Bite Me Salmonella

Well unfortunantly Charlie has been hospitalized for salmonella.  On Monday of this week I noticed he was very lethargic and took his temp. It was 100.2. I know "they" don't get concerned about a fever until it hits 100.4 but I called and we went into the pediatrician. By the time we got there his temp was 103.7.  They took blood and urine but the doctor was happy that Charlie was well profused, pink and angry when messed with. She thought it was probably a virus and we made a follow up appointment for the next day. By the next day Charlie's fever was gone and his tummy issues were getting a little better. I thought for sure he was on the mend as did the pediatrician. Imagine my surprise when I get a call on Wednesday morning telling me the blood culture came back with gram negative rods and we could either go into the pediatrician to get another culture or come to the hospital where it would be processed faster. I chose the hospital because gram negative bacteria is nothing to play with. Babies with gram negative infections can go from absolutely fine and looking great to dead in a matter of hours. Because it's that serious we have been admitted and are currently holding court on the 7th floor of TCH.  It's a big change for me because we are in a private room, not in a pod like we were in the NICU. I hate it. I'm only leaving Charlie to get food and bring it back to the room so I feel a bit like a prisoner in solitary confinement. The nurses and doctors here have been wonderful and are patiently and thoroughly answering all my questions that I pepper them with every time they come in our room.  One of our biggest questions has been, how in the hell did Charlie get this? Nobody can give us an answer and the doctors have said we will probably never know.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The good news is that Charlie's body was doing a pretty bang up job of fighting this off pre antibiotics and he didn't get ill to the point where intensive care was required. As I was writing this one of his doctors walked in and we have a new plan. The bad news is that he has to do 10 days of IV antibiotics. This is according to my good friends in Infectious Disease. This was an "unofficial consult" so we don't have to do what they say but, I trust that group and I'm glad we got their opinion, unofficially.  The good news is that Charlie will be getting a Picc line and will be able to do the 10 day treatment at home. We will closely monitor him and if there is any hint that he's heading down hill we will come back here.  So, that's our Charlie update.  Henry has been home with David and I know Henry is in heaven having his daddy all to himself.  I'll leave you with some pictures and an apology for any punctuation or editing errors. That's just what happens when I write blogs. 

(A) 

How are the Boys?

They are super, thanks for asking


A number of people got in touch to say that they liked the blog to continue so I am going to try. Without a team of nurses helping, I don't have the same amount of spare time for writing. Also, there's not the same day to day change with them. In the hospital days, there seemed to be something to report on every single day - a new setback or a new milestone. These days, we are just happy parents of twins (with a lot of doctor's appointments!).

So, given that it's not very interesting to write (or read) about feeding schedules and such, I hope that I can keep you entertained with the occasional photo shoot. As you might gather, I like to take photographs of them.

(D)

'Cause You've Got...

I said that I might stop with the blog posting. Once the boys were out of the hospital, there was a logic to that being the end of the story. If it doesn't stop then, when does it stop? I don't mean their life story, of course, I mean the scary story about having premature babies.

It doesn't matter. If I am in the mood to write about the boys and you are in the mood to read, then the blog continues, I suppose.

I wrote to a stranger earlier this year. She had written a blog about her premature baby. One of the things that she said to me was that nobody expects much of a baby so I should enjoy this time fully. In the future, there may be measurements. I think I would have been enjoying this time anyway but I am happy to have the reminder filed away for when needed.

So, let's all focus on now. Charlie and Henry are an absolute joy and they've got (altogether now Showaddywaddy fans) personality. I think it is impossible to know when we start to form our personality. While the boys were in hospital, Aly and I worried a lot about how it was affecting them. It was one of the many reasons that we loved having consistency in their nurses. If there was any chance at all that they were feeling sad or lonely and we weren't there, it felt much better knowing that the faces that came to comfort them were familiar ones. As you probably know, Charlie was home first and it is hard to disconnect that fact from the fact that he seems the more laid back of the two. I have shown this photograph a lot, but it really does capture how they were when it was taken, very soon after Henry was home.

Henry has relaxed a lot more since then but he still often wears a look of suspicion where Charlie seems more ready for the next adventure. Here's what I mean;

I think Henry's suspicious face could be used to define a new international scale of suspicion. Here's what I suggest;
At the top of the scale is "no good is coming from whatever that is over there"

Then there is "I am not sure what that is... We should keep our guard up"

On the low end of the scale is "this might be fun... But let's see, shall we?"

Another explanation is the photographer, of course. Here's one that his mom took;

Charlie's equivalent scale would be of anticipation. Starting at "alright, count me in";

Then "I can't wait for this to start"

At the top; "Wooooo!"

(D)