The first few lines are self explanatory. Patrick and I have been crazy with work. Mine should slow down, Patrick needs a vacation. On Friday the 15th I noticed Alex was not acting like himself and appeared to be getting sick. Saturday morning we woke up to Ethan having croup and Alex having a low grade fever. Manageable. Patrick and I had date night Saturday night but shortly after we returned Alex was hysterical, running a higher fever, and wheezing. By Sunday morning his fever had gone over 102 and he slept the entire morning. After falling back asleep after a small bottle he woke up hysterical and burning up. He had a fever of 104.1. Off to pediatric emergency we go. He was listless, wheezing, and very pale. We were scared. The doctor sent us home with a breathing treatment and told us to manage the fever until morning then go to our doctor for a chest xray. Two hours after we get home his fever is now up to 104.7 and he is limp. We call the pediatricians (ours and the clinics) and we throw him in the bathtub. As the fear of potentially watching our baby have a seizure came into and out of our minds we waited and watched him lying in the tub. It was an amazing sight to see life come back into his eyes the second his fever dropped. He sat up and began splashing. That night was extremely scary alternating tylenol and motrin every 3 hours, putting him in the tub when his fever went above 103, and lying awake just to watch him breathe.
Monday morning back to the pediatricians office. Blood count showed a wbc of 20 (normal between 5 and 10) showing infection. Really? Come on, no kidding! Back to the hospital for a chest xray. Negative. Back to pediatrician for urine culture. Idiot secretary makes us wait in the waiting room despite my pleas to get a collection bag asap. Alex urinates what little he has had the entire day in his diaper. Now the doctor uses a catheter and can't get a drop. I feed him a few ounces and wait. Finally enough urine to culture. We go home with antibiotics and wait. Fever still above 102. Tuesday morning we are back at the doctor's office. More blood and now a throat culture. Urine and throat negative. Wbc count still high. At this point they are looking at my 21 lb big boy and saying, "Well, he doesn't look too bad and is not dehydrated so go home and see what happens overnight." I nearly went ballistic! How about a blood culture or an injection of antibiotics or anything that will give me answers and make my baby feel better! But we went home.
Fortunately by 2:30PM, roughly 24 hours after starting the antibiotics and three doses later, Alex played for the first time in four days. My happy baby was back. Finally by Wednesday we had a normal temperature. When I spoke to the doctor on Wednesday she informed me that she felt he had had blood stream infection that had not settled any where else yet. WHAT!!!! God forbid if I am ever in this situation again I am going straight to the pediatric hospital and having an infectious disease consult. I don't think our hearts can take that again. Alex seems to be doing great now. Still on the antibiotics but doing great.
Otherwise, the big baby turned 7 months old yesterday and is growing so fast. He is in size 4 diapers and 12 month clothes. He loves making the little "Indian" noise when you pat his mouth. His favorite game is dropping things and then helping to pick them up. He started drinking out of a sippy cup on the 23rd. Today when I returned from work he gave me my first kiss. When I asked him for another he gave me a giant open mouth planted straight on mine. I melted. He is standing unsupported holding on to things and is walking well holding hands. Crawling is coming. He can turn himself around on his belly and will army crawl a little (8-12 inches) if he absolutely has to to get something out of reach. No other ambition though to move. Just a happy little guy who adores his big brother and the dogs.
Ethan J is hysterical. We got his first report card home from school. Excellent on everything except personal hygiene (not potty trained- yes, we are still fighting that battle. He told me the other night that he likes pull ups at school because he likes it when the kids say P.U. when he poops his pants. I said it. It's true. That is my son's reason for not ditching the diapers. Entertaining the other children.) No surprise on this one either then. His only surprising make was a needs improvement on works independently. WHAT!!!! Not my kid. This is a mistake. Ethan sits for 45 minutes to an hour at a time working on tasks or projects, playing with cars or trains, this is a mistake. I approached the teacher asking to explain because we just don't see this at home. Her answer was this. "I don't know how to say this..." Me: "You can be blunt." Teacher: "Ethan is the class clown." Nice. She went on to explain how when the kids are doing a project Ethan sees this as his time to shine and begins to perform. His goal is not completing a color sheet, it is to make the other kids laugh hysterically. Other than that he is far beyond his older peers in his educational milestones, has his entourage of girlfriends, and has his teachers wrapped around his fingers. His latest trick- pointing at his teachers saying,"Can I get a...." to which they respond, "Boo- ya!"
Finally feeling better!
Rub a dub dub, two guys in the tub
7 Months
SNOW!
Shaving with Daddy
This is MAN stuff.
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