Brady Drama

Mr. Brady decided to add a little more excitement to our lives on Thursday. Grammie Lou and I made our first trip to the ER, twice. Don't freak out, he is fine now. Brady was in acute respiratory distress and was having a few issues breathing. After a breathing treatment and a pretty invasive "suction" he was breathing normally again. I should say we all began breathing again. He showed major improvement and we were discharged with a neat machine called a nebulizer, with turtle mask and all. I did mention we went to the ER twice. After a few hours at home Brady returned to his old tricks and we were right back to where we started. We were off to the ER again. It had been such a short amount of time even the same nurses and doctors were on duty. This time we didn't get to make the trip home, instead they booked us a room at Hotel Childrens. Brady cozied in as all the nurses fused over his stylish hair do and killer good looks.

Thursday night was a bit rough, but by Friday he was making major improvements. We were finally sent home late Saturday afternoon with a stack of prescriptions and well wishes.

So here are the stats: Brady has Tracheal Malaysia, which is a fancy medical term for small floppy airways. This is common in babies with Down Syndrome. What caused this whole episode was the common cold. That little cold caused congestion, which then caused his tubes to clog up and therefore preventing easy breathing. He also has a case of bronchialitis compounding his breathing problems. And to top things off when he breathes he retracts and has strider, both which sound and look awful. I'm sure many of you have heard this yourselves.

The lesson: We are going to be as proactive and preventative as possible. The cold and flu season will be rough on Brady so we have enlisted a strict hand washing policy and minimal holding by people. So please don't be offended if we keep him to ourselves for a little while. We're not quite to the "baby in a bubble" stage, but a couple more trips to the ER might put us over the edge.

The good news: Brady will grow out of this...eventually.

The bad news: Brady will be sick an awful lot in the next year. He also has to have a scope of his "tubes" and bronchials in the next 10 days. Fortunately, they will sedate him for this procedure and he should have minimal discomfort. The doctors want to make sure that nothing is impeding his airways. He is also scheduled for a swallow study to decipher some reflux issues. Finally, he has a sleep study on the 30th. They have ruled out Apnea, but he does have some disruptions in his sleep pattern and they want to make sure they are not life threatening.

Jeff and I are doing fine. Its a bit stressful, but we feel strong overall. We have accepted what the future holds for our little guy and will continue to do the very best for Brady. Amazingly enough the last 3 months have made Jeff and I even closer and stronger than ever. They say babies with Down Syndrome bring more love and joy to their families and they are correct. Its amazing how bright his smile can be when we haven't seen it for a couple of days.

A big thanks to Grammie Lou for saving our little guy. Without you I think we would have all lost it!