Today marks the second day and most likely the third night that I’ll be in Banner Thunderbird Hospital with 6 month old Ashton.
The little man caught a nasty cold that has impaired his respiration and caused him to stop eating, which lead to dehydration.
The first night he was put on oxygen due to his o2 count dropping into the 80’s at one point. This level has to remain at 90 and above to ensure he’s getting enough oxygen. He was also put on IV to treat dehydration.
Thankfully yesterday afternoon they saw improved oxygen levels and he has been off the breathing tubes since then. I think the tubes really irritated him so I’m glad we don’t need them anymore and happy he can breathe well enough on his own again. He’s still dipping into 89 and 88 occasionally when he’s sleeping, but lower levels during sleep are expected and he usually recovers quickly back into the 90 range.
He does seem to be in better spirits today, but the doc says we have a 50/50 chance of staying the night again. He’s also still not eating much, so they turned down his IV fluid levels which we hope will improve his appetite.
He has an insane amount of congestion and snot, which we have to routinely help extract using an air suction powered nasal aspiration device. Infants don’t have the full capacity to deal with all of these excess secretions as their tongues and coughing abilities aren’t strong enough yet. This is what causes the breathing difficulty.
This is one nasty cold that both Tera and I already suffered through and it pains me deeply to see our little boys struggling and in distress while trying to fight it.
Unfortunately Dylan has also gotten sick, but I’m hoping with all hope that he doesn’t get as bad as Ashton. Tera is taking Dylan to our Pediatrician’s office as I write this.
Hope my little boys can both kick this virus soon. I can’t wait to see my babies happy and playful again as they normally are.