Another hiccup

I had sat down to blog earlier today (July 13, their actual due date!) with nothing but positive things to say... Duncan's feedings had finally become less of a fight, he appears to be picking up weight and strength, Jackson is a pro at breast feeding, Scott and I had really gotten our minds wrapped around a rhythm with both boys' schedules - LIFE WAS GOOD! Needless to say, I never got enough uninterrupted moments in a row to blog earlier in the day.

Here I finally am, several hours later, feeling in a totally different place. Life is still good - mind you - but we are frustrated tonight after Duncan had a bloody stool. His earlier digestive "issues" on our minds, we called immediately to Children's and spoke with the resident cardiologist. We anticipated instructions to hang out and wait for another stool before worrying. But, instead, he instructed us to go ahead and bring Duncan to the hospital for monitoring and to run some tests. With his background, they didn't want to risk another run of NEC (the problem before). So I am at home with Jackson while Scott is down at Children's with Duncan.

The reports so far are that he looks good medically - his sats (blood oxygenation) are good, his heart sounds fine, his blood pressure OK. The X ray and gas tests don't look abnormal either. And his disposition is great (not fussy or out of sorts). Scott is waiting to hear from the GI surgeons to decide the next plan of action. From what I gather, the best case is a 48 hour period of monitoring. The worst case is another 7 days of bowel rest where he will not be intaking anything orally. Either way, Scott said they went ahead and put in an IV tonight and will be administering calories that way, like before, until we know more.

This kills us, because we have worked SO hard to get him feeding well orally. It has been a HUGE undertaking, consisting mainly of persistence and patience, to "fight" with Duncan in order to get him to take the required amount of milk by bottle. He was JUST getting to the point where he anticipated feeding time and even welcomed the bottle. We certainly do not want to start from square one with that endeavor.

Furthermore, this was Scott's last week off work. He will return on Monday. We were looking forward to having a bit of normalcy/stability so he felt comfortable going back. Aunt Jo is arriving from Florida tomorrow evening as well.

I just reread this entry from the beginning and realize it sounds a bit grumpy. Overall, these kinds of setbacks do not worry Scott and I. In the long run, Duncan's health will be fine and he will not suffer any long term problems on account of something like this. Instead we are just aggrivated. So it's not fear, just irritation. But irritation, nonetheless.

I will be sure to update in the morning when we all know more.