Good-bye to April, Hello to May

Landon has had a full week of good days! He looks better every day and more importantly acts like he is feeling much better. Today he was a sleepy baby and was so cute that I feel I should campaign Gerber to let him be the first Gerber baby on a ventilator...I mean they shouldn't discriminate just because he has preemie lungs, that is like age discrimination.

His team of doctors are so happy with his progress they are going to have his nurses check his blood for normal lab tests twice a day, it used to be every 3 hours! We knew he was doing better when we saw his nurse now has two babies to watch, a good sign that they aren't expecting him to need too much attention. This news was very exciting to us and especially well timed because today was the last day of his April doctor team. Though we lost Dr. Nancy at the beginning of this week, I was able to starve off total panic with the knowledge we had the rest of his team for the rest of the week. Well, the week went by too fast and now we have to say good-bye to the people who have been a vital part of our lives because they have kept our son alive.

When we first met Landon's April team, we were pretty overwhelmed but in a short month have come to know them well. We will always be grateful not only for the medical treatment they gave our son, but their patience in explaining everything to us, their medical and emotional support during the hard times, and the fact that they put up with our craziness. Our craziness included Ryan's idea to ask all doctors a 'question of the day' because he never would have a question to ask when they asked if we had any medical questions. Questions of the day included what kind of car they drive, if they are a cat or dog person, and most embarrassing ipod song. We learned quite a bit about them with these questions.

As we did with Dr. Nancy, I want everyone to know how awesome each of our team was. Dr. Karen was our fellow (someone who has completed their residency and is getting more specialized training) and she is AMAZING. She made sure to come by everyday to make sure we understood what was going on with Landon for the day. She would be honest with us when she was worried and optimistic when I was being too anxious and didn't need to be. She is our hero because on top of taking care of our baby and the other babies in the NICU, she has twins herself! She is definitely a super mom. Even though she was so busy, her caring and presence always made us feel that Landon was an important focus for her. Luckily for us, she still has to be on call for some days in May so I don't have to be totally devastated by the loss of her :)

Dr. Eileen (aka Caddy because she was a golf caddy in college and Ryan couldn't remember her name) was a resident on Landon's team. Through fate she was often on call on nights when Landon was especially sick. She was the person who had to call me to tell me that Landon would need his first surgery. That middle of the night NICU call is something every NICU parent dreads and although it was still terrifying, having Eileen at the other end of the phone offered some comfort. On top of that, she put up with Ryan asking her medical questions without any sign of annoyance when he had aches and pains. (I told Ryan he needed to go to the doctor if he was having pains, and he decided since Eileen was a doctor it was close enough to following my advice.) She is moving on to bigger and better opportunities, but I know that any patient who is lucky enough to get her will be in good hands.

Dr. Heba was a senior resident on Landon's team. Whenever I see Heba, I always tell her how amazing she looks. She is one of those people who can look beautiful even when they have been up for 24 hours taking care of sick babies. Ryan did remember her name, which goes to show you how really pretty she is :) More importantly, she is a caring and amazing doctor. She was always there to explain any scary things that were going on with Landon and was ready with a hug when really a hug was the only thing that would work in the situation. Most importantly to me, after talking to her and her suggestion to do a kidney stone jiggle to get that stone moving, I was able to finally pass that darn thing! For that and my son's life, I will always be grateful to her. (Side note for those who know of our tradition of naming kidney stones and are curious, this one was named Fuzzy Wuzzy Magoo.)

Dr. D. was Landon's attending (the doctor who is in charge of the other doctors on his team) and we really couldn't have asked for a better doctor for our first month. Our friend who had a baby in the NICU last year, let us know he is a world renowned doctor who specializes in ventilators. That was really lucky for us given the initial concerns for Landon were lung related. Dr. D. has been a doctor for quite some time, but obviously cares deeply for the babies he treats and was always checking on Landon even when we knew he was extremely busy. He also took the time to just talk to Ryan and I about everything from his first car being stolen, to whiskey distilleries in Scotland, to his expectations for Landon. He is truly a fascinating man and although I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone, I am happy we were able to meet Dr. D. because of it. He will be around until May 15th and I have already told Landon that he has to work to get off the ventilator before Dr. D. leaves to show him his hard work was worth it.

We know his May team will be just as awesome in different ways, but we have definitely told them the bar is high and that his April team put Landon in a really good spot to make it an easy month for them.

So one last thing about Landon, now that he is feeling better, he did learn a new trick-bradying. Brady is short for bradycardia and is a term the NICU uses when a baby's heart rate drops suddenly. It is totally common for preemies given their immature systems and in Landon's case is probably happening due to the placement of his ventilation tube. Basically, when he moves or is moved to get his diaper changed and vitals checked the ventilator tube hits a nerve causing his heart rate to decrease. It comes back up quickly, but pretty much gives me a heart attack every time. I guess these heart attacks is just a part of motherhood!