Christian's 1st Cold

This past week has been a stressful one.

Christian got sick.

Being the parents of a preemie child, we are constantly taking preventative measures, in good faith, that our baby will stay healthy. AND I KNOW that all parents do their part to keep their child healthy {not just preemie children}. But keeping Christian healthy so he could 'survive' has been a reality of our lives since the day he was born.

That being said, we have always tried our very best to prevent Christian from catching a cold.

This means................

*buying hand sanitizer 40 ounces at a time and never leaving home without it.

*keeping him away from large crowds of people

* using shopping cart covers for our 'early morning' grocery runs.

*monthly injections of SYNAGIS that cost $2500 dollars a pop {and make my baby cry}

*wearing face masks all day when {Jason and I} are feeling "under the weather".

*keeping him away from small children during RSV season {October-April}

I am not complaining {although typing it out kinda feels like I am}. Honestly, we don't know any other way. It has always been in the back of my head that he was bound to eventually get sick. It has been a miracle that his first cold happened 13 months after bringing him home from the hospital. I am thankful for that.

When I first felt that he might be catching a cold I took him to his pediatrician. She checked him out and said all seemed to be fine but he may have the beginning of a viral cold. She gave a prescription for an antibiotic but told me not to fill it yet. She wanted me to call her if his symptoms increased. Three days passed and I knew that he had a cold for sure. So she agreed it was time to get him on antibiotics. Especially since he had surgery scheduled for that Friday.

So. A baby with a trach with a cold means extra suctioning, saline, lots of time on the mist machine. We even had to use oxygen for a few nights while he slept. Poor little guy had a dry cough. He would cough so much that he would throw up. I think I did at least 5 loads of laundry a day. I brought up his baby swing so he could sleep in it. He seemed to sleep better in an upright position.

Christian was scheduled for surgery on the 17th, in Portland, to check to see if he is ready to have the trach removed. I had to call them and reschedule. There was no way that I could have made the trip to Portland with Christian sick. So his surgery has been rescheduled for next month on the 14th.

I am happy to report that Christian is feeling better again AND that this {first}cold has come and gone. AND we survived just fine.

WHEW!!