Monday night was a long night. Brooklyn was like a little energizer bunny. But then after she had been sleeping for about an hour she woke up complaining that her right ear hurt. It was so hard to sleep not knowing exactly what was going on with her. I was releaved that I had scheduled her follow-up appointment for Tuesday along with Bennett's 4 month check up since he turned 4 months on the 12th. After many breathing treatments during the night since she started to have a little cough. I wanted to make sure that her lungs remained open so that her airways would not collapse if she was getting sick. On Tuesday the kids were great when we went to the hospital to have her blood drawn and then we went over to the clinic to have her chest x rays done before her appointment. Brooklyn and Bennett's appointment was at 11:20 AM. Brooklyn was not feeling well that day and it was obvious that her right ear hurt her a lot. It was very infected but her chest x rays were clear. She was started on an antibiotic right away so that the infection would not take over. Bennett weighed in at 18 lbs. 7 oz. and grew over 3 inches since his 2 month check-up. By Wednesday morning Brooklyn had developed a very deep cough. She was acting like the two little girls that were sick at the Devan Nicole House that we were avoiding before she was admitted to the hospital. This week has been extra treatments and extra oxygen to try to prevent it from settling in her lungs. Wednesday night Brooklyn was starting to complain about her left ear hurting too. At least she was scheduled for a doctor's appointment on Thursday afternoon. Thursday I brought Brooklyn back in to have her ears rechecked and to make sure her lungs were still clear. Unfortunately the left ear was now infect too but the right ear was not bulging anymore but was still very infected and her lungs sounded good. So, the antibiotic was working but it had not kicked in enough to prevent the left ear from getting infected. Bennett is now getting sick so it will just be a matter of time before it runs through the house with the other kids. Brooklyn is being monitored closely for fevers and shortness of breath. So far so good. Her oxygen saturation is now 87-88 on room air during the day and 94-98 on oxygen when she is sleeping. We have been working with her several times a day doing breathing exercises to assist her in increasing her lung capacity. We have been blowing lots of bubbles, blowing bubbles in water using a straw, using a straw to blow air at bubbles that are floating in the air to prevent them from landing on the ground, etc. So far so good. Last night while Brooklyn was sleeping I noticed that she was starting to breath more with her chest and less with her belly. This is a great sign. I have not seen her breath this way for over a year now. So for now, we are taking things one day at a time and trying not to look too far ahead. She is supposed to go back to Boston at the beginning of December for a diagnostic heart cath to see if anything has changed and what else can successfully be coiled off. Well, I better go as Brooklyn and Bennett are awake and the kids are all hungry for breakfast.
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