Pictures for the month of May can be found by clicking on the camera icon .

• Today was the day for the removal of Lyle's Hickmann catheter. I think he's had it for about two months now. Our instructions were very clear: no formula after midnight last night, clear liquids (oddly enough breast milk is considered a clear liquid) until 8:20 and then only Pedialyte until 9:20. He has to be NPO for three hours before his 12:20 procedure. The operation itself should only last five or ten minutes. Getting Lyle anesthetised takes longer than the actual surgery.
• We made it to the hospital by about 10:30 and were admitted. It's funny to think that our whole day was being sacrificed to a ten-minute procedure. Most of that time was spent in the day surgery waiting room. The resident who took Lyle's history and vital signs had been in the infectious diseases department when Lyle was hospitalised in February. She was really pleased to see Lyle again since she felt she'd gotten to know him quite well from seeing him in rounds every day back then.
• Paloma read to me from Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama while we waited.
• Right around noon there was a flurry of activity. The surgeon arrived to discuss the operation followed by the anesthesiologist to discuss the risks of anesthesia. The surgical procedure was pretty simple: they cut into the skin near the catheter's entry point and dissect out the cuff which has been holding it in place. Once the cuff is free they can simply draw out the rest of the line. They will measure it and compare the length they remove today with the amount they inserted in February. If the two values match then we're done.
• The nice part about the anesthesia is that they can actually use the Hickmann to administer it so at least it gets used one last time. If they have to they could start a new IV but in the normal course of events that shouldn't be necessary. I think their motto is "prepare for the worst". We got to stay with Lyle right up until they'd knocked him out. We carried him to the operating room and stayed with him until just before the surgeon came back. It was hard to leave. We've never really been there for the start of any one of his procedures before (well, except for the first shunt operation but then we didn't get to go with him to the operating room).
• Trish stopped by and said hello as we were waiting for the operation to be over. She looks great. Her baby is due at almost any time. We probably won't see her on our next visit to Packard Children's Hospital for a neurosurgery checkup.
• We were allowed into the recovery room shortly thereafter. Lyle was still out and the anesthesiologist had warned us that he would likely sleep a lot that afternoon. Partly to catch up from missed naps this morning and partly because an operation is physically draining. We decided to have lunch while he slept and so went up on the roof again (the access code still hasn't faded from memory). When we got back his nurse was just coming to look for us. Lyle was awake and pissed off. He had eaten a bit and she'd changed his diaper but he really wanted his mom (or his dad). Surprisingly, we were then allowed to take him home.
• I know this is going to sound strange but on the way home stopped at Mitsuwa Marketplace to do some shopping for Paloma's mom. I mean, it seemed like the perfect chance. We were in the neighbourhood and Lyle wasn't fussing, so why not? In fact, he slept through the whole thing.

• Lyle got to have a real bath today for the first time since February. He wasn't really allowed to have one before because of the risk of getting the entry site for his Hickmann catheter wet. Pictures were taken (see link above).

• Lyle got to see his first film in a theatre today. We went to see The Mummy Returns with our friends Dave and Greg. It was interesting. Lyle slept through much of the movie but when he was awake he picked the most inopportune times to make noise. He never actually cried, he was in a pretty good mood but he wanted to be played with. This movie was quite loud so that most of his noises were lost in the sound effects but every so often he would squeak during one of those tense, "something is just about to happen but we're not ready to cue the music just yet" moments. I think the whole experience was harder on us that on home because we didn't want to annoy our neighbours in the theatre. Fortunately we went to a late matinee and the theatre wasn't even close to full. Although it went quite well we will probably take him to the drive-in for his next movie.
• The theatre we went to, the Santa Cruz Cinema 9, does not have a crying room but does have a very liberal refund policy. If you have to leave the film for any reason in the first half hour then you can get a full refund. If you leave after that then you can get a re-admittance pass. With that kind of reassurance we felt we could take the risk of bringing Lyle along with us.
• But, you may be thinking, what about getting a babysitter and having a real night out as a couple? Well, I can't say as we haven't thought about it but, you know, Lyle has spent so much time in hospital that we haven't really reached the point in caring for him where we just have to get away for a while or we'll explode. Plus, he is, as anyone who knows him will tell you, a very mellow baby. For the most part he is a joy to be with. That being said, both Maryann and Liz (sisters who work at our favourite comic book shop) have offered to look after Lyle. Whenever we stop in to shop they will take the baby and coo over him. They are very good about taking turns. If they were babysitting Lyle I wouldn't worry that he was being ignored while they talked on the phone or anything like that. Actually, I should point out that they are not the only ones to have offered to sit for us. The list is a long one. To know Lyle is to love him.

• Our friends Jay and Kristin got married today. We took Lyle to the wedding ceremony. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm (perhaps too warm for a wool suit but such is life). Jay and Kristin said the usual meaningful things. Tears were shed, lumps were swallowed. Paloma said, afterward, that she finds marriage ceremonies much more meaningful since we went through ours. I have to agree. At each stage of Jay and Kristin's ceremony I was reminded of similar stages in ours. Those are good memories to treasure.
• Everyone there who knew of Lyle's history was amazed to see how well he looked. We got to meet Kristin's mom (she was the one who knitted Lyle the pumpkin hat which you may have seen him wearing in some of his photos from last year) and her grandmother. She watched Lyle chewing on his pacifier and asked if he was teething. I still haven't seen any evidence of a tooth pushing through his gums but he definitely behaves as though something is going on there. I guess it's only a matter of time.

• Lyle had a well-baby checkup with his pediatrician this morning. Dr Moler was pleased to see how well Lyle was looking. His heart and lungs sound clear and strong. Lyle now weighs 12 lb. 7 oz. We talked some more about Lyle's eating habits. Dr M said that the general rule of thumb was one ounce of breast milk for each pound per day. Thus Lyle should be eating about 12.5 oz per day. We, of course, have been tracking it in cc's. At 30 cc's per oz this means he should be getting about 400 cc's per day. The good news is that even on a "bad" day Lyle eats more than that. So now we feel much more reassured. The fortification his milk gets from the Nutramigen and the rice cereal mean that he's getting more than enough calories to thrive. Whew!
• We also discussed adding solid food to Lyle's diet. Dr M suggested starting with mashed up veggies: carrots, peas and the like. Once Lyle is doing well with those we can move on to fruits. Dr Moler thought it was best to start with veggies. Fruits have more of a sugar taste and so babies who start on fruit first can later spurn the less tasty vegetables. Is this true? It's a neat theory. He also suggested avoiding foods which are known to trigger allergies: citrus fruits and strawberries in particular.
• I should add here that Dr Moler was much more relaxed and congenial than we have ever seen him before. It made me think that he was a good choice for a pediatrician after all. I think he was just worried about having a high maintenance baby added to his practice. Now that he has gotten to know Lyle and has seen how wonderful Lyle's parents are he's mellowed out a bit.

Editorial Note: Now that Lyle is out of the hospital and is doing so well I'm going to cut back even further on this journal. I will continue to post pictures in a sporadic fashion but if you want to find out how Lyle is doing come over and visit. The flu season is over and if you're reasonably healthy we won't turn you away at the door. I promise.

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