samuel’s big adventure

Steven, Samuel and Amaya had their 2 month doctor appointments on Wednesday. They did great! Samuel’s head control is better than our doctor would expect from a FULL TERM two month old and Amaya’s weight is in the 1 percentile on the full term newborn chart!

Steven: 8lbs 14.5oz
Samuel: 9lbs 7.5oz
Amaya: 9lbs 0.5oz

Our pediatrician also noticed a few things. Steven and Samuel had inguinal hernias and, as expected, Steven has a flat spot on the right side of his head and may have a lazy eye. This means a few things:
1) Steven and Samuel were scheduled for surgical consults at U of M Mott Children’s Hospital. The only way to correct an inguinal hernia is with surgery and we’d have to weigh the risk/benefit of early surgery vs. general anesthesia on a baby so young. (The risk of waiting to do the surgery is that the hernia can become incarcerated or strangulated. We really don’t want that.)
2) Steven was scheduled for a consult with a U of M pediatric ophthalmologist.
3) We have to work diligently to reposition Steven on the left side of his head. We’ll reevaluate at his 4 month appointment and, if it’s not better, will have a consult for that as well and, possibly, a helmet. Baby boy doesn’t like the repositioning but I suspect he likes it better than he’ll like a helment.

We also got our 2 month vaccinations. I wish I didn’t have to worry about herd immunity or diseases like measles or mumps in 2014. If you meet an anti-vaxxer send them my way. I’ve got a huge science based soap box ready for the occasion.

To the heart of the story…on Friday morning Samuel was particularly fussy and wouldn’t stop crying. Around 1:30pm in the afternoon when I was out with my mother, Megan was changing Samuel and noticed that his hernia seemed to be harder along with some unusual swelling/discoloration. This was a HUGE red flag as it’s a sign of incarceration or strangulation so she called me with the message a mom never wants to hear – we have a problem. My mom and I drove to Mott, after confirming with our pediatrician that we should go there vs. the local, closer hospital, and I got Samuel checked in while we waited for Megan to arrive with all three babies in tow. I got Samuel squared away and my mom and Megan took the other two babies back home.

Samuel was a trooper. He got poked and prodded and his very first ultrasound. The surgical residents saw what Megan noticed. The good news was that they were able to reduce the hernia which means they could push it back in where it belongs. Pretty gross, but still good news. The ultrasound showed no sign of compromised blood flow. (To do the ultrasound they wheeled our hospital bed to the u/s room and I held Samuel on my lap. It was a nice set up in the ER, actually. I was in the hospital bed and Samuel was on my lap the entire time.)

The good news about these results was that it meant we weren’t in for immediate, emergency surgery. They decided to admit Samuel and do the surgery over the weekend. (The doctors said that they almost always do this type of surgery on the same hospital visit because it’s going to have to happen anyway and they don’t want to risk sending a kid home only to find the situation gets more acute.)

Samuel got to the ER around 2:30pm and was finally admitted around 7pm. I was able to feed him and his daddy came to check in on him – and bring me an overnight bag and some contraband wine in a thermos!

In the middle of all this, Papa Gene was arriving from NY! He took a cab from the airport and made it home in time to meet Megan and feed babies and help hold down the fort while Jason and I were at the hospital.

Surgery was scheduled for Saturday morning at 9:30am. I was rooming in with Samuel and Jason went home to help through the night because our new weekend night nanny doesn’t start until 4/17. I was able to feed Samuel at 11:30pm but he wasn’t allowed anything after that until post-surgery. I got a little bit of sleep between 12:30am and 3:30am but then Samuel woke up HUNGRY. Poor little guy. The nurse asked a doctor if we could give Samuel some medicine to help ease his discomfort but they wouldn’t allow it. I suggested, then, that maybe the doctor wanted to come up and hold his pacifier all night. I couldn’t help it! It was in the middle of the night. I was tired. My baby was hungry. And it was a stressful time. The very nice nurse took Samuel for a bit so I could get a little more sleep.

Believe it or not, surgery was actually fairly uneventful aside from my anxiety and tears. I was able to hold him from the time we left his room until they took him in to the OR. The doctors were amazing. We were particularly impressed with the anesthesiologist who did an exceptional job explaining everything to us. It was no more than 2 hrs from the time we said goodbye to Samuel until we saw him again and the actual surgery was only 30 minutes of that!

Such a trooper! Samuel was wide eyed almost immediately and in relatively little discomfort. Rather than give him narcotics, he had a spinal block and was given Tylenol when he woke up. We were back in his room before noon! Jason stayed for a bit and then went back home to relieve my mom and Gene so they could come see Samuel. (Huge thanks to Megan for working on a Saturday AND coming by the hospital on Saturday night to check in on Samuel.)

Samuel did great through the rest of the night. This is outpatient surgery for older kids/adults but, at his age, they want to be sure he doesn’t have adverse reactions to the anesthesia. No concerns there so we were set for discharge on Sunday morning and home by 10am!

Super stressful and NOT FUN but, since it was going to happen anyway, once the scare was over it was good to get the surgery over and done with. I’m still a little nervous about Steven’s turn but far less than I would be if we hadn’t been through this with Samuel. And on the upside, if we can find one in this situation, is that I had a ton of quality time with Samuel. I think I held him for 4 ½ hours straight on both Friday and Saturday. With triplets, I never get that kind of one on one time. Even with the circumstances, it was very special. <3

Doctor’s office on Wednesday, 4/2. The calm before the storm (both the vaccines and Samuel’s Big Adventure). Steven and Amaya were buddies while Samuel got some shut eye.

An ER selfie with Samuel.

Jason took this picture on Friday night after Samuel was admitted. Concerned mommy, sleeping baby.

The morning of surgery. Saturday, 4/5.

Surgery is over! YAY!!! (“What happened, Daddy? That was wild!”)

Resting in his room. He had the tiniest little hospital gown.

This is a special necklace for Samuel commemorating his hospital stay. He has special beads for: being admitted, pokes, an IV, NPO, oral medication, radiology, surgery, intubation/extubation, special people who love him, going home!