don't quite know how to describe today

but i'll try. and i need to warn you now: the next paragraph talks about asher's constipation issues, so you might want to skip it and move on to the next paragraph. or read it. whatever. it's up to you. but you've been warned!

nursing visit this morning, bright and early. vitals seem to be returning to normal, but there's a few residual/on-going issues. nurse elaine noted "trace edema," meaning he's puffy, but only if you know what you're looking for. not a huge issue, and definitely better than he has been, but still, it's there. now for the crappy (literally) part of the nursing visit: asher hasn't pooped since thursday. usually he goes every 2-3 days, so this 4 days is concerning, esp since it took 9 days for the last one. so, ed pumped him full of peg tonight (a powerful laxative) and that should get things moving in the morning. the problem is this: asher is weaker now, as he is still recovering from a nasty bout of congestive heart failure. you saw on the video how he kept pausing during his play. that's b/c he gets tired and can't catch his breath. anyway, he has some weakness, some fatigue, and given that his sats are so low, it means that his body can't function at it's best. it also means that he may not be quite strong enough to push when he needs to. this is likely causing the constipation, since the poop's not hard or anything. he just can't push it out.

ok, so now onto other, less smelly stuff. his colour sucked today. in fact, it pretty much sucks all the time now. pale and blue are not attractive colours for him. let's see, what else? ah, yes. we discussed oral feeds with elaine. she seems frustrated that asher is still not eating anything by mouth. but you know, every once in a while we try it, and he aspirates (food goes into his lungs) and he chokes. not good. and then with the CHF this past month or so, i didn't want to work his body too hard, so i didn't bother. but now that he's recovering (still in the process; he's not over it) i'm ready to give it another try. so, i bought a jar of sweet potatoes to try with him. and.... it didn't go so well. he had 2 small tastes - no measurable amounts, just tastes - and his breathing immediately afterward was loud and wet and laboured, he coughed and his colour went bad, and then he got irritable (not that i blame him. i'd be ticked off too if i had yams in my lungs!) i'm going to be discussing this with dr b (paeds) tomorrow at asher's 15-month check-up (already! can you believe it?!). but my plan at the moment is to try again tomorrow or wednesday, but thicken it a bit with rice cereal. we'll see how that goes.

other than that.... we went to see the tundra swans again today. he absolutely loved it! i don't think he actually saw any swans, but he watched blithe and bram who spent the whole time fighting over Dad's binoculars and exclaiming, "i can see them close by! i love birdwatching!" seriously, my children! love birdwatching! who knew?!

it felt so good to be outside today. especially to be outside with all my kids. i'm so happy the weather's getting nicer, i can take my kiddies for walks (not long ones, since asher can't handle the cold and wind, but around the block shouldn't be too much). well, that's that for today. i'll post more tomorrow, after our appt with the paeds. h