The Dittman's

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

A Good Sport - July 20,2007

It's nap time right now, but as you can see, Preston has decided to keep on playing. It's a good thing that Presley doesn't mind Preston crawling all over her. They loved playing with the big pillow at the beach house!

Tickle Monster! July 20, 2007

Who needs Disney when you can have this much fun at Grandma & Grandpa's beach house? I only wish these pictures had audio - for those of you that know my kids (Kevin included), you can only imagine how loud it was and I didn't think Preston was ever going to stop laughing!

Quack-Quack! July 19, 2007

Kevin & Ryan made it back from Ohio and found their way to the campground! This afternoon we took Presley & Preston to feed the ducks. We could never have enough bread for Presley. When she saw that the bag was empty, she stomped her feet and said "Want more, want more". Needless to say, she was not a happy camper when Kevin told her the bread was all gone and it was time to go!

Off to the beach! July 13, 2007

Our vacation plans to Fort Wilderness in Orlando this summer were put on hold because of Preston's surgery. He still hasn't healed completely, so we decided to come up with something different to do. Kevin & Ryan are off to Cedar Point in Ohio with Courtney & Katelyn to ride the rides! So, I packed up the house and the babies and headed to Ocean Lakes. I took them down to the beach the first night and we played in the sand - the water was for buckets only!

Cookie Monster - July 11, 2007

Preston saw the Doctor today and was given an OK to eat his baby food. I asked him if he could have butter cookies (his favorite) and he said he could because they do get so mushy. As soon as we got home, I gave him a cookie and I think he enjoyed it!

Presley couldn't stop laughing at the mess Preston made. It was just great to see him eat!

Preston playing - July 6, 2007

Today was Preston's first full day at home after surgery. He's still not taking his formula that well, but he is playing and seems to be pretty comfortable. He slept all night long last night!

It seems that he knows his limits. He would get tired playing and just lay down on the floor and rest for a while!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Time to go home! July 5, 2007

We are finally ready to go home. Preston has his IV out (which he pulled out of his foot) and his dressing looks great. He has had some formula and kept it down. He's not a fan of his new formula and if it taste anything like it smells, then I can't blame him. We just have to keep trying and I'm hoping he'll do better once he's home.

I think he was happy to be strapped into his car seat today!

Shock for us all! Happy 4th of July!

Preston's surgeon came in today to talk to us about going home. At this point, Preston is sitting in Kevin's lap drinking Pedialyte (still haven't advanced to formula yet, but he hasn't spit up any). The surgeon removes his dressing and all I hear from that moment on is "we're going back to the operating room". We couldn't panic because we didn't have time. The usual question before surgery is "When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink?" - well that was thrown out, because he was drinking a bottle when all of this happened. I barely had time to put clothes on and was changing Preston's diaper when the Operating Room staff came in the room to take us to surgery, again. They took us down to the holding area, where the lights were turned off and there were no patients. We sat in a chair that they pulled over from a desk and waited while the staff got the operating room ready. In no time at all, they were telling us they were ready. Luck, or faith would have it, that the same nurse that took our baby down that long hall for his first surgery,was there to hold him again. He looked her straight in the face and never made a sound as she carried him off. We had to go to the same waiting room as Monday to wait for the surgeon to come get us after surgery. You can never imagine walking into a waiting room of a hospital that is closed, lights turned off, no one waiting. Well, Kevin and I did it and I must say that I hope I never have to do it again. It is the loneliest feeling in the world to know that you are there and your child is in surgery, once again not knowing what is happening. The two of us waited in that lonely waiting room until Dr. Camps came walking in and said that everything went well. He said that what happened to Preston "NEVER HAPPENS'! It's nothing that can be explained, but I truly think that he strained and fought so much after waking up from his first surgery, that it caused everything to push out through his belly button. The drainage only stopped after the fatty tissue had come through, which we didn't know because we had already changed his dressing and it remained dry after that. So, Dr. Camps said that he put stitches in places he's never stitched before to make sure he didn't have another hernia! Preston slept for about 4 hours after surgery. Around 5:30 pm, he came to life and seemed to be very comfortable. Now if he can only eat tomorrow!

A Little Cranky - July 3, 2007

Preston was a little cranky late today. His dressing has continued to drain a lot today, but the nurse called his surgeon and he felt sure it was from the local anesthetic that he had given him during surgery. He did finally say for them to change the dressing tonight - not looking forward to that. Uncle Bud & Aunt Kathy came earlier today and Preston left me so fast to go to Bud! They sang to him and actually were very entertaining. PaPa, Courtney & Brandon came to visit tonight. We had a window in our room that overlooked the entrance to the hospital and we watched as these three were walking in the parking lot (saw Brandon step off the curb and fall in the middle of the road - he could hardly walk after that - and was bleeding when he finally got to the room).

It's Daddy's turn to babysit tonight because tomorrow is the 4th of July and he doesn't have to work. I should have known that something would happen to keep him from having to lose his much needed sleep! Preston was restless and uncomfortable all night long. We changed his dressing around 8pm and through the night we kept checking it and there was no drainage at all.
I finally got him to lay down in the bed with me around 5:30 am. He slept for a couple of hours soundly after that.

Preston - 2nd Day Post-Op - July 3, 2007

Preston had a great night last night. We alternated his IV Morphine and Tylenol with Codeine throughout the night, so when the Morphine was wearing off, the Codeine was beginning to work. The only problem we had was when he decided that he had had enough of the NG Tube in his nose and pulled it out at midnight. The nurse walked in the room and I held him down while she put it right back in. He didn't bother it much after that - I think he realized that it was easier to just leave it in. Thought my Mom was going to get sick watching that, but she managed! Before lunch, they came in and took his tube out and said he could have Pedialyte. He wasn't very interested in drinking, but he did decide he could smile a little!

These were taken around 1:30 on July 3, 2007.

Preston's Surgery Day ~ July 2, 2007

Today was the big day for Preston and it was a terrible feeling for us to know what he was about to go through and to know that he had no idea what was happening. We were off to the hospital bright and early and he was as happy as he could be riding in his car seat. We didn't wait very long before they took us in to the holding room (a playroom for the kids and where the Doctors and nurses meet with you before surgery). We rocked Preston in a rocking chair and his Daddy read him a book, but he most enjoyed watching the other children play. Before we knew it, our little boy was being carried away by a nurse down a long hall to his surgical suite. We were able to watch them walk down that long hallway and Preston looked over her shoulder at us and then back at the nurse - knots on his forehead like his Daddy - you could just see his little brain working! He didn't cry and they told us afterwards that he didn't want that nurse to lay him down on the table, so she held him while they gave him some medicine to sedate him. Well, the recovery room was a different story! When they finally got me back there, 6 nurses including 3 men, were trying to hold my baby. He wasn't fully aware of what was going on and he was fighting with all his might. He had tubes everywhere, but I told them to just let me hold him and I promised we wouldn't pull any of the tubes out! They put me in a recliner beside his bed and the nurses handed him to me still fighting. It took a few seconds for him to realize that it was really me and he settled down and went to sleep. I wanted to cry so bad, but I knew I couldn't. We gave him some more pain medicine and I pointed out to the nurse that his dressing on his stomach was draining (more than I thought it should be). Little did we know how significant that drainage would be in the days to come. With the dressing reinforced and a calm baby, we were off to our room. Not long after settling in, a young lady with a guitar and a beautiful voice, entered our room. She does musical therapy at the hospital and came in to check on Preston. He was awake but groggy, but once she began to play the guitar and sing, he never took his eyes off of her! She was excited to hear that his favorite songs are Christmas carols, so we had Christmas in July! Preston played his little instrument while she sang and then did a round of patty cake with her before she left. Grandma & Grandpa came in to see him and then they were off to the beach with Ryan & Presley. These are some of the pictures that we took after his surgery.

We practically lived in this chair for the first two days. Preston had an IV in his hand, an NGT in his nose to his stomach and hooked up to suction on the wall and an aggravating little sensor taped to his toe. Just a hint as to how he did with all of these, before he was discharged, he managed to pull all of them out!