Sorry for the lack of posting lately. It has been a pretty rough couple of months in our house. With two deaths in the family, memorial services, and my father-in-law being in the hospital after a minor stroke, it's been tough. Plus, I have recently gotten back to going to counseling and I weaned off my anti-depressants. Even though my moods have leveled out now, it was a bad week or so.
I will get started on posting again, now that everything seems to have calmed down. I will get a Weight Watchers post up soon as well as a knitting post and probably a random picture post of my boys.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
Showing posts with label Sickness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sickness. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
I Feel Weird
I went to the doctor yesterday for a physical and because I have been having some odd symptoms. He asked what I was there for an I told him an overall tune-up and because "I feel weird". That is the only way I can describe how I have been feeling these days.
I have lost a total of 35 pounds so I should be feeling better. Instead, I am constantly fatigued. Not just tired but a bone weary exhaustion that no amount of sleep can help. I am also very very irritable. Crabby, cranky, bitch, whatever you want to call it. I know I am being short and angry with my family but it's almost like I can't help it. I am also having some weird dry patches of skin on my scalp and hair loss but honestly, I was attributing that to the fact that I changed shampoos. Maybe it's related to my other symptoms? The last symptom I am having is fogginess. I feel like I can't remember things and I am confused. Again, that is probably related to the fatigue.
The doctor is checking a few things like my thyroid levels as well as my iron and other blood work. I have always been borderline anemic so it wouldn't surprise me if my iron is low. I would also not be surprised if I have an issue with my thyroid.
Either way, whatever is wrong (if anything) is hopefully easily corrected. If not, I can always add in some exercise to start helping with the fatigue. I also need to start taking a multi-vitamin.
That's about it in regards to my health. I need to do a randoms post soon because I have so much that I have been doing these days. But you know what? I am so tired. I have no energy to do another post right now. Maybe in a few days.
I have lost a total of 35 pounds so I should be feeling better. Instead, I am constantly fatigued. Not just tired but a bone weary exhaustion that no amount of sleep can help. I am also very very irritable. Crabby, cranky, bitch, whatever you want to call it. I know I am being short and angry with my family but it's almost like I can't help it. I am also having some weird dry patches of skin on my scalp and hair loss but honestly, I was attributing that to the fact that I changed shampoos. Maybe it's related to my other symptoms? The last symptom I am having is fogginess. I feel like I can't remember things and I am confused. Again, that is probably related to the fatigue.
The doctor is checking a few things like my thyroid levels as well as my iron and other blood work. I have always been borderline anemic so it wouldn't surprise me if my iron is low. I would also not be surprised if I have an issue with my thyroid.
Either way, whatever is wrong (if anything) is hopefully easily corrected. If not, I can always add in some exercise to start helping with the fatigue. I also need to start taking a multi-vitamin.
That's about it in regards to my health. I need to do a randoms post soon because I have so much that I have been doing these days. But you know what? I am so tired. I have no energy to do another post right now. Maybe in a few days.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Monday Miscellaneous
Man has it been a while since I posted. Sorry about that. Life has been busy and quite frankly, I haven't had anything interesting to write about.
Here are some randoms from our last couple of weeks.
* Jack is LOVING school. He really likes going. I wish he could go every day but I will be happy with twice a week.
* In case you were wondering, food-wise, not much has changed. My kids are still picky and don't eat a lot of dinner most nights. Even after changing how we do dinner, they just won't eat. I fix kid-friendly dinners and offer them two things on their plates that I know they will eat. They aren't starving, so I guess that is good.
* A couple of weeks ago, Cal had some weird virus that prompted two ER visits. He had a very high fever and no other symptoms other than not sleeping well and fussy. No cold, no ear infection, no vomitting. After 5 days of 103 and up to 104.3 fevers, it finally broke and he had a slight rash on his chest. Diagnosis? Likely it was Roseola. No fun dude.
* Apparently I missed Cal's 15 month well-baby visit (bad mom). I brought him in for a delayed 18 month and he needed 5 shots. Oops. However, my shorty is almost 34 inches tall (75th percentile) and 25 pounds (35th percentile). My kids and string beans. The pediatrician was impressed by how much my kid talks. He talks all the time. He is starting to string two and three words together and it's adorable. Seriously. I had him say "Bye Bye Stinky butt" (to his brother) and he said it perfectly. He is like a parrot repeating everything we say.
* I am knitting up a storm as usual. I have a long list of Christmas projects to do. I will do a separate post soon with all the things that I have made. I even made up a pattern!
* I just booked our weekend anniversary trip. I am sooooo excited! We are staying at the same hotel as last year but upgraded our room just a bit. We have a room with a view which is cool. Sad to say that the thing I am looking forward to the most is sleeping in. I plan to sleep past 6:00am and just be lazy. LAZY. Oh, and spend some time with my husband too.
* We took the kids to French Prairie Gardens on Saturday. We usually go to a different farm for fall activities but this year, we did something new. The kids had a blast! We would have stayed longer had it not been for the yellow jackets that kept bothering us.
I really need to start posting more. Seriously, I have been super slacking.
Here are some randoms from our last couple of weeks.
* Jack is LOVING school. He really likes going. I wish he could go every day but I will be happy with twice a week.
* In case you were wondering, food-wise, not much has changed. My kids are still picky and don't eat a lot of dinner most nights. Even after changing how we do dinner, they just won't eat. I fix kid-friendly dinners and offer them two things on their plates that I know they will eat. They aren't starving, so I guess that is good.
* A couple of weeks ago, Cal had some weird virus that prompted two ER visits. He had a very high fever and no other symptoms other than not sleeping well and fussy. No cold, no ear infection, no vomitting. After 5 days of 103 and up to 104.3 fevers, it finally broke and he had a slight rash on his chest. Diagnosis? Likely it was Roseola. No fun dude.
* Apparently I missed Cal's 15 month well-baby visit (bad mom). I brought him in for a delayed 18 month and he needed 5 shots. Oops. However, my shorty is almost 34 inches tall (75th percentile) and 25 pounds (35th percentile). My kids and string beans. The pediatrician was impressed by how much my kid talks. He talks all the time. He is starting to string two and three words together and it's adorable. Seriously. I had him say "Bye Bye Stinky butt" (to his brother) and he said it perfectly. He is like a parrot repeating everything we say.
* I am knitting up a storm as usual. I have a long list of Christmas projects to do. I will do a separate post soon with all the things that I have made. I even made up a pattern!
* I just booked our weekend anniversary trip. I am sooooo excited! We are staying at the same hotel as last year but upgraded our room just a bit. We have a room with a view which is cool. Sad to say that the thing I am looking forward to the most is sleeping in. I plan to sleep past 6:00am and just be lazy. LAZY. Oh, and spend some time with my husband too.
* We took the kids to French Prairie Gardens on Saturday. We usually go to a different farm for fall activities but this year, we did something new. The kids had a blast! We would have stayed longer had it not been for the yellow jackets that kept bothering us.
I really need to start posting more. Seriously, I have been super slacking.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Thursday Tidbits
Let's see, where to start?
* Our weekends have been chaotic to say the least. They have been filled with family reunions, parties, errands and crazy. I finally said "to hell with it" and declared two weekends ago a DO NOTHING weekend. We stayed in, watched movies and relaxed. I took naps both Saturday and Sunday and it was glorious.
* The naps came in handy when Jason had to cart me to the emergency room a few Saturdays ago. I was giving the boys a bath (Jason was out for game night) when all of a sudden I had excruciating pain in my lower abdomen. I mean really painful. Worse than labor pains painful. By the time my mother-in-law sped over to watch the boys and Jason got me to the hospital, I was feeling better. I felt really silly for being at the hospital. Four hours later, two ultrasounds and a pelvic exam (super fun) later, turns out I had cysts on my ovary and one of them burst. The pain I was feeling was the blood in my abdomen. It is very irritating and painful. Apparently my cyst was fairly large, about the size of a Greek olive, the same size as my ovary. At least if it happens again, I know what the pain is and I don't have to spend the time to go to the ER.
* The kids have been both difficult and amazing at the same time. Jack says the funniest stuff. We were on our way to Costco yesterday and he yelled "It's a city!" When I explained that we live in a city called Portland, he yelled "Yay! Good job for saying our city Mama!". He cracks me up.
* Calvin has some sort of weird virus or something. He has had a fever for three days now but really no other "sick" symptoms. He isn't eating a whole lot (but drinking a ton so that is good) but nothing that is alarming. I am wondering if he might have an ear infection. One of his tubes is blocked post-surgery because of some dried blood. He isn't tugging on his ears and doesn't seem to be in any amount of pain. If tomorrow he still has a fever, I will take him in. It doesn't help that he is teething so maybe the fever is related to that?
* I have been cooking and baking up a storm. Jason's grandmother's birthday was last weekend and she requested no gifts. But, I didn't want to arrive empty handed. She is elderly and cares for her friend/partner and has a hard time cooking. I took the hard out of it for her. I made some freezer meals that she just has to reheat. I made her a big pan of macaroni and cheese, some barbeque chicken, a small batch of chili, blueberry pancakes and zucchini muffins. At least some of her breakfasts and dinners are taken care of. I plan to do the same thing for Christmas for her.
* Picky eaters in this house are still picky eaters. We are trying and not making any special meals for them but they really aren't sampling new foods. They simply just don't eat them. Oh well, just keep swimming! I plan to make some fun new kid friendly meals the next couple of weeks from the cookbooks I checked out from the library.
* I needed to get OUT of the house on Sunday (like I said, it's been a rough couple of weeks) so I drove by myself to Sauvie's Island and picked 40 pounds of peaches. I have already made a batch of delicious peach jam and frozen tons of them for smoothies. Tonight I am going to add some grilled peaches as a side to our dinner! Yummmmmm. And 40 pounds of peaches is a lot! Funny though, it only took me 15 minutes to pick them. I was shocked when they got weighed. Fresh, organic peaches for $1.00 a pound beats grocery store peaches any day!
* I have been thinking about taking some sort of class to get out of the house and do something for me. Whether it be a knitting class, a cooking class, or dance, I need to do something. I feel very trapped sometimes. That sounds harsh doesn't it? I work from home, so I am around Jason and the boys all day. Then I am with them all weekend and after work. The only time I really get out is to run errands, and that really isn't considered fun.
* Jason, my sister Carrie and I are headed to the State Fair on Sunday. See? That is getting out of the house, ha! I am super excited! We try to go every year but missed it last year since Cal was much littler and I was still pumping every three hours. I love seeing the animals the craft barn and of course, every year, I get a plain funnel cake. Yummmm.
* Cal is talking up a storm. It's so stinkin' cute. He repeats everything so we have to be really careful what we say. The other day, I was playing a game with Jack and said "bummer" and Cal now is saying bummer. Ha! His pronunciation of things is hysterical. Ducky is "gucky". Candy is "deedee". Doggie is "goggie". He still hasn't really done two words together yet but I am sure it's coming.
* On the kntting front, I finished an infinity scarf for my cousin which means I get to start a new project! I am working on some slipper socks for Jason. I really need to do a post just on knitting so I can keep track of my projects. I only allow myself two projects at the same time as to not lose track or get overwhelmed. However, I have about a billion projects lined up. I want to try a cabling project so I found a really pretty hat that I am going to try out.
That is about it for now. All I seem to have time for lately are randoms posts. Oh well.
* Our weekends have been chaotic to say the least. They have been filled with family reunions, parties, errands and crazy. I finally said "to hell with it" and declared two weekends ago a DO NOTHING weekend. We stayed in, watched movies and relaxed. I took naps both Saturday and Sunday and it was glorious.
* The naps came in handy when Jason had to cart me to the emergency room a few Saturdays ago. I was giving the boys a bath (Jason was out for game night) when all of a sudden I had excruciating pain in my lower abdomen. I mean really painful. Worse than labor pains painful. By the time my mother-in-law sped over to watch the boys and Jason got me to the hospital, I was feeling better. I felt really silly for being at the hospital. Four hours later, two ultrasounds and a pelvic exam (super fun) later, turns out I had cysts on my ovary and one of them burst. The pain I was feeling was the blood in my abdomen. It is very irritating and painful. Apparently my cyst was fairly large, about the size of a Greek olive, the same size as my ovary. At least if it happens again, I know what the pain is and I don't have to spend the time to go to the ER.
* The kids have been both difficult and amazing at the same time. Jack says the funniest stuff. We were on our way to Costco yesterday and he yelled "It's a city!" When I explained that we live in a city called Portland, he yelled "Yay! Good job for saying our city Mama!". He cracks me up.
* Calvin has some sort of weird virus or something. He has had a fever for three days now but really no other "sick" symptoms. He isn't eating a whole lot (but drinking a ton so that is good) but nothing that is alarming. I am wondering if he might have an ear infection. One of his tubes is blocked post-surgery because of some dried blood. He isn't tugging on his ears and doesn't seem to be in any amount of pain. If tomorrow he still has a fever, I will take him in. It doesn't help that he is teething so maybe the fever is related to that?
* I have been cooking and baking up a storm. Jason's grandmother's birthday was last weekend and she requested no gifts. But, I didn't want to arrive empty handed. She is elderly and cares for her friend/partner and has a hard time cooking. I took the hard out of it for her. I made some freezer meals that she just has to reheat. I made her a big pan of macaroni and cheese, some barbeque chicken, a small batch of chili, blueberry pancakes and zucchini muffins. At least some of her breakfasts and dinners are taken care of. I plan to do the same thing for Christmas for her.
* Picky eaters in this house are still picky eaters. We are trying and not making any special meals for them but they really aren't sampling new foods. They simply just don't eat them. Oh well, just keep swimming! I plan to make some fun new kid friendly meals the next couple of weeks from the cookbooks I checked out from the library.
* I needed to get OUT of the house on Sunday (like I said, it's been a rough couple of weeks) so I drove by myself to Sauvie's Island and picked 40 pounds of peaches. I have already made a batch of delicious peach jam and frozen tons of them for smoothies. Tonight I am going to add some grilled peaches as a side to our dinner! Yummmmmm. And 40 pounds of peaches is a lot! Funny though, it only took me 15 minutes to pick them. I was shocked when they got weighed. Fresh, organic peaches for $1.00 a pound beats grocery store peaches any day!
* I have been thinking about taking some sort of class to get out of the house and do something for me. Whether it be a knitting class, a cooking class, or dance, I need to do something. I feel very trapped sometimes. That sounds harsh doesn't it? I work from home, so I am around Jason and the boys all day. Then I am with them all weekend and after work. The only time I really get out is to run errands, and that really isn't considered fun.
* Jason, my sister Carrie and I are headed to the State Fair on Sunday. See? That is getting out of the house, ha! I am super excited! We try to go every year but missed it last year since Cal was much littler and I was still pumping every three hours. I love seeing the animals the craft barn and of course, every year, I get a plain funnel cake. Yummmm.
* Cal is talking up a storm. It's so stinkin' cute. He repeats everything so we have to be really careful what we say. The other day, I was playing a game with Jack and said "bummer" and Cal now is saying bummer. Ha! His pronunciation of things is hysterical. Ducky is "gucky". Candy is "deedee". Doggie is "goggie". He still hasn't really done two words together yet but I am sure it's coming.
* On the kntting front, I finished an infinity scarf for my cousin which means I get to start a new project! I am working on some slipper socks for Jason. I really need to do a post just on knitting so I can keep track of my projects. I only allow myself two projects at the same time as to not lose track or get overwhelmed. However, I have about a billion projects lined up. I want to try a cabling project so I found a really pretty hat that I am going to try out.
That is about it for now. All I seem to have time for lately are randoms posts. Oh well.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Jack's Second Surgery
Jack's surgery started out bright and early on the morning of April 19th. I had taken that day off of work so I could take Jack to the surgery. Cal had spent the night over at my in-laws on Thursday so we wouldn't have to worry about transporting him or entertaining him at the hospital all day.
We had to be at the hospital at 6:00am for a 7:30am surgery. Although I had briefly explained to Jack what was going on, he didn't really understand. All he cared about was riding the "elligators" (elevators).
We had to be at the hospital at 6:00am for a 7:30am surgery. Although I had briefly explained to Jack what was going on, he didn't really understand. All he cared about was riding the "elligators" (elevators).
He wanted to bring his pillow which I think was an excellent idea.
Walking across the sky bridge to the hospital. It really was this dark out.
After checking in and getting a super cool hospital bracelet, we settled into the surgery waiting room. Jack played on my tablet, not having a care in the world.
Soon enough we were brought back to our room for the day and introduced to Jack's wonderful nurse Lacey. She was so kind and explained everything to us. Jack bonded with her immediately because she had a "way" with kids. Jack got into his special hospital jammies and Lacey took vitals, did a few tests and talked to us about what we could expect.
Even though Jack had this same surgery when he was 15 months old, there are some differences. Older children tend to have a more difficult time coming out of anesthesia. They get very disoriented, can be really cranky, cry and some even just scream because they are so angry. I had done some reading online so I expected a lot of this. Also, Jack's adenoids were being taken out so he needed a breathing tube placed in. That was different than the last time as well.
Lacey came in and gave Jack a dose of Verced, which calms them and makes them pretty sleepy. I was afraid of him throwing up since he has such a terrible gag reflex. Amazingly, he did great, even though he did say the medicine was "yucky".
Pretty soon Jack got loopy and sleepy. Even though he didn't fall asleep, he needed to be held up a bit because he would sit in the bed and sort of topple over. It was like watching a tiny drunk person.
The anesthesiologist came in and met with us. He gave Jack the mask and balloon to check out so he wouldn't be concerned when taking him back to surgery and that was it. Jack wanted nothing else than to play with that thing. Every other picture I have is of him and that darn balloon.
Loopy but he still realizes that toe clip is taking his pulse.
Watching Disney and there's Daddy!
Drunkard!
That dang balloon. He would blow it up and play with it. A few times we had to take it away because he was almost hyperventilating.
Laying down now. Medication in full force.
Oh hai! I am high on life!
The doctor was running about 30 minutes behind but that gave the Verced a good amount of time to work. By the time the doctor got there, Jack was well medicated and he had no problems being wheeled off to surgery. He still had the balloon so that was a good distraction.
Jason and I got our pager and went to get some breakfast. I was a worried mama and couldn't really eat so I settled for some coffee and a very fattening pastry (stress eater checking in!). After eating we were expecting a page pretty quickly so we settled back into the surgery waiting room. We were told to expect to be paged about 45 minutes after Jack was wheeled back. Sure enough, it was right about 50 minutes.
We went back to our room to wait for a report from the doctor and to see Jack. He went to recovery after surgery in order to make sure he was okay and not throwing up.
Dr. Pedersen came and told us Jack had done well with the surgery (phew). Apparently his adenoids were very enlarged and completely blocking his eustachian tube. Taking them out would greatly help with the ear draining. Since they cauterize the adenoids, we were told to expect him to have very bad breath for a few days. His left ear, the one where the tube had fallen out, had very thick fluid in it that they had to suction out. Also, because he was getting over the final legs of a cold, they needed to suction out his throat a bit too. He was coughing a bit in recovery and getting the residual junk up. Because he was crying for Mama, they brought him back to his room.
Like expected, he had a little bit of a hard time coming off the anesthesia. He had an IV in his hand and he kept trying to rip it out and cried "Get it off, get it off" over and over again. The IV can't come out until he could keep some fluids down without throwing up. Lacey, his nurse kept offering juice (which he loves) or a popsicle. Because he hadn't eaten anything since the night before, I was expecting him to jump at the chance of juice but he just kept crying "no, no, no!".
I held him for about 45 minutes, trying to calm him down, telling him he was safe, that we loved him, encouraging him to take a drink and promising him that as soon as he drank some juice, we could go home. He would just keep crying, telling me his mouth hurt, pulling at his IV, and being generally cranky. I don't blame him the poor thing.
Finally after 45 minutes he drank some juice and was starting to feel like himself. When he talked, he did indeed have super bad breath and sounded like he was getting over the worst cold of his life (almost like he was completely stuffed up). Once he could drink and keep the juice down, Lacey took out his IV and we got him dressed.
We were on our way home! He was groggy the rest of the day and took a super long nap after lunch. Since I wanted him to have some food before eating but not upset his throat or stomach, I made him cinnamon toast, a banana and more juice.
Playing on the tablet at home, resting up.
The next few days, Jack recovered and was spoiled. Calvin stayed over at Nana and Papa's another night so we could pamper Jack and let him get his rest. We went out to dinner on Friday night because he seemed to be feeling great. He was pretty crabby so our dinner wasn't completely fun.
The big thing that threw us off was that Jack didn't bounce back quite like we were expecting. The doctor told us that by the next day, he wouldn't be in any pain and wouldn't need any medication with the exception of the antibiotic and ear drops he prescribed. He shouldn't need any pain meds but we could certainly give him some. Well, that wasn't the case. For about a week, Jack complained of his mouth hurting. To the point where he would wake up in the middle of the night crying in pain. We had to constantly keep him on Ibuprofen so he would be comfortable.
By Monday I called his doctor because I was getting concerned. I took him for a quick follow-up and it turns out the doctor might have knicked him with the cauter tool because his mouth had some white spots in it that didn't appear to be infection related.
By Monday I called his doctor because I was getting concerned. I took him for a quick follow-up and it turns out the doctor might have knicked him with the cauter tool because his mouth had some white spots in it that didn't appear to be infection related.
Even though it took Jack a little longer to heal, I am glad we went through with the surgery. He is unlikely to get any more ear infections until the tubes fall out. That alone is a good thing since getting an ear infection every time he had a cold was getting problematic.
Hopefully this winter when cold and flu season is in full swing, we will really start seeing the benefits of this surgery.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Funky Town
I am sure you have noticed my blog hiatus. I have been staying away because I haven't been feeling well. Most of it is stress related and some of it is general feeling sorry for myself. I have been in a funk. Ever since my family got sick over Christmas, I haven't quite recovered and have picked up some other maladies.
This post might get a little gross for some, so if you are easily yucked out, stop reading.
After I had that gross cold, I got a sinus infection. I didn't even have a regular doctor so I had to find one quickly and get an appointment so I could get a prescription. I had never had a sinus infection before and stupidly thought you took medicine and they go away. Not the case for me. I took one round of Augmentin and seemed to be better. My infection was in a weird spot in my sinuses (or so my doctor told me) and it didn't go away. I had to take another round of Augmentin. It still didn't go away. After another visit with my doctor, I had two options: Wait it out and hope it gets better, or run to the nearest ENT and get drained.
Hell no. I decided to wait it out. The thought of having a scope inserted up my nose and being drained freaked me out. I waited and eventually, it got better. Thankfully. But now I have a new cold. Let's hope it doesn't turn into another sinus infection.
In the meantime, I developed this weird rash on my hands. It started on the palms of my hands and it looked like tiny little water blisters. I Dr. Googled and self-diagnosed myself with eczema. Since the rash was incredibly itchy and starting to spread to my fingers, I went to the dermatologist. He did confirm I had this form of eczema. Interesting note: This form of eczema is brought on by stress. I didn't feel overly stressed but apparently it was my body's way of showing the signs of stress.
I got a prescription for a gnarly steroid cream. Thankfully it works really well but every few days I get a new batch of the blisters and I have to start over with the cream. Last week I had the worst outbreak since this all started. I couldn't even move my fingers because it was between the fingers and was incredibly painful.
Another fun thing that has come up is digestive issues. At first I thought it was a side effect of my Augmentin but after two weeks of constant running to the bathroom 12 times a day, I decided it wasn't the antibiotics.
I am convinced I have IBS but I haven't been to the doctor to verify. I am embarrassed and don't even know what I would say. "Hi, I have been shitting a lot, can you help me?". Gross. Instead, I have been taking a ton of probiotics and things that help aid good digestion. It has gotten better but there are definitely some days where it's worse than others.
I am generally a very healthy person so all of these illnesses, while minor, have really gotten me down. I want to go running but can't because my stomach immediately starts rumbling and I have to poop. I want to get more sleep and feel human again but I know that is not going to happen.
Woe is me right? People in the world have way more issues so I need to suck it up. But, the last few weeks have been mentally and physically draining.
On top of all of this, Cal is facing a Failure to Thrive diagnosis. I will talk a little more about that later, maybe not. It depends on how I feel. He has an appointment on the 26th for a weight check and we will know more than. I can't tell you how awful this makes me feel as a mom. I feel like the biggest failure on earth and like I am failing my child.
This post might get a little gross for some, so if you are easily yucked out, stop reading.
After I had that gross cold, I got a sinus infection. I didn't even have a regular doctor so I had to find one quickly and get an appointment so I could get a prescription. I had never had a sinus infection before and stupidly thought you took medicine and they go away. Not the case for me. I took one round of Augmentin and seemed to be better. My infection was in a weird spot in my sinuses (or so my doctor told me) and it didn't go away. I had to take another round of Augmentin. It still didn't go away. After another visit with my doctor, I had two options: Wait it out and hope it gets better, or run to the nearest ENT and get drained.
Hell no. I decided to wait it out. The thought of having a scope inserted up my nose and being drained freaked me out. I waited and eventually, it got better. Thankfully. But now I have a new cold. Let's hope it doesn't turn into another sinus infection.
In the meantime, I developed this weird rash on my hands. It started on the palms of my hands and it looked like tiny little water blisters. I Dr. Googled and self-diagnosed myself with eczema. Since the rash was incredibly itchy and starting to spread to my fingers, I went to the dermatologist. He did confirm I had this form of eczema. Interesting note: This form of eczema is brought on by stress. I didn't feel overly stressed but apparently it was my body's way of showing the signs of stress.
I got a prescription for a gnarly steroid cream. Thankfully it works really well but every few days I get a new batch of the blisters and I have to start over with the cream. Last week I had the worst outbreak since this all started. I couldn't even move my fingers because it was between the fingers and was incredibly painful.
Another fun thing that has come up is digestive issues. At first I thought it was a side effect of my Augmentin but after two weeks of constant running to the bathroom 12 times a day, I decided it wasn't the antibiotics.
I am convinced I have IBS but I haven't been to the doctor to verify. I am embarrassed and don't even know what I would say. "Hi, I have been shitting a lot, can you help me?". Gross. Instead, I have been taking a ton of probiotics and things that help aid good digestion. It has gotten better but there are definitely some days where it's worse than others.
I am generally a very healthy person so all of these illnesses, while minor, have really gotten me down. I want to go running but can't because my stomach immediately starts rumbling and I have to poop. I want to get more sleep and feel human again but I know that is not going to happen.
Woe is me right? People in the world have way more issues so I need to suck it up. But, the last few weeks have been mentally and physically draining.
On top of all of this, Cal is facing a Failure to Thrive diagnosis. I will talk a little more about that later, maybe not. It depends on how I feel. He has an appointment on the 26th for a weight check and we will know more than. I can't tell you how awful this makes me feel as a mom. I feel like the biggest failure on earth and like I am failing my child.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Tuesday Tidbits
* I haven't been knitting a lot lately. Due to the fact that I had to take a project out and start over, I lost my momentum. I think I am going to re-start it tonight though. Knitting is good for my soul. Plus, I need to get back into the swing because I am going to a Stitch and Bitch gathering on the 27th.
* My birthday is coming up and I haven't made any plans. If anyone asks me what I want, I am going to request a massage, a pedicure and a night off from the boys. Maybe my in-laws will watch them overnight. It would be awesome to sleep in and just enjoy watching Food Network with no interruptions.
* Cal is cutting his left canine tooth and he's miserable. I would love for him to get back to his regular sleeping pattern because waking up 6-7 times a night is exhausting for all of us.
* Speaking of sleep, what is with Jack and getting up at 5:00 and climbing into bed with us or joining me on the couch? I often end up on the couch because Jason snores so badly. Jack bounds out from his bedroom, shuts his door and climbs onto the couch with me and goes back to sleep. I am starting to wonder if he's having bad dreams.
* I ordered a potty training book off of a recommendation from Erin. Flame away. Jack isn't potty trained. He will pee on the toilet if prompted but has only pooped twice. He flat out refuses to poop. This book is written for different kinds of personalities and types of children. Maybe it will work? One can only hope.
* I want to start running. I went shopping with my Christmas money and got shoes and running clothes. I just need to start. My only problem is figuring out what to do in terms of a stop watch. Any ideas? The Couch to 5K program goes in intervals and I don't have a watch or timer to be able to figure out my intervals and when to run and walk.
* We are all taking probiotics in our house. After the nasty stomach bug we all had, some of us still are having "bathroom" issues. I am hoping the probiotics get our guts back in working order.
* Thank God for Augmentin. I have no more signs of a sinus infection. After a day of taking pills, I was feeling so much better and my head didn't feel like exploding.
That is about it for now. I still owe my readers (like I actually have many, ha!) two posts about Cal's birthday.
* My birthday is coming up and I haven't made any plans. If anyone asks me what I want, I am going to request a massage, a pedicure and a night off from the boys. Maybe my in-laws will watch them overnight. It would be awesome to sleep in and just enjoy watching Food Network with no interruptions.
* Cal is cutting his left canine tooth and he's miserable. I would love for him to get back to his regular sleeping pattern because waking up 6-7 times a night is exhausting for all of us.
* Speaking of sleep, what is with Jack and getting up at 5:00 and climbing into bed with us or joining me on the couch? I often end up on the couch because Jason snores so badly. Jack bounds out from his bedroom, shuts his door and climbs onto the couch with me and goes back to sleep. I am starting to wonder if he's having bad dreams.
* I ordered a potty training book off of a recommendation from Erin. Flame away. Jack isn't potty trained. He will pee on the toilet if prompted but has only pooped twice. He flat out refuses to poop. This book is written for different kinds of personalities and types of children. Maybe it will work? One can only hope.
* I want to start running. I went shopping with my Christmas money and got shoes and running clothes. I just need to start. My only problem is figuring out what to do in terms of a stop watch. Any ideas? The Couch to 5K program goes in intervals and I don't have a watch or timer to be able to figure out my intervals and when to run and walk.
* We are all taking probiotics in our house. After the nasty stomach bug we all had, some of us still are having "bathroom" issues. I am hoping the probiotics get our guts back in working order.
* Thank God for Augmentin. I have no more signs of a sinus infection. After a day of taking pills, I was feeling so much better and my head didn't feel like exploding.
That is about it for now. I still owe my readers (like I actually have many, ha!) two posts about Cal's birthday.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Catch Up and the Sickness
Welcome back to blogging land! It's been a while for several reasons:
* I went on vacation and didn't have a lot of time to post.
* My laptop died so I couldn't post.
* We were all sick so I didn't want to post.
I plan on doing a catch up post on Christmas to catch up as well as all my knitting goodies that I have created. There isn't a whole lot of other things to post about yet. I will have two upcoming posts about Cal since his first birthday is tomorrow! Plus his party is on Saturday.
For now, here is a wrap-up of how we spent my winter vacation.
Friday December 14th was my last day of work and I was excited! Even though I was feeling some weird throat thing/cold coming on. I chalked it up to allergies. Saturday I went to my knitting class as usual so I could finish up all my Christmas projects. Things were going fine until Jack caught my mild cold. He seemed fine but he woke up in the middle of the night on the 19th complaining that his ear hurt. He went back to sleep just fine but I knew that he needed to be seen by the doctor. He doesn't complain of ear pain unless he has an ear infection.
Sure enough, after a visit to the pediatrician, he was given a prescription of Amoxicillin and sent home. Since he won't take medication straight up, we had to hide all his doses in juice. Stellar parenting right here folks.
Vacation cruised along for a couple of days and we brought the boys to see Santa. They did great and it resulted in the cutest picture ever. I will post in the Christmas post.
Cal caught Jack's cold on Saturday and was pretty miserable. By Saturday night, just mere hours after getting sick, it was evident that he also had an ear infection. He wouldn't sleep and just cried all night. Since it was a Sunday and I didn't want to wait or risk not getting in to see the pediatrician on Monday since it was Christmas Eve, I took him to urgent care.
Ding ding! Ear infection. What can I say? I know my kids. After getting a prescription, we were sent home. Cal was feeling much better after a couple of doses of the Amoxicillin and some baby Advil.
We managed to avoid being sick on Christmas with the exception of ear infections. It was touch and go because Cal was coughing pretty bad even though he felt okay. We weren't sure if we would be able to go to my in-laws' on Christmas Eve because our elderly grandmother and her friend would be there. We didn't want to risk getting them sick.
Christmas was fun and we all felt fine. I should have known that it was short-lived.
I started getting sick shortly after Christmas. Not just a mild cold, but a full blown, snotty, coughing, sneezing, can't taste anything cold. It was gross. I think I consumed nothing but orange juice for two days. And since our house is small and there is no place for germs to go, I managed to pass my cold back to Jack. And Jason got it too.
We were functional but since we were all sick, I wasn't able to take the kids to any of the fun activities that I had planned for my vacation. I wanted to take them to Zoo Lights, to OMSI, go see Christmas lights and to the new Portland Aquarium. We did nothing but sit at home, watch a lot of tv and wash a lot of laundry.
On Sunday December 30th, Cal was acting weird, not sleeping, not napping and tugging at his ears. Back to urgent care we went! He had yet another ear infection. Even though he was on Amoxicillin, the infection wasn't clearing up and it had migrated to his other ear. It appeared to be a drug resistant bacteria so he had to be put on a different medication. Poor guy.
New Year's Eve came and since the boys were still getting over colds but stable, Jason and I decided to stay in, have some appetizers and drink some Prosecco.
After heading to bed early, I was awoken at 3am by Jack who wanted to snuggle on the couch. He then proceeded to throw up all over himself and he didn't stop throwing up for hours. I didn't think Jack had a stomach virus because this seemed different. He has been struggling to poop lately and I thought maybe this could be a blockage. To the children's ER we went. Two hours later we were home with a prescription for Zofran and a diagnosis of stomach flu.
Since Jack was feeling better, Cal and I went to our family celebration on New Year's Day. I needed to get out of the house for a bit after being cooped up for what felt like weeks. Life went on for another couple of days and I went back to work on Wednesday the 2nd.
When I logged off work on the 2nd I started feeling bad. Like nauseous and head spinning bad. At the very same time, Cal got fussy. By 6:00 Cal and I had both thrown up. Jack had gifted us both his lovely stomach bug.
It was a rough 8 hours. Cal and I were both sick and neither of us could keep food or any liquids down. I had an awful fever and diarrhea. Cal cried and cried and cried because he was so thirsty but we didn't want to give him much liquid at a time because we knew he would vomit it back up. Thank the Lord for Jason. He would hold Cal while I went to the bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach. He got Jack his dinner and put him in bed. He held Cal for a couple of hours so I could try and sleep.
At 1:00 in the morning, both Cal's and my fever broke and we both had managed to keep some liquids down. I held Cal in bed and he slept like a log until 4:00, woke briefly for some juice and then went back to sleep.
The next few days were touch and go. We were all so weak from being sick off and on and we had to modify the kiddos' diet so they weren't consuming any milk since milk is so harsh on their stomach when they have a bug. Most days the kids didn't throw up. They have a couple of times here and there but we are feeding them such mild foods so their tummies don't revolt.
Now? We are slowly getting better. We all still have the trots and I am on medication for a sinus infection. Other than that, we are slowly starting to feel better. Please everyone cross your fingers that none of us get sick again. I can't handle any more damn illness!
* I went on vacation and didn't have a lot of time to post.
* My laptop died so I couldn't post.
* We were all sick so I didn't want to post.
I plan on doing a catch up post on Christmas to catch up as well as all my knitting goodies that I have created. There isn't a whole lot of other things to post about yet. I will have two upcoming posts about Cal since his first birthday is tomorrow! Plus his party is on Saturday.
For now, here is a wrap-up of how we spent my winter vacation.
Friday December 14th was my last day of work and I was excited! Even though I was feeling some weird throat thing/cold coming on. I chalked it up to allergies. Saturday I went to my knitting class as usual so I could finish up all my Christmas projects. Things were going fine until Jack caught my mild cold. He seemed fine but he woke up in the middle of the night on the 19th complaining that his ear hurt. He went back to sleep just fine but I knew that he needed to be seen by the doctor. He doesn't complain of ear pain unless he has an ear infection.
Sure enough, after a visit to the pediatrician, he was given a prescription of Amoxicillin and sent home. Since he won't take medication straight up, we had to hide all his doses in juice. Stellar parenting right here folks.
Vacation cruised along for a couple of days and we brought the boys to see Santa. They did great and it resulted in the cutest picture ever. I will post in the Christmas post.
Cal caught Jack's cold on Saturday and was pretty miserable. By Saturday night, just mere hours after getting sick, it was evident that he also had an ear infection. He wouldn't sleep and just cried all night. Since it was a Sunday and I didn't want to wait or risk not getting in to see the pediatrician on Monday since it was Christmas Eve, I took him to urgent care.
Ding ding! Ear infection. What can I say? I know my kids. After getting a prescription, we were sent home. Cal was feeling much better after a couple of doses of the Amoxicillin and some baby Advil.
We managed to avoid being sick on Christmas with the exception of ear infections. It was touch and go because Cal was coughing pretty bad even though he felt okay. We weren't sure if we would be able to go to my in-laws' on Christmas Eve because our elderly grandmother and her friend would be there. We didn't want to risk getting them sick.
Christmas was fun and we all felt fine. I should have known that it was short-lived.
I started getting sick shortly after Christmas. Not just a mild cold, but a full blown, snotty, coughing, sneezing, can't taste anything cold. It was gross. I think I consumed nothing but orange juice for two days. And since our house is small and there is no place for germs to go, I managed to pass my cold back to Jack. And Jason got it too.
We were functional but since we were all sick, I wasn't able to take the kids to any of the fun activities that I had planned for my vacation. I wanted to take them to Zoo Lights, to OMSI, go see Christmas lights and to the new Portland Aquarium. We did nothing but sit at home, watch a lot of tv and wash a lot of laundry.
On Sunday December 30th, Cal was acting weird, not sleeping, not napping and tugging at his ears. Back to urgent care we went! He had yet another ear infection. Even though he was on Amoxicillin, the infection wasn't clearing up and it had migrated to his other ear. It appeared to be a drug resistant bacteria so he had to be put on a different medication. Poor guy.
New Year's Eve came and since the boys were still getting over colds but stable, Jason and I decided to stay in, have some appetizers and drink some Prosecco.
After heading to bed early, I was awoken at 3am by Jack who wanted to snuggle on the couch. He then proceeded to throw up all over himself and he didn't stop throwing up for hours. I didn't think Jack had a stomach virus because this seemed different. He has been struggling to poop lately and I thought maybe this could be a blockage. To the children's ER we went. Two hours later we were home with a prescription for Zofran and a diagnosis of stomach flu.
Since Jack was feeling better, Cal and I went to our family celebration on New Year's Day. I needed to get out of the house for a bit after being cooped up for what felt like weeks. Life went on for another couple of days and I went back to work on Wednesday the 2nd.
When I logged off work on the 2nd I started feeling bad. Like nauseous and head spinning bad. At the very same time, Cal got fussy. By 6:00 Cal and I had both thrown up. Jack had gifted us both his lovely stomach bug.
It was a rough 8 hours. Cal and I were both sick and neither of us could keep food or any liquids down. I had an awful fever and diarrhea. Cal cried and cried and cried because he was so thirsty but we didn't want to give him much liquid at a time because we knew he would vomit it back up. Thank the Lord for Jason. He would hold Cal while I went to the bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach. He got Jack his dinner and put him in bed. He held Cal for a couple of hours so I could try and sleep.
At 1:00 in the morning, both Cal's and my fever broke and we both had managed to keep some liquids down. I held Cal in bed and he slept like a log until 4:00, woke briefly for some juice and then went back to sleep.
The next few days were touch and go. We were all so weak from being sick off and on and we had to modify the kiddos' diet so they weren't consuming any milk since milk is so harsh on their stomach when they have a bug. Most days the kids didn't throw up. They have a couple of times here and there but we are feeding them such mild foods so their tummies don't revolt.
Now? We are slowly getting better. We all still have the trots and I am on medication for a sinus infection. Other than that, we are slowly starting to feel better. Please everyone cross your fingers that none of us get sick again. I can't handle any more damn illness!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Randoms Post aka I Am Tired
Today will be a randoms post because I am tired and don't have a whole topic that is interesting enough to write about.
* Jack has an ear infection. The only reason I knew to even take him in to the pediatrician is because he woke up in the middle of the night on Sunday asking for me to clean his ears. "Tatos tatos". Which meant potatoes because we always joke we are digging out potatoes when cleaning his ears.
* His left tube was in his ear canal so the pediatrician actually pulled it out. That is the ear with the infection. The right tube is still in place and was free of infection. I really hope he doesn't need new tubes. We shall see what this winter holds for him and his poor ears.
* CAL HAS A TOOTH! It finally popped through three days ago. And because he has to be different, it's a top tooth. Don't babies typically get their bottom teeth first? He was absolutely miserable the night before it broke through. He would not sleep. I had to hold him from 3:00 to 6:00 while he pretty much screamed in pain. Nothing helped him. Baby Advil, teething tablets, being rocked, Orajel. It all around sucked.
* I worked 62 hours last week. Let me tell you how thrilled I am about that. I worked every single day including Saturdays and Sundays. Notice I put that in plural. Work has been stressful. I won't blog about work for privacy issues but it's been rough.
* I attended my knitting class on the 20th and had to leave after 5 minutes because I got a page for work. I am heading back this week and am very happy about that. I scrapped my original project because it had too many mistakes and I am a perfectionist. Instead, I am working on a mouse hat for Jack. It is going to be so super cute! I already have two more projects lined up too!
* We have had some fun new recipes lately. I will do a post about that soon, I swear. I also made a neat Fall themed snack mix yesterday as a special treat for the boy.
* Jason and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary on the 11th of November. Guess what? We are going away for the weekend. The entire weekend. By ourselves. Eeeek! More to come on that as well.
* It's raining here which is completely normal. It will be an interesting Halloween tomorrow with two small children and ran. We are heading to our in-laws' house to go Trick-or-Treating since our neighborhood is kind of scary at night.
Upcoming posts (I swear!):
* One Funny Kid
* More tasty recipes
* Our Anniversary
* Halloween
* Jack has an ear infection. The only reason I knew to even take him in to the pediatrician is because he woke up in the middle of the night on Sunday asking for me to clean his ears. "Tatos tatos". Which meant potatoes because we always joke we are digging out potatoes when cleaning his ears.
* His left tube was in his ear canal so the pediatrician actually pulled it out. That is the ear with the infection. The right tube is still in place and was free of infection. I really hope he doesn't need new tubes. We shall see what this winter holds for him and his poor ears.
* CAL HAS A TOOTH! It finally popped through three days ago. And because he has to be different, it's a top tooth. Don't babies typically get their bottom teeth first? He was absolutely miserable the night before it broke through. He would not sleep. I had to hold him from 3:00 to 6:00 while he pretty much screamed in pain. Nothing helped him. Baby Advil, teething tablets, being rocked, Orajel. It all around sucked.
* I worked 62 hours last week. Let me tell you how thrilled I am about that. I worked every single day including Saturdays and Sundays. Notice I put that in plural. Work has been stressful. I won't blog about work for privacy issues but it's been rough.
* I attended my knitting class on the 20th and had to leave after 5 minutes because I got a page for work. I am heading back this week and am very happy about that. I scrapped my original project because it had too many mistakes and I am a perfectionist. Instead, I am working on a mouse hat for Jack. It is going to be so super cute! I already have two more projects lined up too!
* We have had some fun new recipes lately. I will do a post about that soon, I swear. I also made a neat Fall themed snack mix yesterday as a special treat for the boy.
* Jason and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary on the 11th of November. Guess what? We are going away for the weekend. The entire weekend. By ourselves. Eeeek! More to come on that as well.
* It's raining here which is completely normal. It will be an interesting Halloween tomorrow with two small children and ran. We are heading to our in-laws' house to go Trick-or-Treating since our neighborhood is kind of scary at night.
Upcoming posts (I swear!):
* One Funny Kid
* More tasty recipes
* Our Anniversary
* Halloween
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Cal is 6 Months Old!
Calvin Wyatt, you are half a year old! And what an awesome 6 months it has been.
You are blossoming into a little boy already. It's so much fun to see you change and grow. But don't grow too fast! I say this at every stage of my boys' life, but I think this age is my favorite. Cal, you are so happy and LOVE people. Here are some things you are up to this month:
* You got sick for the first time this month. Big brother shared his cold with you and you took it a lot harder than the rest of the family. Your sleep (what little you already get!) was disrupted and you have a nasty cough. Last night was pretty rough and after taking you to the pediatrician, you have a double ear infection. Your first ear infection! Let's hope you don't take after Jack and get an ear infection with every cold you get.
* You love people but I think your favorite people are Mommy and Jack. Every time you see either of us, your whole face lights up into a huge grin. When Jack wakes up in the morning and comes running into the living room, you might be grumpy but as soon as you see him, you want him to notice you and pay attention to you.
* You are starting to recognize and identify the kitties. If one crosses your path, you will try everything in your power to reach for them. If we hold you close to one and let you "pet" it, you get a huge smile on your face.
* I say this all the time but I swear you are the happiest and most easy-going baby ever. The only time you cry is if you are tired, hungry, have a dirty diaper or are hurt. That's it. Once in a while you will fuss to be held if you are in the bouncer for too long.
* You are rolling both ways and are scooting. If we set you down on the floor, you will scoot over to a toy, your brother, a cat, or anything that piques your interest. A few times you have pushed your chest up or gotten up on your knees. Crawling can't be all that far away.
* Man you are teething. Drool factory! I keep checking for a tooth because the amount of drool you are producing is insane. No tooth yet!
* Your favorite toys right now are your Taggie blanket, your new piggy teether, and Mommy's knuckles (you gum them and shove them into your mouth).
* Sleep is still okay. Not great, not terrible. We tried to start sleep training you but the next night, you were sick and we stopped. We won't try again until we know you are healthy.
* You are talking more and more. You are saying your B's. "Blah blah" and "Buah buah". It's so stinkin' cute.
* You love your food! Purees are going really well. You will eat almost everything. Green beans and peas aren't really your favorite but bananas and cereal are. I think you are going to be a definite fruit man. We have given you some Mum Mums and pieces of banana to suck on. You go absolutely NUTS for those. The other night when your teeth were bothering you, I gave you a cold piece of watermelon that I was eating. I thought you were going to devour the whole thing! You kept sucking and moving your little head like a bird to get more of it.
* I don't have your exact stats because I was a Mommy Failure and didn't make your 6 month well baby visit on time. However, I do know that from your appointment today you weigh 18 pounds 6 ounces. I have no idea what percentile that is.
We love you big boy!
You are blossoming into a little boy already. It's so much fun to see you change and grow. But don't grow too fast! I say this at every stage of my boys' life, but I think this age is my favorite. Cal, you are so happy and LOVE people. Here are some things you are up to this month:
* You got sick for the first time this month. Big brother shared his cold with you and you took it a lot harder than the rest of the family. Your sleep (what little you already get!) was disrupted and you have a nasty cough. Last night was pretty rough and after taking you to the pediatrician, you have a double ear infection. Your first ear infection! Let's hope you don't take after Jack and get an ear infection with every cold you get.
* You love people but I think your favorite people are Mommy and Jack. Every time you see either of us, your whole face lights up into a huge grin. When Jack wakes up in the morning and comes running into the living room, you might be grumpy but as soon as you see him, you want him to notice you and pay attention to you.
* You are starting to recognize and identify the kitties. If one crosses your path, you will try everything in your power to reach for them. If we hold you close to one and let you "pet" it, you get a huge smile on your face.
* I say this all the time but I swear you are the happiest and most easy-going baby ever. The only time you cry is if you are tired, hungry, have a dirty diaper or are hurt. That's it. Once in a while you will fuss to be held if you are in the bouncer for too long.
* You are rolling both ways and are scooting. If we set you down on the floor, you will scoot over to a toy, your brother, a cat, or anything that piques your interest. A few times you have pushed your chest up or gotten up on your knees. Crawling can't be all that far away.
* Man you are teething. Drool factory! I keep checking for a tooth because the amount of drool you are producing is insane. No tooth yet!
* Your favorite toys right now are your Taggie blanket, your new piggy teether, and Mommy's knuckles (you gum them and shove them into your mouth).
* Sleep is still okay. Not great, not terrible. We tried to start sleep training you but the next night, you were sick and we stopped. We won't try again until we know you are healthy.
* You are talking more and more. You are saying your B's. "Blah blah" and "Buah buah". It's so stinkin' cute.
* You love your food! Purees are going really well. You will eat almost everything. Green beans and peas aren't really your favorite but bananas and cereal are. I think you are going to be a definite fruit man. We have given you some Mum Mums and pieces of banana to suck on. You go absolutely NUTS for those. The other night when your teeth were bothering you, I gave you a cold piece of watermelon that I was eating. I thought you were going to devour the whole thing! You kept sucking and moving your little head like a bird to get more of it.
* I don't have your exact stats because I was a Mommy Failure and didn't make your 6 month well baby visit on time. However, I do know that from your appointment today you weigh 18 pounds 6 ounces. I have no idea what percentile that is.
We love you big boy!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Randoms
It's a randomness type of day.
* The tickers on my blog are off. Cal is much older than 1 month!
* I am still trying to post about our trip to Great Wolf Lodge. I am slacking on the blog posts lately, sorry.
* I weighed in yesterday even though I didn't want to. I was up a tiny bit from my last weigh in. Which is okay considering I haven't tracked in like three weeks. I am back on track with tracking (ha!) and hope to see a loss last week.
* Cal has thrush again. I originally thought it was Hand Foot and Mouth because he had some blisters on his lower leg and when I checked in his mouth, he had white patches. I ruled out thrush because it wasn't on his tongue. But it is thrush according to his pediatrician and she knows best. So now he has an awesome purple mouth due to the Gentian violet.
* I hurt my neck and have been having headaches a lot more lately so I have been seeing a chiropractor for a couple of visits. Boy, she is good! She fixes me up after just one visit and I am not scoffing at the 30 minute neck and shoulder massage either!
* I am in the process of reading Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber in preparation of getting Cal sleep "trained". I hate calling it that but really it is the steps to get your child to learn how to fall asleep and go back to sleep. Needless to say, I am tired, which is why we are going to start this when Cal is so young.
* Cal has been loving food lately! He gets a grain serving and a fruit or veggie serving daily. We just started giving him actual pieces of food too. I gave him a hunk of banana and he went to town on it. He had a hard time picking it up and getting it into his mouth but I helped. After he gummed it to death I mashed it up and fed it to him. HE LOVED IT! He couldn't eat it fast enough. I tried the same with avocado yesterday but he didn't love the avocado. I plan on giving him a hunk of sweet potato soon too. This boy definitely loves to eat. He is still drinking about the same amount of milk too. Growing boy!
* I can't remember if I posted about this or not, but our freezer door in the shed came open a few weeks ago. This resulted in me having to throw out 500 ounces of thawed breastmilk. I could have wept as I was throwing it away. I am happy to say that I am almost back to 500 ounces. I have about 50 ounces to go. I actually would have more but I donated 100 ounces last week.
That's about it for now. I swear I will get the GWL post out soon.
* The tickers on my blog are off. Cal is much older than 1 month!
* I am still trying to post about our trip to Great Wolf Lodge. I am slacking on the blog posts lately, sorry.
* I weighed in yesterday even though I didn't want to. I was up a tiny bit from my last weigh in. Which is okay considering I haven't tracked in like three weeks. I am back on track with tracking (ha!) and hope to see a loss last week.
* Cal has thrush again. I originally thought it was Hand Foot and Mouth because he had some blisters on his lower leg and when I checked in his mouth, he had white patches. I ruled out thrush because it wasn't on his tongue. But it is thrush according to his pediatrician and she knows best. So now he has an awesome purple mouth due to the Gentian violet.
* I hurt my neck and have been having headaches a lot more lately so I have been seeing a chiropractor for a couple of visits. Boy, she is good! She fixes me up after just one visit and I am not scoffing at the 30 minute neck and shoulder massage either!
* I am in the process of reading Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber in preparation of getting Cal sleep "trained". I hate calling it that but really it is the steps to get your child to learn how to fall asleep and go back to sleep. Needless to say, I am tired, which is why we are going to start this when Cal is so young.
* Cal has been loving food lately! He gets a grain serving and a fruit or veggie serving daily. We just started giving him actual pieces of food too. I gave him a hunk of banana and he went to town on it. He had a hard time picking it up and getting it into his mouth but I helped. After he gummed it to death I mashed it up and fed it to him. HE LOVED IT! He couldn't eat it fast enough. I tried the same with avocado yesterday but he didn't love the avocado. I plan on giving him a hunk of sweet potato soon too. This boy definitely loves to eat. He is still drinking about the same amount of milk too. Growing boy!
* I can't remember if I posted about this or not, but our freezer door in the shed came open a few weeks ago. This resulted in me having to throw out 500 ounces of thawed breastmilk. I could have wept as I was throwing it away. I am happy to say that I am almost back to 500 ounces. I have about 50 ounces to go. I actually would have more but I donated 100 ounces last week.
That's about it for now. I swear I will get the GWL post out soon.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
It's Been a While
I have been a bad blogger. But I had my reasons. My entire family was sick. Jack had yet another trip to the ER after vomitting 13 times in an hour. Jason came down with an awful cold, I got two colds (although pretty minor) and then there was the whole holiday thing, yada yada.
At any rate, I am back.
I have lots of updates so I thought I would break them into categories. Easier to keep track of my thoughts that way.
Jack
* After another trip to the ER on November 19th, Jack is feeling much better. Since people are temporarily lactose intolerant after stomach viruses (who knew?) we still are giving Jack soy milk. This is to give him a chance to recover and build up some of the good bacteria in his belly. He took the ER visit in stride. After vomitting literally 13 times in less than an hour, our pediatrician told us to hightail it to the ER. That amount of throwing up is NOT normal. Coincidentally we had been to the Children's Museum the day before so I am pretty sure that is where he picked up the latest bug. I am going to place my child in a plastic bubble for a few months.
* Jack was home with me exclusively for 10 days. Between being sick, having days off from work myself, and having a daycare provider with sick kids, we spent a lot of time together. I tried to keep us busy with trips to the Children's Museum (fail!), the grocery store, trips to visit my in-laws and other random things. Boy this child is active. Seriously.
* The other day Jack was home with me and clearly in need of a nap. He was being a holy terror and I said to him "Jack, you are driving Mommy nuts". He looked back at me and said "Nuts". Clear as day. Jason and I could NOT stop laughing. It was so funny.
Baby Cal
* Well, after settling on baby Cal's name, it appears we have changed our mind. We decided that even though we love the middle name Charles, Cal Charles just doesn't sound right. So Jason and I talked and decided we will probably go with Calvin Wyatt. This is not set in stone so we will see what Cal looks like when he is born and then decide for sure.
* I am 33 weeks along which means Cal is going to make his appearance in 6 weeks or less depending on if I happen to go itno labor early.
* We pretty much have everything we need for Cal with the exception of diapers. Jason's Mamo asked us what we needed and when we told her diapers, she said "I will write you a check and you can buy what you need since I can't shop". This makes us happy! We are hoping it's enough to get all our cloth stash and buy a couple of packages of newborn diapers so we don't have to cloth up in the early days.
* This little guy is running out of room. His kicks are becoming much stronger and the rolling is down to a minimum.
Me
* Work has been slightly crazy. That's another reason that I haven't blogged as much. I am working or tired after working that I don't feel like updating.
* I am getting to the point in my pregnancy where I am getting uncomfortable. My symptoms have not been nearly as bad as they were with Jack though. When I was pregnant with him at this point I had so many things to lament about: Heartburn, terribly painful hips, swollen hands and feet, pregnancy carpal tunnel and a hard time sleeping because all of the above. This time my main complaint is just a hard belly and having trouble breathing. Thankfully my hips are doing okay so far since I religiously sleep with my pregnancy pillow. I don't have a hard time sleeping (yet).
* I had my 32 week appointment yesterday even though I am 33 weeks. I am really trying not to freak out but there were some things that came up that were slightly alarming. My doctor didn't seem overly concerned, but I am. My blood pressure was up (138/85) which is high for me. When the nurse weighed me, she asked me to step back on the scale because she thought she had made a mistake. Apparently, the last two appointments my weight has held steady but yesterday, I was up a total of 10 pounds. That is a ton for me since I have only gained 14 pounds the entire pregnancy. After my BP check and my weight gain, the nurse said she would do my urine dip and come back if there was protein in my urine. If there wasn't, she wouldn't come back and not to worry. Well, when I was talking with my doctor, she did come back. I did have protein in my urine. I know enough about pre-eclampsia to know that all of these are symptoms. I was asked if I had any noticable swelling, which I don't think I do. My doctor said that if my BP was high at my next appointment we would chat. I have no idea what he means. But in the meantime, if I have any headaches, dizziness or noticable swelling I need to call immediately. Well that sure puts my mind at ease.
* I made a lot of fun things for Thanksgiving. I made two pies, one pecan and one pumpkin and two casseroles: Sweet potato and green bean. They were all a hit at our family gathering. I felt accomplished. I haven't baked/cooked that much in a long time!
* I have maternity pictures this weekend. I am nervous because I haven't had professional pictures of myself done since our wedding. I hope I don't look like a whale. I am on the lookout for some cute boots to complete my outfit. Thankfully my friend Jenn is doing the pictures so I know even though I might look terrible, the pictures will turn out beautiful!
* I got my hair cut on Saturday and it feels wonderful. It looks better, I feel better, my head is lighter and it's a nice boost to my self esteem.
Everything else
* Jason is putting in his notice very soon. As soon as he gets his vacation paycheck in hand, he is giving his two weeks. We are nervous and well, nervous. We can afford this but it's going to be such a huge transition for him. Not only for his schedule being turned upside down but to take care of two little boys.
That's about it for now. I am sure I forgot some stuff since it's been so long since I posted.
I hope everyone is well and gearing up for Christmas!
At any rate, I am back.
I have lots of updates so I thought I would break them into categories. Easier to keep track of my thoughts that way.
Jack
* After another trip to the ER on November 19th, Jack is feeling much better. Since people are temporarily lactose intolerant after stomach viruses (who knew?) we still are giving Jack soy milk. This is to give him a chance to recover and build up some of the good bacteria in his belly. He took the ER visit in stride. After vomitting literally 13 times in less than an hour, our pediatrician told us to hightail it to the ER. That amount of throwing up is NOT normal. Coincidentally we had been to the Children's Museum the day before so I am pretty sure that is where he picked up the latest bug. I am going to place my child in a plastic bubble for a few months.
* Jack was home with me exclusively for 10 days. Between being sick, having days off from work myself, and having a daycare provider with sick kids, we spent a lot of time together. I tried to keep us busy with trips to the Children's Museum (fail!), the grocery store, trips to visit my in-laws and other random things. Boy this child is active. Seriously.
* The other day Jack was home with me and clearly in need of a nap. He was being a holy terror and I said to him "Jack, you are driving Mommy nuts". He looked back at me and said "Nuts". Clear as day. Jason and I could NOT stop laughing. It was so funny.
Baby Cal
* Well, after settling on baby Cal's name, it appears we have changed our mind. We decided that even though we love the middle name Charles, Cal Charles just doesn't sound right. So Jason and I talked and decided we will probably go with Calvin Wyatt. This is not set in stone so we will see what Cal looks like when he is born and then decide for sure.
* I am 33 weeks along which means Cal is going to make his appearance in 6 weeks or less depending on if I happen to go itno labor early.
* We pretty much have everything we need for Cal with the exception of diapers. Jason's Mamo asked us what we needed and when we told her diapers, she said "I will write you a check and you can buy what you need since I can't shop". This makes us happy! We are hoping it's enough to get all our cloth stash and buy a couple of packages of newborn diapers so we don't have to cloth up in the early days.
* This little guy is running out of room. His kicks are becoming much stronger and the rolling is down to a minimum.
Me
* Work has been slightly crazy. That's another reason that I haven't blogged as much. I am working or tired after working that I don't feel like updating.
* I am getting to the point in my pregnancy where I am getting uncomfortable. My symptoms have not been nearly as bad as they were with Jack though. When I was pregnant with him at this point I had so many things to lament about: Heartburn, terribly painful hips, swollen hands and feet, pregnancy carpal tunnel and a hard time sleeping because all of the above. This time my main complaint is just a hard belly and having trouble breathing. Thankfully my hips are doing okay so far since I religiously sleep with my pregnancy pillow. I don't have a hard time sleeping (yet).
* I had my 32 week appointment yesterday even though I am 33 weeks. I am really trying not to freak out but there were some things that came up that were slightly alarming. My doctor didn't seem overly concerned, but I am. My blood pressure was up (138/85) which is high for me. When the nurse weighed me, she asked me to step back on the scale because she thought she had made a mistake. Apparently, the last two appointments my weight has held steady but yesterday, I was up a total of 10 pounds. That is a ton for me since I have only gained 14 pounds the entire pregnancy. After my BP check and my weight gain, the nurse said she would do my urine dip and come back if there was protein in my urine. If there wasn't, she wouldn't come back and not to worry. Well, when I was talking with my doctor, she did come back. I did have protein in my urine. I know enough about pre-eclampsia to know that all of these are symptoms. I was asked if I had any noticable swelling, which I don't think I do. My doctor said that if my BP was high at my next appointment we would chat. I have no idea what he means. But in the meantime, if I have any headaches, dizziness or noticable swelling I need to call immediately. Well that sure puts my mind at ease.
* I made a lot of fun things for Thanksgiving. I made two pies, one pecan and one pumpkin and two casseroles: Sweet potato and green bean. They were all a hit at our family gathering. I felt accomplished. I haven't baked/cooked that much in a long time!
* I have maternity pictures this weekend. I am nervous because I haven't had professional pictures of myself done since our wedding. I hope I don't look like a whale. I am on the lookout for some cute boots to complete my outfit. Thankfully my friend Jenn is doing the pictures so I know even though I might look terrible, the pictures will turn out beautiful!
* I got my hair cut on Saturday and it feels wonderful. It looks better, I feel better, my head is lighter and it's a nice boost to my self esteem.
Everything else
* Jason is putting in his notice very soon. As soon as he gets his vacation paycheck in hand, he is giving his two weeks. We are nervous and well, nervous. We can afford this but it's going to be such a huge transition for him. Not only for his schedule being turned upside down but to take care of two little boys.
That's about it for now. I am sure I forgot some stuff since it's been so long since I posted.
I hope everyone is well and gearing up for Christmas!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Randoms
Today is Friday and I have today off! I have extra vacation time that I need to use up before the end of the year and my mother-in-law is out of town today (she usually watches Jack on Fridays) so a day off today worked out great.
* I took Jack to the Children's Museum today. He had a blast playing in the water room, in the Lego exhibit and in the dig pit. He is very much an independent player and doesn't pay any attention to the other kiddos.
* He strung together two words yesterday! He has done this before but it's usually like "Bye dog" or "Hi kitty". Yesterday? It was "More milk". Jack has also recently started saying Thank You. It comes out more like "Dang ooo" but hey, it works. It's never too early to teach good manners.
* We are finally sick free in our home. After roughly three weeks of stomach viruses, colds, and other maladies, we feel much better! Jack is now back on milk and very happy about it. Now what to do with a half gallon of chocolate soy milk?
* Jason and I celebrated our anniversary last weekend and while we had a good time, it sucked that Jason was sick. We had a nice dinner, breakfast and tons of conversation. The room wasn't our favorite (it would have been more enjoyable had the pillows been comfortable) but all in all, it was a nice break. I even enjoyed a glass of wine. I sipped it over two hours and it will be the only alcoholic beverage for this pregnancy.
* I am starting to feel a little better about Cal coming. I managed to put together a nine bin storage unit for the boy's bedroom and went through eight Rubbermaid bins of baby stuff. It is now all organized and labeled. The newborn to 3 month sizes are all washed and mostly put away. So if this little man comes now, at least he has clothes to wear!
* Christmas shopping is underway. I am a slacker this year and started late. Jason ordered Jack a Schwinn tricycle and I ordered a wooden play kitchen. Those will be Jack's "big" gifts. We will also be stuffing a stocking for him and possibly getting two more small gifts. I want to make a run to WalMart (normally I am not a fan) on Sunday for some stocking stuffers for the rest of my family.
* Jack has been sporadically sleeping through the night. His sleep overall has improved and I couldn't be happier. Murphy's Law says that he will start sleeping great right in time for Cal to make his appearance.
* We decided to keep the tiny kitten I rescued last week. After a clean bill of health from the vet and falling in love in about 10 minutes, little Lisa is now a part of our family. She is extremely energetic and has that "kitten" personality. You know, the kind where they climb curtains and run all over the place? She loves playing with Jack's toys.
* My c-section is officially scheduled. January 10th at 7:30am. We need to report to the hospital at 5:30am and by around 8:30, we should have a new baby! This is barring that he doesn't come any earlier. Don't get any ideas Cal.
* Jason has less than a month of work left before he quits to be a stay-at-home-Dad. We are both nervous. Him for having the responsibility for taking care of two kiddos. Me for the financial burden and being the sole bread-winner. We have discussed it and if it doesn't work out, it would be perfectly fine for him to go back to work. I won't hold it against him and he won't feel embarrassed that it didn't work out.
That's about it for us this week. I am 31.5 weeks pregnant. Just about 7.5 to go before we have our new addition!
* I took Jack to the Children's Museum today. He had a blast playing in the water room, in the Lego exhibit and in the dig pit. He is very much an independent player and doesn't pay any attention to the other kiddos.
* He strung together two words yesterday! He has done this before but it's usually like "Bye dog" or "Hi kitty". Yesterday? It was "More milk". Jack has also recently started saying Thank You. It comes out more like "Dang ooo" but hey, it works. It's never too early to teach good manners.
* We are finally sick free in our home. After roughly three weeks of stomach viruses, colds, and other maladies, we feel much better! Jack is now back on milk and very happy about it. Now what to do with a half gallon of chocolate soy milk?
* Jason and I celebrated our anniversary last weekend and while we had a good time, it sucked that Jason was sick. We had a nice dinner, breakfast and tons of conversation. The room wasn't our favorite (it would have been more enjoyable had the pillows been comfortable) but all in all, it was a nice break. I even enjoyed a glass of wine. I sipped it over two hours and it will be the only alcoholic beverage for this pregnancy.
* I am starting to feel a little better about Cal coming. I managed to put together a nine bin storage unit for the boy's bedroom and went through eight Rubbermaid bins of baby stuff. It is now all organized and labeled. The newborn to 3 month sizes are all washed and mostly put away. So if this little man comes now, at least he has clothes to wear!
* Christmas shopping is underway. I am a slacker this year and started late. Jason ordered Jack a Schwinn tricycle and I ordered a wooden play kitchen. Those will be Jack's "big" gifts. We will also be stuffing a stocking for him and possibly getting two more small gifts. I want to make a run to WalMart (normally I am not a fan) on Sunday for some stocking stuffers for the rest of my family.
* Jack has been sporadically sleeping through the night. His sleep overall has improved and I couldn't be happier. Murphy's Law says that he will start sleeping great right in time for Cal to make his appearance.
* We decided to keep the tiny kitten I rescued last week. After a clean bill of health from the vet and falling in love in about 10 minutes, little Lisa is now a part of our family. She is extremely energetic and has that "kitten" personality. You know, the kind where they climb curtains and run all over the place? She loves playing with Jack's toys.
* My c-section is officially scheduled. January 10th at 7:30am. We need to report to the hospital at 5:30am and by around 8:30, we should have a new baby! This is barring that he doesn't come any earlier. Don't get any ideas Cal.
* Jason has less than a month of work left before he quits to be a stay-at-home-Dad. We are both nervous. Him for having the responsibility for taking care of two kiddos. Me for the financial burden and being the sole bread-winner. We have discussed it and if it doesn't work out, it would be perfectly fine for him to go back to work. I won't hold it against him and he won't feel embarrassed that it didn't work out.
That's about it for us this week. I am 31.5 weeks pregnant. Just about 7.5 to go before we have our new addition!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Mish Mash
I have a lot of random stuff to post about. It's easier to do snippets rather than type everything out.
* Jack hasn't thrown up since last Wednesday! I credit the soy milk. The only side effect? The world's stinkiest diapers.
* HOWEVER, he now has another virus. After a very high fever Monday and a trip to the pediatrician, his poor little body is recovering. When will this poor child catch a break?
* I have a 4 day work week which is awesome considering how crazy last week was. I plan to spend my Friday off by finish up the painting in this house. I lead an exciting life huh?
* Our 5 year anniversary is Friday. I can't believe it's been 5 years.
* On another anniversary note, we are staying the night here on Saturday and enjoying a nice dinner at the Black Rabbit. It's one of our favorite places to go. I have already scouted the menu and I know that Jason is going to be ordering the rib eye. I will probably get the steak medallions unless there is another special that catches my eye.
* Have I mentioned that my older sister is expecting another baby? And it's going to be a BOY! She already has a 2 year old and this baby is due in March. I love that we are going to have newborns at the same time again.
* I am ridiculously excited for the holidays this year. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas and when you have little ones, it just seems so much more special. My due date is shortly after Christmas which makes me a little bit nervous that I am going to go early but I will remain positive! We have lists already for Jack. We plan to buy him one "big" gift and then a couple of smaller gifts. His "big" gift is going to be a play kitchen. It's wooden and nice quality and small enough to fit in our small living room.
* The Duggars announced that they are expecting baby #20. Why does everyone seem to have a negative opinion about this? Yes, she is of an advanced maternal age. Her last baby had complications but they don't have any correlation to her age. I am personally happy for the family and think they are so grounded and faithful. Haters need to zip it!
* I made an interesting soup this weekend out of Food Network magazine. It's a variation of a chicken noodle soup. It contained toasted spaghetti noodles, chick peas and a bunch of cilantro. It was very healthy and tasty! I would link the recipe but it's not on their website. Intead, here is a picture:
* This pregnancy is so much more different than Jack's. I have been lucky enough not to have hardly any of the same symptoms. I didn't have severe morning sickness. My hips don't hurt as much. My heartburn (when I have it) isn't horrible. I have gained weight at a slower rate. It just seems so different! I wonder if my body knows what to do this time or something?
* I have a kitten post that I am going to be doing later. I am pretty disgusted by humanity right now.
* Jack hasn't thrown up since last Wednesday! I credit the soy milk. The only side effect? The world's stinkiest diapers.
* HOWEVER, he now has another virus. After a very high fever Monday and a trip to the pediatrician, his poor little body is recovering. When will this poor child catch a break?
* I have a 4 day work week which is awesome considering how crazy last week was. I plan to spend my Friday off by finish up the painting in this house. I lead an exciting life huh?
* Our 5 year anniversary is Friday. I can't believe it's been 5 years.
* On another anniversary note, we are staying the night here on Saturday and enjoying a nice dinner at the Black Rabbit. It's one of our favorite places to go. I have already scouted the menu and I know that Jason is going to be ordering the rib eye. I will probably get the steak medallions unless there is another special that catches my eye.
* Have I mentioned that my older sister is expecting another baby? And it's going to be a BOY! She already has a 2 year old and this baby is due in March. I love that we are going to have newborns at the same time again.
* I am ridiculously excited for the holidays this year. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas and when you have little ones, it just seems so much more special. My due date is shortly after Christmas which makes me a little bit nervous that I am going to go early but I will remain positive! We have lists already for Jack. We plan to buy him one "big" gift and then a couple of smaller gifts. His "big" gift is going to be a play kitchen. It's wooden and nice quality and small enough to fit in our small living room.
* The Duggars announced that they are expecting baby #20. Why does everyone seem to have a negative opinion about this? Yes, she is of an advanced maternal age. Her last baby had complications but they don't have any correlation to her age. I am personally happy for the family and think they are so grounded and faithful. Haters need to zip it!
* I made an interesting soup this weekend out of Food Network magazine. It's a variation of a chicken noodle soup. It contained toasted spaghetti noodles, chick peas and a bunch of cilantro. It was very healthy and tasty! I would link the recipe but it's not on their website. Intead, here is a picture:
* This pregnancy is so much more different than Jack's. I have been lucky enough not to have hardly any of the same symptoms. I didn't have severe morning sickness. My hips don't hurt as much. My heartburn (when I have it) isn't horrible. I have gained weight at a slower rate. It just seems so different! I wonder if my body knows what to do this time or something?
* I have a kitten post that I am going to be doing later. I am pretty disgusted by humanity right now.
Friday, November 4, 2011
The "Yuck"
I have gotten to the point where I have time to actually post about Jack's stomach issues.
Last Saturday, upon waking up and eating breakfast, Jack threw up. Threw up his entire breakfast right where he was sitting in his highchair. Poor little guy. He seemed fine after that though and wasn't running a fever. In the next hour, he threw up two more times, mostly bile/water. At that point, I got a little concerned and so I called my mother-in-law. She hadn't fed him any new foods at her house the day before and he hadn't gotten into anything weird.
Since my son has had a stomach virus before and the hospital explained how to go through a re-hydration routine, I decided to try that. I gave Jack half a Zofran tablet, waited minutes and then started him on small doses of Pedialyte mixed with grape juice. Note: We didn't have any in the house so my mother-in-law stopped by with some liquids and some saltine crackers. How nice of her! Jack seemed fine after that but we still took it easy for the rest of the day. I gave him very bland foods (crackers, non-acidic fruit like bananas, etc.) and his regular milk and he seemed fine. No more throwing up.
Saturday night he went to bed as usual. Jason went out on Saturday night. I woke up around 12:30 and decided to go check on the little guy. He had completely flipped himself around in his crib because he had thrown up and didn't want to lay in it. First, cue the bad mommy feelings. I didn't even KNOW he had thrown up. He didn't fuss or cry or anything.
I then had to get him undressed, cleaned up and re-dressed. He must have been so tired because I picked him up from his crib and laid him down on his changing table and he didn't even fuss. Normally he hates being changed in the middle of the night be he seriously just laid there and didn't move. I decided rather than stripping down his crib and changing the sheets in my blurry state, I would just bring him to bed with me.
I texted Jason and he came home immediately. He really didn't need to since Jack was sleeping but he did and I am grateful. He brought a towel in to lay under us and no sooner did he do that, Jack threw up again. I don't think I got much sleep the rest of the night since I was so worried about my boy.
Sunday was fine. I didn't give Jack milk. At the ER they said that milk is hard to digest and can irritate their little stomachs. I had remembered that and followed through. Jack didn't throw up all day on Sunday and seemed fine.
Monday he went to daycare and had milk - I thought it was fine since he was fine all day on Sunday - and threw up at breakfast and pooped through three pairs of pants. I had to go pick him early because he ran out of pants. Sigh. I called the pediatrician and talked to a nurse that I didn't really love. She made me feel pretty stupid but explained I should keep him off milk for 24 hours. When I explained I had been doing that and he threw up as soon as it was reintroduced, she disagreed with me. Apparently I am a liar. He had no milk for afternoon snack, dinner or before bed in the hopes to give his little tummy a break.
Tuesday: No milk, no puking but still had the diarrhea.
Wednesday: I told daycare that if he was able to keep his breakfast and morning snack, he could have milk for lunch and afternoon snack. At lunch, it would be over 36 hours with no milk. He did fine. Except at dinner. He threw up his entire dinner in his highchair. Sigh sigh sigh.
Thursday: I called the pediatrician because at this point it seems it's been a long time for this virus to clear up. The better nurse was much more helpful. She explained that stomach bugs can last weeks. And it's not unusual for kids to be fine on cheese and other dairy but have a reaction to milk. She suggested switching Jack to soy milk for a period of time to give his tummy a break and to give him yogurt to replenish the good bacteria in his belly. After a week on the soy he can start having milk again but slowly reintroduce it. If he starts vomitting again, back off the milk. If this all continues for about three weeks, he needs to be seen for a GI consult.
All this time I have thought maybe it was a lactose issue or milk allergy. It still could be but I want to rule out the stomach virus first.
This whole long drawn-out story leads to this: Jack now is on soy milk indefinitely. At least now he gets his "milk". He was upset at not being able to have it. He gets a cup before bed which helps him sleep. He hasn't been sleeping well which means this momma hasn't been sleeping well.
And to add insult to injury? He now appears to have a cold. Seriously, this child never can catch a break. I am tired of this stomach "yuck" and I am sure Jack must be as well.
Last Saturday, upon waking up and eating breakfast, Jack threw up. Threw up his entire breakfast right where he was sitting in his highchair. Poor little guy. He seemed fine after that though and wasn't running a fever. In the next hour, he threw up two more times, mostly bile/water. At that point, I got a little concerned and so I called my mother-in-law. She hadn't fed him any new foods at her house the day before and he hadn't gotten into anything weird.
Since my son has had a stomach virus before and the hospital explained how to go through a re-hydration routine, I decided to try that. I gave Jack half a Zofran tablet, waited minutes and then started him on small doses of Pedialyte mixed with grape juice. Note: We didn't have any in the house so my mother-in-law stopped by with some liquids and some saltine crackers. How nice of her! Jack seemed fine after that but we still took it easy for the rest of the day. I gave him very bland foods (crackers, non-acidic fruit like bananas, etc.) and his regular milk and he seemed fine. No more throwing up.
Saturday night he went to bed as usual. Jason went out on Saturday night. I woke up around 12:30 and decided to go check on the little guy. He had completely flipped himself around in his crib because he had thrown up and didn't want to lay in it. First, cue the bad mommy feelings. I didn't even KNOW he had thrown up. He didn't fuss or cry or anything.
I then had to get him undressed, cleaned up and re-dressed. He must have been so tired because I picked him up from his crib and laid him down on his changing table and he didn't even fuss. Normally he hates being changed in the middle of the night be he seriously just laid there and didn't move. I decided rather than stripping down his crib and changing the sheets in my blurry state, I would just bring him to bed with me.
I texted Jason and he came home immediately. He really didn't need to since Jack was sleeping but he did and I am grateful. He brought a towel in to lay under us and no sooner did he do that, Jack threw up again. I don't think I got much sleep the rest of the night since I was so worried about my boy.
Sunday was fine. I didn't give Jack milk. At the ER they said that milk is hard to digest and can irritate their little stomachs. I had remembered that and followed through. Jack didn't throw up all day on Sunday and seemed fine.
Monday he went to daycare and had milk - I thought it was fine since he was fine all day on Sunday - and threw up at breakfast and pooped through three pairs of pants. I had to go pick him early because he ran out of pants. Sigh. I called the pediatrician and talked to a nurse that I didn't really love. She made me feel pretty stupid but explained I should keep him off milk for 24 hours. When I explained I had been doing that and he threw up as soon as it was reintroduced, she disagreed with me. Apparently I am a liar. He had no milk for afternoon snack, dinner or before bed in the hopes to give his little tummy a break.
Tuesday: No milk, no puking but still had the diarrhea.
Wednesday: I told daycare that if he was able to keep his breakfast and morning snack, he could have milk for lunch and afternoon snack. At lunch, it would be over 36 hours with no milk. He did fine. Except at dinner. He threw up his entire dinner in his highchair. Sigh sigh sigh.
Thursday: I called the pediatrician because at this point it seems it's been a long time for this virus to clear up. The better nurse was much more helpful. She explained that stomach bugs can last weeks. And it's not unusual for kids to be fine on cheese and other dairy but have a reaction to milk. She suggested switching Jack to soy milk for a period of time to give his tummy a break and to give him yogurt to replenish the good bacteria in his belly. After a week on the soy he can start having milk again but slowly reintroduce it. If he starts vomitting again, back off the milk. If this all continues for about three weeks, he needs to be seen for a GI consult.
All this time I have thought maybe it was a lactose issue or milk allergy. It still could be but I want to rule out the stomach virus first.
This whole long drawn-out story leads to this: Jack now is on soy milk indefinitely. At least now he gets his "milk". He was upset at not being able to have it. He gets a cup before bed which helps him sleep. He hasn't been sleeping well which means this momma hasn't been sleeping well.
And to add insult to injury? He now appears to have a cold. Seriously, this child never can catch a break. I am tired of this stomach "yuck" and I am sure Jack must be as well.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Chaos
Chaos is what my life feels like right now. It's nothing I can't conquer, but it's still frustrating.
My life for the last two weeks has been a whirlwind. Here is what we have been up to:
* Saturday the 24th: Jack went to the ER for a stomach virus and Jason and his peeps moved all our furniture back into the house.
* Sunday the 25th: I moved all our boxes, unpacked and then had to pack for Denver.
* The week of the 26th through the 30th: In Denver for business while Jack stayed home with Nana and Jason. Let's not forget to mention that Jack got a black eye at daycare during this week.
* Friday the 30th: Returned home from Denver to a half unpacked house and half of our belongings over at the in-laws.
* Saturday the 1st: Unpack, wrangle a cranky boy with a mild cold who slept horribly the night before, and run over to the in-laws to pack up the rest of our crap. Oh, and grocery shop because we have no food in the house.
* Sunday the 2nd: Unpack some more, take care of the boy, cook and get my workstation set up so I can actually work, and tons of laundry.
I haven't checked email, my bank account, or done anything remotely productive other than work.
Our house is pretty much functional, although there are painting supplies stacked in our bedroom because I still have touch-ups to do. Jason has some computer stuff still to unpack and I have some boxes to break down and stuff to still grab out of our shed.
I hate chaos and being unorganized. HATE IT. I thrive on cleanliness and organization. I want all the painting to be done RIGHT NOW. I want all the curtains and blinds up in the windows RIGHT NOW. I want all the house unpacked RIGHT NOW.
It will get done. I just have to keep telling myself that. In due time right?
My life for the last two weeks has been a whirlwind. Here is what we have been up to:
* Saturday the 24th: Jack went to the ER for a stomach virus and Jason and his peeps moved all our furniture back into the house.
* Sunday the 25th: I moved all our boxes, unpacked and then had to pack for Denver.
* The week of the 26th through the 30th: In Denver for business while Jack stayed home with Nana and Jason. Let's not forget to mention that Jack got a black eye at daycare during this week.
* Friday the 30th: Returned home from Denver to a half unpacked house and half of our belongings over at the in-laws.
* Saturday the 1st: Unpack, wrangle a cranky boy with a mild cold who slept horribly the night before, and run over to the in-laws to pack up the rest of our crap. Oh, and grocery shop because we have no food in the house.
* Sunday the 2nd: Unpack some more, take care of the boy, cook and get my workstation set up so I can actually work, and tons of laundry.
I haven't checked email, my bank account, or done anything remotely productive other than work.
Our house is pretty much functional, although there are painting supplies stacked in our bedroom because I still have touch-ups to do. Jason has some computer stuff still to unpack and I have some boxes to break down and stuff to still grab out of our shed.
I hate chaos and being unorganized. HATE IT. I thrive on cleanliness and organization. I want all the painting to be done RIGHT NOW. I want all the curtains and blinds up in the windows RIGHT NOW. I want all the house unpacked RIGHT NOW.
It will get done. I just have to keep telling myself that. In due time right?
Sunday, September 25, 2011
A Stomach Virus
On Friday, Jack came down with a bug of some sort. He was fine all day, playing and running like normal. At about 4:30 in the afternoon, he threw up and from there, it was all down hill. My mother-in-law was watching him that day and after he threw up the first time, he started running a fever. Then at 7:00 on their way home from a late visit, Jack threw up again in his carseat.
He went to bed almost immediately when he got home after a bottle of milk and a little baby Tylenol to bring his fever down. He slept for several hours just fine but around midnight while he was in bed with me, he started squirming, tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable. He kept trying to relieve his stomach pain by tooting but it just wasn't working. In bed, he started dry heaving and threw up just some clear liquid.
By the morning, he had thrown up a couple more times and wasn't able to keep any fluids down, not even water. After a call to his pediatrician, they suggested I take him to the children's emergency room at Emanuel because dehydration could become a concern.
After hurriedly packing Jack's diaper bag with extras like towels in case he puked in the car and a blanket and some snacks for me, I brushed my teeth, threw my dirty hair in a ponytail and got dressed. Thankfully my mother-in-law offered to come with me which is awesome because Jason was sleeping and had to move us back into our house (great timing huh?).
I got to the hospital in record time and the check-in was immediate. We didn't have to wait to get Jack back into a room. The nurse came in quickly and took his temperature (rectally, poor guy), got a blood pressure reading and a pulse. His temp was 101.8 which is pretty high for him. Not his highest fever ever but enough to make me know something was definitely wrong. He was given one of those little soft baby hospital gowns to put on.
The doctor came in and did an exam and his lungs sounded clear, his belly was making good noises and since he didn't have diarrhea, they were able to figure out it wasn't a few things. It wasn't appendicitis due to the good belly sounds. It wasn't food poisoning because of no diarrhea. It MIGHT be a UTI but they wouldn't know that unless they were to catheterize him and that was hopefully to be avoided unless his fever continued for a couple of days. She was pretty certain it was a stomach virus which is easily treated.
Another nurse came in the room and by this time Jack had enough. Everytime someone came in he would cry. This nurse made him cry even more when she gave him a Zofran and a rectal dose of Tylenol. We were told that if he could keep the Zofran down for about 30 minutes, they would start giving him small amounts of liquid over the course of an hour. If Jack threw up anymore, they would have to give him an IV of fluids. Of course, this scared me so I silently prayed that he wouldn't have to go through that. The nurse explained we would be there for a few hours and to make ourselves comfortable.
Jack was very tired so he mostly sat on my lap and snuggled while watching Disney. He dozed off and on as well. He was so warm, even in his little hospital gown. Poor little guy.
The nurse came back after a half hour with Jack's first dose of fluids. She had mixed Pedialyte with some grape juice and he was given 5.5 ml of that through a syringe. If he was able to keep that amount down, we should double it after 10 minutes. Over the course of 90 minutes, Jack got small amounts of his "juice" and at the end, he was up to 22 ml. When he was able to keep that down, he was rewarded with a popsicle. Because he had lost a lot of electrolytes and vitamins, a popsicle is good because it quickly gets his blood sugar back up.
After he ate his popsicle it was like I had a whole new child. He wanted down from my lap and explore his room. Once the nurse saw that we were told to go home, yay!
The rest of Saturday was spent nursing a sick kid who got very small amounts of food along with small amounts of liquid as to not upset his stomach. I tried following the BRAT diet as much as I could but since Jack is pretty picky, he had other things as well. Saltines, some pears, applesauce, toast and oatmeal was his diet for Saturday. Unfortunately, I had to go help at the house for a couple of hours but Nana took care of Jack. Between napping and watching "Mo Mo" (Elmo) he would quietly play with toys.
After staying up late - he literally would not go to sleep. It was like he was making up for being sick and all the down time. - he woke up bright and early on Sunday morning. 4:30 am came quickly and that was when I knew my little man was feeling much better.
We will never know what made Jack sick. None of our family is sick, no one at daycare has been sick, he hasn't come in to contact with any weird substance.......I will never know. I will definitely be more dilligent when it comes to wiping down the shopping cart and washing hands. That trip to the ER was enough to scare me into becoming the psycho germophobe.
He went to bed almost immediately when he got home after a bottle of milk and a little baby Tylenol to bring his fever down. He slept for several hours just fine but around midnight while he was in bed with me, he started squirming, tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable. He kept trying to relieve his stomach pain by tooting but it just wasn't working. In bed, he started dry heaving and threw up just some clear liquid.
By the morning, he had thrown up a couple more times and wasn't able to keep any fluids down, not even water. After a call to his pediatrician, they suggested I take him to the children's emergency room at Emanuel because dehydration could become a concern.
After hurriedly packing Jack's diaper bag with extras like towels in case he puked in the car and a blanket and some snacks for me, I brushed my teeth, threw my dirty hair in a ponytail and got dressed. Thankfully my mother-in-law offered to come with me which is awesome because Jason was sleeping and had to move us back into our house (great timing huh?).
I got to the hospital in record time and the check-in was immediate. We didn't have to wait to get Jack back into a room. The nurse came in quickly and took his temperature (rectally, poor guy), got a blood pressure reading and a pulse. His temp was 101.8 which is pretty high for him. Not his highest fever ever but enough to make me know something was definitely wrong. He was given one of those little soft baby hospital gowns to put on.
The doctor came in and did an exam and his lungs sounded clear, his belly was making good noises and since he didn't have diarrhea, they were able to figure out it wasn't a few things. It wasn't appendicitis due to the good belly sounds. It wasn't food poisoning because of no diarrhea. It MIGHT be a UTI but they wouldn't know that unless they were to catheterize him and that was hopefully to be avoided unless his fever continued for a couple of days. She was pretty certain it was a stomach virus which is easily treated.
Another nurse came in the room and by this time Jack had enough. Everytime someone came in he would cry. This nurse made him cry even more when she gave him a Zofran and a rectal dose of Tylenol. We were told that if he could keep the Zofran down for about 30 minutes, they would start giving him small amounts of liquid over the course of an hour. If Jack threw up anymore, they would have to give him an IV of fluids. Of course, this scared me so I silently prayed that he wouldn't have to go through that. The nurse explained we would be there for a few hours and to make ourselves comfortable.
Jack was very tired so he mostly sat on my lap and snuggled while watching Disney. He dozed off and on as well. He was so warm, even in his little hospital gown. Poor little guy.
The nurse came back after a half hour with Jack's first dose of fluids. She had mixed Pedialyte with some grape juice and he was given 5.5 ml of that through a syringe. If he was able to keep that amount down, we should double it after 10 minutes. Over the course of 90 minutes, Jack got small amounts of his "juice" and at the end, he was up to 22 ml. When he was able to keep that down, he was rewarded with a popsicle. Because he had lost a lot of electrolytes and vitamins, a popsicle is good because it quickly gets his blood sugar back up.
After he ate his popsicle it was like I had a whole new child. He wanted down from my lap and explore his room. Once the nurse saw that we were told to go home, yay!
The rest of Saturday was spent nursing a sick kid who got very small amounts of food along with small amounts of liquid as to not upset his stomach. I tried following the BRAT diet as much as I could but since Jack is pretty picky, he had other things as well. Saltines, some pears, applesauce, toast and oatmeal was his diet for Saturday. Unfortunately, I had to go help at the house for a couple of hours but Nana took care of Jack. Between napping and watching "Mo Mo" (Elmo) he would quietly play with toys.
After staying up late - he literally would not go to sleep. It was like he was making up for being sick and all the down time. - he woke up bright and early on Sunday morning. 4:30 am came quickly and that was when I knew my little man was feeling much better.
We will never know what made Jack sick. None of our family is sick, no one at daycare has been sick, he hasn't come in to contact with any weird substance.......I will never know. I will definitely be more dilligent when it comes to wiping down the shopping cart and washing hands. That trip to the ER was enough to scare me into becoming the psycho germophobe.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Surgery Success!
After a month of anxious waiting, Jack had his surgery today. It went very well and we can stop worrying, at least about this. Here is a run-down of our day.
I woke up at 5:00 to get ready for the day. Jason stayed awake all night because of his schedule. Jack couldn't have any food or drink after midnight last night, so he was not a happy camper this morning.
With coffee cups in hand and the boy dressed in his jammies, we were out the door by 6:00. We arrived at the hospital at 6:15 and went through the whole check-in process. By 7:00 we were brought upstairs to Jack's room. The room is shared by four babies so it was a pretty tight fit. Jack was third in line for the same procedure, so we had some waiting to do. The doctor does surgeries based on age, so there were two babies younger than Jack who were first. After dressing in hospital scrubs (too cute!) and going through the weighing process (23.2 pounds) and having his vitals checked, we were off to the playroom!
Jack played for about an hour. It didn't matter that he was hungry or tired. He had a blast playing and running around with the other kiddos. It certainly didn't hurt that they had Disney Junior on the tv either.
Can I just say how awesome Legacy Emanuel is? It's a children's hospital with its own ER and staff of doctors and nurses who are wonderful with children. They treat you like family and every room and waiting area is really catered to children. It made the whole process a lot less scary for both Jack and me (and Jason too, although he won't admit that he was worried).
By 8:00, Jack was very tired so we made our way back to his room for some quiet. At that time, the nurse came in and dosed him with some Tylenol and some Verced (like Valium). It was explained to us that the Verced would make him relax and not be scared as much when it was time to carry him off to surgery. My little Jack didn't even throw up when he got his medicine. He happily opened his mouth (probably because he was starving by that time) and drank it right up! Then we were wheeled downstairs for the procedure. I held Jack since he was starting to get loopy from the medication.
Being the freak that I am, I took some pictures. Below is one of him all doped up and happy. Isn't he funny? Apparently he thought Daddy was pretty entertaining.
Here I am holding him. He looks a little "tired" in this picture. Well wouldn't you if you had a dose of Valium?
I look like Hell, but you can just ignore. I have been stress eating for the past few weeks, but that is for another post. The anesthesiologist came and introduced himself and asked the regular questions. I explained that I get seriously nauseous with any form of anesthetic, so they wanted to watch Jack carefully. Then the ENT came and answered any questions that we had. After that, Jack was carried off for the procedure. Considering that he was well medicated, he was happy and smiling when they brought him back.
Jason and I sat in the waiting room, which was awful by the way. The waiting itself, not the actual waiting room. 15 minutes was all it took for the procedure. Dr. Hertler came to us and said the surgery went great although he had to suction Jack's ears because there was quite a bit of pus and mucus behind the drums. Isn't it amazing? He is on antibiotics for an ear infection as we speak and he still had the pus. That just goes to show you just how important this surgery was for him to have.
We needed to wait until Jack came out of the anesthesia - which is just a laughing gas mixed with something else - and was lucid enough to recognize us before we could be excused to Recovery. That was about another 15 minutes of waiting. Both Jason and I knew he was coming due to the wailing we could hear down the hall. I guess the anesthesia makes them a little disoriented when they first come to. Plus, it probably didn't help that he was being carried by a stranger.
Holding my little man for the first time after was such a relief! I was so glad that he did well and we could finally go upstairs to Recovery and Snuggle (that is my made up name for the department).
Jack felt a little yucky when he woke up, but mostly from being so hungry. He sucked down a small bottle of glucose water and then some apple juice when we got back upstairs. The nurse okayed him for other foods, so out came the bag of snacks! In between crying jags (this is totally normal for a child coming out of anesthesia) he would eat a few Cheerios and drink some milk. After two rounds of vital signs and 45 minutes of snuggling and waiting, we were free to go home! Armed with our ear drops, instructions for after surgery and a tired baby, we went to the car.
And of course, because he was exhausted, Jack fell asleep on the way home. Meanwhile, the starving husband and I got breakfast and then came home and crashed on the couch.
Jack feels great! He ate a good lunch and now he's down for a nap. I can already tell he's hearing better because he is "talking" using totally different sounds than I am used to - if that makes any sense.
It really is answered prayers. After all the anxiety and worry, I am hoping that finally Jack will start to feel like a normal kiddo.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Big F You Ears!
See a theme here? I seem to post about Jack's ears a lot. Sorry about that. It's a source of heartache these days.
Jack had his appointment with the Ear Nose and Throat specialist yesterday and he said that Jack is definitely a candidate for tubes. Tubes were one of the three options he laid out on the table:
1 - Do nothing. This option is not good because of how often Jack gets infections and how often he has to be on antibiotics.
2 - Treat with antibiotics until he turns 2 and then reevaluate. See number 1.
3 - Tubes
We opted for the tubes, mainly because the doctor thinks the constant ear infections are affecting Jack's hearing and speech. He mentioned that they like to see toddlers of Jack's age say more than just Mama and Dada consistently. While Jack says the occasional work, he doesn't say them consistently. He can hear, but with the constant mucus in his ears, it's probably muffled and no doubt painful.
While the doctor was checking Jack, he said "What ear was the one he had his last infection in?" We told him it was his left. "Because his right ear also has an infection". Jesus H.
That means in the span of 3 months, his ear infections have been virtually constant. He no sooner gets over one infection that he gets another one, usually in the opposite ear. He isn't even finished the antibiotics from our last trip to Urgent Care for goodness sakes.
That leads me to believe that no amount of antibiotics are going to work on this kid. I called the pediatrician today and they wanted to see Jack. When she checked his ears, she mentioned that she didn't know how he wasn't miserable because his right ear was very infected.
The only (and possibly last) option at this point is a shot of antibiotics rather than an oral. So that is what Jack got today: A big fat injection in his chubby baby leg.
The chance that this will work? 50%. 50 measly percent.
He goes back in about a week to check the status of his ears.
In the meantime, we wait for his surgery. I am feeling pretty down about this. Yes, he needs it, but that still doesn't mean I am scared and worried. This blows.
Jack had his appointment with the Ear Nose and Throat specialist yesterday and he said that Jack is definitely a candidate for tubes. Tubes were one of the three options he laid out on the table:
1 - Do nothing. This option is not good because of how often Jack gets infections and how often he has to be on antibiotics.
2 - Treat with antibiotics until he turns 2 and then reevaluate. See number 1.
3 - Tubes
We opted for the tubes, mainly because the doctor thinks the constant ear infections are affecting Jack's hearing and speech. He mentioned that they like to see toddlers of Jack's age say more than just Mama and Dada consistently. While Jack says the occasional work, he doesn't say them consistently. He can hear, but with the constant mucus in his ears, it's probably muffled and no doubt painful.
While the doctor was checking Jack, he said "What ear was the one he had his last infection in?" We told him it was his left. "Because his right ear also has an infection". Jesus H.
That means in the span of 3 months, his ear infections have been virtually constant. He no sooner gets over one infection that he gets another one, usually in the opposite ear. He isn't even finished the antibiotics from our last trip to Urgent Care for goodness sakes.
That leads me to believe that no amount of antibiotics are going to work on this kid. I called the pediatrician today and they wanted to see Jack. When she checked his ears, she mentioned that she didn't know how he wasn't miserable because his right ear was very infected.
The only (and possibly last) option at this point is a shot of antibiotics rather than an oral. So that is what Jack got today: A big fat injection in his chubby baby leg.
The chance that this will work? 50%. 50 measly percent.
He goes back in about a week to check the status of his ears.
In the meantime, we wait for his surgery. I am feeling pretty down about this. Yes, he needs it, but that still doesn't mean I am scared and worried. This blows.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Jack's Trip to Urgent Care
I hope this post doesn't end up being super duper long.
On Monday when I picked Jack up from childcare, Karen mentioned that he didn't seem like himself and only wanted to be held all day. He hadn't eaten a whole lot and only was interested in milk. When we got home, I noticed he was warm. I took his armpit temperature and it was 99.8. That is pretty high for a kiddo that doesn't get fevers. As soon as I saw the number pop up, I knew I was going to be taking him in.
For the past few days, I had a suspicion that his ear infection hadn't gone away, or he had another one. His sleep never got better from his last infection and he wasn't napping well. I gave him some Advil to help bring his fever down. Since it was too late to go to his regular pediatrician, we made a trip up the street to urgent care. It literally is a mile from our house. Convenient!
The wait was about 2 hours so the man at the admit desk said we could come back at 5:30 rather than wait in a crowded waiting room for that long. I was relieved by this because the clientele was errrrr......How do you say shady in a politically correct way?
Jack and I drove back home and he quickly had dinner and I ran him a bath. I knew it would be late by the time we got home so I wanted him all ready to go in his jammies. I called my mother-in-law and she agreed to meet us up there. I was relieved since I didn't want to be by myself.
When we returned to urgent care, most of the people were gone and we were brought back relatively quickly. The very nice medical assistant weighed Jack and then took his temperature. Even after getting some baby Advil, it was still 101.1. Again, for a child who doesn't get fevers, I was a little shocked. Jack got a tiny hospital gown to change into and then quickly fell asleep.
When the Physician Assistant finally came in the room, he greeted us and immediately, turned into Jerky Jerkerson. I gave him Jack's history of ear infections and explained he had just gotten through with his last round of antibiotics a week ago.
JJ (Jerky Jerkerson): Well what didn't get better from the last time?
Me: Do you mean his symptoms? Well, his sleep never got better. He's waking up a lot and generally fussy.
JJ: No, you aren't understanding. What didn't get better?
Me: I am not understanding your question. Can you explain what you mean?
JJ: Huff. Never mind. What are his symptoms now?
This back and forth crap went on for a while. He checked Jack's ears and sure enough, red rotten infection.
He gave me the lecture about not giving children antibiotics for ear infections and yada yada. Now, I realize that when children are not symptomatic, doctors are opting not to treat them with medicine. That makes sense to me. But, like my pediatrician says, if they are symptomatic, miserable, their sleep is affected and they aren't eating, why WOULDN'T we treat them? The PA told me that the main reason that most parents want their children treated for antibiotics is because they were missing too much work and it was an inconvenience to them to see thier children sick.
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Did you just stare blankly at this? When he told me that, I sure stared blankly at him. The only words that came out of my mouth were "What?!?" I explained that it had nothing to do with me missing work and everything to do with my son feeling better.
The PA backtracked and said that since Jack has a prior history of ear infections that he thought that antibiotics were the way to go. That's right you jerk. After arguing with him about medication, he said that wanted to put Jack on Amoxicillin. I explained that particular medication does nothing to help Jack's infections. He responds well to Omnicef. The PA didn't listen and left the room with "Let me consult some of my colleagues".
20 minutes later he was back and explained that he had called Oregon Health Sciences University consult service and everyone agreed that medication and Jack not responding had nothing to do with bad luck. They thought that it had to do with the anatomy of his ears and no medication would probably be all that helpful. Sigh.
So after leaving with a prescription for Augmentin (so much for the Omnicef), we were off. An hour later my child was home, asleep and I was standing in line filling a prescription. Have no fear, my mother-in-law was watching him.
Fast forward to Wednesday. Jack is not responding to the medication. He's fussy and running another fever. I call his regular pediatrician and her nurse says "Why did they give you Augmentin? He was just on Augmentin?". Blah blah blah, more unimportant details. Blah blah blah.
Jack is now on Omnicef and has a consult scheduled with an ear nose and throat doctor. He is doing much better now, but he still isn't sleeping great. I hope we have some answers this week. I also hope he starts eating and sleeping better. My poor daycare provider is probably exhausted since he hasn't been napping well.
Please pray for our family. I know that ear tubes are no big deal. I also know that tubes might not be the way to go for Jack. I just want my son to feel better.
On Monday when I picked Jack up from childcare, Karen mentioned that he didn't seem like himself and only wanted to be held all day. He hadn't eaten a whole lot and only was interested in milk. When we got home, I noticed he was warm. I took his armpit temperature and it was 99.8. That is pretty high for a kiddo that doesn't get fevers. As soon as I saw the number pop up, I knew I was going to be taking him in.
For the past few days, I had a suspicion that his ear infection hadn't gone away, or he had another one. His sleep never got better from his last infection and he wasn't napping well. I gave him some Advil to help bring his fever down. Since it was too late to go to his regular pediatrician, we made a trip up the street to urgent care. It literally is a mile from our house. Convenient!
The wait was about 2 hours so the man at the admit desk said we could come back at 5:30 rather than wait in a crowded waiting room for that long. I was relieved by this because the clientele was errrrr......How do you say shady in a politically correct way?
Jack and I drove back home and he quickly had dinner and I ran him a bath. I knew it would be late by the time we got home so I wanted him all ready to go in his jammies. I called my mother-in-law and she agreed to meet us up there. I was relieved since I didn't want to be by myself.
When we returned to urgent care, most of the people were gone and we were brought back relatively quickly. The very nice medical assistant weighed Jack and then took his temperature. Even after getting some baby Advil, it was still 101.1. Again, for a child who doesn't get fevers, I was a little shocked. Jack got a tiny hospital gown to change into and then quickly fell asleep.
When the Physician Assistant finally came in the room, he greeted us and immediately, turned into Jerky Jerkerson. I gave him Jack's history of ear infections and explained he had just gotten through with his last round of antibiotics a week ago.
JJ (Jerky Jerkerson): Well what didn't get better from the last time?
Me: Do you mean his symptoms? Well, his sleep never got better. He's waking up a lot and generally fussy.
JJ: No, you aren't understanding. What didn't get better?
Me: I am not understanding your question. Can you explain what you mean?
JJ: Huff. Never mind. What are his symptoms now?
This back and forth crap went on for a while. He checked Jack's ears and sure enough, red rotten infection.
He gave me the lecture about not giving children antibiotics for ear infections and yada yada. Now, I realize that when children are not symptomatic, doctors are opting not to treat them with medicine. That makes sense to me. But, like my pediatrician says, if they are symptomatic, miserable, their sleep is affected and they aren't eating, why WOULDN'T we treat them? The PA told me that the main reason that most parents want their children treated for antibiotics is because they were missing too much work and it was an inconvenience to them to see thier children sick.
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-
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Did you just stare blankly at this? When he told me that, I sure stared blankly at him. The only words that came out of my mouth were "What?!?" I explained that it had nothing to do with me missing work and everything to do with my son feeling better.
The PA backtracked and said that since Jack has a prior history of ear infections that he thought that antibiotics were the way to go. That's right you jerk. After arguing with him about medication, he said that wanted to put Jack on Amoxicillin. I explained that particular medication does nothing to help Jack's infections. He responds well to Omnicef. The PA didn't listen and left the room with "Let me consult some of my colleagues".
20 minutes later he was back and explained that he had called Oregon Health Sciences University consult service and everyone agreed that medication and Jack not responding had nothing to do with bad luck. They thought that it had to do with the anatomy of his ears and no medication would probably be all that helpful. Sigh.
So after leaving with a prescription for Augmentin (so much for the Omnicef), we were off. An hour later my child was home, asleep and I was standing in line filling a prescription. Have no fear, my mother-in-law was watching him.
Fast forward to Wednesday. Jack is not responding to the medication. He's fussy and running another fever. I call his regular pediatrician and her nurse says "Why did they give you Augmentin? He was just on Augmentin?". Blah blah blah, more unimportant details. Blah blah blah.
Jack is now on Omnicef and has a consult scheduled with an ear nose and throat doctor. He is doing much better now, but he still isn't sleeping great. I hope we have some answers this week. I also hope he starts eating and sleeping better. My poor daycare provider is probably exhausted since he hasn't been napping well.
Please pray for our family. I know that ear tubes are no big deal. I also know that tubes might not be the way to go for Jack. I just want my son to feel better.
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