| Later updates | Aaron update 105 |
| Subject: Aaron update 105 Date: Friday, March 21, 2003 1:32 PM From: Kevin Quick To: Aaron Update List Aaron continues to just sail along. He eats well, then sleeps for three or four hours, then wakes up, lets us know that he’s hungry by crying a little bit, then he eats again, sleeps again, etc. He’s already onto more of a routine than Kathleen and I are. We’ll get there, though, too. Kathleen had a rough time trying to get the apnea monitor to work in the wee hours of this morning, so she spent a good part of the early morning on the floor, holding Aaron and making sure his breathing was OK. (The monitor was acting strangely, making a hissing sound, etc. I’d seen it do this a couple of times yesterday, but last night it just would not work properly, so Kathleen turned it off and monitored Aaron “the old fashioned way.”) This morning, I removed Aaron’s stick-on leads and replaced them with some leads that Velcro onto a strap that wraps around his chest, and are easier to install and remove than the stick-on leads. Our local respiratory therapist recommended this, and it’s been working well for the past several hours.) When I got up, Kathleen went to bed, and she did finally get some decent sleep, too. We expect everything to be back on track today. As I hinted in yesterday’s update, we had a very special reunion yesterday morning... After visiting our pediatrician at Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport (just a preliminary, “baseline assessment” check-up with the doctor), Kathleen and I thought that we’d stop by the Birthing Center, and see if any of the nurses who had helped us with Kathleen’s preterm labor in November were there. We did see several of them, and lo and behold, Suzin (not “Susan,” as I had misspelled her name in previous updates) was there, working a shift! Suzin is the nurse who finally grabbed the bull by the horns, prepared Kathleen for airlifting, got the helicopter to Lakeport and wheeled Kathleen out to the helicopter with me, as others were preparing to discharge Kathleen and send us home. Suzin, along with the other nurses at the Birthing Center, has been keeping up with Aaron’s progress via these updates. Anyway, Kathleen and I shared with Suzin an experience that I’m sure we’ll all remember for a long time. As Suzin held, fed and burped Aaron (that’s what she’s doing in the attached picture [no, contrary to what you might think, I don’t carry my camera everywhere, but Kathleen does keep her tiny Minolta Dimage X in her purse most of the time; she took this picture with her camera]), we couldn’t help but relive some of the events of Aaron’s birthday, all the while noting Suzin’s very apparent joy as she now saw and felt the fruit of her work. Of all the people who’ve been involved in this adventure, Suzin is probably the one person most directly responsible for saving Aaron’s life. Thank you again, Suzin! We love you, and God bless you!! Kathleen has been home now, as of Wednesday afternoon, for the first time in three weeks. This weekend will be the first weekend that either of us have spent at home in four months. I hope you don’t mind too much if I take a two-day break from sending out updates, as Kathleen and I have a little “honeymoon” time with baby at home on Saturday and Sunday. If anything extraordinary should happen, I promise that I’ll let you know. Otherwise, I’ll send out our next update on Monday. Then, as things get into more of a routine, we’ll probably be decreasing the frequency of the updates, but we’ll still keep them coming for awhile. Don’t hesitate to call or otherwise contact us over the weekend, though; we’d love to hear from you. I’d just like to take a short “update break.” Thanks for understanding! I’ve fallen a couple of days behind in responding to some of your e-mails; I’ll catch up soon! Thank you again, everyone, for your continued love, prayers and kind words. Have a great weekend! Love, Kevin, Kathleen and Aaron |
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