Sunday, November 11, 2012

First Family Vaction with the Twins.

A few weeks after Jonathan came home from the hospital we set off to Tahoe with all the kids in tow to celebrate the 4th of July and Noni's birthday with Matt's family.  The vacation had been planed long before the twins made their surprise appearance.  So after getting the go ahead from all our doctors we loaded down the 12 passenger van for our 6hr + drive with 6 kids and headed off. 

Never in a thousand years did we think our week would include this -


 
 An evening helicopter ride (thanks Cal star, seriously amazing people) for young Jonathan because he decided to turn blue.

 It was our third day up in Tahoe and he seemed a little off to me. I called our doctor at home and explained what was going on we adjusted a few of his meds and he told me what to watch for. 

Everything was going along fine until just before dinner both Matt and I noticed his color go from pink to blue. 

Matt and I rushed him to the local hospital. (which I all ready had mapped out, the joys of preemie parenting you know where the closest medical personnel is at all times)

We pulled up to the ER and I ran in with Jonathan and from there it was all so surreal.  I walked through the ER doors and never stopped.  There wasn't any paperwork filling out, or waiting for your name to be called.  We walked by all those sitting in the waiting room, for once in my life I wanted to be one of those people waiting, not urgent, not life threatening just a stitch or two. 

But no my baby wasn't getting oxygen and was 5lbs which meant they took us straight back, were my little boy was surround by 5+ doctors and nurse working on him, they were throwing out questions to me and I was calling back answers.  Answers I didn't know I had in me, words I didn't know I knew.  They were trying hard as they could to get an IV line in but couldn't because all his veins were shot from the days he spent in the NICU.  They were trying everything they could to get his oxygen stats up but didn't have any of the right equipment for such a little guy.

Matt came through the doors and stood at the edge of the room clinging to David.  Trying to sort out paperwork and insurances. Shocked by what was going on.

 And that is when the doctor told us they had to transfer him to Renown Childerns Hospital to their PICU...fast... by helicopter.

They also had to get an IV and the only way was to put an Intraosseous Cannulation, basicly they put a huge needle into is tibia to put meds into his marrow since they couldn't get an IV line.  (yes he has a scar)

 I was a mess. 

Nurses who were suppose to get off their shifts stay on to be by our sides.  Doctors flew in and out of the room.  And then in came the flight crew.

They talked me through what would happen and how long the flight would take and that the helicopter was to small for me to go with him.  Once again we would have to leave him in the skilled hands of the medical professionals.  They let us walk him to the helicopter and stay with him until the helicopter door closed then we stood just off the pad and watch him take off.

Rip my heart out, throw it on the floor and stomp on it.  I cried.

I told him later there are less dramatic ways to go about asking for a helicopter ride. 


The hospital we were flown to in Reno, Nevada.  What an awesome hospital.  The nurses and doctors were awesome and totally accommodating to the new parents of twins in a different state with their other four kids in Tahoe.  The PICU doctor called us after the flight crew deliveried Jonathan and told us he was stable and doing fine.  I can't explain how great they all were.



The amazing home the hospital put us up in for the 3 days we spent there. (The first night we all slept in the hospital me in the room with Jonathan and Matt in a special room with David just outside the PICU doors but we couldn't keep that up).  Seriously if there was ever a charity to donate to this is one of them.  This house was right next to the hospital we could walk back and forth in minutes.  They provided us home cooked meals at night and just all around support anything we needed was basically at our finger tips from hot showers and toiletry items to cribs, swings, and toys for David.  It gave us comfort being so far from and yet we were just steps from Jonathan.


Thanks to Nana, for driving to Reno to stay with Jonathan, David, and me so Matt could get back to our other four kids in Tahoe.  (And of course a shout out all of Matt's family who not only packed our bags, load the car (including peanut m&m) while we were at the ER, but didn't even bat an eye to keeping our 4 bigs in Tahoe for an unknown amount of time) 


Not just any Starbucks but one in the hospital, steps away from the peds unit.  Bigger then any of the Starbucks here at home.  Seriously life saver after being up for over 36hr and not wanting to leave your babies bedside.  Bank.


 The 'copper that flew my baby parked outside the hospital the next day.


And lastly the little guy that caused all the this drama!  Jonathan all wrapped up in the PICU.  A heart ultrasound, chest x-ray, multiple blood test, and oxygen support they decide the high altitude and a small cold made the perfect storm for his lungs to just not absorb enough oxygen.  After a day we were transferred to the regular peds floor and 2 days later after consulting with doctors there and our pediatrician at home the choice was made to send us home with Jonathan on oxygen and wean him off slowly at home.  Otherwise we were looking at a week or so in Reno until they could wean him off there in the hospital. We learned how to work the oxygen tanks and all the tubes and they sent us home ending our first family vacation with the babies!!
 


 
How was your last family vacation?

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