Four Floors and Three Days

Although we've had appointments in the main part of the hospital (ENT and lab for me, allergist and urologist for Ian, and cardiologist and neurologist for Paul), over the past 11 years I have spent quite a bit of time in the one wing of the hospital. I started with regular visits to the lowest floor (LL2) because that's where the fertility clinic is located. I also used to get my bloodwork done on that floor (although that is no longer possible). With two of my pregnancies I saw the MFM doctors on that floor, and I also was seen by an OB there for the second half of Ian's pregnancy. I ate many meals at a cafe that used to be on that floor (no longer there) when Nadia and Ian were in the NICU. My first trip to this hospital was in July 2004 (RE), and my last appointment on LL2 was again with the RE for the embryo transfer on September 26, 2013.

My first experience with LL1 was when I had a little tour during my pregnancy with Nadia, and it was on that floor that I gave birth to Nadia and Ian. The NICU is also on that floor so I spent more than five weeks on that floor altogether between the three kids (Oliver's first week was in Harrisburg).

This recent hospitalization started on the first floor (one floor above LL1) while Oliver was in the PICU. I took my showers in a family room on the third floor while he was in the PICU. I pray that my kids are never patients in the third floor unit because it's for pediatric oncology. We spent about 15 hours on the 2nd floor after Oliver was transferred from the PICU to the regular Pediatric unit. Those rooms are definitely more comfortable for parents than the PICU rooms, but at least I was able to stay with Oliver in the PICU, which isn't even possible in the NICU unless you are in one of the two "demo rooms."

As I walked through the halls of the hospital a wide variety of memories and emotions kept rushing over me, but the bottom line is that these kids are worth every second of the emotional and physical pain endured in that hospital over the past 10+ years. We didn't have any hospitalizations in our family in 2013. I am hoping maybe 2015 might turn out the same way. Oliver was hospitalized three times in 2014 in three different hospitals. That still was much better than 2012 when we spent almost 18 weeks in hospitals between Ian's feeding program in Hershey, my antepartum hospitalizations, and Oliver's NICU stay.

Yesterday was the third consecutive day of Oliver not having any accidents! He has also been waking up dry after his naps and overnight most of the time. The biggest improvement is that he has been telling me when he has to go potty a lot more often and he has been pooping on the potty either because he told me he had to go or because I happened to have him on it (not because I caught him pushing and rushed him to the potty which is what happened the first 3 months of potty training). What a relief! In addition to learning how to stay dry while asleep, he eventually has to learn how to dress himself after going potty and even later than that learn how to wipe himself. One thing at a time! I am very relieved we are over the worst of potty training, especially in light of the fact he wore diapers 24 hours a day for almost 4 days last week.