| The NICU Experience | Aaron update 67 |
| Subject: Aaron update 67 Date: Monday, February 10, 2003 11:42 AM From: Kevin Quick To: Aaron Update List Aaron has successfully graduated to the open crib! So far, his body temperature is staying up where it should be. When he’s in the crib, he’s wrapped up tightly like a burrito, in several layers of blankets. In the attached picture, Kathleen had just finished changing Aaron, so his “burrito” is unwrapped. In the picture, you’ll see an electronic security tag that’s been attached to Aaron’s left foot. Now that he’s in an open crib, he has to have that security tag in case someone comes in and tries to steal him and take him out of the hospital. The stairwells and elevators in the hospital have sensors that will pick up the presence of this sensor and set off some really loud alarms, which will get the security guards running to apprehend the thief. Mostly, though, according to Aaron’s nurse yesterday evening, the alarms are set off by parents carrying their newly-released babies, when their security tags have mistakenly been left on. Yesterday, we found out from Dr. Kathy Lewis that Aaron has a heart murmur. Neither Dr. Lewis nor nurse Lisa seemed very concerned about this, so we’re not going to worry about it too much. In fact, Lisa said that she had had a heart murmur when she was a kid, but she grew out of it. Our understanding is that a heart murmur occurs when one of the heart’s valves does not seal completely, and blood is able to squeeze past the valve even when it’s closed. Lisa did say that there are two kinds of heart murmurs. Aaron was apparently checked for the more worrisome kind shortly after birth, and he did not have this kind. The murmur that he has now is the less-serious kind. By the way, Lake County parents: Kathleen and I need to find a good pediatrician, preferably in Lake County. Any suggestions? Any suggestions from our nurse friends at Sutter Lakeside? Thank you! I’ll be traveling back home this afternoon. Kathleen will be staying here in San Francisco for the week. I plan on driving back down to SF on Friday afternoon, as usual. Next weekend, Kathleen’s mom, brother (Brian) and aunt (Elaine) will be visiting us from southern CA. Have a good week, everyone. Love, Kevin |
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