Day Fifteen: Back to Children's Hospital
Submitted by kim on Sat, 03/01/2014 - 13:08 in Nathaniel's Story
The staff at Ranken Jordan determined a second goal prior to discharge was for Nathaniel's trachea to be evaluated and stabilized. Nathaniel had been scheduled for a bronchoscopy in July prior to placement with us, but the test was canceled due to a fever. It was rescheduled for the first week of August, which ended up being our third day at Ranken Jordan. At 5 p.m. the night before his Children's Division case manager canceled the test because there was no court order on file for him to receive general anesthesia. The test was rescheduled again.
Day Thirteen: Sitting in the Hot Seat
Submitted by kim on Fri, 02/28/2014 - 19:17 in Nathaniel's Story
I needed Nathaniel. It’s all sugar sweet and lovely to think about adoption simply as orphans needing families and loving families stepping in, but there is more to the story.
More to my story anyway.
Since becoming a Christian, I’ve questioned why God made me as He did. Try as hard as I could, I never seemed to fit into the mold being held up for Christian women. Quiet and gentle spirit? Nope! I’m a little bit to comfortable standing on the surround bench of our living room stone fireplace and shouting into a crowded room of party goers that I want their attention and I have something important to say. Yes, that just happened a few Saturdays ago.
Off to the Doctor... Again
Submitted by kim on Thu, 02/27/2014 - 06:37 in Nathaniel's Story
We are headed out the door to St. Louis Children's Hospital this morning and it seems the perfect occasion to share who currently makes up Nathaniel's amazing team of doctors. Collectively, we have about two or three doctor appointments a month.
Pediatrician - Like every baby, Nathaniel's pediatrician handles immunizations and well baby check-ups. He often defers to the specialists when decisions need made, but does an amazing job of staying informed on what they are doing and how it all fits together.
Newborn Medicine - This group treated Nathaniel in the NICU and will follow him for three years due to the collective complexity of his care needs. Think pediatrician on steroids.
Day Seven: Starting Over
Submitted by kim on Mon, 02/24/2014 - 20:37 in Nathaniel's Story
It will be very hard to put into a few words what Nathaniel's eighteen day stay at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital meant to our family. The hospital specializes in moving medically complex children from acute care hospitalizations to home - a bridge. Everything about our experience from the moment we walked through the door was geared toward getting Nathaniel ready for home and making sure home was ready for Nathaniel.
Day Six: A New Hospital
Submitted by kim on Sun, 02/23/2014 - 18:33 in Adoption, Nathaniel's Story
I had known since 8:30 that they were coming at 11 o'clock, but when they walked in the door dressed in blue and pushing an ambulance gurney, I stated to sob uncontrollably.
The resident standing next to me placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, "Mom is having a flashback," she explained to the transport crew. "Let's give her a few more minutes with the baby and take everything very slowly."
We were moving Nathaniel to a new hospital - a pediatric rehabilitation hospital.
Waves of guilt poured over the flashback of our first night - drowning me. "He doesn't belong in a hospital," pounded in my head repeatedly.
