Ahhhh.....Freak Out!

Ten minutes before we left for the play this evening, Andrew decided to have a little fit. This is the second time I've seen him do it, and it's pretty disconcerting. I've mentioned before that he doesn't really have any oxygen reserves, so any stress causes his stats to drop pretty quickly. All he was doing was kicking his legs, swinging his arms a little, and fussing over the ventilator tube (like he was trying to cry). That produced a 10-point spike in his CO2 levels and a quick desaturation of his blood oxygen, all within a minute or two.

The first time this happened, I had no idea what to do, and basically made soothing noises until the nurse could come over and sedate him. Today, however, a really nice respiratory therapist came over, grabbed his feet in one hand and his head in the other, and held him steady. By restricting the motion of his legs, it made him feel more comfortable and less exposed....just as normal babies like to be 'swaddled,' he needs the restriction in order to relax. After calming him a bit, she let me take over, and it worked amazingly well. After less than a minute of holding him like that, he completely relaxed and his stats started going the right way. It was a really great lesson.

On a non-Andrew note, Avenue Q was quite entertaining. It was definitely unconventional and managed to combine serious emotional subjects with swearing puppets. The performances of the touring cast (many of whom performed on Broadway and during the Las Vegas run at the Wynn) were fantastic, and I really found myself feeling for the characters....puppet and human alike. I found out that it won the Tony for Best Musical by beating out Wicked....I can't say I agree with that choice, but it was amusing in its own right.