So, I know the last few post have been about Thaxton, and today is the same. But he had a long tough day today. Heck the entire family did!
Here is a run down of our day:
6:30 a.m.
FINALLY woke up to the alarm that I managed to hit snooze on for 30 minutes without even realizing it. We made a mad dash to get up, get dressed, brush teeth, and pack our stuff, and load the car.
7:03 a.m.
We arrived at Children's Hospital. Hey only 3 minutes late! :) We checked in and were lead back to the C.A.R.E.S. Unit at the hospital. They weighed him and measured his height. They checked his vitals, and I changed him into his cute little hospital PJs. He got to play around with some bubbles for awhile when the nurses were getting the rest of his stuff ready!!
8:00 a.m.
They then started an IV. The poor little guy. He was such a trooper. I had him sitting on my lap with his chest against mine and his arm pinned under mine. There was 2 nurses, a PA, and a Child Life Specialist trying to assist with the IV. It took 3 tries to get it in, and my incredible strong, brave little boy never once shed a tear. He was absolutely amazing. IVs hurt like heck!! All the nurses were amazed at how strong he was. Our main nurse told me she had never seen a 3 year old take that the way Thaxton did. I am soooo proud of him.
8:20 a.m.
They gave him two different medicines to make him go to sleep. The first one he drank like it was good, and then the second one they had to spray up his nose. He took everything in stride. He was such a good boy. We didn't have to fight them at all. After the meds, they turned out the lights and he cuddled with Rob. It didn't take long, and he was sound asleep.
8:45 a.m.
Thaxton and I then went down for his MRI & MRA. I got to stay with him the entire time. The laid him on the MRI table. His arms and body were strapped down. They put ear plugs & headphones on him, and his head was lightly taped down so in the event he woke up, he won't hit his head on the MRI. I was given a chair, magazines, ear plugs, and some headphones. He did really good until the very end of the MRA. Every once in awhile, his leg would twitch so I was watching his leg. About the forth time, it went from a twitch to a kick. I jumped up and ran over there to try to keep him calm, but with the headphones and the loud MRI he couldn't hear me. At that point, they stopped and brought him out. He was a little freaked, but fine. He fell right back to sleep when he got him back to the bed. They missed the last two pictures, but the tech thought they would still be okay. So back to the room we went.
10:10 a.m.
Once back in his room, another tech came in to do his Echo. He slept through that entire test too! :) It was pretty cool to get to see his little heart beat on ultrasound. It reminded me of when I was pregnant with him!
10:35 a.m.
Thaxton's test were all done, so we had to try to wake him up. We changed his diaper, wiped him down with a wash cloth, got him dressed, and tried to give him some juice. He was trying so hard to open his eyes, but they were soo heavy. He was kinda adorable. He slowly came around, and was excited when he got to pick out a toy because he was such a brave boy.
11:05 a.m.
We got to leave. I was a little nervous driving home. He was still really sleepy, and they told me I needed to monitor his breathing on the ride home. Great!! How do you do that from the drivers seat? I moved his car seat to the passenger side of the car so I could see him better and off we went. I didn't even make it to Interstate 80 before he was sleeping so hard I couldn't wake him up. His poor little head kept falling forward, and he buried his mouth and nose in his coat. I couldn't get him to wake up so he could move his head. So at Gretna I stopped. I felt like a new mom worrying, but the nurses scared me a little. I tried to lay his car seat back more, and I shoved a pillow under the bottom to keep it reclined like an infant seat. It might not have been that safe, but at least I knew he could breath. He slept through the whole process. So, off we went again. I'm pretty sure I checked on him every 5 seconds. He slept the entire way home.
1:22 p.m.
We made it home. He woke up and was happy to be home. He actually was back to his old self running around the house with his brothers and sister. He is so resilient, and he totally amazes me. I love that little boy so much.
7:45 p.m.
The rest of our day was routine as usual. Thaxton contined to eat everything in sight and had no side effects from the meds. So bedtime was routine, except for the fact that he got to sleep in his new car bed! What a great way for him to end the crazy day! To bad Thaxton had other ideas. After all he did sleep all day! :) So instead of sleeping in his bed, he decided to chill on the couch with mommy and Me.
8:09 p.m.
So we are sitting on the couch watching TV. I was exhausted, and really I was wishing the adorable little boy on my lap would just fall asleep. My phone rang. It was an Omaha number. It was Dr. Oliver calling. Which to be honest scared me to death. We were told that we would hear from him within 24-48 hours. So why was he calling he at 8:10 p.m. the same day?
Well, Dr. Oliver confirmed that Thaxton did in fact have a stroke on the left side of his brain, thus effecting the right side of his body. His best guess was that either it happened in utero or at the time of birth. All of his other tests looked normal. His heart is fine!! He is at an increased risk of seizures so those precautions need to be put in place. But, in the end this is what the doctors and Thaxton's therapist thought happened all along. But now it was confirmed. There is nothing we can do about the stroke now. Nothing will change besides quarterly trips to Omaha to see the neurologist. The only way to help Thaxton now it to continue what we are already doing. Since he was 18 months old, he has met with Speech, Occupational, and Physical Therapists. And we will continue to do this. He has a great team that has already helped him soooo much. He can jump when 8 months he couldn't. He can speak in small sentences when even a month ago he couldn't. He is constantly amazing me. I'm confident that he will keep improving.
I got off the phone, and I actually kind of wanted to cry. I have been pretty optimistic through all this. And, this could have turned out so much worse. But, still something inside of me wanted to scream! My little boy had a stroke! This sweet little boy laying here next to me had brain damage! Of course, I went through the events of his birth in my head. Was it something I did, or could have done. After all, we knew something was wrong when he was born and wasn't breathing, but I never assumed this.
Not even 5 minutes into my pity party, Thaxton looks at me, puckers his lips for a kiss, and says "ov ouuu mommieeee". That is all it took. I am grateful for this little blond hair, blue eyed boy. I am grateful for the fact that he is here, when something so much worse could have happened. I am grateful that he is just the way he is. I am grateful that he is strong and brave, caring and thoughtful, loving and patient, and most of all determined. I am not worried about his future. He will become the person he was meant to me. He will push through and conquer. I have no doubt. It may not always be easy for him. In fact, I know it won't. But, he is loved. He is my little boy!!
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