Yup, sick again

Ugh. Tommy has been sick again. On Thursday morning he woke up just in time for me to change his diaper, get him dressed, and take him to daycare. I did so, then out the door we went. I had taken the morning off of work to go to the dentist to get a crown for my root canal. On our way to daycare, Tommy pooped (which he never does) and needed to be changed. I took him out of his carseat and laid him on the changing table in his room. The lead teacher came over and insisted that she do it (bless her) so I finished putting his bottles in the refrigerator and signing him in. I went over to kiss him goodbye as the teacher pulled up his onsie to reveal a nasty rash all over his torso.

The director of the daycare came in and suggested that I get it checked out so I cancelled my dentist appointment (they were not happy with me but oh well, they'll get over it) and was lucky enough to get a 9:00 appointment at the pediatrician's office.

I got in to see Tommy's specific pediatrician and she diagnosed him with roseola due to his lack of any other symptoms. At the last minuted, she decided to do a quick strep test to be sure she wasn't missing anything and was shocked when it came back positive. The diagnosis was changed to Scarlet Fever.

So I called work and took off the rest of the day and picked up Tommy's prescription for Amoxicillan and we snuggled for the rest of the day on the couch. The daycare policy is 24 hours of antibiotics but since we had our first dose at 9:45am, they let me bring him on Friday at 7:30am. He was in good spirits and napped well. His first two bottles went well but he flat out refused his third bottle. No big deal, I figured I could just give it to him when we got home. He drank about a half ounce before he spit out the nipple and cried. I laid back on the couch and he laid his head on my chest and we cuddled.

And then it happened.

Tommy picked up his head and projectile vomited all over my chest. I mean, this child is 17lbs and the amount of vomit would have rivaled the amount I had seen adults lose. It seeped through my shirt, my tank, and my bra. It was all down the front of me, in my jeans and even my underwear. The couch under me was coated in vomit. I yelled for Bill to come help me (he was conveniently in the bathroom when this all occurred) and he rushed in with a towel which he used to wrap up Tommy and proceeded to get him cleaned and changed while I showered.

Tommy pretty much slept on and off all of last night. He just could not seem to get comfortable. He didn't want to eat. He didn't want me to hold him. He didn't want me to put him down. He was just miserable.

This morning I tried to feed him several times and every time he would nurse for about a minute or two then refuse. Bill tried to give him a bottle and he drank less than an ounce. This really started to worry me so I called the doctor and they got him in at 10:45.

At 10:00 I tried to feed Tommy again and this time he ate hungrily for about 5 minutes before falling asleep.

The doctor checked him all out and noticed that one of his bottom front teeth seems to be trying to poke through. She determined that this was the reason he wasn't eating. She told us to give him Tylenol and to feed him whenever he seems hungry.

We gave him some Tylenol when we got home and for the next 4 hours he cluster fed. He was probably so hungry! Then he took a long nap and woke up almost a new baby. He was a little fussy this evening but is now sleeping.

It's so hard knowing something isn't right with your baby but not knowing just what it is. The worst part for me is seeing him uncomfortable or even in pain and not knowing what to do. I gave him some Tylenol before bed in hopes that he'll get a good amount of sleep tonight. I'm planning on going to get some teething tabs tomorrow. I've heard good things about them and I'll update on their effects on Tommy.

For now, I'm going to see if I can catch up on some much needed sleep, myself!

Another Cold

Poor Tommy, I feel like he's been sick all winter. Last Monday he woke up with a small rash on his forehead that I thought was just because he woke up in a puddle of drool. I took him to daycare and by the time we arrived, it had spread all over his body. I packed him back up and took him to the doctor. They told me it was viral and we would just have to let it run its course.

On Thursday, he had some yellow tinted goop in his eyes but when I took him to the doctor for it back in September, they told me it was just a clogged tear duct so I cleaned his eyes and away we went.

Friday daycare called me and said that the goop in Tommy's eyes was really flowing and had turned green so someone needed to pick him up. Luckily for me, my mom had cataract surgery on Wednesday and was home all week. She was doing really well from the surgery and was able to pick Tommy up and take him to the doctor. It turns out that the eye goop was an infection so they prescribed eye drops to be given 3 times a day for 5-7 days. These eye drops were no joke. Without insurance they would have been $130! We're lucky to have really great insurance so they only cost us $23 out of pocket. They cleared him up quickly though! We haven't seen any goop since Saturday morning.

The doctor said that what probably happened was Tommy most likely rubbed his nose then rubbed his eyes and the infection came from that. All I know is that Tommy is only 5 months old and has been sick A LOT. I'm sure it has a lot to do with daycare. They really do their best to keep things clean there but there are bound to be lots of germs with lots of kids running around.

Sunday morning was probably the worst day of the cold, he slept terribly Friday night and woke up completely stuffed. He had tears, drool, and snot coming out of every hole in his face. He just whined all morning long. I felt terrible for him. He cat napped on and off until finally at 2:30 I laid him down in bed next to me and nursed him to sleep where he stayed for 3 solid hours. He woke up feeling much better.

Yesterday the cold moved down into his chest some so now he has a cough. I'm just praying that it doesn't get too bad. I don't want to have to use the nebulizer on him again. Poor guy!

Sick Baby

Tommy is sick. We really try to keep our hands clean and always clean and sterilize his bottles and pacifiers but I'm a teacher and around germy kids. Bill is a delivery driver and around dirt and germs. And of course, Tommy goes to daycare which, while they do a great job cleaning, is full of germs.

About a week ago, Tommy started being congested in the morning and coughing from time to time. By Tuesday, he had a pretty nasty cough going and I was worried but he had no fever and was eating and sleeping fine. By Wednesday night, he had a bit of a wheeze. He slept terrible that night and I ended up holding him semi-upright on my chest for most of the night. Thursday morning, I called into work and called the pediatrician's office as soon as they opened.

We got an appointment for 10:30 and by then, I was really freaked out by the amount of wheezing Tommy was doing. They weighed Tommy and he's up to 15lbs 1oz! The doctor listened to his chest and agreed that he had a nasty wheeze. She did a swab to test for RSV. Luckily, that came back negative.

They determined that he had a cold virus but his little body wasn't tolerating it like most people would. They decided to give him a nebulizer treatment of Alubterol to see if that help his wheezing. He HATED the treatment. He tolerated it for about a minute and a half but then he was done and screamed his little head off for the rest of the 10 minute treatment. The doctor came back in and listened to his lungs and they were much clearer. The doctor prescribed a treatment of Albuterol 3-4 times a day for a week to help clear him out. We bring him back to the be rechecked next Wednesday. So a company delivered the nebulizer to our house and we've been doing the treatments as best as we can. Daycare is able to take care of 2 treatments a day so yesterday I only had to do 2 at home. Tommy hates it. It's like we're torturing him.

My poor little guy.

Today, we waited until he was napping and did the treatment then. It worked but he isn't always going to be sleeping when he's due for a treatment. As long as it makes him better, I'll do it. An interesting comment the doctor made was that she has noticed that infants who react to cold viruses in this way, often end up with some form of asthma later in life. I have exercise induced asthma that I've pretty much outgrown but both Bill and I have aunts with severe asthma. I really hope Tommy doesn't have to deal this. I'm not going to worry about it yet though, even the doctor said to just keep it in mind for later. She said she isn't going to make any predictions and we'll deal with whatever Tommy throws us later on. Until then, I'm hoping my poor little guy is 100% better soon. He sounds much better today!

My Husband

I just wanted to put this up so I don't ever forget.

I'm currently battling a cold which is annoying but bearable although I woke up a lot last night to blow my nose and to get comfortable. When I was moving around, twice Bill rolled over too, rubbed my belly and went back to sleep. I don't think he was ever really awake when he did it and I can't wait to mention it to him when he gets home from work tonight!

Sick

I have been incredibly lucky so far this pregnancy as far as being sick is concerned. I have had a lot of food aversions but not throwing up. I had strep throat the week before I found out I was pregnant and a sore throat about 2 weeks ago but nothing too bad. Until two days ago that is. Thursday I woke up with a terrible cough. I felt terrible but went to work anyway because, as my teacher friends know, sometimes it's harder to be out than to just go in.

I went in and hacked up a lung while signing in. My principal, who is probably the most robotic person I've ever met (when I told her my grandfather passed, she never said she was sorry just told me to fill out the correct paperwork to take time off), approached me and told me that I should get checked by a doctor and if I wanted to take a half day, she'd send me home early. I thanked her for her concern but said I'd try to tough it out. I lasted all of an hour before I started coughing so hard I gagged and threw up in the staff bathroom, twice. At that point, I gave in and went home. I called my doctor and they got me in that afternoon.

My doctor just shook her head and apologized, I had either bronchitis or the beginning of walking pneumonia with her leaning toward the walking pneumonia. She prescribed me some antibiotics and told me to take it easy. I stayed home yesterday and started to feel better.

Of course, nothing is ever easy when it comes to me. I woke up this morning with crazy sinus pressure and head congestion. I was coughing and hacking, gasping for breath...and I couldn't breathe through my nose. Sweet.

I gave my doctor a call and got the answering service who told me to go to urgent care. No thanks. I called my OB's office who had the OB on call call me right back (have I mentioned how much I love them!) who told me I'm allowed to take plain Sudafed. Praise the lord! I stumbled to Rite Aid (my wonderful husband works Saturdays) and bought the biggest box of Sudafed they have. 40 minutes after I took it, the sinus pain is cut in half and I breathe out of one nostril. Wow. The things that make us excited when we're sick!

I'm hoping these antibiotics continue to work and I'm back to 100% by Monday. Think healthy thoughts for me!

Sore throat, Coming out, and Anniversaries

It was just a matter of time before I'd get my first pregnant cold. I teach 6 and 7 year olds. They are extremely germy. I practically bathe in hand sanitizer all day long but my efforts are always futile because I tend to get sick about once a month from October to April. This is a very strange cold though. My throat feels raw, like I ate sand paper. The even stranger part is, that's it! I'm tired and slightly achy but just a sore throat, no head congestion, no chest congestion, and it's not strep. I've had it since Wednesday which is a very long time for me to have a sore throat! They always either turn into something else or I'm clawing for antibiotics because it's strep. As of today, I'm starting to feel less like I'm swallowing glass and more like I'm swallowing fire. I can handle it at this point.

I'm glad I'm feeling better because we've had plans all week to go out to dinner with our friends Kayla and Pat. Kayla is my third cousin and good friend. Pat is her boyfriend and Bill's best friend. It's so convenient with your friends are a couple! We also asked Bill's other best friend, Andy to go with us (my bff knows, she lives in DC and I'm in her wedding in June, I needed to let her now why I was postponing buying a bridesmaids dress!). We asked them to go out to dinner with us because we're planning on telling them we're pregnant tonight! I can't wait! We started spreading the news today. I called my dad's three sisters and my closest cousin who lives in DC. My parents are calling everyone else (I have a ridiculously huge family) on my side. Bill gave his mom the go ahead to spread the news to his side. I'm sure they all know by now!

And last, today is Bill and my 3 month wedding anniversary. We aren't the type to celebrate month milestones but I like to mention it if I remember. Today is also my friend Lauren and her husband's 3 month anniversary! We met over on the knot and are now due 4 days apart in August. Happy Anniversary Lauren!