphill from here.

Tammy ~ Country Girl at Home ~ said...

I know that must have been scary for you....hang in there! Still praying for him.

Tammy

China Dreams said...

I just saw the photos, which I think you must have uploaded after the post, and that poor kid! It must be so hard for you to watch him like that, even knowing that the end result will be worth it