Sick Babies

I apologize this didn't go out sooner.  And that we don't have pictures.  This was started over the weekend, but I didn't finish it.  We will be posting pictures tomorrow for the kids 5 month mark.  We stopped doing the weekly pictures now that they are home.  There is something about counting up the weeks that I associate with institutionalization.  Obviously we did it every week in the hospital, but it also reminds me of when I was deployed.  We started our deployment without a come home date so we counted up the days, weeks, and months until we had been in country about 6 months.  Then we had a date to count down to, which only changed a couple times....  Anyway....,

This week we had the opportunity to experience sick babies.  Both kids have coughs, although Grayson's "hacking" is a little more impressive.  Scarlett also has a runny nose.  We took them to the BPD clinic on Thursday and they Nurse Practioner decided they aren't quite sick enough for steroids yet, but that we did the right thing by bringing them in.

I expect most parents would read this and have the thought that we overreacted, knowing they didn't have fevers.  I hope that most people reading this have been emotionally involved enough to understand.  We have 2 things working against us:

1. We know our kids better than most people should know their kids.  We know their heart and respiratory rates, baseline temperature.  Its like the gearhead that rides with you once and asks how long your transmission has been goofing up.  I wish I could say, "What do you mean?" but when it comes to our babies, we can say, "Well, the cough started on Sunday but Grayson's started getting worse Monday evening.  Both babies slept much longer than they normally do on Wednesday night.
2. We know how fragile life is, and what its like for our babies to rely on a machine to breathe for them.

 So we have to be the parents shown in the Luv's commercial with her first baby, and then overreact when they start to show signs of illness.

Since our doctor's visit on Thursday, neither baby has progressed much.  Poor Scarlett has the runny nose that makes it hard for her to eat.  That whole suck/swallow/breathe thing is a lot easier when your nose is available....  Also, the ends of nasal cannula looks great when its caked with boogers.  Oh the joys of parenthood!  I wish I was being sarcastic, but honestly I love taking care of my sick baby.  I wish she wasn't sick, and I have the advantage of leaving the situation for 40 hours/week, but I feel privileged to provide the support directly!

I do feel bad for Trish though.  She spends most of her day with a theoretical chain to her leg, going from the kitchen to the living room and very few other places.

I do want to take a minute to endorse the Nosefrida (pronounced Nose Freeda).  If you haven't heard of this thing and have young kids, you need to get one.  The idea is disgusting but the practice is actually more hygienic than bulb syringes.  Essentially you put a tube up against the baby's nose and then suck through a hose on the other end, with a filter in between.  You can suck as long and hard as you want, so you can really clear the passage ways for the baby.  Plus, the plastic is clear, so you can take it apart and wash it thoroughly.  I have heard horror stories of those bulb syringes getting cut open and having mold and stuff inside of them.  Plus, you are agitating the nostrils by continually putting the tip in and out of the nose.

Again, sorry for the lack of pictures.  We have put a few on Facebook but don't have them on the computer.  We will remedy this tomorrow!