January 23, 2012 - 324 Days Old

I have heard from several followers of the blog that I need to get my act together and write another post. I must admit, it has been too long since I have posted. Unfortunately, I am writing this post from the hospital where Aiden has just been admitted. Over the past week, he has come down with a bad cold and fever. Amaraa took him to the doctor on Thursday and he sent him over to the American Fork hospital for an RSV test. Fortunately, the test came back negative. The next day, they went back in to the doctor who found an ear infection and prescribed an antibiotic. Over the weekend, he seemed to get worse and was coughing much more. He wasn't sleeping well, his fever didn't get better, and he refused to eat. We had a follow-up doctor's appointment scheduled for today. The doctor checked him out and felt like he needed to be admitted to the hospital. At the hospital, the doctors checked him over and ran a bunch of tests. We still don't have the test results back, but they are thinking he must have some other form of Bronchiolitis. They suctioned out his lungs and gave him some meds and he is now doing a little better. They will probably keep him at the hospital for a few days to a week.

One pleasant surprise was that the neonatologist that worked with Aiden most in the NICU is his doctor in the pediatrics ward! We were so excited to see him because he understands Aiden's condition and medical history. One thing that has been frustrating when Aiden has had medical issues is that there is always a huge disconnect from the NICU to the clinic to the emergency room. Aiden's baseline health, when compared to a normal baby, appears critical. But for Aiden, it's normal. So when they see him, they don't understand that they have to evaluate him with a different yardstick than they do normal babies. Having Dr. Cheatham here is great because he understands Aiden's baseline better than anybody. It's kind of sad that we're on a first-name basis with many of the doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists here, but on the other hand, it's nice that they know Aiden's condition and we are very comfortable with them.
Other than this latest illness, Aiden has actually been doing quite well. He's growing, albeit slowly, and he seems to be improving a bit.

In other news, I got laid off from my job a couple of weeks ago. The CEO of the company resigned two days earlier. One of the VPs and all of the managers tried their best to convince us all that our jobs were safe and the direction of the company would not change. It seems the new CEO wanted to flex his muscles a bit, though, and laid about 20 people off, including me. I had already been applying for other jobs because I sensed the company was in a death spiral. Unfortunately, they stuck it to me before I had another job and could stick it to them. I'm now on the job hunt. I've had one good interview, but so far no job offers. I have been traveling back and forth to Price working construction with my dad to pay the bills, but with winter finally here, it would really be nice to find something closer.

Skylar and Jasmine have been doing well. Jasmine has been sick with a pretty bad cold she picked up at church, but seems to be getting over it now. Skylar hasn't caught it yet, so we're crossing our fingers that he doesn't. Unfortunately, Aiden caught it, and because of his health problems, it is particularly nasty for him. Skylar really likes school this year. We have been very impressed with Snow Springs Elementary and Sky loves his teacher, Mrs. Penrod. His reading is really improving, which is a testament to Amaraa's persistence. I'm really proud of him. Jasmine loves singing her ABCs and doing everything her brother does. They both had a great Christmas and were spoiled by Santa Claus.