Another uneventful day in the books (as far as David is concerned). Well, mostly uneventful. He turned 3 weeks old today! David continues to work on drinking his full bottle within 30 minutes. If it lasts longer than 30 minutes, then he’ll burn more calories than he is getting, which we do not want to have happen. Our biggest concern is that David hasn’t seemed to gain any weight these past few days. He’s doing a fairly good job of finishing his bottles – sometimes he needs a break part way through, but then finishes it by the end of 30 minutes. He did have one feeding with me today that he didn’t finish the last 2.5ml, so that went in his feeding tube. He also threw up his morning medications, and we’re not sure why. It was his first day receiving a vitamin, so maybe that upset him. He was receiving them again as I was leaving, so hopefully he held them down the second time.
During one of his bottles today, the service dog Inka came by to visit David. David got his first dog pets and a dog kiss today from Inka. Seeing dogs seems to liven him up and he becomes so alert. Hopefully that’s a good sign for going home since he’ll have two dogs to keep him alert for his bottle feeds.
David also got to nurse for a little bit today. He can do that once a day now, and at this point, it doesn’t really matter how much he eats but it’s a step. A spiritual advisor/chaplain also came by and offered some prayers for David and our eventual transition home.
I had to leave earlier today than I normally would (and earlier than I would have liked). Eli’s fever has persisted since Monday – it’s gone up and down over that time, but after his nap today, his fever spiked to its highest level yet (while earlier in the day it was at its lowest). So, I went home to help with either taking Eli to the doctor or picking up Anna from daycare. It turns out, we all ended up at the doctors since Eli gets very worked up about being looked at and Adam can better hold him. So far, all we know is that Eli does not have flu or strep.
Eli’s illness has thrown a wrench into our Thanksgiving plans, and I’m not quite sure we know what we’re doing yet. Both Adam and I want to see David, but we cannot risk exposing him to too many germs. My initial plans of the family going to the hospital with breakfast, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV, and then heating up some premade Thanksgiving Day fixings has gone out the window. We have the premade food that we’ll still eat, but it seems like we will not be together for this holiday. We’ll figure something out, but illnesses are making it harder. We have so much to be thankful for this year, we’re just hoping and praying that Eli is the only one who catches this nasty bug and that he’ll be better soon.
So much to be thankful for❤️ How exciting to watch David’s expressions, his mannerisms and his personality developments! I pray that Eli gets better soon and then no one else gets “the bug”…. Continued prayers 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Happy 3 Week Birthday, David! So sorry to hear you have to be away from him at Thanksgiving… Meanwhile Eli and Anna will be thankful to have you both all to themselves! Hoping Eli feels better soon. Giving thanks for your family, with prayers for good health and caring hands at the hospital… and caring dogs!
Continued prayers that David starts to put (and keep on) weight and Eli gets better very soon.
So sorry to hear that Eli is not feeling well — praying this is something he does not share:) Wishing a “happy birthday” to David 💕 praying he will gain some weight and asking God to give him all that he needs this day.
I stayed home for Thanksgiving by choice. But it wasn’t a wasted day as I prayed alot for David and his family, and my family. Hope Eli gets better soon. Hope you all will watch the parade together next year. Love and hugs.