I got the best Halloween treat of my WHOLE life today. Your calls to 1-800-FREE-COOP worked! After two weeks in the hospital, my brother was released this evening. I’m so happy that I don’t even mind that he ROBBED me of a proper Halloween night while he adjusted to “life on the outside.” (Speaking of outside, this is a picture of him in the hospital tonight pointing to the outside – boy was he ready!)

October has been a rough month for the Carmichael household, so let’s TURN THIS PAGE! Bring it on, November!

Quinn

Ok, kids – enough of this Debbie Downer stuff… this cowboy’s gotta get some treats! Cooper, please get better and come home so we can play together.

Giddy up,

Quinn

P.S. Oh – as far as milestones go, I blew a kiss today to Grammy. I’m pretty cute.

After a couple days of withdrawal (trimmers, drooling , throwing up and just plain lethargy), I really think I’m on my way to getting back to good old Cooper (with the exception of the red splotches on my face as a sweet memory of the respirator tape).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still holding up camp in room 410 (aka mini-methadone clinic), but I was able to squeak out a smile (ok, smirk) today, which gave my parents a peak back in Cooper’s window. I’ve been spending my entire days laying on mom or dad’s shoulder (literally). Even when they take me in the playroom, I’m just a puddle and reach back to be in their arms. It simply seems like a safe an comfy place for me right now – and I like that.

All the doctors and nurses who have cared for me are meeting tomorrow to discuss an “exit strategy” for me. I’m hoping they will give the green light for Tuesday (tomorrow is just not realistic). Oh, and they do have one more thing they want to check out. I seem to have grown a “lump” on the back of my neck… (certainly didn’t want to leave this hospital without a little dose of drama). I’ve told the professionals here that they should try to lay on a neck roll for 8 days with a tube down their throat and see if they get a lump (!), but they still seem to think we should get an ultrasound. Ok ok… better to be on the safe side. I was just hoping to scoot out of here without any more tests, but an ultrasound is pretty painless. I’ve been on the other side of that lens quite a few times in my day (though never outside of the womb).

So think good thoughts for that meeting, folks. And feel free to call in to 800-FREE-COOP to put in your plea. Doctors are standing by.

XOXO,
Coop

P.S. Mom told me that Quinn misses me. Pansy.

(I know my eyes look a little heavy, but what do you expect from someone who has been on morophine and sleeping for 8 days?!)

I have good news (ok, GREAT news) and bad news. The good news is that I’m breathing on my own with no respirator. The bad news is that baby needs a hit. Yes, I’m addicted to drugs and my parents say that this is the only time that it’s acceptable.

The tube was removed yesterday afternoon. It all went down a little sooner than we expected because I was simply requiring too much sedation/medication. The doctor thought the chances of me breathing on my own were pretty darn good, so we went for it and my lungs were ready to take on the challenge! Those steroids sure worked their magic (not to be tried at home, friends.)

Re: the addiction: The doctor said I was on a “mountain of drugs,” so it’s taking a bit of work to wean me. (Who knew that a little guy like me would require medication in a day that would put a 250 pound man down for a week – no joke! The NICU helped me build up a major tolerance to certain meds…) I have a pretty bad case of the shakes, but I’m on methadone to help “bring me down.”

I’ve got a ways to go before I’m completely out of the woods, but mom thought this was a good time to remind me of a lesson from Pooh that she shared with me when I was a week old.

“It is hard to be brave,” said Piglet, sniffing slightly. “When you’re only a Very Small Animal.” Rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said, “It is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us.”

While I’m not-so-small anymore, it always helps to hear a little piglet/rabbit wisdom.

Don’t be alarmed by seeing me in a hospital bed now… this was a planned follow up visit from my stay in the hospital 3 weeks ago. The doctors call it a sleep study, but basically it entailed me coming to the hospital getting hooked up to a bunch of machines and sleeping while they watched me. The great news is that my oxygen/blood saturation levels were great and I got an A+++. And a bonus is I was in the ICU room right next to my brother, so I got to send him good vibes through the walls all night long. Fingers crossed that today is the big day to remove the respirator. He’s the boss, so he decides whether or not it’s time, but we are all hoping to see him breathing on his own by this evening.

Q-dog

Why does mom stare at me all the time? I feel like I wake up to either mom or dad right in my grill! Ok, maybe it’s because when I start to come out of my drug-enduced slumber, they rush to my bedside so I don’t freak out with a bronchospasm. Despite all the drugs i’ve got on board, i’ve gotten pretty good at making mom/dad/nurses and doctors rushing to my bedside when i wake. As Quinn said in his post yesterday, I go from 0-60 in about 2-3 seconds. What can i say, I’m extreme and know how to draw a crowd.

Overall, the medical peeps here say i’m progressing nicely, but not quite ready to come off the respirator. I know, it’s a bummer, but i really need to ride this one out and make sure i’m 100% ready when they remove it. While I am having bronchospasms more than we’d like, they aren’t getting as much gunk out of my lungs when they suction, which means I’m not carrying so much stuff in my airway. All good stuff. (mom and dad would beg to differ that the bronchospasms are “good stuff,” but it’s natural at this phase to have them.)

My parents have told me of all the wonderful people who are pulling for me and I wanted to send each and every one of you a shout out – thanks so much for everything… and keep the good vibes coming full force.

Peace out,
Coop

P.S. I’ve been “sleeping” (almost entirely) for seven days now… does this count as hibernation?

First I wanna say, I’m a tough guy. Ok – now that it’s been documented, I can admit that I miss my buddy. Mom took Bernie and I for a walk today (pictured) and we couldn’t even smile because Coop wasn’t with us. I gotta say, at first it was kinda cool to get all the toys to myself, but something is definitely missing – and I hope it all comes back together soon.

Mom had a chat with me today about what’s going on with Coop – and I thought I’d share what I heard…

* Bad news first – he’s still on the respirator (in baby talk, that’s a breathing machine) – this way his little body can focus on healing the pneumonia rather than fighting to breathe (which was nearly impossible before intubation).
* Good news is that he’s improving and the wonderful doctors and nurses are weaning him from the machine in hopes of extubating him (yeah, that’s taking the respirator tube out) in the next day or two.
* He’s on a ton of medication to keep him sedated and temporarily paralyzed. He needs this medication to keep him from pulling out the tube that is currently down his throat. The nurses say he’s at a difficult age because he’s old enough to know how to pull something out, but not old enough to understand that it needs to stay in… so he requires a lot of medication until we get the tube pulled (interesting to note is that ex-NICU babies require a LOT more sedation medication than even adults because of the tolerance they built up while in the NICU…) In other words, we are just plain tough.
* They put a tube to his stomach today to start giving him some food. They’ve given him straight-up nutrients, etc. over the past couple days, but today they started real food – 1 teaspoon of formula per hour! Geesh – I killed about 8 teaspoons in 5 minutes before bed tonight! Just goes to show how sick my little friend has been.
* Coop goes from 0-60 in about 3 seconds, so the nurses have learned to have his medication drawn so they can give him a few seconds of awake time to flail/stretch before letting him go night-night again. He’s sleeping so much (basically 24×7 for 5 days), mom and dad might be reliving the early twin days of NO SLEEP once he gets home.

That’s really it for now. Please continue to think good thoughts for him. He’s still got some work to do, but we are hoping he’ll be finished kicking this pneumonia’s but soon.

Hopin and a’ prayin.

Quinn

This picture was taken 10 days ago (you don’t want to see me now).

While Quinn is typically the more dramatic of the two of us, I’ve taken drastic measures today to ensure i get the majority of attention on our 1.5 year birthday (Oct 18).

Mom brought me into the hospital yesterday morning for wheezing and labored breathing. As you can imagine, my P’s got it down pat and know exactly when we need medical attention or simply a home treatment. Unfortunately, I got worse while in the hospital that day instead of better. (This pneumonia is really tough.) By nighttime, I was grunting with every very labored breath and the doctors were not at all pleased with my behavior. I was moved to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) for closer observation (I get my own nurse full time!), and I proceeded to need more intervention.

At midnight last night, they made the decision to intubate me (aka, put me on a respirator). I was just simply pooping out and even started to turn blue as they were prepping for the procedure. So, that made everyone feel better knowing that we were doing the right thing by intubation. I gotta say, I had some major flashbacks to my first days in this world as I saw the tube getting closer to my mouth, but i accepted it because, quite franky, I needed a little help.

Since then, I’ve been waking up every now and then, thrashing and fighting to get this tube out of my throat (not to mention the other MANY things sticking out of me), but i’m quickly addressed (i.e. sedated).

The people here are the bomb, and while i’d love to be able to run the halls like Quinn did when he was here, I’m told it’s just not in the cards right now and that i need to be patient (no timeline given). All’s I gotta say, is it’s a good thing they’ve got me in here instead of Quinn, as he’s got the patience of an I-don’t-know-what.

But I”ll be running those halls in no time.
Coop

P.S. Mom and dad say thanks for all the positive thoughts. Peace out.

I did it! I am home from the hospital and happy as can be! Thanks to all of you for your concern (and loads of balloons – as you can see in the picture, I LOVE them). I’m now back to my old ways of harrassing Cooper.

(give me a break on the hair in this pic – I’ve clearly got a case of “hospital hair”)

I’ve decided it’s time.

In seven (very long) days, I’ve charmed all the nurses, played with all the toys, and worn my parents down. So my job is done here. At this very moment, my blood/oxygen saturation levels are perfect (94), so if I keep running this coarse, I’ll be heading home from the hospital tomorrow.

Fingers crossed.

Ok – it’s my turn to chime in on the current situation. Quinn is full of it. I visited him at the hospital today, and as proven in the picture above, he continues to steal my toys and race/beat me running… so i’m convinced he’s not sick. And this talk of me “bragging” during our night talks is nonsense. I mean, come on… I simply don’t need to state the obvious.

To quote the doctors at the hospital, “we are puzzled” as to why Quinn is so healthy during the day while his numbers (blood/oxygen saturation levels) are so low at night (low being in the 60’s – yikes). He did make a move in the right direction last night (finally) and doctors were able to move him down in oxygen requirement. He’s not allowed to leave until he can go a full night with no oxygen, so fingers crossed tonight is a good night!

Despite all the smack he’s talking about me, I do miss my buddy. Hopefully this is my last night solo in our room.

Pretty pretty please come home, Quinn!
Coop