So, where have we been this past week?  Well, let me tell you of our great adventure….

About 9 days ago, the boys showed signs of runny noses.  No problem.  I’ve not quite conquered my fear of them getting sick but I have plenty of Kleenex boxes on hand for just an occasion.  The boys, especially Dexter, have mastered the technique of blowing their noses.  In fact, Dex is SO good, he doesn’t even need a Kleenex.  Just mention the words, blow your nose, say in the context of “Dexter, let mommy get a Kleenex so that we can blow your nose” and before you know it, snot is runny down his face and Grandma and Uncle Ryan are laughing their heads off which just causes Dex to go into nose blowing over-drive.  Did I mention we have new carpet?

Anyway, Monday – Wednesday we saw runny noses.  Monday night Joel had to attend the mandatory parent night and on Tuesday night, I played volleyball and thus no blogs. Then on Wednesday night, Dexter decided to cough all night long.  Guess who drew the short end of the stick and ended up in the rocking chair with him from midnight to 3:00am and then from 3:30am – 4:30am?  Yep, you guessed it, it was me.  Joel is quite clever.  When the boys wake up in the middle of the night, he is so tired, all he has to say is “let’s wait to see what happens” and before you know it, I can’t take it anymore and get up (note – Wednesday IS KATIE’S NIGHT.  Just saying…)  Needless to say, after being up all night long, or so it felt at the time, I called in sick to work and slept from 6:30am (when Malin starts her day) to 8am when I had to get up for an appointment.  On Thursday, we started to give Dexter nebulizer treatments which is basically an inhaler that opens up the lungs.  We also invited our friends Julie and Trevor over so that the boys had someone else to perform for instead of whining to us.  Worked like magic.

OK, you can see we’ve been somewhat busy entertaining slightly sick kids.  Friday night was a blur.  On Saturday, we all headed to a pumpkin farm to pick out pumpkins.  Sunday was about Skyping with the Yates grandparents and visiting the French grandparents.  Monday, Joel and I had the day off so we took the boys down to IKEA to burn off steam, and to get two more chairs for the kitchen table now that the boys have broken up with their high chairs.  IKEA is a great place for kids to play.  The boys were especially intrigued by bunk beds this time around.  Joel and I had to attend a class that night so Malin put the boys down to bed.  She mentioned that Nicholas sounded a little wheezy but I didn’t think anything of it UNTIL midnight.  Nicky woke me up and when I ran into his room, he was standing in his crib and he sounded like Darth Vader.  The wheezing sound was amazing. OH MY GOD – my baby can’t breathe!  I scooped him up and ran to Joel in a total panic.  WE HAVE TO NEB NIC NOW – I shouted.  I can’t remember what Joel said, but it was like a verbal slap that knocked me out of my panicked state.  I carried Nicholas downstairs and Joel turned on the light.  He was a nice shade of pink and his lips were not blue.  His oxygen level was just fine – he just sounded like shit and it scared the crap out of me.  I made us neb him twice.  Joel reminded me that this had happened before – last October to be exact – and the doctor’s order at that time were to neb every 4 hours.  I also made Joel fire up his work computer and send off an email to my manager saying it wasn’t likely I would show up at work the next morning.

I attempted to put Nic back in bed but he was scary sounding and I ended up back in the chair which him on my chest.  I swear every 15 minutes he woke up and would cry until I reminded him that I was there and everything would be ok.  This process lasted until 4:30am when I got Joel up to help me with the nebulizer treatment again.  This time, I did put Nicky in his crib and reclined in the chair all by myself.  Once again, Nicholas needed reassurance but I think I actually got one whole hour of uninterrupted sleep at one time.  At 6:30am, Nic insisted it was time to get out of the crib.  We fell asleep in the rocking chair downstairs.  I didn’t even hear Malin bring Dexter down.  At 7am, Nicholas let me go take my shower.  The rest of the day, I had to be right next to him.  Bathroom breaks were few and far between.  At 9:40am, we saw the doctor.  Nicholas had a slight fever – but his lungs were totally clear.  Keep up the neb treatment.  As for Dexter, he had the beginning stages of an ear infection.  Hopefully this one clears up quickly – I can’t take another night of no sleep, which brings us to last night. 

As you know, I am now the “it girl”.  Mommy has to do everything – daddy is not allowed to help.  Ask the boys who do you want to change your diaper and they will reply “Mommy” (thanks guys – I will find out how much your father paid you to say that).  Joel repeatedly ask if he can do something for them – anything really – and the answer is all the same – Mommy.  Mommy is getting really tired.  Knowing this, Joel offered to listen and neb Nic during the middle of the night with the caveat that “you know Nicholas won’t let me touch him, right?” and that I would need to get up anyway.  Yes, I know.  So, when Nicky started to scream at 10:30pm and neither one of us had fallen asleep yet, I went in to see if I could help.  Nicholas was off his rocker.  He did not want to be touched by anyone and was totally thrashing about.  This made me think maybe he was still in the midst of a bad dream so I suggested we take him to our bathroom and turn on the light.  Nothing would comfort Nicky.  He ended up on the floor, thrashing about.  He only calmed when we stopped trying to help him and just sat with him and waited.  Nicky fell asleep, on the floor next to our bathtub.  I tried to move him – no go.  Fine then.  We blocked the path to the toilet with a pillow, left the bathroom door open, and went to bed.  At 2:30am he started to cry.  We nebbed him and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep on the floor.  No way – enough was enough.  I scooped him up and put him back in bed.  Joel stayed with him for the next 45 minutes until he fell back asleep.  My alarm went off way too early.

So, that’s our story.  Sorry if any of you were scared when you read Malin’s blog.  The boys are doing much better today.  Hopefully that holds true for tonight too.  It’s 9:08pm.  Time for Joel to proofread this post and for me to go to bed.  I was worthless at work today – way too tired to think.

Some days parenting is absolutely fantastic.  Other days, it really sucks.  I hate being that panicked and frightened.  I really think the whole NICU experience damaged my psyche.

(now it’s 9:44pm.  Just finished proof reading, and there on cue Nicholas is starting to cry out for Mommy.  Katie can’t catch a break…)