The TRACTOR!

Daddy keeps up with Gator while he rides the Tractor down the hall.

Bensy (Didi) rides in the bucket.

He can do it no hands too!

So today!

Yesterday I picked up the girls for some mommy time, it is about this time after a few weeks that Ry starts to have a hard time. We had dinner together and went on a little bike ride, followed by popcorn and m&ms in my bed and a movie! Daddy and Gator hung out together last night and this morning.This morning Gator's IV failed and he had to have a new one. I made it up to the hospital around lunch time. I took Gator to the playroom but we only got to stay for a little while until they paged us over the intercom. Infection control wanted to chat with us. It seems Gators culturs have grown out for a third time. We know for sure that it is there now. IC is called in to make sure we are treating it the right way. They have some ideas of what it is but are not 100%. We know it is staph but not sure if it is endovascular or endocarditis. So to begin they have him on some big gun antibiotics: vancomycin, gentomycin, and rifampin. The plan now is to do a TEE or trans esophageal echocardiogram. We hope this will try and find sources of infection and also see if his new conduit if functioning correctly. We will learn how to take care of a PICC line for meds for six weeks and then he most likely will be on antibiotics orally for six months. We will have to ask how this will effect things in the future like school and church! Gator got tomride the tractor a ton today which was really nice for him. He loves to laugh but it hurts. Daddy even took him out on the terrace for some sunshine. If you have to be in a hospital it is nice to have distractions like tractors, playrooms, and sunshiny terraces.

And now!!!

Yesterday night/early morning the boys arrived had test run and an IV placed in order to start antibiotics. He slept pretty good and had a nice day Saturday. Gators hematocrit was low so they did a transfusion and continued to monitor him the rest of the day. He seemed to perk up a little and wanted to ride the tractor. The rest of Saturday was pretty quiet. Sunday they told us nothing had grown out yet and we would most likely go home Monday. He continued to have IV antibiotics and rested all day. We also made it to fast and testimony at the branch. The spirit is amazing there, I am pretty sure that angels attend that meeting. Also the hospital would be Our Saviors first stop. You testimony can either be shattered by Illness or it can grow immensely. I have decided the burden is too great for me and that the only way to go is to rely on Heavenly Father. He in turn can touch everyone else who is either watching over my home babies, or guiding the hands and hearts of the nurses and doctors. Another fun thing, Gator was moved from the ghetto in J pod to O pod which is practically the Hilton!! Who hoo!

Turned into something

So last night around 7:30 we got a call that said something grew out in Gator's cultures. Off to the hospital we went. Taking every precaution to gather a clean sample. We were hoping his crp and CBC dropped as well. We found out they did and we got to head home then wait for the results of the cultures. Tonight, Daddy and I went on a date and after we called the NP to find out if anything had grown. Great news! We came home from our date to a very uncomfortable little man but willing to hit the sack. I thought he had really over done it today. About 11:30 tonight we got a call that his culture had grown something. Daddy is taking him up tonight and I will spell him in the morning. He has to have IV antibiotics to try and kill that bug.

Munchie is a mess maker

 I think she wasn't sure what to do with all of those tubies. It is taking some time but we are helping her adjust to all the equipment.

 There will be some plants we will need to move for a while... Naughty!

 She is super close to walking, standing in the middle of the room. She just hasn't figured out how to take steps.

She has figured out how to get into mischief!

I would pretty much have to carry my camera around all day in order to catch all her little "Tricks"

My First Grade Super Star

Ry also had her first day of First Grade! She is so amazing to endure all that she has and yet she is excited and happy about her own adventures. Our little smarty pants will be learning French and going to lunch!!! How exciting! She is again one of the tallest in her class, if not the tallest! We are so lucky to have one of Ry's best buddies in her class, Ellie! Plus my little social butterfly is happy to meet new friends.

A little head scratch

We went to the hospital  for a follow up xray to make sure Gator didn't have Plural Effusions. These are common in kids who are post Fontan. The good news it that his Xray looked awesome. After chatting with Annie she was concerned about his fevers. With no other symptoms besides a little cough we decided he better have labs to check his cbc and crp. It took to pokes to collect the darn things. While we waited for those to come back Gator had his last stitch removed the stitch was from a chest tube. His incision is closed with Dura-bond so it doesn't have to have anything removed. The crp came back elevated. They like to see it at 4 his was 16. So we needed to do two more blood draws and a urine sample. It took forever to get that peepee, Gator slept in a wagon while I walked him around the hospital. Finally we collected it. It had to be sterile and that is hard for a little boy on oxygen who has a sternal wound that doesn't like to get on and off the potty very much. But there was no other way to catch it. Then it was off to the lab for two more pokes. It was miserable trying to get the samples. Gator would hide his arms behind his back and beg to "please stop!" The lab tech was so patient and really took time to find just the right vein, everything was pretty much shot. He ended up going to the feet. We don't even want to think about the head now that Gator is big. With mommy singing and talking about his WISH, and the Woody Wood Pecker ride we made it through. I was so relieved to be leaving the hospital. I got everything in the car and Gator all situated. I also went to return the wagon. Then came back and checked Gator's oxygen. His tank was empty, I got out the other tank I got and fixed it all, then went to turn it on and it LEAKED loudly... I undid everything and tried again, still leaking. I told Gator we had to go back into the hospital because something was wrong. He immediately started to cry. He was DONE and I really didn't blame him. I still needed to fix my tank issue to I went to the security booth and told them I was here alone with my little son who had had a rough day in the hospital and would not go back in. I needed help because I wasn't sure how to best fix this issue. The security guard radioed for another to help me. She wasn't really sure what to do so she radioed another, Two more came and then the smarty one came out of the ER with a respiratory therapist(who happen to be wheeling out a tank) I am sure we were a sight with four Security guards and the RT, one crazy momma, and a little boy who was not going back in the darn hospital.... Finally, we trouble shooted all we could and realized we had a gauge issue and we needed to go into the hospital and talk with CTS(Cardio thoracic surgery) Bonnie came down. A face we know and love. She helped us page discharge who was in a meeting and could bring us a tank in a little while. Finally she came down with a tank and we headed home. It was a L O N G day. Our appointment was at 8:15 am and we finally got home at 4:30 pm. Glad it is over! Now we have to wait and find out if anything grows out!