A Happy Father's Day

Today was a good day.  Father's Day 2011.  I went to St. Mary's to visit with my son.  Jacob is now in the Nursery with all of his peers but is still receiving excellent care from the staff.  We brought in the whole brood to visit little Jake.  Corinne was nonplussed but John Paul was almost as excited as I was to see Jake again.

We had Jacob and Corinne baptized shortly after birth right in the hospital due to the fact that we didn't know if Jacob would make it through his first week of life.  Although they are baptized already, we are having a formal baptism next week.  The twins couldn't be in better hands with their new Godparents.  All of this really is my excuse to break Jake out.  We are getting a day-pass so he can accompany his sister at the church.  St. Mary's may be one resident short come lights-out.

I hope your Father's Day was as enjoyable as mine was.  I feel very fortunate for the time I have with my son.

It's Only Been Four Months

So much has happened since the twins were born that it seems incredible that it has only been four months. It just doesn't seem real to me that all of this has happened in just 120 days.  The events that have happened since then have changed me forever; I hope for the better.  I have a better outlook on the "little" problems in life.

Jacob has been moved to the nursery in St. Mary's and has just had a visit at CHONY to see Dr. Vincent.  She seems to think that Jacob will not need another catherization before his next procedure - thank God.  Tomorrow is Father's Day and I am looking forward to seeing my boy.  I am still getting the feeling that I am not bonding with him properly.  How can I?  I want him home, but I know he is at the best place he can be right now...I can wait.

We recently received the latest itemized bill from CHONY.  All I have to say is THANK GOD for insurance.  Jacob's medical bills are almost at the $1 million mark.  He has about 4 more weeks of hospitalization at St. Mary's and then he will be going in for the next big surgery.  It may be another three whole months until he is home again.  His next procedure is the Glenn Shunt.

This next procedure is a biggie. It involves stopping the heart and moving the large blood vessels around to make the heart a more efficient single pump for the body.  The whole stopping-the-heart thing scares the hell out of me...a simple cath procedure almost killed him last time.  If I have learned anything in the last 4 months its that worrying about something doesn't help.

Settling in

Jacob is settling in to his new surroundings and pulling the same tricks he used on the nurses at CHONY. He puts on his I'm-just-to-cute act and the staff just caves in to his demands for attention.  He has already become accustomed to hanging-out at the nurses station.  Due to the unavailability of a bed in the nursery, he is on a floor with older patients.  His roommate, Solomon, is 24 and already highly protective towards Jake. I think Solomon is a permanent resident at St. Mary's.  That being said, I have seen that my child's case, while undesirable, is nothing compared to the problems the other children here face.
Jacob will soon be moving into the nursery with all of the other all-to-cute babies, so his celebrity lifestyle will be coming to an end. 
St. Mary's is such a welcome and quiet change of pace from the big noisy New York City hospital.  It has a calming effect on me.  I feel less stressed out when I am visiting him there. I get the feeling that he is well cared for and at peace (not that he wasn't cared for at CHONY).  The only downside is that I don't get to make the bad jokes anymore like: "My son goes to Colombia University" or "one of my kids is on Broadway every night."  As horrible as that seems, not joking around and making light of this serious issue would drive me to madness.  We all have our devices that help us cope.