Let Me Clear My Throat

Today was the first day that Scott watched Paxton all by himself while Susanne was at work. He was excited and found out quickly that getting to spend time with the little monkey was one of the perks of not having a job. There truly was something positive in every bad outcome.

Susanne was out the door before 9:00am. She always hated leaving Paxton no matter what the reason. It was shocking to her that it was becoming harder and harder to do this...not easier. Susanne immediately started looking forward to her lunch break because she knew this was the next chance that she would be able to hang out with her little guy. As an added perk, she would be able to hang out with Scott too. So exciting.

At lunch, Scott felt like the day was going well. The boys played with multiple toys including a new monkey he got for his birthday that lit up and played music when squeezed. Scott also worked with Paxton on his stability ball and even did some tummy time. When working with him on his play gym, Paxton seemed most interested in grabbing for a rattle that was hanging from the colorful links. He always seemed to reach for the objects that were black and white, which were high contrast colors. They got his attention everytime. Scott also got to appreciate how much Paxton was loving his new sensory balls. He thought the different textures and sizes were intriguing. It was amazing how something so simple was so interesting.

Paxton was rather active for not feeling well. He had started coughing Saturday night and it had progressively become worse. At first, it was a dry, hacking cough, but now it seemed like it was transitioning over to a more moist, productive cough. Scott and Susanne were hesitant to call it a cold because he didn't have any other symptoms. He didn't have a snotty nose or audible congestion. It definitely wasn't the flu because he wasn't febrile and he didn't seem to feel that under the weather. The only other thought was that it could be throat irritation secondary from the endotracheal tube they used while he was under anesthesia that turned into tracheitis. It didn't seem unrealistic, but the timeline between when he had the actual procedure to when he started having signs was off. Nonetheless, he continued to cough nonstop all day. It was so powerful at times that he sounded like an old man with emphysema. Susanne and Scott could definitely tell that it hurt for him to clear his throat. They finally busted out Paxton's humidifier for the first time. It really seemed to help out a lot. Hopefully, it would speed up recovery time.

Paxton was sleeping when Susanne got home at the end of the day. She took this opportunity to wind down and get ready for the night. Aunt Leah was coming over to watch American Idol and PJ's were a requirement. During the middle of the show, Paxton woke up. He was unsettled. Scott brought him down for some snuggling. Susanne held him closely as they watched each singer. Aunt Leah offered to do some craniosacral therapy on Paxton. Even though Susanne didn't want to give him up, she knew that it would benefit him greatly.

Paxton was loving the attention. He loved it so much that he didn't catch on that it was actually therapy. The longer Leah worked with him, the more she could feel his body release. It seemed to make him relax more. He was interacting with Leah the rest of the time. He was laughing and cooing back and forth with her. What a flirt! She was amused with how vocal he had become since she last saw him. She thought that he looked great for just having surgery. What a rockstar!

Paxton was exhausted before the show ended. Scott took him up to bed for the night before he got overtired. He prepared his medications and his next feeding to keep him on his schedule. They were both hoping that he would be able to sleep through the night. Not just for him, but for themselves too.