Jaundice

Greyson had a repeat bilirubin level draw yesterday morning. On Tuesday his level was 14 on Thursday it was 15 and yesterday it was 10. He was at 9.5 shortly after he was born but it appears to be coming down so that is what we want. He has his first appointment with dr holly tomorrow. Hopefully he won't have to have blood drawn again. He is doing very well at home. Addison loves her brother...but she has to learn to be easier with him. We are all happy to be home though. It's nice to have our family together again.

Going home!!!!

The Internet at the hospital has been down for the past few days so I was unable to update the blog. The important news...WE ARE ON OUR WAY HOME!!!! Addison is going to be so happy that mommy doesn't have to leave anymore and it will be so much easier on me. Not to mention how excited I am to be home with my husband again and just have our family back to normal. We do have lots of Dr's appointments in the future not to mention the two surgeries but we shouldn't have to worry about any of that until after the first of the year.

Big Boy Bed

Greyson ate for 25 min. this morning and got 20 mL of colostrum before that.  He ate again for about 10 min over a 20 min stretch about noon and then when I put him back in his bed he spit up all over his blanket and clothes.  I took his clothes off and changed his blanket, then he decided to poop, so I changed his diaper and as I am wiping him he poops some more, then he pees for like 10 min straight all over himself and his bed.  After I changed his blanket again he starts sucking on his hand like he is hungry.  I got him out and fed him for...5 min.  That's all he wanted I guess a little to top him off.  This morning his fluids were at a rate of 12, before his second feeding they lowered it to 6 and they just took him off fluids all together.  As long as he continues to eat and doesn't throw up a lot then he will have that taken out tomorrow.  Then the only cords he will have on him will be monitors and if they come off it isn't a big deal.  He will be able to wear any kind of clothes he wants.  Our favorite day nurse, Crystal, just ordered him a bassinet just like the one's that all babies are in in the hospital.  I am really excited to see him in that bed, it makes things look less scary and more normal. 

The cardiologist we met with today on rounds said everything was looking great and as long as things continue like they are he will be able to go home in 5-6 days which would be Saturday or Sunday.  When we came back from lunch Dr. J (cardiologist who did his procedure) asked me if I was ready to go home tomorrow.  I said no, I'm not so certain he wasn't partially serious.  I told him that Friday would be a great day to go home but only if he is sure he is ready to come home.  I can't believe we will probably be taking our litle guy home this weekend. 

Doing Awesome!!!

Greyson got extubated about 2:45am.  He had to have two good gas level results before they could take the tube out.  They ran one at midnight and were going to run another at 4 am but he was gagging and throwing up so they ran it at 2 and got it out.  We were super happy to see that come out.  After he got his tube out he got to put some clothes on. 

Weight for today...up 90 grams.  I'm pretty sure it is a lot of fluid, he was really swollen looking when he came back.  One of the meds he was on sort of makes fluid hang out in his body, but he has started to re-absorb it.

Procedure done...Extubating?

Greyson did Awesome through his procedure he is in the process of waking up right now.  He is taking a little longer than I like to fully wake up.  His gas levels were high meaning he wasn't taking deep enough breathes, but now the numbers are much better so they are giving him less help.  The nurse said they are going to check another gas level at 1 am and then again at 5 am but she didn't act like they would extubate him until morning :(  If he wakes up fully and starts getting upset then they might take it out sooner.  I have a hard time believing that he will wake up and not be upset about a tube down his throat.  We will see though.

Cath Lab

Greyson got his intubated at 11:30 this morning, me and Nate left bc I didn't think I could really handle seeing him like that before he had the procedure done.  I just heard from the Cath lab and they said that he has had the balloon pulled through once, I am not sure if they are gonna do it again, they are going to check the pressures in his heart to see how things are in the pulmonary artery and the aorta.  She said she would call me when he heads back up to the NICU or if they are still down there at 4:30. 

Getting Ready

We are at the hospital right now while Greyson gets his IV.  He is crying up a storm, not happy, probably more so because they are stretching his arm out when he wants it all tucked up.  We can come back after he is intubated around 10 but I am not sure I can handle seeing him intubated before the procedure, after it is all done and he is fine I can handle it when we come back.  It is going to be a long day that is for sure.  I hope spending time with Nate and Addison and my mom will help keep my mind off of it.  I will try to update after the procedure is done.  Fingers crossed that everything goes well and we can be home this weekend. 

Procedure Scheduled

We met with Dr. Fiore yesterday and he agreed that at this point the balloon septostomy is the best idea at this time and then around 3-4 months we will do the first step in his procedure.  He also said that the Glenn, then Fontane surgeries are the best idea for him at this point, if his right ventricle grows in the future then plans may change.  Right now he is scheduled for his Balloon spetostomy on Monday afternoon, they will come in about 10am and put his respirator tube in and sedate him and do X-rays and such to make sure everything is where it is supposed to be, then around noon or 1 they will take him down to the cath lab and do the procedure.  They will bring him back up to the NICU to his room and allow him to start waking up from sedation.  Once he starats waking up they will remove his breathing tube and he will probably be able to eat tomorrow night.  Then on Tuesday we will start working more on him feeding regularly, they will stop giving him the TPN, which is the IV fluid with all his nutrients in it.  When the TPN is taken away he will start feeling hungry and will want to eat more often.  Once he is eating good and gaining weight and keeping his blood oxygen saturation levels up then we will be able to take him home.  We are hoping to be able to go home next weekend, but that will depend on him.  They will also be able to do his circumcision sometime in the day or two before he goes home.  We are super happy about everything that is going on right now, and once we got over the shock, I guess you could say, that things couldn't be repaired in one procedure we are much more happy with the way things are going.  He has been trouble since the beginning, he is a Knigge, lol.

Update

We saw Dr. J today and he said he spoke to Dr. Fiore today and they agree that at this point the Balloon surgery is the best option for Greyson.  Dr. J will do the balloon surgery and he is thinking he will be able to do this procedure on Monday.  He will be on the respirator for about 24 hours depending on how sedated he is.  After that I believe he will have to eat well and put on weight and keep his stats up and then we will be able to go home.  It is highly likely that we might be able to go home next weekend.  All the cardiology people will meet on Monday and discuss in detail what they are going to do.  I am hopeful that they will do the "procedure", since it really isn't a surgery there is no cutting, it all goes through his umbilical vein, on monday.  We should have a better idea this afternoon, but won't know 100% until Monday for sure.

Not what we were expecting

We met with the cardiologist this afternoon and got a lot of information.  I can't say it was good information but it wasn't horrible information either.  The surgery to switch Greyson's two main Arteries in his heart and close the defect is no longer a good option for him.  It looks like both of the valves have attachments to the opposite ventricles than they are supposed to which makes closing that hole and re-arranging the arteries not an easy option.  They are also not sure about the mitral valve which is currently a pulmonary valve but would become the aorta valve.  There is also some kind of obstruction before the blood flows into the pulmonary artery.  He has a whole list of problems, making his case pretty rare.  There are two repair options that can be done later in life when things are larger.  One they would close the septal defect so that the aorta and pulmonary artery are both in the left ventricle then insert a tube from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery.  This would require multiple surgeries over his life to replace this tube some of which would be able to be done in a cath lab without stopping his heart altogether.  Option two is a Fontane surgery (I think that is what it is called) where they would attach one of the tubes bringing blood from the body to the heart straight to the pulmonary artery.  Then in another surgery they would attach the other tubes bringing blood from the body to the heart to the pulmonary artery as well.  In a way bypassing the heart all together for blood to be re-oxygenated.  This surgery would require less operations over his lifetime and would start about 3 months and be completed by the time he was 3 years old.  Regardless at this time we are looking at doing the balloon surgery to open the hole between the right and left atrium's of the heart so that un-oxygenated and oxygenated blood can better mix within his heart.  We aren't sure about the mitral valve and it has a chance of narrowing which without the balloon surgery would mean that blood would back up into his lungs.  It is a very hard pill to swallow knowing that our baby boy won't be able to be put back together correctly.  If he had only the septal defect or even the septal defect with the switched arteries they could probably fix his heart to be like a normal heart.  We will meet Dr. Fiore again tomorrow and be able to ask him questions then.  All the cardiologists and Dr. Fiore will meet on Monday to review all the cases that they have and they will discuss Greyson's case then and decide which is the best treatment for his situation.  With either case his chances of survival are about 90%.  Between the time we leave the hospital and he has his first surgery he will have to be monitored very closely to make sure that blood is mixing properly and being distributed where it needs to go which means regular visits to either Jefferson City or St. Louis.  Please pray for our little boy he has a long road ahead of him.

Umbilical Vein Line

Nate was able to come up last night and I was comfortable enough with our nurse that I went and stayed at the hotel with him, so I wasn't able to update the blog last night.  Greyson is stable right now and I feel comfortable leaving him over night as long as we are back in the morning for his feeding.  I called yesterday afternoon to see if his PIC line had been put in yet and found out that the cardiologist told them to leave the Vein line in in case they do that balloon surgery rather than the permenant fix.  I was kind of upset at first since they are only really good for 7-10 days and after then they start presenting a risk of infection.  He has to have blood work done every other day to make sure he isn't getting an infection.  After me and Nate spoke with Dr. Sadiq at rounds this morning we are both more comfortable with the idea of the balloon surgery.  The cardiologist presented it to me as he would rather do this temporary fix even if the permanent fix was avalible at this time to let everything grow, sort of like it would be easier for them but not impossible right now.  Dr. Sadiq explained that Dr. J (cardiologist) and Dr. Fiore would talk today and decide if Dr. Fiore could fix the septal defect and switch the great arteries AND correct the valve tissue that has connected to the left ventricle rather then down into the right like it is supposed to.  The valve tissue is what is causing the issue that we weren't aware of before birth.  The balloon surgery would be a temporary fix IF dr. Fiore doesn't think he can fix it right now, then in 3 months or so, when things have gotten bigger, they would do the actual repair.  We were concerned with monitoring his blood oxygen level and respiratory rate and pulse at home, to make sure that his heart is still pumping enough oxygenated blood to his body.  Sadiq said that they would do echo's after surgery to make sure that enough blood is getting to everything and that they blood is mixing properly.  They would also repeat Echo's periodically over the next 3 months or so and make sure that as things grow everything was still mixing and getting oxygen properly.  It would mean lots of trips up here, but probably an easier surgery on him now and a quicker recovery.  I am more alright with the idea now that I know it is on the table if he doesn't feel he can fix it now.  The cardiology team should be doing rounds soon and when they do I will update on what they talked about. 

Umbilical lines

Greyson's UAC is for them to draw blood from at this time rather than having to stick his heels, so I was quiet surprised to be woken up this morning by a tech drawing blood from his heel, needless to say he wasn't very happy about it.  She said the nurse had Ok'd it, the nurse came in and told me that the line was flushing fine and infusing fine, but it wouldn't let them draw back from it.  They had put something in it to break up a clot if there was one, but that didn't seem to help, it is also not reading his blood pressure anymore, which pretty much means it isn't working correctly.  We are waiting for Dr. Sadiq to get in and decide what he wants to do with it, I am quiet certain he will want to remove it and I do to.  The only thing currently holding it back at this point I think is the cardiologist wanting to use his umbilical vein for that balloon surgery but Dr. Fiore (cardiothorasic Surgeon) is back today and I will be expressing to him that me and dad aren't pushing for that procedure. It seems weird to say we would rather have open heart surgery than a cath surgery but the cath surgery isn't a fix it is temporary and would make us both very nervous until they fixed it for good especially being 2 hours away from a pediatric cardiologist. 

On another note, yesterday when the cardiologists did rounds, I could hear them talking outside our room and he said I think mom's keeping with that, I am sure talking about breast feeding as soon as he came in he asked if I was still feeding in the morning and pumping then "fake" nursing at night.  I wasn't bitchy but got my point across when I said I was nursing him twice a day and both me and his father felt that the risk of NEC was small enough that we were comfortable with feeding him twice in a day at this point.  If the surgeon comes in today and says he doesn't want us feeding him anymore then we won't, which will be hard bc he wants to eat twice a day.  He may also say he doesn't want him eating after Friday or Saturday bc of surgery on Monday or Tuesday but we should know better what procedure they are planning to do and when it will be this afternoon.  I will update everyone after rounds on what happened with the lines and the surgery.

Pee Pee

Our nurse today is not so great, I was holding him this morning and fed him and then I wanted her to help me put him back in his bed, she just scooped him right up and I had to un-hook his umbilical lines from the corner of his bed before she ripped them out.  They work 7-7 and when I was coming back from lunch at 10:30 she asked me if he had any diapers since she came on this morning.  She hadn't changed his diaper in over 3 hrs?!?!?  I decided to change him myself, I am much more comfortable with the umbilical lines then before, I got his diaper out and was wiping him off and BAM he starts peeing everywhere, I put my hand over it but he had managed to pee clear up his chest.  I have officially been peed on by my son, but I feel much more confident about changing him now.  They are still going to leave the umbilical lines in for no more than 3 more days.  If the cardiologist would say it is alright to remove them then we could but this Dr wants to do that balloon procedure which requires them to go through the umbilical vein, we don't really want that surgery but want whatever is best for him.  I am ready for those lines to come out and a PIC line to go in.  Once that is in then he will be much easier to hold since that line will be much more secure. 

Momma knows best

This morning Greyson ate for 30 min.  When I got back from dinner he ate for 25 min.  When he eats he doesn't mess around and fall asleep or eat for a bit then rest for a while he EATS non-stop with maybe a few 5-10 second breaks.  Momma knows what her baby wants, lol.  I talked to Nate this evening and we both agree that twice a day feedings will be good for him after we weighed the information we had on this NEC.  Of course if Dr. Fiore has a different opinion then we will consider that much more strongly than the differing opinions we are getting from the two cardiologists and the fact that Dr. Sadiq is alright with him eating and doesn't feel that the risk of NEC is very high. 

He got his sign made today and it was on his door when I came back from breakfast.  Now he has a sign like all the other babies here. 

Roller Coaster

So I am extremely upset right now, the cardiologists changed on Monday morning and the new one has quiet a differing opinion than the one we had.  The first cardiologist was alright with him eating and so that is what we had been doing, which was making him quite happy then the new cardiologist came in and wanted to take away his feedings altogether.  The concern is NEC which is an infection in his intestines, Dr. Sadiq (neonatologist) said that the risk of that is about 3%-5%.  Not really high enough that it was a big concern but something that could happen.  Having the UAC & UVC (umbillical lines) I think makes that risk a little different but no one really knows what causes the NEC.  The first cardiologist was leaning towards the full repair of his heart sometimes in the next week or so, which is what we would prefer.  This cardiologist is wanting to do some balloon to tear/open the hole in the top part of his heart to better allow blood to mix inside his heart and then put a band on his pulmonary artery to reduce the amount of blood going to the lungs, since right now the flow or pressure is about the same to both arteries and normally it is about 20% to the PA.  I asked this dr about removal of the UAC & UVC and he hinted around that for this balloon surgery he would want to do he needed that line open but didn't really say if they could keep it open and take those lines out or what.  He doesn't really give straight answers, when I asked him about the nursing he tried to creep out of the room and when we asked for a final answer on how many times a day he said "I was hoping you wouldn't ask about that again."  This really upset me to think that this dr would just try to creep out and not answer my questions.  The cardiologists switch out every two weeks so we are stuck with him.  He wouldn't be my choice but Thursday Dr. Fiore (Cardiothoracic surgeon) will be back and he is the one who will make the final decisions so we are going to go with twice a day feedings until Dr. Fiore gets back and he might change that then.  I feel better after talking to Dr. Sadiq this evening and him OKing Greyson eating twice a day.  He explained that the UAC goes below the portion of his aorta that goes to the intestines and that the risk is much much lower with breast milk than formula.  We are going to stay on twice a day feedings at least until Thursday when the big wig might make a change. I want to do what is best for him and am confident that Dr. Fiore will make that call.  I have heard nothing but good things about him. 

Feeding

Dr. Sadiq came in this evening and said that the cardiologists were in and that they don't really want him to eat whenever he wants, but that they aren't going to take away his once or twice a day feedings.  The nurse said that the attending cardiologist who was on was alright with him eating as he wanted, but a new one came on today and they don't want him to eat, there is also the chance that Dr. Fiore the surgeon will have a different opinion on this.  I think the cardiologist gets the final say though.  About 9 pm tonight he was spitting out his pacifier and crying a lot, when I put his pacifier back in he really tried to get it in his mouth and would suck vigorously on it for a little bit then spit it back out and start crying.  He was really hungry but since I had already fed him twice today, even though he didn't really eat much earlier, they won't let me feed him again until tomorrow.  After about 2 hours of that he seems to have calmed down and is sleeping pretty good so far.  Hopefully he will stay satisfied until morning and I can try to get him on a twice per day feeding schedule. 

Grumpy old man:

Mommy, Addison, and Greyson (hopefully it won't be too long before daddy can come back.)

Big Boy

Greyson is doing great in his open bed, doing well regulating his own body temperature.  He can't wear clothes right now because of his umbilical lines but he keeps kicking out of his blanket so now he has his blankie covering his little legs, since they were getting cold.  This morning they uped his fluids a little, and said that he can feed whenever he wants but that if he is going to the breast a lot during the day we will just have to adjust his fluids.  He also said that after 7 days of life they are removing the umbillical line, which I heard they are only good for 7-10 days.  We will see what the cardiologists say about that coming out, I don't know if they will have to use it for surgery or not.  Dr. Fiore should be back today or tomorrow to look at everything and decide what plan they have for surgery.  Wow, surgery, I knew he would have to have it, but it seems more scary the closer we get.  I just hope that they can do the repair that will fix it for good rather than something we need to repeat later on or will limit his activities later in life.  He's a strong boy though so I am certain everything will be fine. 

This is what he looks like, tiny boy in such a big bed.

Open bed

Dr. Sadiq came in this morning. He was quiet impressed with greysons eating. He did say he is keeping his body heat up so they opened his bed up. As daddy says he is no longer in his time capsule.

Hungry Little Hippo

So the computer messed up last night before I could make my post.  We are going to go get a new one for mommy today and then fix the big one for daddy.  I'm excited, lol.

Greyson's jaundice levels came back at 7 so they aren't high enough to need light therapy just yet.  All babies bilirubin levels usually peak at 4-5 days after birth so he could still go up in the next few days but eating and pooping will help clear that out too.  He did eat again this morning for about 20 min, no bleeding this time, and he pooped last night so those are good signs.  He is doing really well, and I love being able to hold and feed him, he just curls up in my arms.  I don't think daddy is going to hold him until next week probably.  He says he will hold him before his surgery but he thinks he is too big and rough to hold him, and the umbilical lines scare him.  They usually make me nervous in the beginning too but once we are settled they don't bother me anymore.  I am going to miss Nate this week but I will be glad that he will be able to get some rest at home at least a little more comfortable than here. 

Nursing Pro!!!

When we got back from lunch Greyson was awake so we got him out and I tried nursing him.  He didn't really have much to latch onto with just the nipple so I used the nipple sheild, like I did with Addison, and he latched right on and started nursing!!!  As soon as the milk came in you could tell he really started sucking and drinking the milk down.  After a bit he kind of spit the nipple out and the sheild had blood in it.  It was nothing to be concerned with it wasn't his mouth, I was bleeding.  He apparently wasn't done nursing after 15 min on the left side bc he was rooting around for more.  We turned him around and he latched on and ate for another 10-15 min on the right. I think little "Squeaker" is going to be a good nurser.  I am glad that he is good at it before his surgery it will be one less thing to learn afterwards, he will only have to re-learn it. 

Papa Gary took a cute picture of Greyson today:

  

Jaundice

The Nurse practitioner from neonatology came in and checked Greyson over a little bit ago, they are currently drawing blood to run a bilirubin level on him to check and see if he is jaundice at all.  Normally they will eat and poop things out so that will keep the bilirubin level down, but he isn't eating yet.  I am hoping he will be a little more awake today and we can get him to nurse, I definitely won't be giving up he will be breast feeding before we leave this hospital.  If his levels are too high then they will put him under the photo therapy lights and he won't be able to be wrapped up at all anymore, which will make him mad. 

10/8/2010

So I have started this blog so that friends and family can come here to get the latest updates on Greyson.  We do not get cell phone reception in the NICU so calls and text is out, sometimes they will stay connected to the wi-fi but not always so we are kind of limited on outside communication. 

When we met with the Dr's this morning we were told that we are still looking at doing his surgery in 7-10 days.  We will know more after the cardiologists and Dr. Fiore (Cardiothoracic Surgeon) meet and discuss the best plan.  We were not going to feed him until after his surgery bc there is a slight (3-5%) chance of him developing NEC which is a bacterial infection in his intestines bc they may not be recieving as much blood bc of his heart condition.  If we were to put the breast milk in his stomach he could have that chance of getting an infection.  Dr. Sadiq (Neonatologist) said I can hold him a couple times a day and encouraged me to do so, since it would benefit both my milk production and Greyson's bond and happiness, I was so thrilled, and scared, the first time I was able to hold my sweet little "squeaker" for the first time since right after he was born.  Addison and daddy took a nap on the couch and mommy and greyson stared at each other in the chair.  I don't think they are going to allow anyone else to hold him since it could be very bad if anything were to happen to his umbillical tubes.  While I was holding him the nurse told me that Dr. Sadiq had called and said he could nurse once per shift (twice a day) if he was awake and willing.  When we got back from dinner I tried nursing, he did put the nipple in his mouth and sort of mouthed it a litte, but didn't wake up to actually nurse, so we just hung out for a bit, of course he woke up as soon as we put him back in his bed.  His artery tube pulled out just a tiny tiny bit so they did new X-rays to see how far it has moved, since it does go up to his heart, but they didn't think it would be a problem.  I will post more after rounds in the morning (9-11am) I am sure quiet a few of you are coming up to see us tomorrow or Sunday and we can't wait to see you.

Greyson is Born!!!!!!!!!!!!

On October 5th I was having contractions pretty bad but they seemed to go away with rest  and I had been cleaning the house quiet a bit.  Then I had 6 noticable ones the next morning so I called Dr. Valastos office to see what they wanted me to do.  The nurse said for me to come on up there and get checked out since I was scheduled to be induced on Friday the 8th.  I called Nate and we went up there along with my mom and sister.  We called and Daddy, Gary & Teresa and Jerry & Kim all headed up.  We sat for 2 1/2 hrs in the waiting area just to be seen and found out that they just wanted me to be checked out not do the induction early.  When I finally got into the triage area I was having contractions and was dialted 4-5 cm.  They put me in a room and got the IV started.  My water broke on it's own at 7:02 and I decided to get the epidural after that.  Things went pretty slow from there, they put me on pitocin and checked me every 2 hrs.  I kept thinking I would go much faster like I did with Addison but things really took their time.  About 6:15-6:20 the nurse had come in and checked me, she said I was complete but he was still high so we were gonna give him time to come down to make pushing easier.  When she was walking out the room I felt the catheter go up and told the nurse.  She checked me and said he was right there, she got on the phone and got everyone into the surgery room for his delivery. Once we were in the room I pushed 6 times and he was out, I could see him come out and asked if he was blue bc he looked blue to me but they assured me that he was not any more blue than any other baby at birth.  They took him into the tiny NICU room and Nate went with him but they all had their backs towards me and I couldn't tell how he was doing.  I was worried if he had any other issues that we didn't know about but no one in there was telling me anything.  They said his shoulder looked sort of funky but they didn't think there was anything wrong with it and that he didn't have any other visable things wrong with him, no downs syndrome or anything like that.  Once I finally got Nate to look at me he gave me the thumbs up that everything was alright.  They brought him out to me and I got to hold my baby boy for the first time, I cried I was so happy to see him and see for myself that he was alright.  They took him to the NICU to get his umbilical lines in before his umbilical cord closed up.  I was taken back to my room with no baby but he was still in the same hospital.  About an hour or so later I was moved to my post partum room with another person.  I was more than ready to get discharged so I could go with my baby boy.  They brought Greyson by in the bed he was going to be transported in he looked so sickly and tiny it was very sad and scary. 

They transported Greyson and Nate and his mom and Gary and dad and Kim all went over to Cardinal Glennon to see Greyson when he got there.  I was left all alone in this room with someone else I didn't know and tired as can be but unable to sleep.  I wanted to be DISCHARGED and someone was gonna let me out.  I kept asking the nurses to get the Dr's in here so someone could let me go.  I was barely bleeding and didn't have any stitches or anything like that so there was no reason for me to stay.  They wanted me to stay at least 24 hours after he was born but that for sure was not happening, there was no way I was going to stay the night there while my son was 15 min away at another hospital.  I asked them to call in my dr who had told me that I could leave 4-6 hrs after he was born.  Finally about 5:15 he showed up, as I was making phone calls to make sure that if I left against medical advice the insurance would still pay.  He asked me when I had him and I said 6:30 am, he told the nurse that I could leave at 6:30 pm and that she better make sure I was out of here on the dot, bc he knew I was gonna leave then whether they were ready or not.  I was never so happy to get out of there and be headed back to put our family together again, even if it was in a hospital, we would still be together.