Balancing Act

Damon had another echo on Tuesday. A cardio echogram is essentially a detailed ultrasound on his heart. It lasts about 30 minutes. I took note of two things: sugar water is yummy to my baby and helps to keep screaming to a minimum, and I kept seeing images other than his heart in the image on the screen. True story, I saw a bunny, a barking dog, and a troll in the shape of the chambers of his heart. It was freaky and weird.

There has been some talk that we'd be able to take Damon home with him on a low flow of oxygen and a feeding or two taken in through a tube. The cardiologists put that nonsense to a stop, saying Damon needed to be completely off oxygen before he goes home. It would be more of a risk to have the large VSD like he does get larger while on oxygen at home. Gave a huge sigh of relief after hearing this. I'm anxious to take him home as it is, let alone with all this life support going on.

 

Damon has been eating more volume through a bottle this week. He ate a whopping 21 ml with his dad yesterday and 27ml today. YES! This well more than half of his every 3 hour feeding. At this rate, if he is able to eat well and put on more weight, but then be able to be weaned off this oxygen, the only thing holding him at the NICU is this heart condition. The cardiologists will be making the final call.

I had some good friends come down from Poky on Thursday. They saw the baby and then kidnapped me to go out to lunch and have some much needed girl time. Best. Friends. Ever. Thank you Nicole and Tonya!

This is random, but I've been "seeing" things, and I swear I saw Rob Pattensen's doppelganger. He was valeting my car at the hospital the other night. I've seen this guy twice now and may have to sneak a pic of him. He's like a baby-faced Edward and I wonder if he gets that, like all the time. :)

Sterling, Mason and Marissa came to Salt Lake Friday after being in Poky all week. Gosh I missed them. It's hard to get back into our groove. Not the kids so much, but Sterling and I. I equate it a little to when he comes back from deployments and trainings with the Air Force. The kids and I have a routine and a way that we deal with life while he's gone. It was like I switched places this week and I had to fit back into their routine and day-to-day. I'm having a harder time balancing my emotions and nurturing instincts! I want to be everything to everyone and it's nearly impossible. I am grateful for Sterling today though, who is up at the hospital right now with Damon while I can take a break and hang with the other kiddos. My hubby picks up the slack and helps keep things in balance when I need it. We're good at tag-teaming it.

So yes, please ask about Damon and we'll try to answer your questions. Thanks for all your love and support!