We are expecting to stay one more night in the hospital. It's been a frustrating battle with the doctors and nutritionist. They want to give Baby GL an over abundance of extra calories to bump his growth. For a child as active as him, it does make sense. However, since we've been stuck in a small hospital room, Baby GL has had no interest to drink from a bottle. Really getting him to take anything has been terribly difficult because he just can't be the same active child when there's no room to play. The MRSA swab he had done ended up positive, which just means we have to start again to get the 3 negative swabs before he would be out of isolation in the even he would be hospitalized again. The good news is that they plan to let us come home tomorrow.
Baby GL's new diet will now consist of 5 solid baby food feedings with one tsp of oil added to the baby food to boost calories. We then will keep the 2 cans of Compleat Nutrition and 4 ounces of whole milk. It's a challenge to be on this diet in the hospital. It's just unrealistic in this setting. I think that if they really wanted an accurate judgement of how he uses his calories and how much he can tolerate they should've had a nurse come to our home for observation. We had a home nurse when Baby GL first came home. I'm sure it was possible to do. The only thing was that they wanted lab work done to see the function of the kidneys, liver, etc. to make sure the diet wasn't harming his body. It really is a high calorie count for the average child.
I could be one of those very optimistic parents and say how wonderful it has been learning about my son's body and feeding habits. however, it's difficult to be optimistic when you have to take your son out of his home, away from what he's used to, and start poking at him every couple hours. Since Baby GL was born I have learned a tremendous amount about how to give him the best care and how to read his signs. I consider myself the expert being his mother. I just don't understand why doctors can't trust us moms when we tell them something will not work for our children. I'm lucky we got the diet we did. The nurse was suggesting we tube feed while he sits in a high chair. Is there a 17 month old child out there that sits still in his high chair? Not my son. She also suggested having Baby GL wear a backpack with a pump to pump formula in through his tube. The same pump we used when he was much younger. The pump backpack is half his size. There is no possible was he would continue a normal life with that. I really don't know how these people can make recommendations until they actually experience the care needed 24 hours a day. Taking care and following the directions given from the doctor on patients for maybe an 8 hour shift is completely different from the care you give your own child. It's just a frustrating scenario.
Once again, the good news is that tomorrow our lives will go back to normal and we can get out baby home. That is really where he needs to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment