MAX & HIS BUDDIES

I love seeing Maxwell enjoying his toys!!!

How cute are Max and his cousin Thomas holding hands? Thomas constantly is going for Max's cannula so we have to watch their "playtime" very closely! But since Thomas is now a very speedy crawler, he seems to get pretty bored with lil' Max and moves on after a few minutes. I so look forward to the day when Max is mobile too!

Shakespeare is always trying to sneak in a kiss! And Max now puts his hand out for him...too cute!

Maxwell LOVES to play with hair...so he is a BIG fan of his new friend's (Stephanie) hair. When she took down her hair today for him, he quickly smiled with delight!

ON THE MEND??? NOT QUITE

I think I spoke too soon when I said Maxwell was on the mend! Yesterday he was feeling pretty crappy all day...we were both quite miserable! :( The poor lil' guy was coughing so much that he would violently puke out of his nose and mouth...I then had to quickly suction his mouth and nose so he wouldn't aspirate the excessive secretions. It was quite a day! I have never seen anyone puke out of their nose and I was a bit worried. I immediately called my nurse and she said that is normal for a baby at this age, so at least it is "normal."

His ears are continuing to bother him too...he is pulling at both of them now. So we have ANOTHER doctor's appointment later today to check on that.

Hopefully today is a better day...I'm confident it will be! No puking throughout the night, that's a good sign.

AND today will indeed be super fun because we have an extra special guest with us, one of our very best friends, Stephanie. She flew out from DC yesterday and her wonderful husband Drew will join us on Friday and be with us for the weekend. We are soooo excited to have them here! They met Maxwell last summer when he was just a lil' sickly kid...BIG difference to the pink, chubby, lively, happy baby now!!!

Today I also have a radio interview to promote the upcoming guild fundraiser for Children's Hospital. I absolutely adore (as you know!!!) talking about my sweet son so I am looking forward to the interview! Hopefully it generates further interest in our event!

Off to give some meds...

ROAD TO RECOVERY

We went back to the doctor again today so he could look at Max's infected ear and listen to his lungs...and both are on the mend. Yay!

So slowly but surely, Max is on the road to recovery. He is coughing like crazy with tons of secretions and occasionally that leads to some vomiting...but for the most part, he seems to be feeling better. On the way to the doctor's, he had one of his major coughing spells and I quickly pulled over because it sounded like he was dangerously choking. The oximeter was beeping like crazy...Max was making weird sounds...it didn't seem good, that's for sure! So I pull over and run back to his seat and what do I find? Maxwell with a big smile on his face! (He loves the overhead lights that go on when you open the car door!) Not at all what I expected to see, but what a relief! He had coughed up A LOT but most he managed to spit out (well "drool" out on his chin and clothes is more like it!) and the rest apparently he swallowed.

The fever is also gone and he is now officially back on full feeds too. He has crazy "runs" due to his antibiotics, which leads to many comical situations! And you truly could make a boxing movie with me and Max when I am attempting to suction his nose...he is getting quite a left hook!!! It is unbelievable how strong and coordinated his arms are when he is defending his nose!

I have a feeling in a few days Max will be back to "baseline" and kicking away like the crazy man that he is!!! One more hospital stay avoided...go Max go!!! :) Thanks everyone for your prayers and incredibly kind and supportive emails!

MAX & HIS CANNULA!

Max seems to have absolutely no desire to go to sleep tonight...he is in full play mode with his nasal cannula! Great opportunity for me to take some super cute photos! I took a series of about 30 shots and they are hysterical all together.

He is getting to be quite a ham already! Seems like as soon as I bring out the camera, he will stop what he is doing and just stare...too funny! ENJOY! :)

PNEUMONIA AND EAR INFECTION

Yep, we were right...Max has a raging ear infection in his right ear. We went to the hospital yesterday, and as soon as the doctor went to look at it, Max screamed bloody murder. She said it was bright red and obviously very sore. Additionally, she thinks he has a touch of pneumonia. So he is on some antibiotics and we are hoping they will kick in very soon. He doesn't seem to be real uncomfortable, which is good...but he just is more tired and sad than usual. His heart rate and breathing rate seem slightly better already. Yesterday the doctor clocked him at 100 breaths per minute, and that really alarmed her. But I explained to her (this is not Max's primary physician) that his baseline was also high but this was certainly much worse. Always interesting when I have a new doctor or nurse (like on weekends) and I need to explain everything about him....quite a laundry list. Yesterday the nurse was going about her business and she was about to put on an oximeter and I didn't think anything about it for a second...I was just letting her do her thing. Then it hit me, not all kids are on oxygen and oximeters and she assumed he wasn't either. Once I pointed out the 02 tank and oximeter probe, she was all embarrassed. It was pretty funny. :)

Anyway off for a little more therapy...Max seems to be feeling ok right now so we just had a good tummy time session. He lifted his head several times (just an inch or two) which was great! (And as a wonderful bonus - he didn't cry about it! He didn't love it, but he didn't hate it!) He is definitely making progress in this area...slowly but surely.

So after 10 minutes of that, I thought I'd give him a break and post an update on him. I have had several worried emails...thank you for your concern!

We didn't go to church this morning, which was disappointing, but I felt like Max shouldn't be exposed to anything extra right now. He needs to work on getting strong again! Meanwhile, I am in a obsessive cleaning mode...trying to get out every particle of dust in our house. I have air purifiers running constantly and I feel like I dust and vacuum all the time...but yet I still find grime around! The two dogs certainly add to the mess!

Happy Sunday from Amy, Max, Barney and Shakespeare!!! :)