Another little bump in the road

So, we are now on our fifth hospital stay in just 6 months for little Luke. Poor Olivia was the first to catch the bad cold, which turned into an ear infection for her. Jackson was next with just a bad cold, followed by Luke last week. Unfortunately, Luke's cold took a turn for the worse by the weekend when he started vomiting and had very labored breathing. We went to the doctor twice and ended up in the ER with him on Tuesday. They admitted him after a chest x-ray confirmed he had bronchiolitis, with a swab also confirming RSV. He's been on breathing treatments, IV fluids, and oxygen support since then, but is doing so much better today. They've been able to wean him from the maximum oxygen support to the least and have decreased breathing treatments from every 2 hours to every 3 hours. He looks better and has even cracked a few smiles today, of course capturing the hearts of all the nurses and respiratory therapists. We're hopeful that he'll continue to improve throughout the night and possibly go home tomorrow. Olivia and Jackson sure do miss him!

We've been told that because of Luke's "floppy" and "smaller" airways he will be more susceptible to common colds turning into more severe respiratory problems. As much as Pete and I have despised hearing, "Kids with Down syndrome have..., which makes them more prone to...," we're learning that it's just a fact and something we need to be conscious of, not in denial of. In the meantime, I think Luke has had enough little bumps for now and deserves smooth pavement for a while!

Update: We were able to bring Luke home on Friday afternoon! They gave us the choice to keep him in the hospital or bring him home on oxygen support and a pulse ox monitor, so he's home and hooked up to a huge oxygen tank. He has grown quite tired of the nasal cannula and constantly tries to pull it out, which then ends up in his mouth and he starts chewing on it. He's doing much better and will hopefully be completely off the oxygen and breathing treatments by tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday. Hooray!