New Pictures

Yesterday--Wednesday--was a good day. Carter spent most of the day in a good mood, often smiling and playing. In the evening, Grandpa and Grandma Linda came to visit, and after a good meal for Mommy and Daddy, they got to spend some time with Carter.
Then it was time for the bath and colostomy bag change. This might not make any sense, but I'll explain it as best I can. We've started putting the bag on using this skin glue, followed by a duoderm patch, which is supposed to be easier on the skin. The bag sticks to the top of the patch. The hope is that the bag will come loose, not the duoderm, but so far, his poop just seems to leak between the duoderm and his skin. We discovered the root of the problem last night: his mucous fistula (a second, smaller opening next to his stoma) was herniating. Part of his insides--I would guess intestine--was protruding through the hole. When he cries, the whole left side of his abdomen pushes out, plus his umbilical hernia puffs up, too. So, the doctor looked at it and called Dr. Schropp, who said he'd have a surgery resident come look. Not thinking, we went ahead and attached the bag, via skin glue, duoderm, and then the bag. It was a great bag job! A few minutes later, the surgery guy shows up and has to peel it off--agh! All of this after the hated and loathed bath. They say that it is common and OK for it to herniate that way, but geez!
Finally, we (Mom and Carter) got to rock and snuggle! Ah, bliss!
He seems to be confused about eating. Part of the time, he takes his whole bottle and doesn't complain. Other times, he swallows a little and lets out a cry like he's in pain. Yet other times he takes about half and no more. So, we are working on that.
Carter is still on antibiotic (3 different ones), lots of saline to make up for fluid lost, and steroids. There are several other meds he gets depending on his electrolyes and counts. He gets several heel sticks a day for various tests, and he really doesn't like those.
Doctors are still trying to figure out what to do about the drain. By 8 a.m. this morning, he'd already drained a Liter of fluid! Where on earth is this coming from? No one knows.
OK, OK, enough blabbering! The pictures already!! (that's what you are waiting for, right?)