This week we've, again, had sickness in our house. Last Friday, Garrett started running a fever. It went up and down, from 103 to 100 to 105, for 5 days. On the 5th day, he woke up with 102 fever (this was about 12 hours after the 105 fever) so I made him an appointment to see the doctor. I'm sure most of you would probably have taken your child in before 5 days worth of fever, but the fact of the matter is, Cooper had had a virus the week before that looked very similar to this one. I did take him to the doctor (because babies can't tell you what hurts and who knows if the fever is an ear infection) and the doctor found nothing wrong and said it would just have to run its course. His fever went away after 4 days, so I figured the same would happen with Garrett. Plus, Garrett acted completely fine when his fever was down, and even when it was up, he didn't act all that sick. He just laid around until the meds kicked in. But after 5 days of fever, I wanted to be sure I wasn't overlooking something (even though I asked him every half hour if his: head hurt? no. ear hurt? no. throat hurt? no. stomach hurt? no. anything hurts? no. It's so nice when your child is old enough to actually tell you when and where it hurts.)
The doctor also thought it was probably the same virus as Cooper's, but he was concerned that the fever had gone up to 105 on day 4 and that he still had a fever on day 5. He said there are very few viruses that last that long. But he checked him out and couldn't find anything wrong. Plus Garrett was totally goofy because I had given him Motrin that morning for the 102 fever and he was feeling perfectly fine. So the doctor sent us to the lab to get blood work done.
With the exception of shots, Garrett hasn't had a needle in his arm since he was about 9 months old and had the prerequisite lead test done at one of his well checkups. He didn't really know what was happening and since I didn't know this was coming, I didn't really have a sufficient amount of time to explain to him what would happen and how it would feel. I had to strap Cooper into his stroller (which he was very thrilled about) and then hold Garrett down while also restraining him without him realizing it. That's easier said than done, especially when the child is a big 4 year old boy. He sat in my lap, with his legs being held between my legs, and my arms holding his arms still. As soon as she stuck the needle in his arm, he went a bit ballistic, but I just told him to look at Cooper and it would be over really quick. He kept asking "What's that red stuff that she's putting in my arm?!" haha He got a little plastic squeaky whale (that strongly resembles a bathtub rubber ducky) as his prize for having blood drawn. That was loads of fun to listen to on the 35 minute ride home.
Thankfully the next day he woke up without a fever. The doctor's office called and said the blood work looked fine and he hasn't had a fever since then. I wasn't overly concerned, but at the same time, I know parents all over the globe go into situations like this assuming everything is fine and come out with life shattering news, so you can't help but keep that kind of information in the back of your mind.
I'm terrible at getting anything done when someone in my family is sick. I spend a lot of time attempting to take care of them, and disinfecting to keep the rest of us from getting it. Which means that I got zero exercise this week and wasn't as conscious about what I was eating as I should have been. Thankfully when I weighed in this morning, my weight stayed the same, so I didn't hurt or help myself any this week. I'm still at 16 pounds of weightloss.
Here's hoping that we really can stay healthy now and life can get back to its normal.
Showing posts with label sickness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sickness. Show all posts
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Spring Break/Weigh-in
Our spring break has been spent with thermometers and Tylenol.
I weighed in this morning and lost nothing. Which doesn't surprise me. Sunday afternoon Cooper started running 103 degree fever. His temperature fluctuated between that and 101 for 3 days. I took him to the doctor on Monday to rule out anything obvious and the doctor decided it was probably roseola. But that diagnosis was incorrect because this afternoon, Garrett started running a fever too. It didn't start out as high as Cooper's, when I checked it an hour ago it was 101. He says he feels fine, the only reason I even checked it was because his cheeks were flushed which is not typical for him.
So with Cooper being sick (which means very, very little sleep for me. He is NOT a good patient...) I've done zero exercising this week. Now I get to look forward to walking Garrett through this virus. Thankfully he usually is a good patient, so this part shouldn't be as hard. (knock on wood)
Even though I've been doing this mom thing for 4 and a half years, I've discovered this week that I'm obsessed with temperature-taking. Every few hours, I was checking Cooper's temp. Good thing for him, I limited a rectal temp check to twice a day and the rest of the time used the less than accurate ear thermometer just to give me an idea of where his temp was running. I've already felt Garrett's forehead multiple times since I first realized he had a fever. I don't know if that's a mom thing, or just my OCD coming out.
You would think that the month of March would spell health and fun times in the sun, but apparently this was our month to be sick. Here's hoping once this virus leaves our house, we'll stay healthy for awhile.
I weighed in this morning and lost nothing. Which doesn't surprise me. Sunday afternoon Cooper started running 103 degree fever. His temperature fluctuated between that and 101 for 3 days. I took him to the doctor on Monday to rule out anything obvious and the doctor decided it was probably roseola. But that diagnosis was incorrect because this afternoon, Garrett started running a fever too. It didn't start out as high as Cooper's, when I checked it an hour ago it was 101. He says he feels fine, the only reason I even checked it was because his cheeks were flushed which is not typical for him.
So with Cooper being sick (which means very, very little sleep for me. He is NOT a good patient...) I've done zero exercising this week. Now I get to look forward to walking Garrett through this virus. Thankfully he usually is a good patient, so this part shouldn't be as hard. (knock on wood)
Even though I've been doing this mom thing for 4 and a half years, I've discovered this week that I'm obsessed with temperature-taking. Every few hours, I was checking Cooper's temp. Good thing for him, I limited a rectal temp check to twice a day and the rest of the time used the less than accurate ear thermometer just to give me an idea of where his temp was running. I've already felt Garrett's forehead multiple times since I first realized he had a fever. I don't know if that's a mom thing, or just my OCD coming out.
You would think that the month of March would spell health and fun times in the sun, but apparently this was our month to be sick. Here's hoping once this virus leaves our house, we'll stay healthy for awhile.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Weekend (and Week) Recap
If you don't like reading words like "vomit" and "diarrhea", then check back with me later this week.
As I mentioned last week, Cooper had the stomach bug. That was on Monday night when I got about 3 hours of sleep. On Wednesday night, at 1am, I woke-up to Garrett crying and throwing up in his bed and on the floor. Awesome. When I went in his room he said "I spit-up on the floor." Poor guy. He didn't even know it's called throwing up, he just assumed spitting up because that's what Cooper does.
I changed his bedding and clothes, lined everything with towels, put a trash can by his bed and told him to call me if he was going to be sick. An hour later, I heard him crying again and thankfully I made it in his room and got the trash can ready before he got sick again. This repeated itself once an hour, every hour for 4 hours. So I basically would just drift off to sleep when I heard him crying. Then Cooper decided that 5am was a good wake-up time, so I brought him in our bed and when he hadn't settled down by 6am, I made him a bottle. He took it all and then slept for an hour before Garrett got up for good.
Before Keith left for work, he said his stomach wasn't feeling good, but he went to work anyway. (I'm not going to attempt to explain that one because I don't know either.) 2 hours later, he called me and said he was on his way home, throwing up in a Walmart bag in his truck. Awesome again. I got him settled in our bed with water and Gatorade. Garrett was settled on the couch with towels all around him, toast, and Pedialyte. Thankfully he never threw up again and never got diarrhea either. I still made him eat only toast that day just in case. Meanwhile, Cooper was dealing with horrendous diarrhea. The kind that cannot be contained in a diaper. (Somehow, even with all that, Cooper decided he was going to explore the house, so he is now completely mobile, crawling into every room that he can find, going all over the place. I've had to try and contain him in the living room and hallway in order to be sure that he's safe since it's almost impossible to keep up with him. Those 2 places are completely babyproofed now, so he's loving the opportunity to explore.)
I kept Keith filled with meds that might help him along with water and Gatorade. Later in the day, I brought him some toast and by that night he ate a bowl of chicken noodle soup with saltines. I think he suffered for about 12 hours and then was exhausted for the next day. Cooper had diarrhea for 5 days (though not constant. Just 2 or 3 diapers a day that were completely toxic.) Garrett was perfectly fine within a few hours and so far, I have remained healthy. Not well-rested, but healthy. I spent Thursday night on the couch so Keith could have the bed to himself and to keep away from the germs as best as I could. All day Thursday and Friday were spent spraying Lysol everywhere (Keith said we were all high on the fumes because I sprayed it so much) wiping everything else down with bleach wipes and washing all the clothes and bedding in hot water. Every night I would completely clean the kitchen and living room because I just knew that night was the night I would succomb to the bug and I wanted everything as tidy as possible. But thankfully that never happened. So far.
By Saturday night, Keith was more than ready to get out of the house and have a good meal, so we went to Logan's for steaks. That is "the" meal for him when he hasn't been feeling well. Nothing else will do other than a good steak. Our first choice was Texas Roadhouse, but we have never seen their parking lot as full as it was on Saturday night. We had never eaten at Logan's before so we gave them a shot. It was good, but not quite as good as TR, in our opinion.
On Sunday we went to church, then picked up Sonic for lunch. It was a rainy, chilly day, so we spent the afternoon at home, everyone took a nap except for Garrett. Then I watched the Oscar's last night. I normally don't care one way or the other, but I was excited for Sandra Bullock to win the award.
My apologies for this being all about sickness. It was just one of those weeks. I hope we can get back in the regular groove this week and I can get back to eating right and exercising again. This morning I did get on the scales just to see how much ground I had lost for taking a week off and shockingly I'm exactly the same as I was the last time I weighed. That was a nice surprise because I seriously did not watch what I ate this week, one bit. In order to put that in perspective, on Wednesday I had made a batch of cupcakes for Garrett to take to school on Thursday because it was his teacher's last day. She had a baby on Friday. Well, Garrett got sick Wednesday night so the cupcakes never went anywhere. And while I technically could have saved them for him to take to school on Tuesday, where's the fun in that? I've had one cupcake every day this week. And if you don't think I've enjoyed every single bite, then you just don't know me. But, they're almost gone now and I'm back to my diet and exercise. That was a fun break. Minus all the vomit and diarrhea I had to clean up, of course.
As I mentioned last week, Cooper had the stomach bug. That was on Monday night when I got about 3 hours of sleep. On Wednesday night, at 1am, I woke-up to Garrett crying and throwing up in his bed and on the floor. Awesome. When I went in his room he said "I spit-up on the floor." Poor guy. He didn't even know it's called throwing up, he just assumed spitting up because that's what Cooper does.
I changed his bedding and clothes, lined everything with towels, put a trash can by his bed and told him to call me if he was going to be sick. An hour later, I heard him crying again and thankfully I made it in his room and got the trash can ready before he got sick again. This repeated itself once an hour, every hour for 4 hours. So I basically would just drift off to sleep when I heard him crying. Then Cooper decided that 5am was a good wake-up time, so I brought him in our bed and when he hadn't settled down by 6am, I made him a bottle. He took it all and then slept for an hour before Garrett got up for good.
Before Keith left for work, he said his stomach wasn't feeling good, but he went to work anyway. (I'm not going to attempt to explain that one because I don't know either.) 2 hours later, he called me and said he was on his way home, throwing up in a Walmart bag in his truck. Awesome again. I got him settled in our bed with water and Gatorade. Garrett was settled on the couch with towels all around him, toast, and Pedialyte. Thankfully he never threw up again and never got diarrhea either. I still made him eat only toast that day just in case. Meanwhile, Cooper was dealing with horrendous diarrhea. The kind that cannot be contained in a diaper. (Somehow, even with all that, Cooper decided he was going to explore the house, so he is now completely mobile, crawling into every room that he can find, going all over the place. I've had to try and contain him in the living room and hallway in order to be sure that he's safe since it's almost impossible to keep up with him. Those 2 places are completely babyproofed now, so he's loving the opportunity to explore.)
I kept Keith filled with meds that might help him along with water and Gatorade. Later in the day, I brought him some toast and by that night he ate a bowl of chicken noodle soup with saltines. I think he suffered for about 12 hours and then was exhausted for the next day. Cooper had diarrhea for 5 days (though not constant. Just 2 or 3 diapers a day that were completely toxic.) Garrett was perfectly fine within a few hours and so far, I have remained healthy. Not well-rested, but healthy. I spent Thursday night on the couch so Keith could have the bed to himself and to keep away from the germs as best as I could. All day Thursday and Friday were spent spraying Lysol everywhere (Keith said we were all high on the fumes because I sprayed it so much) wiping everything else down with bleach wipes and washing all the clothes and bedding in hot water. Every night I would completely clean the kitchen and living room because I just knew that night was the night I would succomb to the bug and I wanted everything as tidy as possible. But thankfully that never happened. So far.
By Saturday night, Keith was more than ready to get out of the house and have a good meal, so we went to Logan's for steaks. That is "the" meal for him when he hasn't been feeling well. Nothing else will do other than a good steak. Our first choice was Texas Roadhouse, but we have never seen their parking lot as full as it was on Saturday night. We had never eaten at Logan's before so we gave them a shot. It was good, but not quite as good as TR, in our opinion.
On Sunday we went to church, then picked up Sonic for lunch. It was a rainy, chilly day, so we spent the afternoon at home, everyone took a nap except for Garrett. Then I watched the Oscar's last night. I normally don't care one way or the other, but I was excited for Sandra Bullock to win the award.
My apologies for this being all about sickness. It was just one of those weeks. I hope we can get back in the regular groove this week and I can get back to eating right and exercising again. This morning I did get on the scales just to see how much ground I had lost for taking a week off and shockingly I'm exactly the same as I was the last time I weighed. That was a nice surprise because I seriously did not watch what I ate this week, one bit. In order to put that in perspective, on Wednesday I had made a batch of cupcakes for Garrett to take to school on Thursday because it was his teacher's last day. She had a baby on Friday. Well, Garrett got sick Wednesday night so the cupcakes never went anywhere. And while I technically could have saved them for him to take to school on Tuesday, where's the fun in that? I've had one cupcake every day this week. And if you don't think I've enjoyed every single bite, then you just don't know me. But, they're almost gone now and I'm back to my diet and exercise. That was a fun break. Minus all the vomit and diarrhea I had to clean up, of course.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The One With the Stomach Bug
I thought I would give you all a heads up that I won't be posting a weight loss recap this week. Even though it's only Tuesday, I can already tell I'm just going to be in survival mode for the rest of the week.
Yesterday was a fun, but kind of different day. We have our routine which includes taking Garrett to and from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and typically on Mondays we do our grocery shopping. Well, it was pouring rain here yesterday (Monday) and I am not a martyr so I decided no grocery shopping and I would do it today (Tuesday). Some friends from church were meeting for breakfast at IHOP so we decided to join them. That's very atypical for many reasons, 1. I tend to shy away from situations like that. I always worry my kids won't behave or something will go wrong, so I just avoid going altogether. 2. None of these friends are actually stay at home moms, so rarely does the opportunity present itself for a group of moms and their kids to get together during a weekday. (I actually don't know any moms at my church who are stay at home moms. I'm sure there are some because we go to a big church. But none of them are in my Sunday school class.) From the 3 I met with yesterday, one of the moms is on maternity leave, another is in between jobs and the third only works a couple of days a week. I will freely admit that I had a great time. We were there for 2 hours!! Chatting and sharing hilarious stories that I can't even put on here because I'm sure I would get in big trouble. Garrett played with 2 girls who are close to his age that he knows pretty well, and while there were a few moments of chaos, he did really well with minding the rules. Cooper typically does great when we're at a restaurant because he basically gets a steady stream of food and he can people watch. I only had to take him out of the highchair for the last 15-20 minutes.
That kind of outing throws the rest of our day's schedule off, but it was definitely worth it.
Just before I was going to bed last night, I went to check on the boys and found that Cooper had thrown up all over his crib. Poor guy! He was covered. So Keith jumped in the shower with him while I changed his bedding. Between 10pm and midnight he threw up about 6 times, after the first 2 clothing changes, I just left him in a diaper and wrapped him in a bath towel and we sat in the living room. He slept off and on and I dozed some on the couch. At midnight, I attempted to put him in his crib which resulted in the last round of sickness. At 2am, I tried again to put him down, he gagged and burped, so I took him back to the couch for another hour or two. I'm not really sure what time I finally got him to go in his bed without throwing up or trying to, but I'm going to guess I got about 3 hours of sleep in my own bed before he was up. Thankfully he had not thrown up again. I gave him a little bit of water in a sippy cup and he gulped it all down (we had tried Pedialyte earlier in the evening but he refused). I decided that since it had been about 7 hours since he had last thrown up, I would give him a bottle and see how that went. I mixed one scoop of formula with 4 ounces of water and he drank it all. Thankfully he kept it down minus a few burps and a couple of times where he acted like he was swallowing, so I'm not sure what was happening. By noon, I gave him a regular bottle and he took it all again without any problems. Since then the diarrhea has started, so far it hasn't been terrible and hopefully it will be short lived.
Now I'm just crossing my fingers that Garrett (and Keith and I) don't get it. Garrett actually has a great track record for not catching stomach bugs. He's only had 2 in his 4 years of life. And the second one may or may not have been an allergic reaction to Sunny Delight. I'm not sure, all I know is that he started throwing up an hour after drinking it for the first time. And I don't remember him having any diarrhea with that, just the vomiting.
Back when he was just over 2, we went to a Halloween party at a friend's house with a bunch of other preschool kids and their parents. A few days after the party, the mom who hosted it called me to ask if we were sick and I told her no. Turns out every kid at the party, along with their mom, caught a bad stomach bug. Garrett and I came out just fine. So, long story short, I hope he avoids this one too. While he was at school today, I spent my time Lysoling everything and washing everything else in hot water.
Unfortunately the stomach bug is going around right now, so I knew it was inevitable, but you still hate having it at your house.
So with the chaos of yesterday, the chaos of today, hopefully no chaos tomorrow other than a very much needed grocery trip, I've just decided that this week is my break from the diet/exercise routine. If I get enough sleep one day and have the energy to get on the treadmill, I will, but I'm not going to feel bad if I don't. The same goes for eating well. Yesterday and today it's more about what food can I actually find, than what I can find in our house that's healthy. That's what happens when you don't grocery shop on the day that you typically do, suddenly you're out of everything.
My fingers are crossed that no one else in this house gets the stomach bug and that Cooper's diarrhea is short lived. I'll extend that wish to the rest of your houses as well.
And just to share a fun bit of news, Cooper pulled himself up to standing on Sunday! He's been trying for awhile now and has managed to get on his knees a few times, but that was his first time on his feet.
Yesterday was a fun, but kind of different day. We have our routine which includes taking Garrett to and from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and typically on Mondays we do our grocery shopping. Well, it was pouring rain here yesterday (Monday) and I am not a martyr so I decided no grocery shopping and I would do it today (Tuesday). Some friends from church were meeting for breakfast at IHOP so we decided to join them. That's very atypical for many reasons, 1. I tend to shy away from situations like that. I always worry my kids won't behave or something will go wrong, so I just avoid going altogether. 2. None of these friends are actually stay at home moms, so rarely does the opportunity present itself for a group of moms and their kids to get together during a weekday. (I actually don't know any moms at my church who are stay at home moms. I'm sure there are some because we go to a big church. But none of them are in my Sunday school class.) From the 3 I met with yesterday, one of the moms is on maternity leave, another is in between jobs and the third only works a couple of days a week. I will freely admit that I had a great time. We were there for 2 hours!! Chatting and sharing hilarious stories that I can't even put on here because I'm sure I would get in big trouble. Garrett played with 2 girls who are close to his age that he knows pretty well, and while there were a few moments of chaos, he did really well with minding the rules. Cooper typically does great when we're at a restaurant because he basically gets a steady stream of food and he can people watch. I only had to take him out of the highchair for the last 15-20 minutes.
That kind of outing throws the rest of our day's schedule off, but it was definitely worth it.
Just before I was going to bed last night, I went to check on the boys and found that Cooper had thrown up all over his crib. Poor guy! He was covered. So Keith jumped in the shower with him while I changed his bedding. Between 10pm and midnight he threw up about 6 times, after the first 2 clothing changes, I just left him in a diaper and wrapped him in a bath towel and we sat in the living room. He slept off and on and I dozed some on the couch. At midnight, I attempted to put him in his crib which resulted in the last round of sickness. At 2am, I tried again to put him down, he gagged and burped, so I took him back to the couch for another hour or two. I'm not really sure what time I finally got him to go in his bed without throwing up or trying to, but I'm going to guess I got about 3 hours of sleep in my own bed before he was up. Thankfully he had not thrown up again. I gave him a little bit of water in a sippy cup and he gulped it all down (we had tried Pedialyte earlier in the evening but he refused). I decided that since it had been about 7 hours since he had last thrown up, I would give him a bottle and see how that went. I mixed one scoop of formula with 4 ounces of water and he drank it all. Thankfully he kept it down minus a few burps and a couple of times where he acted like he was swallowing, so I'm not sure what was happening. By noon, I gave him a regular bottle and he took it all again without any problems. Since then the diarrhea has started, so far it hasn't been terrible and hopefully it will be short lived.
Now I'm just crossing my fingers that Garrett (and Keith and I) don't get it. Garrett actually has a great track record for not catching stomach bugs. He's only had 2 in his 4 years of life. And the second one may or may not have been an allergic reaction to Sunny Delight. I'm not sure, all I know is that he started throwing up an hour after drinking it for the first time. And I don't remember him having any diarrhea with that, just the vomiting.
Back when he was just over 2, we went to a Halloween party at a friend's house with a bunch of other preschool kids and their parents. A few days after the party, the mom who hosted it called me to ask if we were sick and I told her no. Turns out every kid at the party, along with their mom, caught a bad stomach bug. Garrett and I came out just fine. So, long story short, I hope he avoids this one too. While he was at school today, I spent my time Lysoling everything and washing everything else in hot water.
Unfortunately the stomach bug is going around right now, so I knew it was inevitable, but you still hate having it at your house.
So with the chaos of yesterday, the chaos of today, hopefully no chaos tomorrow other than a very much needed grocery trip, I've just decided that this week is my break from the diet/exercise routine. If I get enough sleep one day and have the energy to get on the treadmill, I will, but I'm not going to feel bad if I don't. The same goes for eating well. Yesterday and today it's more about what food can I actually find, than what I can find in our house that's healthy. That's what happens when you don't grocery shop on the day that you typically do, suddenly you're out of everything.
My fingers are crossed that no one else in this house gets the stomach bug and that Cooper's diarrhea is short lived. I'll extend that wish to the rest of your houses as well.
And just to share a fun bit of news, Cooper pulled himself up to standing on Sunday! He's been trying for awhile now and has managed to get on his knees a few times, but that was his first time on his feet.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The flu or not the flu, that is the question...
Last Wednesday, Garrett's nose started sounding stuffy. By the end of the day he said his head, throat and stomach hurt and he was running a 101 degree fever. During the night, he woke up saying his throat hurt really bad and his fever was up to 102. So I gave him more Tylenol, water, and throat spray. By Thursday morning, the fever was gone without any meds. He seemed to be basically himself, besides saying that his head, throat and stomach still hurt. But none of those kept him from playing like normal and eating like normal so I held off taking him to the doctor. Early that evening, his temp went back up to 101. I told myself the next day I would take him to the doctor, but he slept just fine that night and woke up on Friday without a fever and hasn't had one since. He still occasionally says his throat or stomach hurts and his nose is a little runny/stuffy and he now has an occasional cough. (I think the only reason why he hasn't had a cough the whole time is because of this new inhaler he's on that we're using faithfully. It's been a God-send already!)
So is this the flu or not? Obviously if I had taken him to the doctor I would have a definitive answer. But equally true would be the fact that if he didn't have the flu, he probably would have caught it from someone in the waiting room. It's a matter of fact that it's spreading exceptionally fast in our area. Every other status update of my local friends on Facebook are saying that they or their children have the flu. To be honest, I really hope this was the flu. I want to be done with it so we don't have to worry about it again. I realize the seasonal flu will probably go around at some point, but I know it won't be near as rampant as this Swine flu has been. Thankfully Cooper has seemed to be ok. He did have one grouchy day last Thursday and today his nose has been a tad runny with an occasional cough. But not one bit of fever and he's eating and sleeping fine, so I'm not going to panic and run him to the doctor where he will also catch the flu.
To be honest, I wouldn't even stress about it if it wasn't for 2 things. 1) We obviously have a baby in the house. The news and everywhere continually stresses how TERRIBLE AND AWFUL this flu is for children under 2 and especially those under 6 months old. So I don't want to worry about him catching this. (Side note: As TERRIBLE AND AWFUL as this flu is supposed to be for little ones, I find it very encouraging that none of the deaths that I'm hearing about are children in this age range. The closest one has been the very first US death in Houston of a 23 month old. It's strange how hard it's hitting the school-aged kids.) 2) All the deaths of the school-aged kids in our area! I know that there are deaths from the seasonal flu every year, but I don't think they involve kids this young! Every week, I'm hearing on the news about a different student who has passed away from this. Even though I try very hard not to be a worry-wart, that sort of news rattles me a bit. They're always talking about how some of them have underlying medical conditions. As far as I know, they consider asthma one of those conditions and Garrett has that, so it really doesn't help me any to hear them attempt to explain away the death of a 16 year old, or a 14 year old, or a 12 year old, etc.
Finally: my thoughts on the vaccine. I am highly against this swine flu vaccine. I would honestly rather stress out about my kids having the swine flu and keeping a very close eye on them throughout the sickness, than to give them a vaccine that's been thrown together over the course of a few months with little testing having been done. That scares me much more. I really and truly hope that a year from now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now, we don't start hearing about different conditions and problems that have arisen in those who got this vaccine. I'm sure you've heard of the complications that came frome the last swine flu vaccine about 30 years ago. While I know they would have learned from those mistakes, who knows what new ones could come up. Why not spend the billions being spent on a vaccine, to ramping up more production of Tamiflu products instead? They don't really know the outcome of the vaccine, but they do know that Tamiflu seems to be helping the flu some, yet it's in a major short supply right now. Why aren't they fixing this problem as well?!
In order to prepare for the upcoming flu/cold season (regardless of whether or not we've actually had the Swine flu), I've stocked up on some supplies today just in case: Pedialyte (I really hope we don't need this, but it's not something I want to run to the store for when it is needed), disposable thermometer covers for Cooper's thermometer as well as some for the ear thermometer I use for Garrett, Keith, and myself, Tylenol, Kleenex, and anti-bacterial gel (we have quite a bit of this right now. A container in Keith's truck, one in my SUV, one in the kitchen for those moments I can't wash my hands, but need to santize them and also for Garrett to use if he can't wash his hands for some reason, one in my purse, and one in the diaper bag. We now have 2 extra containers for when these run out. Am I OCD? Yes.)
I normally love this time of year, but I'm not loving it right now. I'm already looking forward to next year when I won't have the "baby factor" to stress about.
So is this the flu or not? Obviously if I had taken him to the doctor I would have a definitive answer. But equally true would be the fact that if he didn't have the flu, he probably would have caught it from someone in the waiting room. It's a matter of fact that it's spreading exceptionally fast in our area. Every other status update of my local friends on Facebook are saying that they or their children have the flu. To be honest, I really hope this was the flu. I want to be done with it so we don't have to worry about it again. I realize the seasonal flu will probably go around at some point, but I know it won't be near as rampant as this Swine flu has been. Thankfully Cooper has seemed to be ok. He did have one grouchy day last Thursday and today his nose has been a tad runny with an occasional cough. But not one bit of fever and he's eating and sleeping fine, so I'm not going to panic and run him to the doctor where he will also catch the flu.
To be honest, I wouldn't even stress about it if it wasn't for 2 things. 1) We obviously have a baby in the house. The news and everywhere continually stresses how TERRIBLE AND AWFUL this flu is for children under 2 and especially those under 6 months old. So I don't want to worry about him catching this. (Side note: As TERRIBLE AND AWFUL as this flu is supposed to be for little ones, I find it very encouraging that none of the deaths that I'm hearing about are children in this age range. The closest one has been the very first US death in Houston of a 23 month old. It's strange how hard it's hitting the school-aged kids.) 2) All the deaths of the school-aged kids in our area! I know that there are deaths from the seasonal flu every year, but I don't think they involve kids this young! Every week, I'm hearing on the news about a different student who has passed away from this. Even though I try very hard not to be a worry-wart, that sort of news rattles me a bit. They're always talking about how some of them have underlying medical conditions. As far as I know, they consider asthma one of those conditions and Garrett has that, so it really doesn't help me any to hear them attempt to explain away the death of a 16 year old, or a 14 year old, or a 12 year old, etc.
Finally: my thoughts on the vaccine. I am highly against this swine flu vaccine. I would honestly rather stress out about my kids having the swine flu and keeping a very close eye on them throughout the sickness, than to give them a vaccine that's been thrown together over the course of a few months with little testing having been done. That scares me much more. I really and truly hope that a year from now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now, we don't start hearing about different conditions and problems that have arisen in those who got this vaccine. I'm sure you've heard of the complications that came frome the last swine flu vaccine about 30 years ago. While I know they would have learned from those mistakes, who knows what new ones could come up. Why not spend the billions being spent on a vaccine, to ramping up more production of Tamiflu products instead? They don't really know the outcome of the vaccine, but they do know that Tamiflu seems to be helping the flu some, yet it's in a major short supply right now. Why aren't they fixing this problem as well?!
In order to prepare for the upcoming flu/cold season (regardless of whether or not we've actually had the Swine flu), I've stocked up on some supplies today just in case: Pedialyte (I really hope we don't need this, but it's not something I want to run to the store for when it is needed), disposable thermometer covers for Cooper's thermometer as well as some for the ear thermometer I use for Garrett, Keith, and myself, Tylenol, Kleenex, and anti-bacterial gel (we have quite a bit of this right now. A container in Keith's truck, one in my SUV, one in the kitchen for those moments I can't wash my hands, but need to santize them and also for Garrett to use if he can't wash his hands for some reason, one in my purse, and one in the diaper bag. We now have 2 extra containers for when these run out. Am I OCD? Yes.)
I normally love this time of year, but I'm not loving it right now. I'm already looking forward to next year when I won't have the "baby factor" to stress about.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Does anyone besides news anchors actually call it H1N1 instead of Swine Flu?
I had plans for today. Plans that included going grocery shopping all by myself which would include doing some early birthday shopping for Keith and Garrett. Then coming home to a quiet house where I would rest some and clean some before picking Garrett up this afternoon.
Those plans came crashing down last night with 2 words "Swine Flu". Thankfully not in my house, but in the local school district. With swine flu comes the closing of the school district and with the closing of the school district comes the closing of local daycares and with the closing of daycares comes the closing of Garrett's Mother's Day Out program. The one I so look forward to each week. So now we're at the beginning of 2 full weeks of Garrett and Momma time. Yes, I know that the end of this month will mean the beginning of a full summer of togetherness, but I had hoped for some alone time between now and then. Thankfully I will get a week or two after this break and before school is out, so I'm trying to look on the positive side.
The downside to this is that with the swine flu entrenched in the DFW metroplex, it really cuts down on the places I would willingly go and allow Garrett to contaminate himself. Indoor play areas are out, the zoo would be ok if it didn't require lots of walking on my part (though I may talk Keith into taking a day off and going with us and we would take lots of breaks), parks are ok though we really don't have all that many in our area that are worth going to, and the library is out, unless we just run in and out without stopping in the play areas and with wiping down kids' books with Clorox or Lysol.
Now, I'm really not a big germophobe, but the last thing we need in our house is any sort of flu virus right now. Not swine flu, bird flu, regular ole' human flu, whatever the bug might be. I don't want it being 8 months pregnant and I certainly don't want to deal with a 3 and a half year old who might catch it (nor do I want to deal with a 32 year old who might catch it). So I'm doing what I can to avoid it, short of locking ourselves in the house.
This morning we did get groceries (though I did not do any early birthday shopping. I bought one of Garrett's Christmas presents when he was with me this past Christmas and he NEVER forgot about it. He asked about that stupid train every day until Christmas. So he is definitely too old to think I can hide a gift in the cart and he won't notice it.) When we walked into Walmart, I immediately pulled a ziplock baggie full of Clorox wipes out of my purse and proceeded to wipe down the entire cart before Garrett touched it. Garrett insisted that he needed to ride in the front of the cart instead of sitting in the basket, so I wiped down the seat belt and handle extra carefully. Then I would periodically pull out my Purell while we were in the store and wipe down our hands to be extra safe. I felt a little OCD, but oh well. Maybe we'll manage to avoid this flu.
I do think that the government and health departments have taken this a little out of hand, but I'm going to assume they know what they're doing and attempt to do my part to keep us flu-free and healthy. I wonder about being in the hospital next month when Cooper's born. I really hope this flu scare is over with by then because I don't relish the thought of being in the hospital during a "pandemic". Even though the maternity ward is in its own building at our hospital, I still wonder about the visitors or workers that might be there. As well as what kind of protocol we would have to endure just by being there. Will we have to wear masks at any point? Will they monitor our visitors and the number of people allowed to come and see us? I'm perfectly ok with anything they might impose, mostly because I do not want to contaminate my newborn in any way, but it does bring up a lot of questions. Questions that I will be asking my doctor, and he will love every one of them I'm sure.
The next 2 weeks will be loads of fun. I hope to get Garrett's room straightened up so I can take pictures of it now that everything is done in there! I'll be posting those as soon as I'm able. Cooper's room still has a ways to go, but we did manage to get the crib set up over the weekend. Garrett wanted to take a nap in it on Sunday. Let's hope the newness of all the baby equipment will run its course quickly.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
When is it Ever Going to End?
I had contemplated writing a post about my pregnancy with Garrett and his birth, but that's going to have to come another day.
Earlier this evening Garrett told me his stomach hurt. I thought it was because he got in trouble for a. locking us both out of his bedroom (it's one of those door knobs with a tiny hole that Keith uses a tiny screwdriver to unlock it, but I haven't a clue how to do so) and b. drawing on the carpet in my bedroom with a black Sharpie.
But unfortunately the stomach ache was legit. Let's just say I'm going to probably use up the little diaper cream that I still have left. I have also never been more thankful that Garrett is fully potty trained than I am right at this moment.
I feel badly because I had to call my good friend and tell her I can't keep her two kids tomorrow for fear of exposing them to whatever germ has descended upon my house.
So let's just pray that I manage to avoid this bug too.
And now I'm off to apply more "cream" at the request of the child walking stiff legged around the living room.
Earlier this evening Garrett told me his stomach hurt. I thought it was because he got in trouble for a. locking us both out of his bedroom (it's one of those door knobs with a tiny hole that Keith uses a tiny screwdriver to unlock it, but I haven't a clue how to do so) and b. drawing on the carpet in my bedroom with a black Sharpie.
But unfortunately the stomach ache was legit. Let's just say I'm going to probably use up the little diaper cream that I still have left. I have also never been more thankful that Garrett is fully potty trained than I am right at this moment.
I feel badly because I had to call my good friend and tell her I can't keep her two kids tomorrow for fear of exposing them to whatever germ has descended upon my house.
So let's just pray that I manage to avoid this bug too.
And now I'm off to apply more "cream" at the request of the child walking stiff legged around the living room.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
I'm Counting Down the Days Until Spring...
So apparently I didn't keep Garrett far enough away from Keith, nor did I spray enough Lysol. Last night he started running a fever and sounding croupy. Initially Keith was going to have him sleep in our bed so I wouldn't be up and down all night, but Garrett ended up sleeping on the crib mattress on the floor next to our bed. That way I could reach down to feel his head and check him, but he wasn't kicking me all night long. I still didn't sleep very well, but atleast I wasn't having to trek across the hall every time I woke up to check on him.
Before he went to bed, I was afraid we would be in for a long night with the croup because he had the telltale cough that he gets frequently which lets me know that the croup is on its way. After giving him his inhaler, I gave him a small dose of the steroid that helps him breathe when he has the croup. 8:00 at night is not the best time to give a steroid because it's basically like giving him speed. He was bouncing off the walls for the next 2 hours. He finally went to sleep at 11:00 and didn't have any problems with the croup during the night. Of course the fact that the thermometer read 102.5* right before we all went to bed is why I didn't sleep well. He has the tendency to run high fevers when sick. Back when he had bronchitis at the ripe old age of 16 months, his fever got so high that our thermometer said "error" and the manual told us that when it says "error" the temperature is too high to get an accurate reading. Lovely.
But the Tylenol did its job and Garrett didn't wake up until 6:00 this morning, feeling warm. Thankfully his temp registered at 101. So he was given another dose of Tylenol, another round of the inhaler, and I went ahead and started him on Tamiflu. I'm having my doubts that Keith had the flu because everyone he works with who also was sick, were told that they had a virus by their doctor. But Keith was feeling better faster than they were, so maybe the Tamiflu had something to do with that. In any case, I don't think it will hurt Garrett to take it in order to be on the safe side.
He certainly isn't acting sick this morning. He was very sad to miss out on Teddy Bear day at school, but he understands that he's sick and he doesn't want to get his friends sick too. He still has the croupy cough, but he's able to breathe just fine, so I'm not giving him anymore steroids until his airways sound tight.
What do you think my chances are of staying healthy now? Keith and I steered clear of each other when he was sick, but Garrett is happiest when he's right in my face.
Before he went to bed, I was afraid we would be in for a long night with the croup because he had the telltale cough that he gets frequently which lets me know that the croup is on its way. After giving him his inhaler, I gave him a small dose of the steroid that helps him breathe when he has the croup. 8:00 at night is not the best time to give a steroid because it's basically like giving him speed. He was bouncing off the walls for the next 2 hours. He finally went to sleep at 11:00 and didn't have any problems with the croup during the night. Of course the fact that the thermometer read 102.5* right before we all went to bed is why I didn't sleep well. He has the tendency to run high fevers when sick. Back when he had bronchitis at the ripe old age of 16 months, his fever got so high that our thermometer said "error" and the manual told us that when it says "error" the temperature is too high to get an accurate reading. Lovely.
But the Tylenol did its job and Garrett didn't wake up until 6:00 this morning, feeling warm. Thankfully his temp registered at 101. So he was given another dose of Tylenol, another round of the inhaler, and I went ahead and started him on Tamiflu. I'm having my doubts that Keith had the flu because everyone he works with who also was sick, were told that they had a virus by their doctor. But Keith was feeling better faster than they were, so maybe the Tamiflu had something to do with that. In any case, I don't think it will hurt Garrett to take it in order to be on the safe side.
He certainly isn't acting sick this morning. He was very sad to miss out on Teddy Bear day at school, but he understands that he's sick and he doesn't want to get his friends sick too. He still has the croupy cough, but he's able to breathe just fine, so I'm not giving him anymore steroids until his airways sound tight.
What do you think my chances are of staying healthy now? Keith and I steered clear of each other when he was sick, but Garrett is happiest when he's right in my face.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Weekend Recap: The Flu Edition
I would do a recap of my weekend, but it would go something like this:
Garrett, stay away from Daddy, he's sick.
No, don't play your drum, Daddy's trying to take a nap, he's sick.
Don't jump on Daddy, he doesn't feel good.
Daddy doesn't want a kiss, he'll give you his germs and then Garrett will get sick.
Of course, the conversation would then turn to Garrett saying that he, too, was sick, as he eked out the biggest cough he could muster.
When I wasn't keeping Garrett off of Keith and otherwise entertained (when Daddy's home, he's usually the entertainer and the entertainee didn't understand what was up with the change of schedule), I was checking Garrett for fever to see if he was also coming down with the flu. I'm not even sure how many times I've felt him under the guise of kissing his forehead. So far so good, he has managed to stay healthy. We have some Tamiflu in the fridge waiting for the day when he might start running a fever, at which point I will immediately begin administering it. I know you can give it to them before they start showing symptoms, as a precaution, but I'm a little nervous to give him something that I'm unfamiliar with, not knowing how he might react. So I'm going to wait for the first sign of him catching something, and then I'll start giving it to him. Probably not the way you're supposed to do it, but I tend to do things backwards.
Unlike the last time Keith was sick and he told me I was a terrible nurse, he didn't automatically request to be admitted into the hospital in order to get the type of treatment he was expecting this go around. I did the best I could to take care of his needs and make him comfortable on top of my other normal activities, oh, and the fact that I'm 5.5 months pregnant and just don't get around as easily and pain-free like I normally do. And he said that I did a better job this go around than I did last time.
I'm so humbled by his compliments.
Despite the fact that he woke up this morning asking me if a headache could make your stomach hurt (migraine, anyone?), he still got up and went to work. I told him I was washing my hands of any nursing care if he was going to insist on pushing himself and going back to work when I think he should have stayed home one more day. He took a bottle of tylenol and vitamin C along with him as he headed out the door. Of course after taking his morning dose of Tamiflu and blowing his nose a dozen times. I'm sure his coworkers will be glad to see him back.
When I asked him if he cared about the fact that he might be spreading his germs around, he said he picked it up from a guy at work, he was just taking it back. And he didn't want to be at home contaminating us anymore than he had to. That statement alone makes up for the fact that "in sickness" happened to coincide with Valentine's Day this year.
So now I will spend the day cleaning and spraying everything down with Lysol.
I hope my next post won't be written from a flu-ridden stupor.
Garrett, stay away from Daddy, he's sick.
No, don't play your drum, Daddy's trying to take a nap, he's sick.
Don't jump on Daddy, he doesn't feel good.
Daddy doesn't want a kiss, he'll give you his germs and then Garrett will get sick.
Of course, the conversation would then turn to Garrett saying that he, too, was sick, as he eked out the biggest cough he could muster.
When I wasn't keeping Garrett off of Keith and otherwise entertained (when Daddy's home, he's usually the entertainer and the entertainee didn't understand what was up with the change of schedule), I was checking Garrett for fever to see if he was also coming down with the flu. I'm not even sure how many times I've felt him under the guise of kissing his forehead. So far so good, he has managed to stay healthy. We have some Tamiflu in the fridge waiting for the day when he might start running a fever, at which point I will immediately begin administering it. I know you can give it to them before they start showing symptoms, as a precaution, but I'm a little nervous to give him something that I'm unfamiliar with, not knowing how he might react. So I'm going to wait for the first sign of him catching something, and then I'll start giving it to him. Probably not the way you're supposed to do it, but I tend to do things backwards.
Unlike the last time Keith was sick and he told me I was a terrible nurse, he didn't automatically request to be admitted into the hospital in order to get the type of treatment he was expecting this go around. I did the best I could to take care of his needs and make him comfortable on top of my other normal activities, oh, and the fact that I'm 5.5 months pregnant and just don't get around as easily and pain-free like I normally do. And he said that I did a better job this go around than I did last time.
I'm so humbled by his compliments.
Despite the fact that he woke up this morning asking me if a headache could make your stomach hurt (migraine, anyone?), he still got up and went to work. I told him I was washing my hands of any nursing care if he was going to insist on pushing himself and going back to work when I think he should have stayed home one more day. He took a bottle of tylenol and vitamin C along with him as he headed out the door. Of course after taking his morning dose of Tamiflu and blowing his nose a dozen times. I'm sure his coworkers will be glad to see him back.
When I asked him if he cared about the fact that he might be spreading his germs around, he said he picked it up from a guy at work, he was just taking it back. And he didn't want to be at home contaminating us anymore than he had to. That statement alone makes up for the fact that "in sickness" happened to coincide with Valentine's Day this year.
So now I will spend the day cleaning and spraying everything down with Lysol.
I hope my next post won't be written from a flu-ridden stupor.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
You Can Call Me R, and You Can Call Me N, Just Don't Call Me RN
I've been playing nursemaid all week to my two boys.
It's been loads of fun. (If you are eating, feeling nauseous, or have absolutely no desire to read about illness of any kind, do not go any further! You have been warned.)
Last Friday, Garrett started running a fever of 102, but he was still acting like his crazy normal self, so I didn't worry. The fever went away after 12 hours or so and then the coughing started, when he starts coughing he doesn't stop. I don't see how he doesn't just cough that little head right off the top of his body. So doping then ensued. I started with his inhaler, didn't help, gave him a dose of Prednisone that we've kept back for times such as this. Didn't work. Vicks on the chest and the kind that plugs into the wall, just stunk everything up but the cough was ongoing. Triaminic was hauled out and it helped a little to the point where he atleast got several hours of sleep in a row uninterrupted at night. Along with the cough he also broke out into a rash and then on Sunday the Big D decided to hop along for the ride. (D as in diarrhea.) So Monday morning Garrett and I headed off to the doctor's office. When you have this many different things going on, it's generally a good idea to call in the pros, especially when everyone is so sleep deprived. Now, as Garrett and I were on the road to the doctor, Keith was beating a path from the bed to the bathroom. The only thing I will add to that statement is I am glad that Keith got the vomiting portion of this virus and Garrett did not. He atleast knows how to aim for the toilet.
We left the doctor's office having been informed that Garrett had a highly contagious virus and the doctor pretty much guaranteed that we would catch it, he also covered his own mouth anytime Garrett coughed or sneezed, he's never done that in the almost 3 years of seeing him as a pediatrician, so that should tell you a little something about this virus. The only thing he could give us to help out was a prescription for Prednisone. I couldn't tell him that we had already tried some and it didn't help because obviously no doctor wants to hear that your stashing prescription meds and using them while not under the orders of a doctor.
(Garrett gets croup very easily and regularly, we spent several hours in the ER a few months ago because he couldn't breathe, Prednisone is something they give him when this happens, hence the reason for us saving every bit of it that we can. We're hedging our bets that the croup will make it to our household again and we would like to spare ourselves from another trip to the ER. Just wanted to clarify for those who might feel they needed to preach at me about this.)
I went ahead and filled the prescription and gave it a shot for a couple of days but I think the cough actually got worse. During that time, Keith was still at home being sicker than he "ever has been in my entire life. And thanks a lot Garrett for bringing this stuff home to me." I told Keith that maybe he should have grown up with a bigger family, he might have some immunities built up to bugs like this. Whereas growing up in a family of 5 kids like I did, you pretty much have caught everything that is out there, unless you're my sister Grace who never gets sick, ever, but then she pays for it by having morning sickness all 9 months of her pregnancies, so I guess it's a balance. :) So far I haven't caught this bug yet, I'm in hopes that my bragging about being immune doesn't come back to bite me next week. So for the past several days I have scrounged up food for 2 sickies, changed disgusting diapers many more times a day than you would even think possible, tried to keep myself a little sterilized though that's hard to do when Garrett is constantly saying "gimme a miss (kiss)" and planting a nice, wet kiss right on my mouth before I have a chance to turn away or stop him. I think he wants me to get sick. I've also had the fun job of keeping Garrett away from Keith. He just didn't understand why Keith stayed in our bedroom. I finally told him that "Daddy is broken" and I think he kinda got the picture. You couldn't have told by looking at the two of them that they had the same virus. Garrett was running around and playing, other than diaper changing times which meant screams that could be heard the next county over. While Keith was in bed dying.
I was told the other night that I am not a good nurse. Apparently I don't provide water as frequently as the patients would prefer. Because you know, I want my family to experience dehydration and a necessary trip to the hospital for an IV. But the fact that soup and crackers were provided along with any medicines that I could find to help ease the suffering, those were not enough without more water. (Even though I provided water when it was requested, I just didn't follow up with refills often enough.) So I clearly need to keep my day job. But unfortunately my day job is being a stay at home mom, which is really a part-time nurse so I guess I'm not good at my day job either. Does anybody have any good recommendations for where I could go work for free?
PS. We're still not 100% healthy (well, I am, but I don't want to brag), Keith went back to work after spending a couple of days at home though he probably should have stayed home for a few more. I hope all his coworkers have better wives than he does because they'd better start brushing up on their nursing skills.
It's been loads of fun. (If you are eating, feeling nauseous, or have absolutely no desire to read about illness of any kind, do not go any further! You have been warned.)
Last Friday, Garrett started running a fever of 102, but he was still acting like his crazy normal self, so I didn't worry. The fever went away after 12 hours or so and then the coughing started, when he starts coughing he doesn't stop. I don't see how he doesn't just cough that little head right off the top of his body. So doping then ensued. I started with his inhaler, didn't help, gave him a dose of Prednisone that we've kept back for times such as this. Didn't work. Vicks on the chest and the kind that plugs into the wall, just stunk everything up but the cough was ongoing. Triaminic was hauled out and it helped a little to the point where he atleast got several hours of sleep in a row uninterrupted at night. Along with the cough he also broke out into a rash and then on Sunday the Big D decided to hop along for the ride. (D as in diarrhea.) So Monday morning Garrett and I headed off to the doctor's office. When you have this many different things going on, it's generally a good idea to call in the pros, especially when everyone is so sleep deprived. Now, as Garrett and I were on the road to the doctor, Keith was beating a path from the bed to the bathroom. The only thing I will add to that statement is I am glad that Keith got the vomiting portion of this virus and Garrett did not. He atleast knows how to aim for the toilet.
We left the doctor's office having been informed that Garrett had a highly contagious virus and the doctor pretty much guaranteed that we would catch it, he also covered his own mouth anytime Garrett coughed or sneezed, he's never done that in the almost 3 years of seeing him as a pediatrician, so that should tell you a little something about this virus. The only thing he could give us to help out was a prescription for Prednisone. I couldn't tell him that we had already tried some and it didn't help because obviously no doctor wants to hear that your stashing prescription meds and using them while not under the orders of a doctor.
(Garrett gets croup very easily and regularly, we spent several hours in the ER a few months ago because he couldn't breathe, Prednisone is something they give him when this happens, hence the reason for us saving every bit of it that we can. We're hedging our bets that the croup will make it to our household again and we would like to spare ourselves from another trip to the ER. Just wanted to clarify for those who might feel they needed to preach at me about this.)
I went ahead and filled the prescription and gave it a shot for a couple of days but I think the cough actually got worse. During that time, Keith was still at home being sicker than he "ever has been in my entire life. And thanks a lot Garrett for bringing this stuff home to me." I told Keith that maybe he should have grown up with a bigger family, he might have some immunities built up to bugs like this. Whereas growing up in a family of 5 kids like I did, you pretty much have caught everything that is out there, unless you're my sister Grace who never gets sick, ever, but then she pays for it by having morning sickness all 9 months of her pregnancies, so I guess it's a balance. :) So far I haven't caught this bug yet, I'm in hopes that my bragging about being immune doesn't come back to bite me next week. So for the past several days I have scrounged up food for 2 sickies, changed disgusting diapers many more times a day than you would even think possible, tried to keep myself a little sterilized though that's hard to do when Garrett is constantly saying "gimme a miss (kiss)" and planting a nice, wet kiss right on my mouth before I have a chance to turn away or stop him. I think he wants me to get sick. I've also had the fun job of keeping Garrett away from Keith. He just didn't understand why Keith stayed in our bedroom. I finally told him that "Daddy is broken" and I think he kinda got the picture. You couldn't have told by looking at the two of them that they had the same virus. Garrett was running around and playing, other than diaper changing times which meant screams that could be heard the next county over. While Keith was in bed dying.
I was told the other night that I am not a good nurse. Apparently I don't provide water as frequently as the patients would prefer. Because you know, I want my family to experience dehydration and a necessary trip to the hospital for an IV. But the fact that soup and crackers were provided along with any medicines that I could find to help ease the suffering, those were not enough without more water. (Even though I provided water when it was requested, I just didn't follow up with refills often enough.) So I clearly need to keep my day job. But unfortunately my day job is being a stay at home mom, which is really a part-time nurse so I guess I'm not good at my day job either. Does anybody have any good recommendations for where I could go work for free?
PS. We're still not 100% healthy (well, I am, but I don't want to brag), Keith went back to work after spending a couple of days at home though he probably should have stayed home for a few more. I hope all his coworkers have better wives than he does because they'd better start brushing up on their nursing skills.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Fun Times in the ER
We spent our first night in the ER last night. Wow, that was fun. Garrett has always been susceptible to the croup, so because of that we've researched all of the ways to help him here at home. We sat in the bathroom with a steaming hot shower running, we gave him a breathing treatment that he didn't want and wouldn't cooperate for, I tried propping him up a lot with pillows. In the past atleast one of those tricks would work and after maybe an hour, Garrett would be fine and go back to sleep. Last night, nothing worked unless we were holding him directly over the humidifier, and even then it wasn't very much help. He was struggling to breathe, anytime he attempted to say anything to us it took a lot of effort for him to talk and his voice was really hoarse. At one point he looked to Keith and croaked, "Daddy help." Finally, at 3am, we headed to the hospital. I've been in an ER a handfull of times growing up for a variety of my siblings, but I've never had to go specifically for me and we've never taken Garrett. Keith was apparently super healthy growing up because he had never been in an ER before. It really wasn't the bad experience I was expecting. I've heard horror stories about people waiting for hours, but we were in and out within 2 hours so I didn't think that was too bad. Garrett was given a steriod to help reduce the swelling in his windpipe, then we had to hold him down so they could do a breathing treatment, and lastly we had the fun time of getting an x-ray on a 2 year old. You have to be part-contortionist to keep that lead apron on, plus hold your child's hands or legs a certain way, and keep them sitting where they need to be, it was crazy, but the x-ray tech was super nice and she got us done really quickly. We were given a prescription for a few more days worth of the steriod medicine and then we got to leave. We finally got into bed around 5:15 or so and I think I basically died because I was so exhausted, I don't even really know what Garrett did (he was in our bed with us), I assume he went to sleep as quickly as I did because I didn't hear anything until 7:30. As the day wears on, he's sounding better and better. I'm in hopes that we don't have to deal with this again tonight, obviously the meds should help that, but it won't prevent it completely. Croup is basically the cold virus that becomes croup in some kids (of course we're lucky enough to have one of those kids), but if you're not careful their vocal cords and windpipe can swell shut, hence the need for the steriods to prevent the swelling when the other remedies aren't working.
We've just had a crazy week and I ask myself on a daily basis when I'm going to get to sleep a full night. As I said in a previous blog, Garrett was sick most of Christmas Eve night with a stomach bug, then I made the super intelligent decision to take down Garrett's crib and move him into a big bed on Saturday. He's almost 2 and a half and too tall for the crib, according to their specs. He used to climb out of it all the time, but when I started making him nap in the big bed, he threw a big fit and stopped trying to climb out. So Saturday night was crazy because at that time we still had his crib set up as a toddler bed even though he looks huge in there. We kept hearing him wake up and then he would switch beds all night long, so Keith (being the kind-hearted Dad that he is) brought him to our bed because he felt sorry for him that his crib was no longer in existence. I can't sleep with a 2 year old kicking and poking me all night, plus he grinds his teeth terribly! So with his issues and Keith's snoring, I got no sleep Saturday night. Then we get the lovely croup episode on Sunday night, so I think I've had 5 hours of sleep in the past 2 days. On top of all of this, our water heater went out on Saturday, so during all of his free time Saturday, Sunday and now today, Keith is trying to get it replaced. Actually he has it replaced, but the new one is leaking, so he's had to buy all kinds of parts and tools trying to fix it. I feel the most sorry for him because he's probably had less sleep than me. I don't know why everything has to happen at once. Of course the crib thing is totally my fault and believe me, had I known the croup was going to pop up out of nowhere last night, I wouldn't have taken down the crib when I did.
I never knew parenting would be so crazy. I guess my parents did it with appearing ease since there were 5 of us, they probably just walked around in a state of crazy all of the time and that was just normal. (I'm kidding, Momma!) Nobody points out all of these fun things when you're pregnant or talking about having a baby. You might hear a few things about the lack of sleep the first few months, but nobody mentioned the lack of sleep for years later on. And to think that I actually want another one. Am I crazy?
We've just had a crazy week and I ask myself on a daily basis when I'm going to get to sleep a full night. As I said in a previous blog, Garrett was sick most of Christmas Eve night with a stomach bug, then I made the super intelligent decision to take down Garrett's crib and move him into a big bed on Saturday. He's almost 2 and a half and too tall for the crib, according to their specs. He used to climb out of it all the time, but when I started making him nap in the big bed, he threw a big fit and stopped trying to climb out. So Saturday night was crazy because at that time we still had his crib set up as a toddler bed even though he looks huge in there. We kept hearing him wake up and then he would switch beds all night long, so Keith (being the kind-hearted Dad that he is) brought him to our bed because he felt sorry for him that his crib was no longer in existence. I can't sleep with a 2 year old kicking and poking me all night, plus he grinds his teeth terribly! So with his issues and Keith's snoring, I got no sleep Saturday night. Then we get the lovely croup episode on Sunday night, so I think I've had 5 hours of sleep in the past 2 days. On top of all of this, our water heater went out on Saturday, so during all of his free time Saturday, Sunday and now today, Keith is trying to get it replaced. Actually he has it replaced, but the new one is leaking, so he's had to buy all kinds of parts and tools trying to fix it. I feel the most sorry for him because he's probably had less sleep than me. I don't know why everything has to happen at once. Of course the crib thing is totally my fault and believe me, had I known the croup was going to pop up out of nowhere last night, I wouldn't have taken down the crib when I did.
I never knew parenting would be so crazy. I guess my parents did it with appearing ease since there were 5 of us, they probably just walked around in a state of crazy all of the time and that was just normal. (I'm kidding, Momma!) Nobody points out all of these fun things when you're pregnant or talking about having a baby. You might hear a few things about the lack of sleep the first few months, but nobody mentioned the lack of sleep for years later on. And to think that I actually want another one. Am I crazy?
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Does Anyone Have a Barf Bag?
Well, another Christmas has come and gone. All of the presents have been unwrapped, the trash can is overflowing with wrapping paper and a million twist ties, toy companies have now determined they are the best theft deterrant, I guess. We had a great Christmas but it was very similar to last year, in the fact that Garrett was sick, AGAIN. Thankfully we didn't have to spend the day at the minor emergency clinic with 105 degree fever like last year, but I would love to celebrate Christmas day with a healthy child and a full night's sleep the night before.
Yesterday, we went to my in-law's for the day and exchanged presents with them. Garrett made out like a bandit with a new tricycle, clothes, a few small toys and a stick horse. He doesn't quite understand the concept of a stick horse. You know, one of those horse's heads on a broom stick that you can pretend to ride around the house. But I'm sure he'll figure it out. Keith's family draws names, which makes things pretty simple. I had his name and he had his mom's name, which translates to me buying everything. I got him a handgun, which he was super excited about. His brother-in-law had my name and he gave me a ton of placemats, cloth napkins, and napkin rings. That may not excite some of you, but I've been wanting a variety of those, so I'm looking forward to decorating my dining room table with the seasons.
After exchanging gifts we all went to Keith's grandparents' for supper and more gift exchanging. Let me just say that their house was super hot! The thermostat was set on 80 degrees (no kidding, Keith checked and almost passed out) and the stove had probably been on for the entire day leading up to everyone coming over. Garrett started getting real grouchy. He hadn't napped at all, barely eaten at lunch, and had just downed half a glass of Sunny Delight (something he had never had). All of those things led to the perfect storm with a toddler, but instead of a tantrum, we had vomiting. Yes, it was a sight to behold. Fortunately (ha!) he only got it on me and the tile kitchen floor. I had already finished eating and Keith was about 3/4's of the way through, so we changed his clothes and headed home. We figured he had just gotten overheated and the Sunny D didn't set well on his stomach. Garrett was already acting like he felt much better, but that wasn't to last. About 15 minutes down the road, he started all over again. Keith and I were doing everything possible to keep from adding to the mess ourselves. I stripped Garrett down to his diaper, covered his carseat with a blanket and then covered Garrett with my coat. We somehow managed to make it home without any more messes.
We unstrapped the carseat and carried Garrett in, carseat and all. He was sacked out by this point. We cleaned out the car, thankfully the mess he made stayed on him and in his carseat. Then Garrett took a quick bath and got ready for bed. His last gift to open at Grandma's was a Buzz Lightyear doll. He has become obsessed with Toy Story lately. Once he was bathed, he seemed to be feeling better and wanted to play with Buzz, so we also let him open the Woody doll that we bought him. He was thrilled and Buzz and Woody helped to make him feel better. He went to bed hugging both dolls with a smile on his face. We were in hopes that we had seen the last of the stomach monster. Ha, ha, again. At midnight (after I had only been asleep for an hour due to getting out all of the presents and stuffing the stockings), I heard Garrett calling me. He had left me a present on his pillow. Really Garrett, you shouldn't have. After cleaning everything up, Garrett and I got into the big bed in his room (he's still in the crib). About 15 minutes later, he christened that bed. I was thinking, "we're running out of beds." So we headed to the living room. I covered one couch in towels, put a trashcan next to him on the floor (not that he understands the concept of aiming), and I "slept" on the other couch. Since Garrett still sleeps in a crib, he's not used to sleeping anywhere without sides to hold him in, so every move that he made woke me up because I was worried he would roll off the couch (he didn't). When I woke up at 4:30 to him playing with Buzz and Woody, I changed the bedding on his crib and put him in there. I crashed in my bed and managed to sleep for about 3 hours before Garrett woke us up for good this morning. Thankfully he wasn't sick, just awake and ready to get up. How exactly can kids still wake up at their normal time after such little sleep the night before? It's so irritating.
We got up and had a great time opening presents. Garrett was thrilled with everything he got and has kept himself busy playing all day (though he did take a 3.5 hour nap this afternoon, so that was wonderful). Keith did an awesome job buying for me, as he always does. I got a new iPod!!! I've only had an iPod shuffle up until now. It's so neat to watch videos on this tiny screen! (I'm laughing as I type that last sentence, seeing as how we still have a 19" TV, I should be used to watching videos on a tiny screen. ) He also bought me a new iron and breadbox (both things I asked for and was excited to get). He picked out a very nice picture to hang in our bedroom (he has great decorating taste, better than me most of the time). I'm still in the midst of trying to decorate our house and our bedroom walls are completely bare after having lived here for almost 5 years. I'm embarrassed to admit that, but it's true. I also got some smaller things like books, socks, a candle, some photo albums, and another season of "Friends". I managed to squeeze in a 30 minute nap while Garrett was sleeping and we've spent most of the afternoon washing all of the bedding that we went through last night and cleaning up the wrapping paper covering our living room floor. I think the bug or illness or whatever it was that we experienced yesterday and last night, is finally over. I do have to admit that this was our first time dealing with a stomach virus with Garrett, so I am very thankful that he hasn't had one before. Now I'm just in hopes that Keith and I didn't catch anything. I'm sure we'll find out in the next few days.
I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I pray that we all experience God's blessings in the New Year! Here's to everyone being healthy!
Yesterday, we went to my in-law's for the day and exchanged presents with them. Garrett made out like a bandit with a new tricycle, clothes, a few small toys and a stick horse. He doesn't quite understand the concept of a stick horse. You know, one of those horse's heads on a broom stick that you can pretend to ride around the house. But I'm sure he'll figure it out. Keith's family draws names, which makes things pretty simple. I had his name and he had his mom's name, which translates to me buying everything. I got him a handgun, which he was super excited about. His brother-in-law had my name and he gave me a ton of placemats, cloth napkins, and napkin rings. That may not excite some of you, but I've been wanting a variety of those, so I'm looking forward to decorating my dining room table with the seasons.
After exchanging gifts we all went to Keith's grandparents' for supper and more gift exchanging. Let me just say that their house was super hot! The thermostat was set on 80 degrees (no kidding, Keith checked and almost passed out) and the stove had probably been on for the entire day leading up to everyone coming over. Garrett started getting real grouchy. He hadn't napped at all, barely eaten at lunch, and had just downed half a glass of Sunny Delight (something he had never had). All of those things led to the perfect storm with a toddler, but instead of a tantrum, we had vomiting. Yes, it was a sight to behold. Fortunately (ha!) he only got it on me and the tile kitchen floor. I had already finished eating and Keith was about 3/4's of the way through, so we changed his clothes and headed home. We figured he had just gotten overheated and the Sunny D didn't set well on his stomach. Garrett was already acting like he felt much better, but that wasn't to last. About 15 minutes down the road, he started all over again. Keith and I were doing everything possible to keep from adding to the mess ourselves. I stripped Garrett down to his diaper, covered his carseat with a blanket and then covered Garrett with my coat. We somehow managed to make it home without any more messes.
We unstrapped the carseat and carried Garrett in, carseat and all. He was sacked out by this point. We cleaned out the car, thankfully the mess he made stayed on him and in his carseat. Then Garrett took a quick bath and got ready for bed. His last gift to open at Grandma's was a Buzz Lightyear doll. He has become obsessed with Toy Story lately. Once he was bathed, he seemed to be feeling better and wanted to play with Buzz, so we also let him open the Woody doll that we bought him. He was thrilled and Buzz and Woody helped to make him feel better. He went to bed hugging both dolls with a smile on his face. We were in hopes that we had seen the last of the stomach monster. Ha, ha, again. At midnight (after I had only been asleep for an hour due to getting out all of the presents and stuffing the stockings), I heard Garrett calling me. He had left me a present on his pillow. Really Garrett, you shouldn't have. After cleaning everything up, Garrett and I got into the big bed in his room (he's still in the crib). About 15 minutes later, he christened that bed. I was thinking, "we're running out of beds." So we headed to the living room. I covered one couch in towels, put a trashcan next to him on the floor (not that he understands the concept of aiming), and I "slept" on the other couch. Since Garrett still sleeps in a crib, he's not used to sleeping anywhere without sides to hold him in, so every move that he made woke me up because I was worried he would roll off the couch (he didn't). When I woke up at 4:30 to him playing with Buzz and Woody, I changed the bedding on his crib and put him in there. I crashed in my bed and managed to sleep for about 3 hours before Garrett woke us up for good this morning. Thankfully he wasn't sick, just awake and ready to get up. How exactly can kids still wake up at their normal time after such little sleep the night before? It's so irritating.
We got up and had a great time opening presents. Garrett was thrilled with everything he got and has kept himself busy playing all day (though he did take a 3.5 hour nap this afternoon, so that was wonderful). Keith did an awesome job buying for me, as he always does. I got a new iPod!!! I've only had an iPod shuffle up until now. It's so neat to watch videos on this tiny screen! (I'm laughing as I type that last sentence, seeing as how we still have a 19" TV, I should be used to watching videos on a tiny screen. ) He also bought me a new iron and breadbox (both things I asked for and was excited to get). He picked out a very nice picture to hang in our bedroom (he has great decorating taste, better than me most of the time). I'm still in the midst of trying to decorate our house and our bedroom walls are completely bare after having lived here for almost 5 years. I'm embarrassed to admit that, but it's true. I also got some smaller things like books, socks, a candle, some photo albums, and another season of "Friends". I managed to squeeze in a 30 minute nap while Garrett was sleeping and we've spent most of the afternoon washing all of the bedding that we went through last night and cleaning up the wrapping paper covering our living room floor. I think the bug or illness or whatever it was that we experienced yesterday and last night, is finally over. I do have to admit that this was our first time dealing with a stomach virus with Garrett, so I am very thankful that he hasn't had one before. Now I'm just in hopes that Keith and I didn't catch anything. I'm sure we'll find out in the next few days.
I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I pray that we all experience God's blessings in the New Year! Here's to everyone being healthy!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
I Should Buy Stock in Kleenex
Well, it's that time of year again. Nope, I'm not talking about Christmas, I did that in a previous blog. I'm talking about the time of year where everyone and their dog gets sick. It never fails! I don't know that I'm necessarily "sick" because it's so hard to tell the difference between a cold and allergies. But on Saturday my head started stopping up and I started sneezing to beat the band. We also had a cold front come through our area that day, so it's very possible it brought along some of my allergy buddies. Or I could have caught one of the billions of cold viruses out there. You know how they say that once you've had a virus you can't get it again because you're immune to it? I don't know if I believe that, or there are a bunch of new viruses out there. Because when my son comes home with a cold or something similar, I typically get it. I would think that if he's caught one of the common cold viruses that most children get when they're little, I more than likely would have caught that same virus when I was little, but apparently not. I've probably been exposed to, caught, and been immune to a bunch more viruses than the average person. I am the oldest of 5 kids, so that was 6 more people (counting my parents) in our house growing up, bringing home germs that I'm sure I caught and am now "immune" to. I also worked at a daycare for 2 years and taught school for 4 years and was exposed to a ton of nastiness, shouldn't I be immune to most everything out there? Apparently not.
Since my birthday is on Thursday and then Friday we leave to go to my brother and sister-in-law's college graduations, I want to be healthy! I've been hearing a lot about the "Neti Pot". My mom praises it, my mother-in-law praises it, I've heard news specials about it. So I figured this might be the way to go to help me get this out of my system. I've looked at a few local places for it and couldn't find one, but found something with a similar design in our local Target's kitchen section, so I bought it. I also bought a cart full of medicines that I haven't tried yet. Something is bound to work! I got home this morning with all of my purchases and immediately tried out my Neti pot. It felt really weird, but it did seem to flush out my sinuses. (If you don't know what I'm talking about or how they work, just google it, I'm not going to attempt to explain ). It also temporarily gave me a sinus headache, so I'm not sure if that was just from the water pressure in my sinuses or maybe the water was running into blockage, I don't know. But I made a stupid move after using this. I decided to also try out this medicine called "Zicam" which is supposed to shorten the duration of a cold. It's probably not the best idea to try out 2 new things at the same time because after using the Zicam I literally sneezed my head off (ok, not literally...). But I honestly don't think I have every sneezed that many consecutive times. So who knows if it was the Neti pot's magic or I'm allergic to the Zicam. I think I'm going to eliminate the medicine for now and just use the Neti pot and see what happens. But I can say that I don't feel any better after using both of those methods.
My goal now is to be sure that Garrett doesn't catch anything. I would honestly prefer to be sick all of the time, if it meant that he was never sick. I'm not saying that to be mom of the year, I'm saying that because I can't stand it when he's sick. He's still not quite to the point of being able to tell me where it hurts, or being a willing participant in taking medicine. Just this morning I attempted to give him a little Benadryl because I've noticed his nose has been running. He let the medicine trickle out the side of his mouth and run all over his nice, clean shirt. Mad doesn't really describe what I was feeling at that particular moment. He needs to be held down and sat on until every last drop of medicine is down his throat. Not really something I enjoy doing, but when he is really sick, I have to do it. He's not sick right now, so I didn't attempt another dosage. But I did buy a package of the Benadryl that's now in those thin strips of medicine, instead of liquid. Whoever came up with doing children's medicines in those thin strips are genius! No mess, once they are on their tongue the child has a really hard time spitting them out, it's pure brilliance.
I also want to thank the makers of Tylenol PM. That product is another example of brilliance in medicine. When you're not feeling well, sleep is sometimes elusive, but take a couple of those babies and I'm out like a light for a good 8 hours. I love it! This morning I felt so refreshed after a good night's sleep. Now I'm just praying that this sickness, or whatever it is that I have, will go away soon.
Here's hoping that my family can atleast avoid illness during the days leading up to, and including, Christmas. Last year we weren't so lucky, so I'm hoping we will achieve that goal this year.
Since my birthday is on Thursday and then Friday we leave to go to my brother and sister-in-law's college graduations, I want to be healthy! I've been hearing a lot about the "Neti Pot". My mom praises it, my mother-in-law praises it, I've heard news specials about it. So I figured this might be the way to go to help me get this out of my system. I've looked at a few local places for it and couldn't find one, but found something with a similar design in our local Target's kitchen section, so I bought it. I also bought a cart full of medicines that I haven't tried yet. Something is bound to work! I got home this morning with all of my purchases and immediately tried out my Neti pot. It felt really weird, but it did seem to flush out my sinuses. (If you don't know what I'm talking about or how they work, just google it, I'm not going to attempt to explain ). It also temporarily gave me a sinus headache, so I'm not sure if that was just from the water pressure in my sinuses or maybe the water was running into blockage, I don't know. But I made a stupid move after using this. I decided to also try out this medicine called "Zicam" which is supposed to shorten the duration of a cold. It's probably not the best idea to try out 2 new things at the same time because after using the Zicam I literally sneezed my head off (ok, not literally...). But I honestly don't think I have every sneezed that many consecutive times. So who knows if it was the Neti pot's magic or I'm allergic to the Zicam. I think I'm going to eliminate the medicine for now and just use the Neti pot and see what happens. But I can say that I don't feel any better after using both of those methods.
My goal now is to be sure that Garrett doesn't catch anything. I would honestly prefer to be sick all of the time, if it meant that he was never sick. I'm not saying that to be mom of the year, I'm saying that because I can't stand it when he's sick. He's still not quite to the point of being able to tell me where it hurts, or being a willing participant in taking medicine. Just this morning I attempted to give him a little Benadryl because I've noticed his nose has been running. He let the medicine trickle out the side of his mouth and run all over his nice, clean shirt. Mad doesn't really describe what I was feeling at that particular moment. He needs to be held down and sat on until every last drop of medicine is down his throat. Not really something I enjoy doing, but when he is really sick, I have to do it. He's not sick right now, so I didn't attempt another dosage. But I did buy a package of the Benadryl that's now in those thin strips of medicine, instead of liquid. Whoever came up with doing children's medicines in those thin strips are genius! No mess, once they are on their tongue the child has a really hard time spitting them out, it's pure brilliance.
I also want to thank the makers of Tylenol PM. That product is another example of brilliance in medicine. When you're not feeling well, sleep is sometimes elusive, but take a couple of those babies and I'm out like a light for a good 8 hours. I love it! This morning I felt so refreshed after a good night's sleep. Now I'm just praying that this sickness, or whatever it is that I have, will go away soon.
Here's hoping that my family can atleast avoid illness during the days leading up to, and including, Christmas. Last year we weren't so lucky, so I'm hoping we will achieve that goal this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)