Given how much he eats (people food, too, not just milk) and if everything internally is actually starting to work properly again, I think he should resume gaining weight in a normal pattern. Several months down the road we can look at reintroducing the soy and dairy elements to his diet. At some point we'll transition him to a different primary beverage, but it's hard to argue with the quality of breast milk given his specific needs at the moment.
All that information, presented well after the fact, is delivered here to explain the side trip we took from our stay in Fulton. On Wednesday afternoon of that week, Kristie, Charlie and I headed for home on account of a 10 a.m. Thursday appointment at Children's Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park for a sweat test. The purpose of the procedure was to examine Charlie's perspiration for its salt content as an indicator of cystic fibrosis. A few days after New Year's we got confirmation he was all clear, but that doesn't preclude me from sharing photos.
The test itself went a little something like this:
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| From On the Road |
If you look on his right arm, you see two rubber bands with wires attached. I'm not sure of the exact mechanics here, but essentially there is a fluid under it all and the bands are holding in place some metal plates that are heated ever so slightly. He had to wear these (one set on each arm) for five minutes. After that time elapsed, he was fitted with a sleeve of sorts (see his left arm, which was first; I held him for that one). He had to wear both sleeves for 30 minutes while we sat in the lobby, fed him Cheerios and also breast milk (on tap!), changed his diaper and so on. After the half hour, the technician took the sleeve and sent us on our way.
Thanks to some night before research, I had found a nearby (across from the employee exit of the hospital) Mediterranean restaurant. In addition to being very close, practically empty and affordable, the menu was loaded with dishes containing neither soy nor dairy and also the perfect size to feed a baby from our plate. If this place wasn't a 50-minute drive into the city, we'd absolutely be regulars. It was delicious.
The space seemed to be a converted car shop of sorts. One wall (the bulk of the dining area and behind the kitchen) was exposed brick. Across from it looked to be an old garage door that used to open overhead There was a conventional pedestrian door, of course, but also loads of natural light that lit up Charlie's face beautifully. So I took pictures. And I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so here's three:
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| From On the Road |
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| From On the Road |
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| From On the Road |
And, for good measure, more walking practice:
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| From On the Road |
We'd originally planned to go take the Red Line to State Street and then walk to Millennium Park to see the city still all decked out in Christmas splendor, but it was really windy that day and we guessed (correctly) Charlie might just sleep all the way to Fulton if we got back in the van on a full stomach. But it ended up being a fairly nice trip overall — it's a treat to get to spend time like that in the car with Kristie without whining/fighting/hungry children in the back seat, and the three of us have enjoyed some nice, practical meals out during some of this exra medical testing. We'd rather not go at all, of course, but turning it into a little date with the littlest one has made the best of the situation.
And now that it seems we're back on the right track nutritionally, it has certainly been well worth the effort.
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