Twins Blog - Mar. 27, 2011 - "This was nothing"

They reduced Aidan's oxygen supplement levels to about 30%. A few weeks ago, my wife and I would take this as good news. But now, we can't help but think that this is just a ploy by the doctor to make it seem like he's doing work. It's complete BS, of course. Adjusting the oxygen levels is as simple as putting a note in the chart to instruct the nurses to do so. It doesn't do anything about his apnea episodes. He only had 1 episode over the last 24 hours and didn't need to be bagged. But our hopes aren't up because last week, there was an instance where he didn't have one for over 24 hours only to have multiple episodes the day after, and the day after, and the day after, etc. We'll still be pushing the doctors for treatment plans and tests until they exhausted all options or until Aidan outgrows the apnea himself.
On a lighter note, Aidan has been very alert and adorable the last few days we came to visit. He looks very much like Ethan except for a few differences: a birth mark on his left temple, he has less hair, and his hair is more curly.  Most of their expressions are fairly similar.

We took Ethan for his immunization shot yesterday. A few items of interest to note:

• We watched as the doctor inserted the syringe needle into Ethan's thigh and we didn't really feel anything. We didn't cringe or felt sorry for putting our child in pain. We just looked at each other, smiled and shrugged. It may sound like we were being emotionless parents but it's just that we've seen much worse when Ethan was still in the NICU. This was nothing. Ethan still carries the battle scars from numerous IV sites where multiple catheters was left in place for days. This doctor made a single insertion and the needle was in&out in 2 seconds. Seriously, this was nothing.
• Ethan took the shot like a man. That's not to say he didn't cry or feel any pain. He cried when the syringe was inserted obviously because it was uncomfortable. But the volume was tolerable. We've heard him scream louder at home when he's hungry. The crying continued for less than a minute. By the time I had him back in my arms, he was quiet and happily sucking away at his pacifier as if nothing happened. I've seen children at age 1 or 2 take shots and then just wail all out for 10-15 minutes. In comparison, my boy is less than a month old adjusted.