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| The most handsome little man in all the world |
Until recently, I was convinced of the fact that having Dominic, the little saint that he is, excluded me from the right of passage every parents must endure, commonly known as the 'terrible two's.' You see, all Dominic does is love. He cuddles, smiles, sometimes coo's and "talks." What could he possibly do wrong? There are no temper tantrums, no "sizzling like bacon" fits, no arguing or screaming. No, those are way too tame for our little man. He has chosen to forgo such expected expressions of his two year old rebellion and opt for something a little more, say... original. What our little saint does is far more dangerous: he pulls out his trach. That's right, the little booger-lootsey pulled out his trach.
I was working in the kitchen with him right next to me in his feeding seat when I froze. A strange sound pierced me ears, a sound of forced air, like a strong wing being blown through a straw. Instantly realizing what that sound meant, I dropped what I was doing and checked him. Sure enough, there was Dominic, smiling mind you, with his trach out, struggling to get any air through his little collapsed airway. I went into a frenzy, grabbed him and laid him on the kitchen floor. I quickly realized I had no spare trachs with me so I scooped him back up and ran to his room, yelling for Jake to bring the suction. By the time I had him on the changing table, he was beeping (his oxygen monitor) and was turning from purple to blue, on his way to grey. I did a quick trach change and gave him the highest flow oxygen our liquid oxygen tank allows until he pinked up. I scolded him as I stood there and shook "Don't EVER do that again" I said, followed with a immediate "thank you, Jesus. Thank you." The kids stood behind me, still as statues, eyes wide like a scared deer. I let out a great sigh of relief and gave the kids a hug. We talked about what happened and they told me they were scared but they were ok (except for Mary, who of course ensured me she was not scared at all. sigh.). We went about our day and finished getting ready for mass. The rest of the day went on as usual.
I wish I could say this is the only manifestation of his terrible two's, but alas, it is not. He has had several more episodes (though they did not contain the trach being pulled out). He has stopped breathing a time or two and has required some quick thinking, stress filled interventions. So what has he gained from these little escapades? More vent time. He has gone from the vent only at night while sleeping to the vent 12 hours a day and at all times when asleep. Turns out, these aren't due to the terrible two's after all (well, except him pulling his trach out). He was having more episodes of not breathing and of not being able to maintain oxygen levels because of something called residual lung capacity. You see, he is not strong enough to breathe deep enough to keep his lungs inflated, which over time lead to decreased oxygen levels and lots of apnea. This has been reversed by the increased vent time. There doesn't seem to be any going back, not any time soon anyway, to the splendid days without the vent. No, it seems our little saint's rebellion can only be satiated by that loud machine that fills our home with noise and beeps. We are thankful however for that machine, however ridiculously difficult it is to transport, because without it out little saint may have had the rebellion of rebellions. Here's to no more "terrible two's" for Dominic!
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| Some great pictures of our family vacation this summer. Vroooommmmm! |
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| Silly faces with cousins. |
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One little, two little, three little...
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