Life's Tough

David's life outside the womb has been quite a journey. Earlier this week in an attempt to diagnose the cause of his breathing troubles, they took an x-ray of his chest. The radiologist didn't find anything unusual in his lungs but noticed a hairline fracture in his left clavicle (which you can see in the x-ray below).


They tell us that this is not a big deal for a couple of reasons. First, 50% of all babies fracture their clavicle during delivery. Second, it is a fracture that heals quickly (within 4-6 weeks). Clavicle fractures are so common and heal so quickly that most parents (and doctors) don't know that a baby has sustained the injury. Anyway, we came in yesterday and found the little man wrapped up in a gauze sling.


Then there are the issues with his IV. The IV started in his right hand--then he popped it out. They moved it to his left hand--and he popped it out. Because he's so chubby, they couldn't find another place to put it his hands so they moved it to his right foot--and he kicked it out. SOOO...they moved it to his left foot and told us that it was terribly important that we not disturb this IV. To help the IV remain undisturbed, the nurses fashioned a splint.


With the IV splint and the sling, here's what the total package looks like:


I intended to stop the post with that picture. However, we came in today and (surprise, surprise) he had kicked the IV out of his other foot. Our friend, Matt Hester, brought us a yummy lunch from Chick-Fil-A. After we had eaten, Shannon and I went back into David's pod and found that they had relocated the IV to his HEAD. AGH! The first thing the nurse said was "It looks so much worse than it is." I hope so.


It looks like he'll be coming home tomorrow (Saturday) and before he comes home, he gets all the wires, tubes, slings, and splints removed. Other than some cute outfit that his mama will pick out, it will just be our plump little David riding home with us tomorrow.