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Fevers, coughs, nebulizers and the flu – oh my!

Posted on March 27, 2008 11:42 am by TheAngelForever

As previously mentioned we had several doctor visits on Monday. This is how NHL looked on Monday before going to the doctor. He was exhausted from being up almost all night (two evenings in a row) with a horrible barking, croupy cough that would not go away.

Things were worse Monday night. NHL was gasping for air. JL went to work and NHL fell asleep on the couch from sheer exhaustion.

The poor little guy could not catch a break. Every time he would fall asleep he would wake up coughing that dry barking cough again and again. At about noon he was in tears asking to leave. He said he hurt from the cough. His entire body was shaking and he was gasping for air. I put in a call for the doctor since the breathing was getting so bad and Motrin and Tylenol together were barely keeping his fever under 100 when given together.

While waiting for the call back JSL was quarantined to another room with me (not worth much, but it was all I could do). He was having fun playing with his Nubby sippy cup. All of the sudden he started "talking" to me. I was floored. It was not simply play time. . . he was drinking water. I could see him doing the proper sipping motion and see water in his mouth. Wahoo! This was a much needed thing since the baby will NOT take a bottle since he was in the hospital in February. So now he knows that the sippy cup is not only a fun water toy to get soaked with, but also useful to drink! Another milestone during this was JSL saying "cheese" when I fed him a slice of cheese. His words just keep adding up.

Smiling while making a mess

Getting some water in!

At about this time the nurse called back. They were going to call in a nebulizer for us to use with NHL along with medications for it. After much "fun" (note the sarcasm) straightening out all of the co-pays, getting a pharmacy that actually had the medication we were all set. At about 3:00 the machine was delivered and Papa brought the medicine soon after. Here is the top of the new handy dandy nebulizer.

Dragon mask to make it more interesting

We have used this for the one medication since Tuesday night (2 times a day) and we have started to notice a difference. The barking cough is much less pronounced. NHL is also able to run around and talk without getting winded. The fever still does not want to back down. However we may have turned the corner. Last night we went without replenishing Motrin and Tylenol during the night. So far with only Motrin we have kept things below 100! If this stays true then he will be set to go back to school tomorrow – he is SO ready to go back.

Oh, and NHL is such a sweet little boy. He shared with Mommy. I have a 100+ degree temperature, aches, sore throat, headache, congestion . . . ick! I am taking Motrin and Mucinex for the congestion since that is all I am able to take when nursing. Now we just have to wait and see if the other boys in the house (JL and JSL) get this nasty flu that seems to originate at the school that NHL goes to.

With any luck the rest of the day will fly by and JL will be home so I can go back to BED!

Categories:
doctor jsl milestone nhl photos sick kid sickness sleep

I Give Up – Sickies Win

Posted on March 25, 2008 6:14 am by TheAngelForever

Would someone PLEASE give the message to all bacteria and viruses that I officially give up?!?! They win and can go the H-E Double Hockey Sticks away! Seriously it is now technically spring (not that you would know from the weather here) and we can not seem to shake being sick here. OK – so technically we went about two weeks without anything, but now BAM it is back in force.

Saturday night NHL was not feeling well. He woke up throughout the night with a barking/hacking croupy cough and fever. We gave him meds and kept him quiet most of the day. Sunday I was in agony. Before going to bed Saturday night I told JL that my right breast was killing me. It felt a little warm and if anything brushed up against it I was ready to scream. I went to bed and hoped for the best. JSL woke up during the night thanks to NHL being sick and nursed on it (something he never does in the night) and it was horrible. The shooting pain just kept getting worse all day and I ached all over. Needless to say we were quite a group on Sunday. Sunday night JL helped me to hot compress my breast to try to help it in case it was mastitis starting to settle in. At this point I was ready to try anything since I was in tears and had chills.

Yesterday we took NHL to the doctor. His fever would not stop climbing if he did not have Tylenol or Motrin in him. We got there and got a virus diagnosis, but he did have fluid in his ears. *sigh* I went to my doctor to have myself looked at since they wanted to see me. The NP said that she could tell from me still being swollen that there was definitely a very clogged duct at one point. She was very happy that I was able to keep the mastitis away at least at this point. She told JSL to stop biting me and causing the cracking on my poor body and told me she would look into something else for me. She also gave me a prescription for an antibiotic just in case I need it for mastitis if it comes back.

Fast-forward to last night. NHL’s coughing woke up JSL. We decided to keep JSL in our room and not expose him any further to the night coughing of NHL. NHL’s fever was soaring high and Motrin and Tylenol are not controlling it – not even together. I ended up sleeping in NHL’s bed with him for 3 hours to keep him in bed. I am sure I am in for this next thanks to the coughing exposure. Right now (5:30) his temperature with Motrin (6-8 hour medicine) given at 2:00 is 101.8. We gave Tylenol and are hoping it kicks in. He has not had a febrile seizure since he was 11 months old, but the scare is always there. . . especially since I will be home with both of the boys alone today (JL was home yesterday).

On that note I am off. JSL just woke up and now he is coughing too. *sigh*

If you could please help me to reinforce the message to the sickies to GO AWAY!

Categories:
doctor losing my mind pain sick kid sickness vent

Doctor visit and waiting game

Posted on March 4, 2008 11:37 am by TheAngelForever

For just over three weeks JSL has been battling something. The poor kid is only 9 1/2 months old, so that is a long time in his short life. Yesterday I was really flipping out because of the way he was acting, the increased mucous and change in the appearance, and the fact that he was hitting his head and pulling on his ears. Although cute, it is not good when he does a Home Alone impression. His poor cheeks and head and ears are getting a beating from the kid.

Although not taken yesterday, JSL looked like this again. This photo was taken the day before he was rushed to the ER by ambulance. VERY serious monkey who was not amused by much.

After picking NHL up from school the doctor’s nurse called back to see what was going on. I explained that the symptoms were EXACTLY the same as they were the days before he had his febrile seizure and was hospitalized. Based on this and the hitting/tugging of his face/ears they double booked us into get seen. So we went back up to their office at 3:15 and my father watched NHL. We saw the doctor that was on call the weekend of the hospitalization. He knew most of what had happened then, had been briefed from the PA that had seen him before that, and also knew we had been in since then (just last Friday for the "well" baby visit).

The doctor spent a lot of time with us. He went over everything that had happened, what was going on again, how long it had been since he was on antibiotics and then did a very thorough exam. I think he was anxious about the temperature going back up again and wanted to find a cause so we could stop it. He did a quick strep test that came back negative, listened to his lungs (still clear thank goodness) and eventually went to the ears as the last stop. Right ear looked great. . . then it was the ear that has been trouble’s turn. Sure enough the left ear had what he said was a lot of fluid, but not red or infected.

*Sigh*

There is absolutely nothing we can do to help the poor kid at this point. The charming FDA has made it impossbile to help a child that is under two to dry them out with a decongestant (JSL desperately needs one). GRRRRRRRRR! I am so ticked off – insert many other nasty words here because I want to use them.

So cure the child I dare you. Basically it will likely only be a matter of time until the ear is infected again. We have to try to avoid places with lots of germs – LOL. The doctor did say no cousin B-day party or travel this weekend until we know what is going on. So we wait and see and hope it will go away. I have an antibiotic prescription at home to start if his temperature goes to 100.5 to start immediately and then make an appointment to have the ear checked. At that point IF it is an infection we will likely be off to see an ENT. It really stinks that thanks to not being able to try medical approach we may be forced into surgery for the baby.

*evil glare*

I am extremely nervous. The Friday that the photo above was taken JSL saw the PA at the doctor’s office and was told he had a virus and some fluid in his ear, but no infection. The rest as you know is history. So the next 24-48 hours will be filled with much anxiety.

So that is the update at this point. Now to try to get the little monkey to stay hydrated and figure out what to do about the meeting with the school district on Thursday about NHL for next year. Please tell me I can not go and write me a note.

Categories:
bad news doctor jsl sick kid vent

9 month well baby visit – or was it?

Posted on March 3, 2008 11:21 am by TheAngelForever

Friday JSL finally was well enough to take him for his 9 month well baby visit. His original appointment was over two weeks ago, but the pinkeye episodes, followed by his four day hospitalization changed that twice. The tired little guy fell asleep in the waiting room, so he was far from happy to be woken up just to be stripped naked for a weigh in. I felt horrible, but had to do it.

Here’s a photo of JSL at 9 months:

Enjoying food again:

I was worried about his weight since I knew he’s lost some over the last few weeks, but it may have been mostly from dehydration. The last time he was weighed was at the hospital when he arrived in the emergency room on the evening of his febrile seizure two weeks ago. At that time he weighed in at approximately 22 pounds. Friday his weight was 21 lbs 15 oz (75th percentile), so I was very happy that he must have been back on track again. Then it was baby wrangling time for a measurement. I am not sure if this is accurate or not since he was moving around so much and someone who usually does not work with kids was measuring him. Still he was approximately 28 inches long (50th percentile). At 6 months old in November JSL was 18.1 pounds and 26 inches (percentiles were the same).

The doctor was very impressed with how he was sitting up alone so straight and was trying to pull up on anything that was nearby. She went over all of the developmental things and he was there or further. He even tried to demo crawling on the exam table much to my horror. I asked her about his tongue tie and whether we should do something about it now before he is old enough to be more upset with a procedure. She told me absolutely not until we know if it causes an issue with his speech. She said the fact that he is already talking so much and making great sounds for so many letters is a hopeful sign on that. She said that JSL is definitely "talking" more than a typical 9 month old. Of course I told her he has to to keep up with his almost 4 1/2 year old brother who does not stop talking. He says: Mama, Dada, Noah (No-Wah), big brother (big bro no wah wah), Bye-bye (while waving – especially to dismiss me from suctioning his nose), I love you, Nana, Papa, and other things are definitely parroted.

We talked about food intake and nursing and he is obviously doing well there. She is just concerned with keeping up to speed on fevers if/when they start with him. So I have a bag of medicine tricks with me at all times in case we need them. We already went over how we will do preventative Motrin administration for his 15-18 month MMR vaccine. That was a good idea to me since I had a bad reaction to that (I thought my mother once told me one of my febrile seizures was after it too).

We left the office feeling really good about things. I met one of the mommies from my local group in the parking lot to get some new to us toys for the boys. JSL and I went home, ate lunch and picked up NHL before stopping at the library for some movies. By the time JL was coming home from work JSL was not sounding good again. The poor kid was congested and I had to suction him a lot to make him comfortable.

Here are some of the new to us toys that we were lucky enough to get. The zebra was what we were going to get him for his first birthday, but now works. Thanks D for meeting up with me for the toys – the boys LOVE them!

JSL playing with the Fisher Price Learning Table:

NHL with the Pop-Onz table:

NHL with the zebra:

Although a little too small to use it on his own, JSL loves the zebra and did not want to get off.

By Saturday morning he was pretty miserable and his nasal secretions were not looking good. I called Aunt M to ask her some questions about how many days off an antibiotic something would resurface. We opted not to call our doctor and wait and see. Most of Saturday and Sunday he was OK. He was more clingy, stuffed up some, and very emotional, but nothing too alarming. Last night he was really congested and making the rattly noises from before our hospital stay. Add to that the thick nasty mucous that I was suctioning (sorry if TMI). His temperature was 2.5 degrees high for him, but never went up more than that (thank goodness). He did not want to stay in his crib (just lowered since he’s able to pull up from sitting) since he was so stuffed up. Thanks to this rough night and sounds horrible this morning, I decided to call the doctor today. So now I am waiting for that call to come back (it’s been two hours now). Our original doctor, not the one we see now will call back since our usual doctor is off all week. We just need to know what to do since he seems to be getting worse pretty quick.

P.S. Do not forget to enter my giveaway that continue to Thursday for the $30 certificate to Announcements Galore.

Categories:
doctor fun jsl milestone nhl photos sick kid

JSL Hospital Update 2-18

Posted on February 18, 2008 5:12 pm by TheAngelForever

GRRRRR! I just posted this entire thing and lost it . . . see what no sleep does!?!?

Thanks to it going POOF I am shortening it since I can not recall what I typed before. JSL is going to be staying in the hospital for at least another night. They were going to let us take him home, but agree that it may be too soon since he has not been fever free or on another new antibiotic for 24 hours.

Last night was very rough. The little guy had a 102 fever that spiked again. The nurse decided to give him a sponge bath after suctioning him out and giving him Motrin. The poor kid was a mess, his heart was racing and his oxygen levels kept going low from what was going on. Luckily he settled down and got some sleep (more than I can really say).

This morning the head pediatric doctor came in. She was amazing! She actually examined JSL (the head and resident yesterday did not – this was hindsight that I never realized until my mother pointed it out). I ranted about the doctor from last night, but not do not feel like bothering again. . . maybe later.The doctor today finally may have found part of the reason the fever will no go away. He had an ear infection in addition to double pink eye and creeping crud from the end of some sort of virus.

Neurology was called in for a consult and are not concerned at this point thanks to our febrile seizure history in both sides of the family. They were fine with sending us home, but agreed that it may not be right for other reasons.

JL is with the little guy now, NHL is with my father after spending the day with my Aunt S. I am checking in here with the world outside of the hospital quickly. After that I am off to shower and get dressed to head back to Moo the monkey.

More update later, but here are some photos. No, I did not have the camera with me in the ER, JL brought it to me later. First are some from Sunday morning after the events that unfolded Saturday evening.

A very sick and tired little boy Sunday morning a few hours after being admitted.