Getting Better

Hunter is working on getting better. His preemie emphysema has cleared up. In fact, Hunter's doctor says it had cleared within three hours of starting treatment. He will be spending the next few days on his fancy machine, the jet vent, to improve the chances that it doesn't come back.

While Hunter is on these new machines they can't do much to alleviate the symptoms of his pneumonia. They seem to be sucking fluid out of his lungs pretty frequently. They're also vibrating his chest to help open things up. Overall he is still acting very healthy.

His brother and sister have been with Grandma for a while now and will be coming home tomorrow. That reminds me of something Alyssa said when I put her to bed about a week ago. She started asking questions that I didn't know how to answer.

We have a bedtime routine where we brush our teeth and then say goodnight to everyone, "Goodnight Mommy, I love you. Goodnight Daddy, I love you. Goodnight Gavin, I love you."

Before I put her in her bed she said she wanted to say goodnight to Hunter. I told her we would have to say it real loud so he could hear us in the hospital. And we said (not too loudly) "Goodnight Hunter, I love you."

Then she asked her difficult toddler questions, "Why is Hunter in the hospital?"

I wasn't sure how to answer, because I want her to be able to make a connection that Hunter is her brother even though she won't be able to see him for the first three months of his life. Also, I don't want her to misunderstand this as something scary so she'll be okay with traveling to the hospital while Mommy and I visit him. I felt like the Grinch explaining to the little Who why he was taking her Christmas tree, "Hunter is a little sick. The doctor will make him feel better, they'll fix him up there then we'll bring him back here."

Whew - crisis averted. Good answer, Daddy.

Or so I thought.

"Why is Hunter sick?"

I didn't have an answer for that one, but I do want her to understand whats happening in a way appropriate to a three year old. Instead of answering I asked her to go to bed and I would answer any questions she had in the morning. When morning came we had both forgotten about it. I still haven't had the opportunity to explain it to her.