Aidan had a pretty rough morning and early afternoon today (Sunday). He had several bouts of vomiting and had to be suctioned a lot today. We finally figured out what caused the increased secretions and the mucus on his stomach was what was causing him to vomit. Let's just say that he was pretty miserable, as were Russell and I, especially after getting to bed at 3:30am. We didn't have a nurse Saturday night and I'm not comfortable not having a nurse with Aidan at night. Russell and I have to sleep sometime. As long as Aidan has the trach, I want a nurse with him during the night. I don't need for him to vomit and aspirate it into his lungs.
Anyway, after a couple came this afternoon to visit Aidan and do some energy work (reike/healing touch) with him, he calmed down and we were able to go visit my grandparents and family for Father's Day. When we got there I put Aidan on the couch and my Mamaw started talking to Aidan and showed him my cousin's little puppy (the one in the pictures from last weekend). He immediately smiled! He smiled not once, but 3 times! I saw the first one I started bawling, I saw the second one and I couldn't stay there, so I missed the 3rd. Nothing I've done has gotten a smile out of him. I was so happy to see him smile. I know in the picture last week it looked like he was smiling, and he makes those kinds of faces, but you can never really distinguish whether they are smiles or grimaces. His smiles today were obvious smiles.
Aidan also turned his head twice to look at Evan while we were driving down to my grandparents (it's a 45 minute drive). Evan evidently knew that Aidan was looking at him and said "hey" to him. It was so cute. I wish I had had a video camera to capture it.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this news with you all. Let me just say that seeing my baby smile after 4 months is one of the best thing in the world.
Monday (tomorrow) marks 4 months since the accident. Our lives have been forever changed. I don't know how I feel from day to day. I have my good days and bad days, just like Aidan does. I still have hope that Aidan is going to recover from this, even though some days it feels like I'm at the end of a very long tunnel. Seeing Aidan smile renewed that hope.
Please continue to pray for Aidan's complete recovery. Pray that he continues to surprise and amaze us each day with his achievements. I hope all the fathers and grandfathers enjoyed their day.
~Erin
10 comments:
A smile, what a huge gift! I remember seeing Luke's first smile after his nd, it took years. Aidan's progress is amazing, though it seems slow to you it is going so much faster than so many little ones just like him. I know that even though you love his smiles, what you really want is for him to laugh, sing, jump up and down and say Mama again, don't lose hope that that will happen with God nothing is impossible. I continue to keep you in my prayers often.
Love in Christ,
Suzi Searles
I'm so happy for you that Aidan smiled (what a great Father's Day gift!).
What you witnessed was "pet therapy" at work, Erin, or what today they call AAT (animal assisted therapy). Since Aidan seems to be responding to dogs, namely this puppy, try to incorporate some longer "puppy times" for him into every day.
Read what the online encyclopedia Wikipedia says about AAT:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal-assisted_therapy
It has been proven to WORK, to bring about awareness in people, and to help in so many other real physical ways (such as lowering blood pressure, etc).
I don't think there is any coincidence that this very same puppy brought about his smiles yesterday, and now you can be pretty certain that first smile, in the photo you posted, really was a real smile!
God's blessings for Aidan's continued recovery, and continue getting him this pet therapy (borrow that puppy if you have to!)
Donna Mibus
Yay! What wonderful news! A smile from Aidan! That really made my day!
Get a puppy for him! I know, its more to have to take care of, but gosh, Aidan smiled!
Cindy.
I am SO happy to hear about those smiles!! Your post gave me goose bumps. Congrats on the beautiful gift from your handsome, little man!
What a wonderful Father's Day gift. You can just consider it a gift to you, as well, Erin.
Thank you for the update.
AMEN to what everyone else said! We are, all over the country, praying for FULL recovery. And for Aidan and Evan to be wrestling soon. As Luke's mom said, NOTHING is impossible with God. He said so, and we can believe Him! Go Aidan! What a fighter!
And about this puppy and smiling at him different times, maybe Aidan can see a lot more than they think he can see. I mean, the doctors can test and assume but they aren't Aidan. I pray that his eyesight is better than they thinkand getting better every day.
A smile! Praise the Lord! I am so happy for you. All Glory to God!
Pets have an amazing effect on people. How ironic that Aidan smiled his first smile with a puppy on Monday and we were putting our baby to sleep and bawling our eyes out. Shala was a therapy dog and she made a lot of people smile in her lifetime. I wish she could have met Aidan. She would have licked him to death. She loved babies. I say you should work on your mom about bringing Bear inside. ;) You said he's well behaved and I'm sure he misses being with all of you. A puppy is going to add a lot more work to your already full plate. I'm SO glad you got to see him smile. I know you were on cloud 9. See you Saturday!
Hey Erin,
I agree with these messages about a puppy for Aidan but maybe you can go with a "trained" dog like mentioned by Luke's Mom. You for sure want something to enhance not to add more work. Also are the therapy dogs trained to single out their person? My eyes welled up with tears knowing that he is smiling.
Kathy
Phoenix
PS 5 emergency calls this weekend on drownings in Phoenix. A 3 yr old and a 6 yr old did not survive.
:(
Post a Comment