May 20th

Today felt different.

First and foremost, I don’t want to get too excited and I don’t want to say too much too soon… but today was a “green” day. Probably one of the better days we’ve had in a very, very, very long time.

Both boys were wide awake and playful. Both got hours of my attention. And to top it off, Grandpa got to FaceTime with both of them. If you would’ve told me on Friday that this was how today would look, I would’ve told you that you were lying. It feels surreal to think about everything that has happened and somehow connect it to today.

Colton is still a little puffy, so we’re working on getting some of that extra fluid off. With all the medications and pain meds he’s been on, he’s been retaining quite a bit. We’re hopeful after tonight we’ll continue to see improvement because I already started noticing a difference before I left this evening. We are also working on getting a date set for his surgery…more to come on that soon.

And Declan… wow. What a difference 24 hours can make. He’s off the oscillator ventilator, and on a lower setting.

He was wide awake for most of the day. I have tons of videos and photos. We played dress-up, listened to music, hung out, and just soaked in the kind of moments I’ve desperately missed. We made so much eye contact today, and honestly, I swear we were having full-blown conversations because he had a little squeak in his tube and kept “talking” back to me.

Needless to say, I’m still in disbelief. It feels like I’ve gone from living in a nightmare to suddenly waking up inside a dream.

We’ll see how the rest of the week goes, but I’m praying we can hold onto this momentum and keep riding this high into Dad’s birthday weekend.

Time for this mama to finally get some rest and sleep. Feels like I haven’t slept in a week.

Oh wait… I haven’t.

Declan Jet is awake!!!!!!