Top Five

In an effort to wean us all from my recent heavy blogging habits I am posting an update today. Who knows what the future holds? Maybe all this blogging will spur me back into action. I might even return to weekly writings. 

Home is a beautiful thing. I slept in my own bed. T Man slept in his own bed. He slept through the night for the first time in a very long time. I did not. AB is taking full advantage of having her mommy back, so she was up last night. 

I did sleep in this morning. Rather than being awakened by a nurse coming in to give medicines or check vitals or do an assessment, or a physician coming in to poke and prod, I was stirred to consciousness by my man telling me T had eaten like a beast. (cue happy feet) 

Now being home for a bit more than twelve hours, I have compiled by Top Five List. These are the things I most appreciated while we were in the hospital.

#5.

Parent Sleeping Accommodations

Though the dreaded bed-chair wasn't particularly comfortable, it is much better than sleeping in my car or a plain ol' chair. The hospital fully expected me to stay with my child. And they provided a way for me to do it. Even in the ICU. They also cheerfully provided me with linens and pillows. The bed below is the one in his non-unit room. It was the biggest one by far. And M never joined me. 

#4

Guest Trays

The hospital has meal cards available for guests to purchase. Six dollars buys you one entree, two sides, a drink and a dessert. This is a picture of the last half of some dirt cake. It was yummy. And yes, I did eat the gummy worms. I'm neither too old nor too dignified to tap into my inner eight year old. The guest trays are really nice because they are delivered to the patient's room. I didn't waste any time away from my boy by going to the cafeteria to eat. 

#3 

The Child Life Specialists

These people are awesome. They have masters degrees and are really good at helping ease children and their siblings through the medical process. But mainly, they get paid to bring cool toys to the kids. They came by every day to see what T wanted to play with. If I thought of something after they had come through, the nurses paged them. They delivered movies, cars, books, trucks, squeezy balls, a floor mat, bubbles, pinwheels and this awesome thing. It's a mobile sensory unit. It's the reason why T finally got to his feet. It plays music and it boasts a ceiling projector in addition to the bubbles and lights you see. 

#2

The staff

Pretty much everyone was great with T. (and me) There were only a handful of people that I felt weren't listening to me. Everyone else seriously weighed my opinion. I was invited to join them on rounds each morning. They played with T. They were patient and kind. Jillian was our nurse all weekend and the one who got to wave good bye to us yesterday. Vanessa only took care of T yesterday, but she was so good to him. When she was in the room it felt like we were her only concern. She oozed cheerfulness

#1

A happy, healthy, whole boy

Getting to walk back out of the hospital with this guy in our arms is worth it all. Here he is helping the docs with their final assessment before we left. 

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