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October 31, 2006

Happy Halloween

Oh, and Dylan cut his first tooth yesterday.

Posted by Terri at 03:37 PM | Comments (4)

October 30, 2006

Stop This Crazy Ride I Want To Get Off

Seriously.

Last week was totally a blast. Not. Saturday Dylan woke up congested again. No big deal, just a little cold, right? We ran our errands Saturday morning, because we had a busy day. Saturday afternoon Darren and I took an Infant CPR class. By the time we got home, Dylan was wheezing again so we called the doctor. She said to start nebulizing again, which we did. Then Saturday evening we had a birthday party for Uncle Mike (and celebrated mine and Darren's a little too).

Sunday morning I woke up and I was back to the fun times of puking my guts out. Darren took care of Dylan, who was still congested, for most of the morning and thankfully I was feeling a little better by mid morning. I felt good enough to get up and let Dylan sleep on me. I didn't do much all day, but then Sunday night was a rough night. Dylan was up throughout the night. He hadn't been eating much and we fed him in the middle of the night.

Monday we had a bit of a backward slide. Darren had to stay home from work to take care of Dylan - who had a fever and couldn't go to daycare - and me - who was still throwing up. I managed to pull it together enough to go to Dylan's doctor with Darren. He was put on Pulmicort - an inhaled steroid - and an antibiotic for the ear infection he also had and we also had to continue the other nebulizer treatment. Monday was rough, but by Monday night I was feeling better at least.

Tuesday was a good day. I felt better. Dylan was feeling better. He still wasn't eating much, but he didn't have a fever all day and he was back to his normal self. Then came Wednesday.

Even though Tuesday was a good day, Dylan kept us up Tuesday night coughing. We didn't get much sleep. I woke up Wednesday sick again. But Dylan was alright so I struggled through - at one point I had a pail in one hand and him sleeping in the other arm - until it was time to drop him at daycare. Somehow we made it there and I came home and crashed on the couch. I couldn't sleep because of the running to the bathroom and I knew that sleep was what I needed. So finally at around 10:30 I went to the store for some Pepto to see if it would help. While at the store my phone rang. It was daycare. I needed to go get Dylan because he had 102.6 fever.

Panic!

I called my mother-in-law and asked (begged) her to come over and help. There was no way I could take care of him in my condition. On the way to daycare to pick up Dylan I called his doctor - who said just keep an eye on the fever that they didn't need to see him - and my doctor. I got an appointment at 1:30. I needed to get myself better so I could take care of my baby.

Dylan had Tylenol when we got home, and he hung out with his Grammy while I tried to sleep until my doctor's appointment. He still wasn't eating much, and he wasn't acting like himself, but I figured it was from the fever. I went to my doctor and I was there for a while. He gave me a shot to stop the nausea, but he had to give it to me half a dose at a time because one of the side effects was dizziness and I had to drive myself home. After the first half didn't react badly, I got the second half. Wonderful. I felt super. I was loving life because I wasn't puking. Then my mother in law called my cel phone and told me that she thought Dylan's temperature was going back up.

I went home and sure enough, his temperature was over 103. Plus now, he was having difficulty breathing. His chest walls were pulling in to breathe, which is not a good thing. We gave him tylenol and I called the doctor again. The doctor said to do another nebulizer treatment - he had just had one - and if it didn't improve to go to the ER. Well guess what. It didn't improve.

So Grammy, Dylan and I trekked over to the ER. Darren met us there after work. After a chest X-Ray (he doesn't have pneumonia), an RSV test (he doesn't have RSV), a dose of motrin (the fever finally went down) and three nebulizer treatments that did nothing to fix the breathing, they admitted him.

Well, let the fun begin. My poor 5 1/2 month old baby was admitted into the hospital. They gave him an IV. They hooked up a blood oxygen monitor to his toe. And wouldn't you know it, he was still happy and giggly.

We were in the hospital until Friday afternoon. Darren stayed the nights because I needed to sleep or I would end up sick again. (The doctor gave me some drugs to help with the nausea and I had to take one on Thursday, but after that I was ok). Dylan needed oxygen on Thursday while he was sleeping, but by Thursday evening he was doing much better. He still wasn't eating much, but he was also on IV fluid.

Friday after we got discharged and Saturday were a little rough. Darren got sick from not getting any sleep in the hospital and I was still on the verge. Dylan wasn't eating Friday and Saturday but then yesterday he got his appetite back. The wheezing is gone, he's eating like a champ, and pretty much back to his old self. He's still a little congested, but that should go away in time.

Going forward, we have the pulmicort to give to him, probably through the winter to prevent this from happening. Then as soon as he gets congested we have to start the other nebulizer stuff instead of waiting until he is wheezing. We also have an appointment next Monday to go see a Pulminologist.

I realize everyone said that parenthood would not be easy, but I had no idea they meant it would be like this!

Posted by Terri at 11:01 AM | Comments (1)

October 19, 2006

Happy Mommy, Happy Baby

...and probably happy Daddy too...

Life is pretty good right now (knock on wood). Reasons why life is good:

-Dylan's healthy
-Darren's healthy
-I'm, well, ok, I'm not healthy but I feel alright
-Dylan has TMX Elmo (thank you Uncle Mike!)
-The new moms at daycare love Dylan
-I have pictures of Dylan at daycare squeezing marshmallows and painting with a paint marker ALL BY HIMSELF!
-Dylan is eating his food better (he gobbles up 3T of rice cereal and then a small jar of pears at lunch)
-Dylan is starting bananas on Saturday
-Grey's Anatomy is on tonite

Dylan was five months old yesterday. I don't have anything to complain about because everything is going well, so I'll leave you with a picture (since you haven't had one in a while):

That's right. That's my baby advertising for my company...

Posted by Terri at 11:03 AM | Comments (2)

October 13, 2006

Seriously?

I. Have. Mono.

Yes, Mono, as in Mononucleosis. I guess I should stop hooking up with random frat boys in my spare time on the weekends. (And it's sad that the "no drinking" part of mono affected me more when I was 18 and had it and could not legally consume alcohol than it does now when I can). So what does this mean? It means I get to be a working mom who has mono so I don't only have mommy-exhaustion, I also have mono-exhaustion. Plus I don't get to go to strollerfit for at least 6 weeks. Do I get out of work? No. Now, when I had mono in college, I got to stay home for two weeks. Do I get to do this now? No. And of course I don't get a bye on being a mom. So I'm overtired and cranky and I have mono.

Dylan's cleared for daycare on Monday. He's at his Grammy's house today while I'm working from home. He's still congested, but doing better. But the steroid is screwing up his sleeping and I think all the medicine is bothering his belly, because he'll be sleeping and he'll wake up screaming and arching his back. Thankfully, tomorrow is his last day for both the steroid and the antibiotic. Maybe we can go a little while with no drugs so he can get back to normal. Ahh, wonderful. Just in time to start introducing new foods and teething.

The good thing about him going to the doctor so much this week is she measured his head and it's fine. He doesn't have to go back at the end of the month. And his ears look good, so if all goes well, we won't be there again until the end of November for his six month checkup.

Oh, and he has a new thing now. He screams when you try to put him to sleep. The only times it is not a fight is with the beditme bottle at 9:30, when he's in the car or in the stroller. Well, stroller weather is coming to a close and I can't take him for a drive every time he needs to nap. So we spend a good 5-10 minutes writhing around and screaming.

I know I'm always posting bad stuff, but I'm just so tired and cranky. There's good stuff too. He rolled over the other day. He was playing in his play mat and he rolled onto his side and grabbed part of the playmat and pulled himself over. He hasn't done it since, but it was so exciting to see him do that.

It's just hard, you know. The good stuff is great when it is happening, but when you spend 20 minutes with him screaming on you, it sets you off for the whole day. Or when you can't figure out why he's crying. Or if you know why he's crying - like, for example, his stomach hurts - and you don't know what to do about it. I just constantly think that I'm a bad mom and I could be doing better. And I know I'm doing the best I can, and I haven't broken him yet, and daycare keeps telling me he's advanced and all, but I just want him to be happy, and lately he isn't. He's always fussy. And I know he's been sick and that is affecting him, and there are times when he's happy, but he's just so tired all the time because I don't think he sleeps well at night. And now he's waking up early in the morning and he's cold and the doctor said he can't sleep with a blanket yet, so I'm not sure what to do about that either. And it's all just very overwhelming when all you want to do is sleep because you're so unbelievably exhausted beyond the point of coherent speech even.

Ok. Wow. That just kind of came out of nowhere. I just feel so guilty because it's so hard to take care of him, and you would think it would be easy and natural, since it's what you're supposed to do, but lately it just seems like everything is so hard. We figured out the swaddling and stuff to settle him down when he was little, but now we're lost again. I don't know what to do when he's so exhausted he's screaming so hard he looks like he's going to pop a vein. I don't know how to get him to be able to eat his cereal at dinner time. I don't know how to keep him healthy. I don't know what to do about the fact that he's freezing at night. I don't know what I'm going to do when he outgrows his infant carrier carseat in a month and I can't carry him into places with it anymore. And I'm just so tired that all these things seem like insurmountable problems.

It's supposed to get easier, right? I'm waiting.

Posted by Terri at 10:06 AM | Comments (2)

October 10, 2006

Update From The Infirmary

We are all gradually getting better...

Dylan is out of daycare until at least Thursday. He went back to the doctor yesterday for a checkup and although he is getting better, she wasn't entirely happy with his progress. He is now on prednisolone, a mild steroid, to reduce the inflamation and help him breathe easier. His blood oxygen was 97, so that was a big improvement. The ear appeared to be clearing up, so that's good. (The only bad side effect of the antibiotic is it turns the poop red. Darren calls it "Georgia Clay"). So Thursday he goes back to the doctor again to recheck his breathing and ear and we find out if he is all clear for daycare or if we have to keep him home longer. He seems to be doing better and last night he slept well, especially since we were able to flatten his mattress - the doctor said he no longer needs to be propped up. He is still being nebulized every 4 hours, so even though he slept through the night, Mommy and Daddy did not, so we're still struggling.

Darren and I are both doing better. Darren's cough is all but gone and I don't really feel sick at all, just exhausted from being up every 4 hours. I still haven't gotten the results of my blood test from the doctor and I'm starting to get annoyed at them. Seriously, it shouldn't take this long.

So hopefully everything has turned a corner.

Dylan's waking up. Got to go.

Posted by Terri at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)

October 05, 2006

Big Doings

Guess where I was this morning. Again.

Dylan's Sick

He was a little congested at his well-baby appointment last week, but nothing too bad. Over the weekend he started to cough, and it just kept getting worse and worse. Yesterday he started wheezing. We called the doctor, who gave us pediacare to give to him at night and in the morning. This morning he woke up and although he didn't have a fever, he was cranky and didn't eat much breakfast. The cough was even worse and he was wheezing pretty bad. He also tugged on his ear a few times. We called the doctor, and she could hear his wheezing over the phone. She said to come in at 9:00.

I brought him into the doctor and he got two treatments of a nebulizer, which is a big machine that you put medicine into and it mists the medicine into his face. The medicine is some kind of bronchial dilator or something. Anyway, after the two treatments his wheezing was better. We have our very own nebulizer machine to take home - can't wait to see how much of that the insurance makes us pay for - and we have to nebulize him ever four hours. Around the clock. He also has an ear infection. So we have new antibiotics. He has to go back to get re-checked next Monday. Luckily, Darren is off so he can take him to that appointment.

Oh, and they took his blood oxygen level (which I kept calling blood alcohol level because I must be a big lush or something). It ended up being like 91 or 92. If it was 90 or less, they would have had to admit him. Seriously? With the A-word? Can we please stop?

Mommy's Sick

Yes, still, although I'm feeling better than I was. I went to the doctor on Tuesday. He took another strep test and actually ordered a blood test to rule out Mono. Yes, that's right, I said Mono. Wouldn't that be super? I'll get those results tomorrow. He also changed my antibiotic. My throat is still swollen, but it doesn't hurt unless I yawn. Then it still hurts. Yeah, I don't get what yawning has to do with anything either.

Daddy's Sick

Yes, we're just one big happy sick family. Darren can't stop coughing. Expectorant? Didn't help. Cough suppresant? Didn't help. Z-pack antibiotic? Didn't help. It is the cough that Just. Won't. Go. Away.

We're a sorry bunch.

Posted by Terri at 03:33 PM | Comments (2)

October 02, 2006

Can't Catch a Break

The sick got worse. I was in bed Thurs & Friday with a fever. Well, I was in bed when I wasn't running to the bathroom to empty my stomach. (Awesome diet, btw... I lost like 6 lbs in 2 days). My MIL had to come and drive me to daycare to get Dylan for his well-baby doctor appointment because I was so fevered (even with Tylenol) I couldn't drive. Thank you Mom! Then she came back to help me pick him up at the end of the day. It was a good thing she did, because I don't know how I would have managed until Darren got home without her.

Dylan's fine. (Thank goodness). He weighed in at 18lbs, 14oz and measured 29 inches. Both of these numbers are off the chart (>95%). He got 4 shots, which he absolutely loved. There is still some fluid in his ears, and she's a little concerned with how his head is growing, so they want to see him back in a month. I think they just miss his cute little smiling face (and my frowny frowny wallet) when we're not there.

So anyway, back to the sick ward. Darren is also still fighting something off, so Uncle Mike took pity on us and came up Saturday to help out. Saturday we were actually a little better (Read: I did not have to go to the hospital for IV fluids) so Uncle Mike made us chicken soup. Mmmmmm. Thank you Uncle Mike! (Had we not been feeling better, he would probably have had to drive me to the hospital. Yeah, it was that bad).

We appear to be on the mend, sort of. At least we are able to take care of our little baby now.

But poor Dylan. Even though he wasn't sick, of course the weekend couldn't be wonderful and smooth. We started him on barley cereal Saturday afternoon. He loved it. His belly, however, did not love it. So the poor little guy had a bellyache and diarhea all Sunday. So what now? We wait til next weekend and try oatmeal. And if that doesn't work, we move to bananas or pears or some other such fruit.

You know, this was supposed to be getting easier. It's not. It's definitely more fun at times, because he's so cute and happy and giggly and playful, but it's definitely not easier.

Posted by Terri at 10:39 AM | Comments (2)