Today I'm thankful for...

1. Being home and getting better. Liam was a champ last night and his oxygen levels stayed high enough to be discharged this morning. His fever is gone, he's nursing better, his wheezing has cleared up, and overall he seems like a much happier little boy- the way I'm used to him being. I enjoyed my one-on-one time with him during our little outing, but I'm glad it's over, and I'm especially glad that he's getting better. Here are the pics from our hospital get-away that I wanted to post last night:

This is when we were in the ER and he was being monitored. He had finally had a good feeding session and totally conked out. I texted my mom and told her he was looking good and we would be home soon. Of course, about two minutes later he desat-ed into the low 80's, which sent everyone running into the room- the nurse, the resident, the fellow, and the attending. And that's what got him admitted.


The next time he fell asleep he kept desat-ing again. He would do better with the oxygen mask blowing in his face (called "blow-by oxygen" I learned), but as soon as I took it away he would drop again. That's how he got the nasal cannula (oxygen tube in the nose with cute round stickers on his cheeks to keep it in place).

He never actually needed it, which was good news for us (that's how we got to come home today), but I'm glad it was there just in case. Now he has a round, red circle on each cheek from the adhesive.

He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. Oh, he's so cute! All the nurses loved him, too. :)


2. Picnic lunches at the park with friends from the neighborhood. We BBQ'ed at "Martha's Park" tonight with four other families. It was so nice to see all the kids playing together and having a great time. Lillian and her friends had a blast on the tall slide- they would all sit down and wrap their legs around the person in front of them to go down at the same time in a long train. They did it over and over again and every time was just as good as the last. Sydney joined in a few times and monkeyed her way up the jungle gym. I've missed seeing them run around with friends. I'm glad the weather has been nice enough to be outside and that we have friends who live close by.

3. David. He lives a few houses down and he deserves the "Neighborhood Beautification Award." We always see him outside doing something to spruce up the area. He picks up trash- sometimes as far as 2 miles down the road- he mows the strip of grass on the other side of the sidewalk that no one really owns and no one ever thinks to take care of- he'll even cut the grass in some yards when it gets too long. He puts people's trash cans out on trash day, picks up the trash that the trash truck drops behind (or that the racoons drag out and leave all over the place), and he puts the trash cans back (with rocks on the lids so the racoons can't get to it next time) after they're emptied- we've been the recipient of this service several times, can you tell? The most amazing thing David has done is transform the back woodsy area behind our row of houses. It's owned by Fairmount Park and it used to be all underbrush and snarly trees, poison ivy and briar patches- nothing that you would ever want to take a walk in. Little by little he has cleared it out and cleaned it up. He has used tree stumps to line a path through the woods to the park, and he's used other tree logs and branches to create an artistic fence along the service road that runs back there. He has truly transformed the area into something beautiful- now it's a clean, grassy area that is beautiful to look at and nice to walk through. I'm so thankful for David's hard work, his service to the community, and his vision that has transformed and beautified the area around us.