Common cold bugs that give the rest of us little sniffles and coughs really cause a lot of trouble for Brendan. He needs a lot more oxygen, his heart rate is significantly elevated, he breathes hard and fast, his little body is working very hard.
We spend the day reconnecting his oxygen line because he is used to the freedom of not having it attached. We count respirations per minute, we have to have his oximeter on a lot. We watch the clock so we can give him his breathing treatments and pain meds. He did his vest twice. He has done a good job with it though. His mood wasn’t bad at all, he was just as feisty as ever. He is just making us all afraid that he will suddenly get worse. No hospital!!!!!

I would say that he looked a bit dusky today, especially on his lips and fingers…

… but this is all due to the blue popsicle he ate. He is showing me how he is sticky.

If his hand were really that blue, we would have been at the ER a long time ago!

He is counting down. Three…two…one…

“Blast off!”

Brendan is back on the vent tonight and seems to be tolerating it again. His oxygen needs are still high and his numbers still reflect that something is wrong, but there is definite improvement.

Trevor was greatly improved today, just a few coughs and sniffles. Brendan had a pretty rough night and needed lots of oxygen but he had a pretty good day, just needed lots of suctioning. We actually discovered at nap time that the ventilator does more harm than good when he is feeling this way and so tonight he is not wearing it to sleep and he is doing much better!
The pressure pushing from the vent must really cause pain to the inflamed airways from the cold.

They had ice cream treats to help them feel better. Trevor was taking handfuls and putting it on his spoon to take a bite.

Brendan got to try a maraschino cherry and decided the right thing to do was bury it.

Here are the dinner antics plus Trevor’s hard rock interpretation of “The eensy teensy spider”. Sorry about the dangling mucus and other grossness, it is a normal thing around here.

Twins vs. Slinky

That picture kind of sums up the day too. Brendan is sick. He had a really rough night and today his little nose was running like a faucet and he just had that horrible little tickly constant cough. He was so tired and just wanted to be held all day.

After sleeping in my bed all night so that I could keep him elevated and reassure him when he woke up drippy and coughing, Trevor actually seemed less congested this morning. He said he was feeling better. But by evening, he was crying about how much his tummy hurt. After a couple of hours of squirming and crying, he finally pooped on the potty. (potty!!) He was so exhausted from the ordeal that he all but passed out on the couch and I could barely get his jammies on before he was out cold.
As I tucked him in bed, without even opening his eyes, he said “but I have to build my excavator…” and then was out.
(He earned his little Lego kit for his success)

We had a nice little rainstorm this evening and the boys are asleep so we just have to hope that Monday is nice to us all.