Hospitals and Squirrels

It seems like squirrel just can't catch a break. Every time she starts feeling better, wham! something else happens and she's right back to square one. She never fully recouped from her pneumonia and then early last week she started wheezing and coughing. At first it was no big deal but by friday night she was coughing all the time and working way too hard to breathe so I took her to a walk in clinic saturday morning. She got a nebulizer treatment and a prescription for another round of antibiotics and more importantly it looked like she was starting to feel a bit better. But she went downhill fast later that morning. She started huffing and puffing at about 60+ times a minute and was looking weak. Then she puked up all of her first dose of antibiotics and her dinner. So off to children's hospital we went. She got an iv in the er and a few more breathing treatments, but she looked so tired and weak. When they admitted her and brought her to the floor she was like a limp noodle. They got more aggressive with her treatments and suctioning overnight. Her mom and I got no sleep that night. I probably aged 5 years watching her struggle to breathe. I can't reminder being more scared at any other time in my life.

By morning there were signs of life. Her breathing started to slow and she started opening her eyes and looking around. Then she started talking. Not much at first, but little by little she was babbling. Then she gave me a smile. I almost died I was so happy. By late afternoon she was playing a bit with her toys and keeping her sats up. By nightfall she was down to 0.5 lpm of O2 and they stopped having to suction her. Last night melissa watched over her and I went home and she improved again. They took off her O2 and she did well with that. When I came to the hospital after working a few hours this morning she was bright eyed and ready to go home. The doctors say she's not quite ready for that, but don't tell that to Sophia. She's ready to get back to her crib (bad joke, I'm sorry).

Everything looks like we'll go home tomorrow and I can't wait.  That way we can put this whole experience behind us and get back to doing more important things, like planning her birthday party. I can't believe my little baby squirrel is about to turn one!

My deepest and most sincere thank you to all the staff at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Thank you for helping my little Squirrel when she needed it the most.  I am so thankful for all you did, not just for her, but for her mom and I too. We needed your help and support as much as she did and you all made a scary situation as painless as possible.

If you give a squirrel a pancake

One of my favorite things are my Saturday and Sunday mornings with Sophia. Since her mom works until 5a every other Friday and Saturday night, we have to get out of the house on weekend mornings so we don't wake her up.  Even on the weekends when her mom doesn't work Sophia and I find ourselves up at the crack of dawn and while mommy sleeps (we're early birds and mommy is a night owl). I've found that my favorite thing to do with her is to go out for breakfast. Its not always to the same places because we like to mix it up. Sometimes we drive, sometimes we walk, but either way I talk to her along the way and she entertains me with her silly noises. I've found that she absolutely loves pancakes. Whatever I order I need to make sure that pancakes are included. She can't eat an entire one (not yet) but she sure does try. I make a production of breaking her off pieces and she makes a production of testing to see how hot they are before the piece gets stuffed into her squirrel cheeks.  Pretty soon mommy is going to day shift so she'll be joining us on our breakfast adventures more often, but for now I love having squirrel all to myself on those mornings.  Just me, her, and a pancake.

Sophia is sick

Its as straightforward as that. She's sick. Pneumonia in her right lower lobe. She's had her normal sniffles and snots the last few weeks along with a cough, but she had been acting normal until we got back from yesterday's Brewers game. She felt a little warm, but not hot, and wasn't acting like herself. We figured she was tired after a long day and let her take a nap. When she woke up she was burning up with fever: 101.9  We tried Tylenol but she threw it up, then puked up two more times. She was also listless and moaning. That was it, off to the ER we went. She got a chest x-ray that told the doctors all they needed to know. RLL pneumonia. Over the next few hours she got an iv, antibiotics, fluids, and her fever broke. It was so sad to see her getting poked prodded and handled but we knew it was for the best. We got home in the middle of the night and she slept with us so we could keep a close eye on her. She's feeling a lot better today, but she's still not herself. So it's a few days of antibiotics and fluids until she gets back to full Squirrel strength. Poor sick squirrel

Good Days and Bad Days

Everyone has them. I do. She does. We all do. Today was a good one for me, her, and her mom. Yesterday, not so much. Instead of rehashing the down from yesterday, I'll focus on today's up. Up early, smiling and playing. Talking to herself in her crib. Ate a big breakfast. Mostly oatmeal.  I tried to feed her peaches and she reminded me that Squirrel don't do peaches. I had to leave for work but left her in very good hands. Her and her mom went shopping in the morning then for a walk past the high school just as school was letting out. She loved the attention she got from all the kids as they walked past her. Then I get home and she greets me with her three toothed smile and begs me to make her fly. Of course I oblige. I help her mom assemble her new toy, a car she can ride and push and we take her for a ride. Then we watch yesterday's episode of PTI on the dvr, then its time for dinner, a bath, a bedtime story, and finally a bottle as she falls asleep. I of course get to stay up, so her mom and I watched Black Swan (pretty freaky but awesome), then I checked on her and now its my bedtime.  Overall nothing too special happened today, but it was a special day nonetheless.

I cherish these days and sometimes take for granted how many of them she blesses us with.  I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't know what I ever did to deserve the life I live, but I am thankful for it each and every day.

What time is it?

5am on a Tuesday morning and Sophia wants to play. Wha? Huh? Its one thing if she was quiet I would just let her play quietly in her crib, but she's not. She is VERY VERY LOUD. So I'm wide awake with her and trying to get her to go back to sleep. Problem is that she doesn't want to go to bed. She wants to play.  What's the right thing to do here? If I just let her stay awake then her schedule is off all day and she'll be miserable. If I give her a bottle she might go back to bed, but she's not going to want to eat her breakfast. If I talk too loud she's not going back to sleep any time soon. I try to  soothe and rock her back to sleep and after 30 minutes I finally get her to close her eyes when my alarm clock goes off.  Dammit.  So I sit on the carpet and play with her. 20 minutes later she's rubbing her eyes and looking groggy. Sure enough, I rock her for 2 minutes and she is out like a light.  Problem is that it's now 630, I have to get ready for work and I've been up an hour and a half. Now I'm going to be tired all day.

Great.

The brewer's assistant

Last night I took little Miss Sophia to Flowbee's place to brew some beer. This was the second time in the last three weeks that she and I have helped someone out with their homebrewing. The last time was with our friend Eric. While Eric's beer came or a lot stronger than he anticipated, Flowbee's came out at damn near the same abv as water. Judging from how much she "helped" I don't think any of America's brewmaster's need to worry about her taking their jobs. She basically crawled around, tried to knock things over, and wet her diaper.

Today was another saturday morning after Melissa's night shift which means we have to get out of the house as much as possible so mommy can sleep. We made an early morning trip to Cranky Al's for donuts and coffee. Ms Sophia just had oatmeal and her puffs, but that was fine by her. She finished off the whole baggie of puffs and passed out on the way home. After a good long nap we took the jogging stroller out for a 4 mile walk before dinner, a bath, then a bedtime story.

She's doing a lot better about staying in her crib through the night. Anymore if she winds up on bed with us it's because she's taking a nap or because we want to snuggle with her for a few minutes before she gets up for the day. Don't know if we did anything specifically to break her of the habit, but I'm not complaining.

Please Sophie don't go

My sweet little squirrel is heading to pennsylvania on the morning with her mom and I don't want them to go. I know that they have to visit grandma, but I wish I didn't have to stay behind. I know melissa will send lots if pictures, but I'll miss both then anyway.