a better day

Today we got to Children’s and immediately got a bunch of good news. We talked to the Neurologist again today and they don’t seem to think Riley had a seizure yesterday. So Riley is no longer on an IV and he’s only on Phenobarbital, which is the one medication that we can give him at home. He’s taking all of his food through a bottle or the tube that goes through his nose to his stomach (for when he’s too sleepy to eat). Another big step toward going home. He was awake for a while twice today, once this evening while we were there and feeding him with a bottle. He’s still a little groggy, but it’s such an incredible blessing to see his eyes open again. It certainly makes it a lot more fun to talk to him when he can look you in the eye.

Riley had his second EEG today. He’s wired for sound once again. This time they left the wires on him after running the scan for about the same amount of time as last. The Neurologist seemed pleased with what he saw though. Side note here, I’ve frequently found medical doctors to be a stuffy sort. Dr. McAlmon (Neonatologist) and Dr. Riviello (Neurologist) at Children’s are anything but. Once again we see that the criteria for hiring at Children’s seems to be more than just medical competence. These two are obviously some of the top docs in their field, but they are also down to earth and extremely nice people who really know how to communicate with parents. Thank you doctors, we appreciate you.

Riley had blood drawn for his screening for clotting problems today. It was an agonizing thing to watch as his tiny blood vessels were hard to find. Dad was quite anxious while watching (and not much makes me anxious). Thankfully, Mom was pumping for his next meal. Fortunately Riley was asleep through the whole thing, although he did squirm a bit. Glad we’re not doing that again soon.

The nurses who had Riley today both told us they think he’ll be leaving Children’s soon, maybe even by the weekend. He’ll still need some hospital care, but that can be taken care of at Beverly Hospital which is a whole lot closer to home and much easier to get to. Parking is free too instead of $8 / day… Talk about encouraging news. It all depends upon bed availability in Beverly. Things are looking up though.

On a more personal note, Kim, who has had Riley as one of her charges for the last three days, went of duty tonight and we may not see her again (at least at Children’s). She has been a wonderful person to work with and has been really good to our son. She’ll be missed. I think she was as good for Shelby and I as she was for Riley.

Something I need to give praise to God for is all the people that have come by to support us. We’ve had people pray with us, give us emotional support and bring us food since we can sometimes forget to eat. Please all accept our humble thanks for the blessing that you have been and continue to be. We love you all.

Finally, we had our first grandparent visits today. My parents have come up from CT for a couple of days to see the new grandson and to lend some more practical support around the house as well. Here are a couple of pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Berg:

So today was much more encouraging than yesterday. So many things to be thankful for.

We’re most thankful for our beautiful son.

We love our boy!

Jonathan