Becky just left on her first road trip.
She is traveling in a stylish incubator, the very latest model in the clear plastic colorway. Destination: a lab near the Children’s Hospital. Top speed: a slow saunter. Diamond and Trudy are her drivers. Always good to have a backup. A delicious bottle snack has been packed for sustenance.
Becky has a swallow study scheduled for 11:00am, followed by upper GI imaging. The speech therapist will hold Becky and give her a bottle containing dye contrast. They will watch her swallow and evaluate the safety of her eating. Hopefully, the dye doesn’t turn her into Spider Man or The Hulk (although Johnny would love that).
The upper GI imaging will double check to make sure all of Becky’s pipes are properly connected and routed towards the exit shoot. At this point, feeding is holding up Becky’s discharge. After these studies are complete, I will meet with Speech Therapy and the Neonatology Team to develop a plan for safely transitioning Becky home.
Becky is one lucky girl. All the NICU team wants to do is fatten her up for her upcoming heart surgery. Her only goal in life is to eat and sleep. And once she proves she can do that, and put on weight, the ultimate road trip home awaits.
Happy Trails!
The Refillable Glass 
😂😂😂 Becky, you are cracking us up; or rather I guess it’s the way your Mom tells the story. 😉 Please just eat, honey! We are all rooting for you! And jealous of anyone whose current life goals consist of eating, sleeping, and gaining weight. I’d say I would love to only feel responsible for at least the first two of those! Praying you find your inner food monster, Sweet One.
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Sweet pictures! The stylish ride kind of reminds me of the Popemobile with the glass top. Nothing is too good for Becky!
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Becky is waving at us already! She’s VERY advanced! I hope the ride and the tests were successful and Becky is that much closer to going home.
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So is Becky’s greeting to us, “Live long and prosper”? She seems to have her own characteristic way of holding her hand. Have fun on your trip and take in the sights Chicago.
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[…] had her first road trip today. And she learned that sometimes when we travel, we encounter […]
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[…] a speech therapist at the hospital to prepare for a second swallow study. The last one was done when she was 9-days old. At that time, her malrotation was discovered. She had her first surgery to correct that problem […]
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