Turkey Turkey Turkey

This week has been busy. Gabe started breathing a little fast on Sunday. I didn't think too much of it, just watched him close. Overnight from Sunday to Monday, his oxygen saturations were in the low 90's on 1/9 L of O2. Normally he's 98-100%, so I thought this was odd. I called the Pulmonologist Monday and they said to come in to clinic. His chest Xray looked clear, but it did look a little hyperventilated. This could mean a number of things. 1. Gabe has Asthma. They gave him Zopenex and that helped with his work of breathing, but he never had any wheezing, so it's not enough to quantify a diagnosis. 2. His reflux is working it's way past the nissen and irritating his throat area. They went up on his Prevacid dose to help with this. He was due for a dose adjustment since he's gained a good amount of weight. 3. The pressures in his heart are off and his Captopril dose would need an adjustment. We got an ECHO and his heart looks great so this is not the case. 4. He's getting a cold. I kept him on the pulse oximeter for 24 hours straight and he never dropped below 97%. He did sound a little stopped up in his nose today, so maybe he did have alittle bug. I'm not sure, but he's looking good now. Gabe also had a feeding evaluation today. We met with the Speech Pathologist at the Thomas Center. Gabe does really well with rooting, moving his head towards the pacifier, facial expressions and cooing. He loves dip tastes. They were abe to syringe formula over the pacifier and he took it well. They then tried a bottle and he really just did a lot of non nutritive sucking. This means he sucks at the bottle for comfort, not to really get formula. Whenever she squeezed formula thru the nipple into his mouth, he kinda paused for a second as if to say, "what the heck is in my mouth?". He eventually gagged a little. So, the good news is he's got a strong suck and he seems to like it. The bad news is, it's going to be a little bit of a slow process. He hasn't had anything of substance in his mouth since Sept.10, so he has to re-learn how to feed and get use to swallowing liquid again. So, we will be syringing small amounts of formula over a pacifier to get him use to this sensation.

I found out I was pregnant with Gabe last year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Alot has changed over the past year...I've changed too. I'm so thankful for Gabe. He makes us smile everyday. He is a huge responsibility and alot of work...more work than a "regular" child, but I think I'm thankful for that too. Back in April I never thought I'd say this, but in a way, I'm thankful for Down Syndrome. I'm thankful for having a baby with special needs because everything becomes about an achievement and what my child can do. Gabe is cooing to Justin right now and I can hear his excitement in the other room. Earlier today, he held his head up so good while sitting on my lap. Would I notice these things and cheer him on and feel a great sense of pride with every single skill and milestone if he didn't have Down Syndrome?...perhaps not. For noticing these small milestones, I am very thankful. Part of me is even thankful for heart surgery...hear me out on this one. Without heart surgery, Gabe would never have been hooked up to monitors. Without monitors, Gabe's apnea would have never been diagnosed. Undiagnosed apnea can lead to cognitive and behavioral issues ...so, in a way, I'm thankful he was on monitors for 2 months and this was detected so early.

It's bedtime for Gabe. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!