happy anniversary...

Five years ago my wife and I were in the mountains not far from where I grew up, getting ready to say our vows in the little town of Brevard, NC. We had found the perfect setting: a beautiful waterfall called Connestee Falls, with enough space for a few of our closest friends and family. At that point, we could not even imagine what our life would like in five years. Many even doubted if we would make it this long, and they were probably wise to doubt our chances, but here we are, with an amazing son: Colin Patrick Fish.



After we got married, we used to talk about the extravagant ways we could spend our fifth wedding anniversary. We covered everything from having a huge party for everyone we wished we could have invited to our wedding, to contemplating exotic trips both here in America and abroad, to laying out a tour of wineries up and down the eastern seaboard. None of these plans included spending our momentous day in a hospital room with our son hooked up to monitors and waiting for the doctor's next action. But to be perfectly honest, now that we are here, and while we would love for all of us to be at home and for Colin not to be sick, with these current circumstances, there is no place in the world we would rather be. In a way, the greatest celebration of our five years together, truly is our son and the love that binds our growing family together.

As our stay here in the hospital has lengthened, we have learned much about different tests, about how pneumonia is contracted, and about what the doctor's really are looking for before that can have a clear conscience about sending us home.

Yesterday, as Colin was pretty much staying the same, we decided to use a mask to administer the Albuterol treatments, as well as do them every two hours, instead of every four, and also give him another 24 hours to see if the antibiotics would kick in. The night before we had also started some feeding techniques to decrease his reflux and started him on Zantac as well. Again, he was a hit with the nurses as he took his medicine (even when he spit it up he was irresistably cute).

Last night, with three Albuterol treatments within a four hour period, we started seeing his head twitch back and forth ever so often. On top of that, the doctor had noticed his fontanelle was a little more puffy than when he first came in, and neither of us remembered it being like that before, so they moved up an ultrasound to check that out from Sunday morning to Saturday night. The ultrasound didn't show anything that would indicate that the puffiness is abnormal, and we realized that his shaking was more than likely due to all the Albuterol, as it is a stimulant, especially since he had no other symptoms of seizure activity.

Needless to say, yesterday was probably our most eventful thus far. And while at times it just seems frustrating to be here when he still seems happy and without fever, we understand that it is best for him to be here while he is still working his lungs so hard in order to breath. Today's goal is that he can make it four hours between Albuterol treatments and shows at least some progress from that. Through the night he has been at every three hours and is doing well with that, so hopefully we will receive word by the end of the day that we can go home. We do keep telling ourselves that every day, but today seems more likely that it has thus far. The only thing that will keep him in is if his wheezing gets any worse with the Albuterol treatments at the four hour interval. Please pray that he is able to show some progress on that front, and we will be able to take him home this evening.

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support. We love you all so much.