Thursday, September 16, 2010

Oh, What a Night!

Let me see if I can accurately recap the last 24 hours.

Titus has been doing great, but the last few days, he has been congested. We haven't had to suction much during the summer, but over the last few days, he's just been gunky (and so have I). He's been running a small fever off and on all week.

Titus has been doing great at Therapy - taking more steps at Physical Therapy, and loving chocolate pudding at feeding therapy.


Yesterday, he was a "live wire". He was chattering and interacting with people at church - basically just a happy camper.

As we got home from church, our friends, the "K's" drove up. They are driving from Minnesota back home to Houston and were staying the night. And as soon as we got in the house, Tucker and Cade had to show Ashley the baby rabbit.

Now, we have rabbits (and baby rabbits) in the backyard all the time. The last time we found baby rabbits, Jude thought they were dog toys and threw them around the yard and then ate them (lovely dog - btw, Jude has a new home). This week, we found another batch of baby rabbits - and these were larger than the ones we had found before.

And, that's when Becky told me that they had brought one inside the house, put in a bin, and were feeding it all day yesterday. (and yes, Karen D. - they named him Stu).

Tucker and Cade ran to the bin on the counter to show Ashley the rabbit, and that's when the squeals start.

"HE'S GONE! HE'S ESCAPED!"
And the mayhem started.

For the next hour, 9 kids searched the house, high and low, with flashlights looking for this tiny rabbit. I was convinced that Quita had found it first and enjoyed it as an appetizer. After an hour of searching, no rabbit could be found and the kids were distracted with toy guns and running around the house. It's was now 10pm and I had used up all my words for the day about 6 hours prior, so I gave the kids a 15 minute warning and advised them to prepare for bed (which they did).

As soon as all the children were in bed, Ashley walked in holding a tiny bundle of fur. She found the Stu on the kitchen counter behind a potato chip bag (I'm sure cowering in fear from the noise and children). He was returned to his bin with a lid, and placed outside for the remainder of the evening. We didn't want to tempt Quita for a midnight snack.

While the rabbit hunt was going on, Becky and Jody had gone to Titus' room to feed. And that's when Becky noticed Titus breathing was erratic and he just seemed to be breathing shallow. Over the course of the next few hours, his breathing worsened, we turned his oxygen up, and we did a couple of breathing treatments. At 1:30am, Becky stated, "I'm concerned", to which I replied, "Go pack".

Becky and Jody rushed Titus to the ER and I tried to go back to sleep - but that's not an easy task to do. As I laid in bed, I prayed. I prayed for his breathing, I prayed for the doctors and nurses in the ER, I prayed for peace and awareness for Becky and Jody since I knew they were tired.

I eventually drifted off to sleep, but 4:30am, I heard a familiar beep. After few minutes, I heard it again. I looked up and saw a faint light under the door. My first thought was "did I not turn off all the lights and Titus' equipment?". I then heard the door open, and Becky walked in (by the light of her iPhone.)

By the time Becky had driven Titus to the ER, he was awake and alert and breathing better. The chest x-ray showed his lungs as clear, and since he was not running a fever at the time, they sent them back home. He slept peacefully the rest of the morning and then was off to therapy at 7:30am.

Titus still has some congestion and after a trip to the pediatrician this morning, they believe he has a virus, so our prayers are that it begins to clear up and his breathing remains strong.

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