I was fairly anxious about this procedure to begin with, but the day before, the nice lady on the phone reassured me that they'd do their best to keep Iva June comfortable. They held up their end of the bargain, however, did they forget that we have a CRAWLER on our hands here? Prep needs to happen the hour before, not 5 hours before....
Regardless, we arrived and I was relieved to see them strap her to a board. I asked the nurse if we could keep her there all night. She looked at me like I was nuts. She was really quite happy and snug as a bug during this part...
Then they began the process of measuring, marking and gluing 25 probes to her head. She was still pretty happy and only started squirming at the very end....All wrapped up with a sock cap on and Rapunzel's ponytail, they asked me to pick out a "backpack" to put all the wires in. I'm thinking, "Are you kidding me? You think she's gonna wear a backpack for 4 hours? " I picked out the blue monster because it was the most colorful. Little did I know she would never see it:
So they moved us to another room which was filled with big computer devices, a bed, and all sorts of wires and contraptions that I was supposed to keep her away from. I ordered a "toddler tray" for dinner just to have something to do with her. Nothing she could eat there. Perfect. Chicken strip snacks for me. Oh-one more thing before the nurses left. They needed to "plug her in". So now she has a long wire tail. So, here I am, following a toddler around a filthy room making sure she doesn't eat her tail or pull her stocking cap or probes off of her head. I start moving furniture to blockade various parts of the room and goodness, we need a crib. Do they really think she can sleep in a bed? How many hours before my husband gets here?
My gracious husband volunteered to sleep through the night with her. He told me the rest of the story...they glued more probes all over her body and put a mouth/nose piece in. She finally got to sleep at 9 pm and at 3:30 am she had "had" it and was thrashing about trying to get it all off of her. At around 5:00 am they removed some of the glue with nail polish remover and sent her home around 6:00 am.
Poor little June....she arrived in a very tired, confused, almost panicked state, still covered with hard glue all over her body and matted hair. She fell asleep on her Daddy's chest (her favorite spot). She's pepped right up after a three hour nap, but we're still trying to get that glue out....any suggestions?
maybe a little olive oil?? I had the worst time getting that glue off of Luke when he was a newborn. And it just broke my heart trying to chip it off not wanting to leave it there. They should have a solution to that at the hospitals by now!! Too bad she couldn't sleep in the little blue wrap thingy. That actually looked cozy
ReplyDeleteit sounds extreme but since they used nail polish remover on her, i thought i'd throw it out there: goo gone. it's that oily citrusy smelling stuff. i used it on my back to get the epidural tape off after i had rowen. i'm so glad you chronicled this. i know it must not have been easy. you're a trooper. june, too :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I have been there, too. Having tests upon tests... but I know it's so much harder when there is no diagnosis. Benjamin had/has tons of specialists and they all adore him. You will actually grow to love these special doctors. They go to school beyond medical school and most of the time, they have a personal story as to why they chose to go into their specialty and will share it with you if you ask them. Tests are hard, hang in there.
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