Bone Marrow Biopsy

I'm so glad we don't have to do this much anymore! Our morning actually went very smooth, it helps that we've pretty much perfected the process. We had gathered everything we need the night before so it was all ready to go. Camera, bag of toys, laptop, snacks, diaper bag, diaper bag. We got the cooler for Tyler's pediasure and our drinks in the morning and Dan loaded everything up. Once the van was running and parked right outside the door I got Tyler out of his crib, changed his diaper and put his jeans on. I had him sleep in his onsie shirt so I didn't have to distrub him too much. He stirred a bit, but slept through it pretty well. He's not used to getting up until 9am and Dan isn't used to getting up until about 1-2pm since he works 2nd shift, so it's always tough on all of us! I put his coat and shoes on right in his room and I already had my stuff on. I carried him out to his carseat and the cold air woke him up. I gave him his apple juice, one of the only allowed things he can have 2 hours before the procedure. He fell asleep after that and slept the whole way there. It was a really slow drive, we were cruising at 5mph for a while on the freeway, it was very icy and snowing. We saw about 4 cars in the ditch but thankfully made it there ok and even on time!

Tyler woke up once we got there, he was excited to be somewhere as usual. He loves the monkeys hanging from the ceiling of the skyway on the way in. They changed the hospital around when they renovated, they told us they're now using the Short Stay for procedures. I went to where Short Stay used to be but it wasn't there! So we followed the signs to the new one and found ourselves in the former PICU unit. They've changed the place around so much that I didn't even realize that was it until we were in there and suddenly realized where we were. It looked the exact same as they had it before, only with empty beds. That somehow didn't help much though, because I can still clearly picture everyone who was in there and the place still had a gloomy feel to me.

They gave us a room and we settled in. Tyler did ok for vitals but just wanted to go play. We found the little toy room and ended up giving him a ride in a cosy coupe car. We walked around the unit many times until they called us back in the room for labs. We couldn't get the dvd player in the room to work, so we had to access his port without his cartoons. They had some on regular tv, but since we don't have tv at home he didn't know what any of the shows were and wasn't that interested. It went ok though, it's harder to hold him totally still with my big belly in the way.

They told us they do biopsies last, but because of his age they'd look into that. Thankfully they did get to him very quickly, pretty much right after they put the port in. Dan and I walked around for 15 minutes and he was done but still sleeping when we got back. It went very smoothly and they said they were able to give him less propofol than usual. They just start with a little, just enough to get him to sleep. Then they start and if he moves to the feel of pain, they give him some more. When I watched his spinal taps he actually reached back and tried to grab the needle from them. I have a hard time with that, I'd prefer him not have to struggle at all, but there's such a risk with Propofol that too much would be a huge risk, so they have to do it that way.

He woke up very quickly but was quiet. He drank some juice and we were told 30 minutes to leave once he did. He layed still for a while, watching Blues Clues on his portable dvd player, then he decided he wanted out of there, so he sat up and was going to get off the bed. He was mad that I wouldn't let him walk around, so he nursed for a while and fell back asleep. He was quite excited once it was time to leave, he wanted to walk but I wouldn't let him yet, he rode in the stroller and was pointing to the door and saying "Go Go Go!"

We had some things to do in the cities too, so we got those done. We went to the junk yard for a part Dan needed for his truck. It was a quick 15 minute run in to get it. I was hoping he'd take longer, I wanted a nap! Then we went to a dealer for a part for my van, then to Motherhood Maternity for nursing bras. They're the only store that carry my size and we don't have one in town. We walked around the mall a bit after that, Tyler wanted to walk so I let him. I was hoping he'd take it easy, but instead he hit the ground running. He ran all over the place and never seemed sore at all. I did have him take a few breaks, he doesn't know to take it easy, he seems to ignore pain and keep pushing on. I've seen him limping around in the past and he'll still run some places. We stopped at Cinnabon in the mall for a big cinnamon roll. He loves those and I figured we all deserved a treat. :) 

Our last stop was Babies R Us. I haven't been there since 2007 when we bought Dawson's carseat/stroller combo and I thought it'd be fun to look around and see if they have anything interesting. They always have the biggest variety of stuff and things I've never heard of. My biggest amusement was the Nap Nanny. http://www.napnanny.com/  $129 for a colorful foam lounger thing seems a bit rediculous to me! I always just prop them up in the boppy or put them in the bouncy seat. I just had to share, I found it funny. Dawson was a colicky, hard to get to sleep baby and I still wouldn't have bothered with this thing! Sometimes babies just need their mommy and no amount of money can do much about that.

We stopped to eat on the way to get Dawson from my parent's house and got there around 8pm I think it was. Dawson was very happy to see me and seemed ready to come home. The boys really enjoyed chasing and playing once we got home and they went to bed very well after their long day. Dawson spent the day with my mom at my grandma's house, she's in the process of moving slowly. Sounds like he had a great day and was very well behaved. Hearing words like "perfect" in the grocery store makes me wonder if she really had MY child all day! The things my mom was describing like standing still at the register are things I've never experienced. It's really not fair!