A drink of water

Rounds went well this morning. They said he had gone long enough without vomiting that we can take the NG tube out of his nose and wait a bit longer. If all continues to go well we can start giving him a little water and then pedialyte this evening, which we did. He tolerated that very well. We started giving him 5 ml every 15 minutes at 6:00 pm. On evening rounds they said he could try a little more, so we gave him 30 ml every hour. So far so good.

It was a lot of waiting around today, which wasn't too bad. David was able to come and visit us between work and for lunch time. We went outside for a walk in the morning and played catch with the football in the grass. After lunch the wild swan theatre came to the floor to act out some Frog and Toad stories and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Emery loved that. Then we took another walk, played cars, played catch and took a nap. What a way to get some solid bonding time with Emery. He is much happier out of his room, as you might imagine. We went for one more long walk before bed, blew bubbles, and played with a light toy from child life. He thought that was pretty cool.

Things are looking so much better. He had us worried. As I have expressed to a couple of people, the good news is that it seems that the obstruction has passed on it's own after a little belly rest (IV hydration/nutrition in place of food and water for several days). The unfortunate news is that this may happen again and the protocol will be the same since I cannot start an IV at home at this point. At least we will know for next time what to look for and will be able to get him the care he needs even quicker. In the mean time, we are enjoying seeing some if the many good doctors and nurses who saved his life last spring.

A day or two more of taking it slow introducing food, increasing water volume, and tapering down his IV. Then we should be able to return home and resume normal activity. Praise be to God! He saw us through another few uncertain days and Emery is doing so well. I guess I can consider this another learning experience as we get to know how to manage Emery's condition. Also a reminder of who is ultimately in charge- just when we think we have things figured out and start to take our health for granted.