Trip to the Doctor’s

Today was Joshua’s first trip to the pediatrician since he left the hospital last Thursday. Today was also the first day that Michelle and I were the only adult supervision in our home. This morning I took my step-mom, Diane, to the Atlanta airport; we left the house around 2:00 AM and I got home around 5:20 AM. Joshua’s doctor’s appointment was at 10:15, so I had a chance to get a little rest before heading out again. Michelle stayed home with our five other children and I went with Joshua.

Over all it was a good appointment; nothing too major came up, mostly a bunch of referrals for follow up appointments. One highlight of today’s appointment was feeding. At the hospital, the speech therapist had “recommended” a swallow study for Joshua in a few weeks; he’d drink some barium from a bottle and they’d take images to make sure that he wasn’t aspirating it. According to his discharge papers, he’s supposed to only drink 5 ml (approximately 1/6 of an ounce) from a bottle 3 times a day and take the rest via his NG tube. The pediatrician agreed with us that the swallow study is unnecessary and to feed him as much of his 65 ml (a little over 2 ounces) feeding by bottle as he’ll take.

Tomorrow morning is his appointment with the cardiologist. We’ve got to bring him in a little early for an X-ray before his appointment. A friend from church is planning on coming over to watch our other kids.

I hope to get some more pictures uploaded soon, so check back from time to time.