A Hospital Holiday!

We have definitely had a Christmas to remember! On Christmas Eve, we had the chance to have a yummy Christmas meal at mom's house and the boys were able to play in the snow and get pulled around by the four wheelers! We came home from grandmas, read the nativity story and had magic hot chocolate with sleeping sprinkles in it. The older boys were starting to feel sick and fevered so we tucked them in, turned on their Christmas lights and finished a Christmas story we had been reading to them.
Caleb also hadn't been feeling well the past few days and his breathing had become more rapid and shallow. He wasn't able to stay saturated with oxygen the way he should. We gave him some motrin at about 7:00 PM and for the next hour the motrin kept oozing out of his trach. He also started constantly oozing blood out of his trach. We thought he was probably aspirating so I called the on-call doctor. He asked us to take him right in the the ER at Primary Children's hospital. It wasn't what he had planned for Christmas Eve, but Dallan and I did some arranging for Santa Claus, and packed up for a holiday trip to the hospital.
Derek and Shantal wonderful to help us! Shantal stayed with our sleeping boys and Derek followed us to the hospital so that Dallan and I could be with Caleb (one to drive, the other to suction) We also planned for Derek to drive Dallan home after we got checked in so that he could be home with the boys on Christmas morning.
We made it through a snowstorm and got checked in at 11:59 PM-- still Christmas Eve!! He was hooked up to oxygen,tests were run and chest X rays were taken. It appeared that Caleb aspirated and was battling pneumonia. Dallan and Derek left at around 2:30 AM and shortly afterward,Caleb was taken to the floor. The doctors and nurses tried for hours to stabilize Caleb, but his blood pressure was dangerously low, and even at 100% oxygen, he wasn't able to stay saturated. Finally at about 7:00AM, Caleb was taken to the PICU. He continued to have blood ooze out of his trach and his color was pale and pasty. He was put on a C PAP through his trach, and that helped him stay more saturated with oxygen. The blood oozing from the trach finally finally started to lessen at about 5:00 tonight. When I left the hospital, he was much more stable. His blood pressure was within normal range and his oxygen has been weaned down to 60 %. He's still on C PAP, but hopefully he'll continue to improve.
I don't think I'll ever forget this Christmas... Caleb and I in the hospital and Dallan and the boys not feeling well at home....
But Christmas came! It came just the same! Our stockings were filled with great prizes and treats- there were presents to open stacked under the tree. There were presents from Santa that surprised us all, and even though achy, the boys had a ball! Our hearts were sure tender, but still full of love, for the gift of our Savior from Father above!