Sick Nicolaysens

Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, visits and kind words. The odds haven't played well for our family since our last update. Kendra jinxed us with her last post, though we're doing well and are so grateful for the love and support of our friends and family. We're finally down to one healthy Nicolaysen, and unfortunately for Kendra, Preston and Katelyn--it's Stephen. After Preston's visit to the ER on Sunday (which accomplished nothing, by the way, except providing a name for what ails him--though we're not complaining. We LOVE the staff at St. Lukes Meridian) he continued having problems breathing and eating. He was still struggling enough by Monday that Kendra felt like she should follow up with our family doctor, who has it all over everyone else who's tried to help. At our doctor's office, P-Dawg was hooked up to oxygen and given a spin on the nebulizer which seemed to help a little, though his oxygen levels bottomed out whenever they took the mask away from him. Some of you already know we had him admitted Monday to the hospital and he's been fighting to get better ever since, and doing much better as of late.

Our Dr. is hoping to get him breathing cleanly on his own before releasing him, so we're hoping and praying that by Wednesday he'll have kicked this well enough that we'll get to take him back home. Katelyn is staying with Grandma and Grandpa Nicolaysen, and while Stephen was tucking her into bed tonight she pled with him, "Daddy sleep at Grandma's house?" We can't wait to have the whole family back home together.

On his first night in the hospital, Preston had his nose sucked out dry three times, and was so exhausted from not being able to sleep right for the last couple days that he was out cold whenever they weren't messing with him. In the picture above, shortly after a round of nose sucking, Preston knows that having a moment of peace from being worked on probably sounds too good to be true.

The nebulizer was just what the Dr. ordered. Just a spoonful of albuterol helps that oxygen go down in the most delightful way. We're starting to worry he's going to develop an addiction to pure, unadulterated oxygen, though I suppose there are worse things to which he can be addicted.