Sick baby

Any mom will tell you, having a sick child is the worst thing in the whole world. They're sad, they're miserable, you're helpless. Recipe for disaster. Last week Lila got sick for the first time. She wasn't acting sick: no fever, eating and sleeping well. But she woke up with some green goo in her eye. Having dealt with this with Hayden a number of times, I wasn't too worried but decided to take her in just to be sure. It would happen to Hayden when he was congested, and we always left with saline, saline, saline. We went to the doctor, who was as surprised as I was to discover that Lila bean had a double ear infection! We left with a prescription of amoxicillin and I stayed home with Lila the rest of the day. Happy as ever, I told her I think she faked it to keep me home from work!

A day passed without incident, Lila eating, sleeping, taking her medicine.

On Friday, I was wrapping up my massage (my mother's day gift) when Jay called. Daycare called - Lila has a 101 fever and is showing symptoms of hand-foot-mouth. We called the doctor on the way there and got her in for a quick appointment. When we got there, her fever was gone. The doctor said she did not have hand-foot-mouth, just possibly something viral and to keep a check on her. If her fever was gone and she was eating, nothing else we needed to do. Plus side: her ears were much better!

We left feeling pretty good about everything and headed to Chick-Fil-A for Hayden's Friday treat. We were in the middle of a monsoon-like storm, and all ended up drenched from head to toe. Except Lila, who was in her car seat and only ended up with a wet foot or two. That night, things went pretty well but she wasn't sleeping all that great. And then, one of the times she woke up to eat, as soon as I sat her up she threw up everywhere. :-( On Saturday, she just wanted to be held so I happily snuggled with her. After her nap we went to the grocery store and were surprised that she slept halfway through our outing. When she woke up, we got really worried. She was just so listless and lethargic and SAD. Just sad. Heartbreaking. She took a nap on my chest, something she hasn't done since she was 4 weeks old, but as we got more sleep and more feedings into her, she started to perk up.

Sunday morning she woke up good as new! No fever, no sad baby face, just my hungry hippo. We're still finishing up the antibiotic, but it seems like we're on the road to recovery!

Strep. Again.

Hayden has strep throat AGAIN. I noticed his discolored tongue last night, and remembered that on Monday he said his belly hurt. Since we're well-versed in strep (because of the round in September), we made him an appointment today and it was quickly confirmed. One more round of antibiotics and a day home with dad...should fix him right up!

Strep throat. Ew.

This past weekend, Hayden was acting a little funny and exhibiting some strange symptoms. He had a dark red tongue and his taste buds were inflamed a bit. He wasn't eating a whole lot and said his belly hurt. We called our favorite medical professional (my sister-in-law, Erin) for her advice and she quickly thought it was strep. We decided to take him to the doc, but not before finding him a new pediatrician. When we first got here, Tricare (Army insurance) assigned us a family care provider and since he hasn't been sick, we haven 't even thought about a new ped since our insurance changed (you know, back in April. Way to be healthy, Hayden!).

Erin recommended the practice they use for their kids, so we decided to check it out yesterday. After 2 years of Army clinics and German hospitals, and one well visit here, I was pleasantly surprised to see a pediatric office that looked like one! Brightly colored, smiling faces, a fish tank and whatnot. We filled out some quick paperwork and headed back to an exam room. The nurse was fantastic, catering to Hayden's every request ("look out window, see lizards"; "mommy's turn"; "let me do it") and making us both feel comfortable. A strep test quickly confirmed Erin's diagnosis and we were soon on our way to the pharmacy to pick up medicine for my happy, sick toddler.

Hayden has never really liked taking medicine. For an ear infection, I used to have to wrap him in a towel, straddle him to keep him down, hold his nose and use the medicine dropper to push the medicine down the side of his cheek. That was when he was 15 months old, Jay was deployed and Hayden was not so cooperative. Luckily now his cognitive reasoning has increased and when I tell him "medicine will make Hayden all better", he understands and is fine taking it as long as he gets to hold it himself. Twice a day for ten days and he should be back to 100%. Luckily for us he's also obsessed with his multivitamin, so he gets that as a reward for taking his medicine. Win-win.

He also got to pick something out for being such a good helper and listener at the doctor's office. Of all the things in Wal-mart, he chose a new toothbrush. Awesome. Last time he got to pick something out, he chose a small wisk with a pig for the handle in Bed, Bath & Beyond. I love this kid.

Today he is at home with Nana and Papaw and I'm sure having the best time. Yet another perk of living in America AND close to family!

Sick

Hayden and I both have colds. They started out as sniffles the last day in Texas but thankfully did not ruin our trip! I was feeling pretty crappy by the time we got settled in at home and didn't sleep a wink thanks to complete congestion. I got up at 2am to brush my teeth because I was breathing through my mouth and was pretty disgusted.

Mucinex-D has become a good friend of mine and helped clear out most of my congestion in two doses. Hayden needs a bit more work, since all we can do for him is vapor bath, Baby vicks (they actually have it here, unlike Germany where it's an urban legend) and saline, saline, saline. He's become a champ at taking saline up the nose in the past two years. Aquaphor is helping keep the redness down on his baby nostrils that are taking a beating with all the wiping.

I took him to the doctor yesterday to get him all checked out for school and he assured me it was just a run of the mill cold. America agrees with Hayden...he's gained three pounds and an inch since we arrived! He's a full three feet tall now and weighs just over 33 lbs. What a beast! That puts him in the 93rd percentile for weight and height. He's my big boy, and can wear very little of his 2T clothing. Looks like mom's first paycheck will be going towards some new clothes for my growing boy!

We got all his paperwork in to start at his new school on Monday. We took him yesterday to check it out and he was instantly excited about the playground. I just hope the weather cooperates for some outside time! We are supposed to get snow this weekend and I am just fine if it goes right over us.

On the mend

Well it has been a long road since this weekend! Hayden had low-grade fevers off and on and was completely messed up on his sleep schedule. He can't help it of course, so I obliged him with 2am playing sessions and food whenever I could get him to eat. For a few days the only thing he would eat were Spaghetti O's or Chef Boyardee. He pushed away all his regular favorites and didn't eat much when he did. Bless his heart!

He started to act like himself on Sunday but we are just now back to normal eating and I'm hoping the sleep will follow suit! He's back to napping normally but goes to bed much later than I'm used to (after 1030pm!) and even last night he woke up at 4am. I gave him some milk and let him hang out in the bed with me in the dark for awhile. Since he's feeling better, I don't want him thinking he gets to decide when playtime happens! After about a half hour he went right back down. It's amazing how much a few days of being sick can change a little one.

He is getting much better at the walking but doesn't cooperate much for videos. I got a short one that I'll post later. He is so curious and determined and loves to explore and test his limits. He's very giggly and silly lately and loves to be tickled. It's fun to play with him but it's even more fun to watch him play with Oscar. They are learning to play together even though Hayden can still be a little rough with him, but Oscar handles it well. I love my little buddies!

I'm from NC, I can't drive in the snow

That's right, the east coast of the US isn't the only place getting snow. We have our fair share here as well. Which is unfortunate for several reasons. The biggest is that Hayden is sick. He had a fever yesterday of 101.3 so I started the motrin/tylenol alternating routine around 130pm. At 5 his fever was down to 99.8 so I felt pretty good about it. Then he woke up from his nap and felt hot, so I checked and we was back up to 101.6. I tossed him in the tub to cool him down and when he got out, he was up again to 102.1. This was the first time his digital thermometer hit the "red zone" in the color coding system, so I decided to take him to the hospital to have him checked out.

Where we live when there's any kind of medical issue after our health clinic's normal hours, we go to the hospital. There's only one that will see children, so that's where we headed. It's a short drive but the snow definitely slowed us down. We decided to park in the deck to avoid some three-point-turning on a hill in the snow, a decision I later regretted. We went into the peds ward and were seen pretty quickly. His lungs were clear, his fever was down some and he didn't have any other signs of ear infection or the flu, so they sent us home. Lucky for us, because usually they keep you overnight to be safe. It took us longer to get out of the parking lot than it did in the hospital thanks to one closed ticket taker at the exit, near impossibility of navigating my American car in a European parking deck, and somehow having to drive through TWO levels of snow-covered lots to get out. How is that possible? I'm still not sure.

Last night was a very long night, as Hayden only slept an hour or two at a time. He kept waking up with his stuffy nose and had a hard time breathing. His fever went up and down and he didn't feel like eating much but he did drink his milk. I haven't had this little sleep since he was 5 months old! We've spent the day napping, cuddling, and pumping him full of saline every chance he'll let me to clear his nose. His humidifier is working overtime, and poor Oscar is worried about him. It seems to be all just a nasty cold, and we're hoping a few days at home with some extra love will have him better in no time. For now, he's still pretty miserable and that's tough on both of us!

Snow is mainly a problem because I hate the cold and refuse to drive in the snow unless absolutely necessary. I'm from North Carolina, that is the extent of our snow driving teaching...just don't do it. So for now, we aren't! I'm hoping for a little warm up tomorrow so I can run to the commissary but I'm certain I won't find any milk!

My turn!

It seems as though somewhere in the cleaning up after and taking care of Hayden's stomach bug, I got it myself! I woke up around 5:30am on Thursday not feeling so great. I hung out in the bathroom for a few minutes, waiting for the inevitable vomit, and as soon as it came I immediately felt better. I made a mental note of everything I had eaten on Wednesday, and decided to clean out the fridge just to be on the safe side. When I woke up, of course! That turned out to be an hour later, when Hayden woke up to eat. I fed him and as soon as I put him back down, it was back to the bathroom for me. It was then I decided it wasn't something I ate; but the dreaded stomach bug that we all seem to be passing around.

In the Army, we get used to spending extended periods of time away from Jay. Hayden and I usually handle it pretty well, but it's pretty hard to have a stomach bug when you're the sole caregiver for a 6-month-old and a dog! Unfortunately every time I picked Hayden up to take him either upstairs or downstairs, I had to put him down and run to the bathroom. I matched him nap for nap, sleeping every time he did until my bath during his evening nap. I tried crackers, Sprite, water, dry toast, Pepto Bismol. Nothing worked unfortunately, and it had to run its course. Oscar and Hayden were both pretty understanding but it was quite a miserable day!

The good news is that Hayden has finally realized he's a baby that needs to sleep 10 hours at night! Three nights in a row he's slept 10+ hours through the night, which is making life much easier. He's still napping well during the day, and this weekend we're starting some fruit! He doesn't love the oatmeal but he still eats it. Today we're taking it easy and getting ready for Jay to come home this weekend! We have missed him and can't wait to see him. I need to get my stomach back in working order so we can have chinese food when he gets here!

No pictures for this post...you don't need to see what we looked like yesterday! Baby Hayden stayed in pajamas all day, and I was a sight.

Doctor's Appointment and stomach bug

Well we had a fabulous weekend as usual! We went to our friend Misty's softball game, had Hayden's six month pictures taken, went bowling and had a barbeque at our house. It was my first time grilling, and it was fairly successful! We had a ton of people at our house but Oscar and Hayden didn't seem to mind all the extra bodies. Hayden was a little sniffly and stuffy, so I kept giving him saline and wiping his nose (much to his dismay). He woke up super sniffly on Monday but I knew we had a doctor's appointment Tuesday so I didn't worry much.

Last night I went in around 11 to check on him, just to see how he was breathing with all the stuffiness. Imagine my surprise to find the crib covered in vomit, and my baby, sleeping soundly, completely soaked head to toe in said vomit. It was EVERYWHERE. Which meant waking up my peaceful baby, stripping him and his bed down, a second bath of the evening, washing everything in the crib and hanging out with Hayden, who seemed to feel much better. He was smiley and happy, despite the mess he'd made in his sleep.

Today we went to the doctor, and Hayden seemed to be feeling fine. He weighs 16 lbs, 7 oz and is 27 inches long. Man is he growing! His bug was a 24-hour deal (we hope) and neither the doctor nor I were too worried about it. He's right on track with development and entertained the doc's office with his tippy-toe push ups. I took pictures, but I let a friend borrow my camera cord so they'll be up soon! We've also moved on to oatmeal after all the veggies passed with flying colors (no pun intended) and we'll test out the fruit by the weekend. Just in time for Jay to come home!

The sniffles

Well it was bound to happen. Usually twice a year, once in May and once in October, I get a cold that likely develops into a sinus infection. So I shouldn't have been surprised when I started getting sniffly two days ago. Now we're at full-fledged cold and it is a bummer. I realized last night my old standby for colds, Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold, is a no-go because it contains aspirin. Even bigger bummer. So for now I'm using saline drops and Vicks, drinking fluids and trying to rest. I took a doc-approved Benadryl last night, which usually knocks me out for a solid ten hours, and even THAT didn't work.

I woke up starving, so I ate and am hoping I can keep down orange juice for an extra shot of vitamin C. Oscar is being lazily cooperative today, so I think I'll spend as much time in the bed as possible today!