Wheezy’s last stand

Craig and I lit a candle the night we had to let Wheezy #3 go.  Wheezy #2 shut off unknowingly the night before, pushing our little TPN swith-a-roo time to late in the evening.  We talked it over for a while, and came to the conclusion that our late a.m. schedule just wasn’t sustainable. We were both tired, and the tension was getting in the way of an otherwise healthy sibling relationship.  We knew something had to give.  The setting was surreal; Emily was there to offer support.  You could still hear Wheezy pumping along quietly in his little pouch, working so hard to provide Craig with life-sustaining nutrients.  After all, it wasn’t his fault #2 was such a screw-up, or that his batteries failed earlier in the day to push the time back even more.  Still, we’d gone past the point of assigning blame.  Regardless if it was the battery, or Wheezy kinking things out, they both had to go and make room for his more competent brother, Wheezy #4.  So around midnight that evening, I unlatched the TPN bag, pushed the ‘ready to stop’ button, and then did the inevitable -- I hit yes.  Wheezy quickly stopped pumping; it was over.  Such a cruel, cruel world …  -- J