Grant Day 3: Jelly Belly

The day started with Grant, belly full of jelly, having an ultrasound to detect the alleged Bezoar. The little guy didn’t seem to mind. We did mind when 3 hours later we found out that the Bezoar roars with life (an exaggeration) within our little guy’s belly. Fifty percent of his stomach’s volume is filled by the Bezoar. So, more dynomite pedialyte until the Bezoar is dissolved. And we will subsist one day more at the hospital.

He has made his first graduation. He moved from the NICU to the transition unit where there is less monitoring. It hasn’t gone to his head, though; he continues to have a very balanced view on life, even as he drinks basically sugar water and is dressed in such drab garbs, as you will see in the attached photos. Notice also that in his third day of life, he already can hold his own pacifer, which is becoming a minor addiction; you’re all invited to the intervention.

The day ended chillin’ with our homie in his little hat, as you will see in the attached photos. Kelly and I discussed his educational future; I offered up trade school (sorry all you “go to college” advisers but plumbers make good money), while she offered starting a college fund. I traded demanding a 4.0 average from him for a 3.8 average with chicks, man. We just can’t let him have a 2.0 average, no chicks, and no education.

Grant Day 2: Me So Bezoar

Thanks for all the comments; we appreciate them. Grant is doing well today. His EKG is clear; he's got a heart of gold. He's finishing up his antibiotics and if he's clear of infection he will no longer require that.

For those with a scorecard, Grant's got a Bezoar which is a snowball of hardened milk, hate to call it a clot. What it's doing is clogging his digestive tract enough that he can't keep milk down. But not to worry the cure is to drink baby Gatorade or Pediatlyte. So we'll stay in the hospital until Grant not so Bezoar no more. That should be until around Saturday. I don't know whether I should make a poll out of that since I am really getting tired of the hospital and not having Grant full time.

On that note, Kelly is getting discharged today and we will have to become merely visitors as Grant continues as patient. I think this will make him a better man someday.

Here are some photos for you all, enjoy!

Grant Abides

Grant Wilson Benavides was born at approximately 715 pm, Monday March 3rd 2008 AD, weighed 8 lbs 6 oz, length unknown but he's long, has dark curly hair, dark eyes, and generally handsome.

Grant had an interesting journey out of the womb. On his way out, he decided to accessorize his birthday suit with an plaid umbilical cord.

Apparently, cords, and plaid for that matter, are out of style this spring because it did not agree with him. The cord wrapped around his neck and prevented adequate blood flow during his exit from the womb. (He had one hell of a placenta, though.)

As a result, he came into the world in medical terms "depressed." Depressed, here, doesn't mean that he was concerned about the economy, or the environment, or who the next president will be, or the general state of the world. Instead, depressed meant that he'd suffered a trauma to his system. This trauma prevented him from immediately breathing when he came into the world. Scary stuff, but throughout, his heart kept beating.

A whirlwind of doctors and nurses and slapping him around, warming him, giving him oxygen, calling to ICU, prepping him to go. And off he went, out of our hands and into God's.

That night they plugged him into more machines than the back of your cable box. He had a respirator, a feeding tube, a couple of tubes in through his belly button and some other ones which I think gave him up to the minute election results. They had him restrained like hannibal lecter at a human rights rally. But our little guy just pushed through it and fought it.

By the middle of the night, most connections were out and he'd been given a reprieve from the restraints. He needed a blood transfusion, though, because the compromised cord had prevented him from getting enough blood from Mommy to his system. Nevertheless, he was strong enough to cry and push with his little fists.

By the next morning, he looked better. His pallor had cleared, he was calmer, and had begun taking food from a bottle. For any of you on meconium vigil, he got that out of the way up front.

Today, we are hopeful; he's got a heart murmur which will be examined by EKG. He's already had a good ultrasound of his head, no worries. And we hope to get him feeding from his Mom in the next 24 hours.

Mommy is great; she's strong and our rock. Last night, she visited Grant for the first time and more than two hours after his birth. Grant heard her voice and immediately calmed and turned to her. We will be fine.

Your prayers and well-wishes are appreciated and please forgive us for not giving personal updates, but Grant will make it up to you with his good looks and sensible fashion sense, now that he knows cords and plaid are out. I swear pictures will follow.

9.5

The polls will close early as we are close. Here's a final pic before the money shots.

The Door

You can wait with us, but you can wait outside. Here's a picture of our labor room door! Lord, grant us the patience and strength to see our son born into the world.

You might not feel it

But you can see what a contraction looks like. See the humps on the lower graphs; those are Kelly's ouchies (euphemism).

Anesthesiologists Will Work For Food

Real-time, Showtime. For those tuning in, you're in for a treat. Live from the hospital, it's baby watch live.

We came into the hospital this morning, 6 AM. Groggy but excited, we signed in and settled into our room. Kelly got her inducement meds and we waited. And we waited.

Then, round about noon, things started to kick into gear. Up the meds a bit and Kelly's contractions intensified. How's the pain, happy face, indifferent face, frowny face, mad face? Kelly face, frowny face.

Epidural time, Dr. Hamilton. Whip bam boom (euphemisms) and Kelly says, "Isn't it great! It's amazing!" No more frowny face. Now we wait, and you wait too with us. Thanks.