Plans made and plans changed

Not gonna lie, yesterday wasn't super fun. I talked in my last post about all the things we were getting crossed off the list that was between us and getting to go home...We're just about done with that list! In fact, we could have had the whole thing done and been discharged yesterday...but it didn't happen. Hence, the not very fun day.

The night before, Mom and I went out to dinner and to buy Brandt a few outfits for the days that we would be in town before we went home. I had come sadly unprepared for that little occasion, as I knew he wouldn't be able to wear clothes in the hospital. Obviously, I forgot to think about the drive home. Anyway, we ended up being gone for about three hours. By the time we got back, Brandt was, for some reason, back on oxygen, for the first time in more than two days. Apparently, he had de-satted (oxygen levels went down below their comfort level), so the nurse decided he needed it.

I suppose I can't accurately judge the situation, having not been there when it happened, but having been watching his trends over the past two weeks, I don't think it was actually necessary. For some reason, when Brandt eats, his sats (saturations) go up to the mid 80's, sometimes a little higher. Every heart baby is different, but that's the high end of his range. Then, often, after he eats, it will drop to the mid 60's, when his digestive system suddenly starts demanding oxygen to do its job correctly. Given enough time--about two minutes on average--it comes right back up on its own and hangs out at his middle range, in the 70's. This is one of those things that can't be communicated via charts, so every time we have a change of nurses, I either have to find time to explain all his idiosyncrasies or suffer the consequences when I come back to the room after a short absence and find something like this.

Having previously been off of oxygen for more than 48 hours, we were scheduled to go home yesterday, but after the oxygen incident, that got cancelled.

Lest this post seems overly cranky, there have been a few things about this slightly disappointing turn of events that have actually been beneficial. The first being that it gave me more time to consider our trip back home and realize that me flying with Brandt was actually a much better option than driving. When I mentioned that possibility to the nurse practitioner making decisions about our discharge, she seemed to perk up quite a bit, and later made the decision that we won't have to stay in Seattle for a while after we get out of the hospital. Since we'll be home in two hours instead of two days, we can leave as soon as we want, provided we set up an appointment with Dr Ruggerie immediately upon arrival. They were just concerned about us being hundreds of miles away from any help for such an extended period of time. As far as the car goes, Tanner is still planning to fly back out here (on Monday! Yay!), and will drive it back after picking up Wade and his mom from the Portland area.

This has also given us the chance to figure out how to keep Brandt from de-satting after his feeds, for the most part, as well! We realized that when we hold him chest to chest for a while after he eats, he stays stable! We, meaning Mom and I, have some theories as to why it works (maybe not having to keep his body heat up on his own means that he can spare the extra oxygen to his stomach without over-taxing himself?) but no actual concrete reasons. We just know it does work, so now, I'm extra glad that I found a used Moby wrap while I was pregnant. It'll be perfect for keeping him tucked up against me while I'm not able to be sitting down with him, which will be, you know, always, because Wade.

We're now (hopefully) set to discharge tomorrow! Mom is being dropped off at the train station, currently, and Shawna, who came up to keep me company today, is headed back home. And now I start what is hopefully our last 24 hours at the hospital, for this trip. Keep your fingers crossed for no more oxygen!!