Ava... Back in Familiar Territory

Well, we are home from the hospital. We were there for a little over 24 hours and it really wasn't so bad. We left for the hospital at 8:30 am.We drove for an hour and a half to All Children's Hospital, got there at 10am for registration and then went upstairs to get suited up, and wait for the doctor. Ava is dressed and ready to go....................is Mommy? Mommy sure does put on a great fake smile doesn't she? " What's going on? Why am I strapped to this board." "Hi everyone! Sugar water on a binky sure tastes good, but I'm no dummy! This has happened before"
"Owww, Mommy that hurt! I don't want any more needles!"

The doctor was running a little late and Ava started to get a little hungry, cranky, and tired. She wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight and by this time it was 11:30. So, Daddy and I were trying to find ways to occupy her and keep her happy!

Daddy decided to play Peek a Boo! " Wow Daddy...This is Fun! Do it again!"
She got a little cranky and wanted Mommy to hold her......I took it all in and loved every minute of it because she is so independent and doesn't ever want to be held. She is so active!

She loves to suck her thumb. She finally fell asleep for about 15 minutes!


Hi lady! What's up? Who are you?

" Where am I going Mommy? Are you coming with me?" "I'm getting what done? You're going where?" Daddy...Don't go!" Finally the doctor came at about 11:45am. Time for the endoscopy and they'll put the PH Probe in while she's under.
All done and it is only 12:25pm. Wow! That didn't take long at all. The nurse called her very busy...those are nice words for, over active! She had to wear these things on her arms called "No Nose". It kept her from bending her arms trying to pull the probe out of her nose. We called them her hospital swimmies.

X-ray time. They had to double check to make sure the probe was in the proper place.
Finally, time to eat something. A little apple juice will do. No formula allowed yet! "Yummy Mommy...I'm starving!" At this point, she probably would have drank anything that was in that bottle!
"I'm so happy to see my daddy!" "I'm getting a little sleepy." She finally got to have a bottle, but of course only ate four ounces. The PH probe had a switch on it that I had to turn on when she was eating and then hit the button every time she started to freak out. She finally went down for a little nap. I had to rock her to sleep. She was not comfortable with her surroundings just yet. Daddy ate lunch and is napping too. He seems to feel quite comfortable with his surroundings. Ava is awake and ready to play.


Press pause on the music to hear the video!

Finally down for the night. She was so exhausted! Doesn't she look like she is in a jail cell? I can see why she was so uncomfortable in there.

Doesn't she look so beautiful and peaceful?
Can you tell she is happy? She is ready to go home!

Where are my shoes Mommy? Can you put on my Jellies?

Let's go! Let's go! I'm ready. I miss my sisters and my brother! I want to go home and play with them!

"Yay! Mommy is signing papers to get me out of here!"

"MAN! I thought I could sneak out before they took the IV out. This is gonna hurt, but I'm not gonna cry!"

" OWWWWW! Mommy this hurts! Help me!"
"That didn't hurt one bit, right Mommy? I'm not looking at you Daddy!"

One last stop to visit Mary, one of friends that helped take care of Ava when she was in the hospital after she was born. We stopped to see some other people, but everyone was off! We also had a lot of visitors (nurses) stop by to visit us and wanted to see how Ava was doing. They saw her name up on the board and wanted to make sure she was o.k.

So everything is done. The results of the endoscopy showed that there is no obstruction in her esophagus or anywhere all the way down to her stomach. There is no scarring from all the tubes that were in her from her extended stay in the hospital and her throat is not real irritated, but he said that you wouldn't see that in a baby. You would have to have reflux for years to see that kind of damage. The PH Probe study results will not be ready until next week sometime. Most likely the doctor said he will call on Tuesday and then I'll have a follow up visit in a few weeks. I'll continue to keep you all updated...Check back later! I'm going to try to get to PART 4 of our trip up north tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Kelly