Sunday, July 24, 2011

Cardinal Glennon

It's been a crazy week so far. Our baby boy that we were told was doing so well, was flown to St. Louis' Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital last Sunday! As you all can imagine, the rumors started flying from that moment on. It was to be expected, especially in the small town that I'm from. Luckily, I'm here to set the record straight. Here's our story of the Schiff's Journey to Cardinal Glennon...


On Sunday, July 17, Jesse and I woke up to a phone call from Gabe's doctor in Carbondale's NICU. Obviously, this is not the type of phone call you want to wake up to. She informed me that they had decided to fly Gabe to St. Louis with the reason being they were scared an eye exam would cause further problems. And since he had an infection and they couldn't figure out why, it was just better to send  him there. She then said we needed to be there in about an hour to see him off. I said ok, hung up the phone, and started packing our clothes. And then it hit us...what did the doctor just say? Why is Gabriel going to StL? This started to make no sense at all. So, Jesse called  back, got a few more answers, still unclear as to why they were flying him here. About 15 minutes later we were out the door. Rylee packed up ready to go to his sisters house, and our clothes and snacks packed ready for another stay in a hospital. 


Cardinal Glennon's air team was already at the hospital by the time we got there. I dropped Jesse off at the hospital and then took Rylee to Tori's, so by the time I got there, they were ready to go. I could see the helicopter on top of the hospital. We held our boy one last time before he left. We couldn't fly with him. My mom, Jesse, and I all left the hospital. We were all going to drive up to StL right then. So, we did just that. Jesse and I arrived about an hour after Gabe did. They told us he did great on the flight... and once the doctor and nurse practioner were done examining him, we could go back. 


Here at Cardinal Glennon, we have our own private room. Gabe is doing so great here! No, he does not have a heart problem or lung problem. Turns out, he needed a blood transfusion, which made him automatically look and act better. He was on antibiotics for 5 days here to help if he did have some kind of infection. Never found one. The eye exam that carbondale was so worried about seems to be no big deal here....which is understandable. it's just an eye exam...nothing traumatic! So, that is taking place this Tuesday! Gabe took his first bottle last Monday, and has been doing pretty good so far with that. We love it here! We literally can't imagine taking Gabe anywhere else now! The doctors and nursing staff are all amazing here and Gabe is doing 100x better than he ever has! It's just amazing! :) 


We still have a long road ahead of us. We're told that Gabriel still has another month here in the hospital. As you can imagine, Jesse and I are both pretty sleep deprived already! We take shifts so we can share the small couch in our room to sleep on. Jesse does nights, I do days...with about 4-5 hours where we're both up and spend some time together! On the days that we're not here, my mom comes up and stays with him. We don't like to leave him alone, especially at eating time. Thankfully, we have family that lives close to here...like my brother and sister in law who live 6 minutes from here. My mom and I timed it! haha. So, we know that someone will always be around to check on him if we're not here. We have to go home to get some clothes, bring Rylee home for a night so she's not too traumatized, and to work on Gabe's room. It's a work in progress that has basically stalled because we're never home! Oh well, it'll get done in time. 


Anyway, Yesterday I went on a hobby lobby shopping spree! I got sooooo much stuff for less than $75. I was amazed. I can't wait to get it all home and decorate and such. I feel like our house is finally becoming a home. Once I'm done decorating my living room and finishing Gabe's room... I feel like it'll be complete! I can't wait. I still have soooo many crafty ideas for my house, but those will take time...especially since I'm not home much these days...



Gabe taking his first bottle...such a big boy! :)

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