Day +8 Feeling Great

Miraculously, we both are fine today! How can a child get over a sore throat so quickly without an immune system? He has no white blood cells to fight infection. Maybe three explanations: God healed him, the superfood drink, the antibodies in my breastmilk. The nasal swabs came back negative, so the nurses took off their masks, gloves, and gowns ;-)

David was thrilled to see his sisters today. It's been 4 weeks! He calls Adira "Da" and Ariella "Ya" We received several cards today. The funniest were some pictures drawn 15 years ago by my two cousins! They are in college now. David received gifts from the girls, and Grandma and Grandpa. He exclaimed "Coool!" when the Child Life Specialist gave him a medical kit. Other families sent him books and a stuffed bear. I cannot explain in words how much we appreciate the attention. It's pretty lonely in isolation but the cards, pictures drawn by children, and photos of children, brighten our day and our walls!

He is feeling great today. His weight dropped to 11.7 kilos. His tummy is fine, but eats like a bird. I rotate foods. I went to Andronico's to buy more familiar foods. He liked the veggie corn dog and was pleading to eat the frozen waffles. I try to keep him on the breast as long as possible since the creamy milk comes last. He has a lot of energy so he does not like to stay on more than about 7 minutes. I'll keep trying because the fatty milk is good for him. The nurses that serve us are surprised he is only on IV liquids and not artificial nutrition.

He has a sweat shirt that says "Warning: I am Two" He is living up to this warning. Today, while I left him drawing on construction paper, he drew huge lines all over my sheet with a black marker. Yesterday, I left him listening to an energetic song by Veggie Tales, when I came back the pattern of milk all over the floor told me he must have jumped to the beat while holding the open container of milk. It's so hard for toddlers to be in isolation b/c it's a prime age for exploration. But there is not much to explore here. I let him do things that I would not normally do, like squish his jello between his fingers and squish the juice from cherries. Now he has purple stained fingers, I hope the nurses don't think it's graft-vs-host disease.

Still no luck with oral meds. It's such a fight. Child Life made him a tree and gave us stickers. When his med was over, he quickly forgot what happened and was happy to put a sticker on the tree. Not much med made it into his mouth. Today the nurse got it into his eye.