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9 month well baby visit – or was it?

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:

Eating his first Nutri-Grain bar

Enjoying food again:

Messy food is FUN!

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:

Hey look at all of the buttons and things

NHL with the Pop-Onz table:

Check out the major hat hair - LOL

 NHL with the zebra:

I am NOT too big for this!

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

Blowing kisses

Humming while playing

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.

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They stayed in their room – ALL night!

For the first time in weeks both of the boys stayed in their room all night.

WAHOO!!!!!!

Sure, JSL fussed a few times, but he managed not to bunk with us for any of the night. He was so exhausted from no afternoon nap. Why? Well, thanks to another snow storm NHL’s school was on a 2 hour delay. It just was not worth taking him for 10:00 to pick him up at 1:00. Too much effort. Plus Tuesday night NHL was up with several nightmares again. So we did a PJ day here. Every time that JSL fell asleep in the afternoon he would hear NHL and wake up

This is Spud on the couch in the morning: 

Vegging in the morning

The brotherly spats started already. NHL was upset that JSL got his toy. NHL took it away and JSL went crawling over to him at one point and slapped him. This at nine months – I am in for it! Here are the sweet boys together after the mini tiff.

 Near brotherly headlock

JSL quickly lost interest in sitting with his big brother and wanted to be on the move. He would not take both of my hands. So he took one and I took some shots from above for a different perspective on things. 

Boy on the move

 

Only 1 hand Mom

 

Man he is getting so much hair

As nice as it was to have both of the boys with me for the day . . . it was a LONG 9 hour day. It was great to see NHL head out to school for a few hours. 

Posing before he leaves

I even managed to get JSL out of his PJ’s for the first time since he has been back from the hospital. I figured it was time, plus it was a way to celebrate that he is officially done with antibiotic. 

Hey stop it with the camera thing

Then it was time for the boys to say goodbye to each other. 

Time to get a little hug

Poor JSL was sad to see big brother go. . . I think. 

Sad to say goodbye

I will cherish these moments now. Before I know it the two of them will be clawing at each other and wresting on the floor while screaming for me to stop the other. 

 

P.S. – Stay tuned . . . a new blog design is coming soon. My webmaster (JL) is almost done so it can go live and then we can tweak things. A giveaway will be coming with that too!

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Super Grover to our rescue!

Finally it is time to mention something a little more fun and not sickness related (imagine that). Last Thursday night we were lucky enough to be able to take NHL to see. . . .

 Before the Show

We bought our tickets long ago for opening night and Nana and Papa were wonderful enough to volunteer to watch JSL so we could have a special night out with our big boy. With everything that went on the plans only changed slightly. Nana and Papa came to our house so JSL would not have to go out into the cold.

This year the show was called "Super Grover Ready for Action" and we were all excited to see it (JL’s favorite growing up was none other than the fuzzy blue monster himself). We are all big Grover fans in this house and were upset that he never showed in Sesame Street Live last year. This year we were psyched to see lots of Super Grover.

All in all we had a wonderful time. It was great getting out of the house and doing something special with NHL. He had a really rough week and had not had a lot of Mommy and Daddy time, so this was excellent for him. Below are some photos from the show.

Can you tell a certain little boy was tired at the start thanks to a no nap stance? 

Someone should have napped before the show

Of course Big Bird was there: 

Big Bird - love the tie!

Even though the show was about Grover, the furry red monster, Elmo played a major role. Shocked aren’t you? The sad part, there were NO Grover items being sold – BOO HISS! 

More of the Sesame Street crew

After a while NHL started to get into the show, no really he did. Seriously you will see. . . he woke warmed up to the show. 

NHL is starting to get into it

More of the Sesame Street crew: 

The end of one of the songs

Captain Fuzzy was there to save the day! 

Sesame Street Super Heroes

The Fabulous Five took over to help out Sesame Street when Grover lost his "super" and could not do anything.

Elmo = Captain Fuzzy
Rosita = Muchacha Fantatica
Zoe – Wonder Zoe with her faithful sidekick, Rock Rock
Telly – Triangle Boy

The Fabulous 5

JL took the photos this year and we finally figured out that Grover must have some form of ADHD. He was next to impossible to get a photo of. Thanks to him constantly running, falling, flying or what not he was almost always a blur. This is one of the best JL was able to get. 

It's Super Grover!

Always faithful Cookie Monster was there to River Dance for the crowd with his sheep. 

Cookie does a River Dance

Big Bird needed a nap . . . something that NHL really needs in the afternoon, but refuses. 

Muchacha Fantastica helps Big Bird

NHL still sings the "Oscar’s World" song almost a week later. If you ever go to Oscar’s World be sure to say hello to Gene . . . just be sure not to confuse him with hygiene (that joke went right over the kids head that night). 

Uh oh . . . it is Oscar's World

Please check out Burt and Baby Bear’s fun hair for the evening! 

Teaching Oscar and Gene about hair care

Cookie Monster taught kids to eat their colors. I am sure this went over lots of heads. I can just see NHL asking for his purple cookie, red lolli pop and other colorful treats!

Cookie learns to eat your colors not just cookies

The Count finally got NHL up on his feet to dance. He was too cute wiggling around. He was SO tired, but man did he try. 

Time to Dance!

NHL liked it when Triangle Boy saved the day at the gym. 

At the Number of the Day Gym

One last shot of Super Grover before I sign out. 

Super Grover got his super back!

Next year IF we go to Sesame Street Live again we hope to take JSL since he will be about a year and a half and will love the singing and dancing. For now we had a wonderful time with our big boy who seriously needed some fun in his life.

 

 

BTW – I started my blog last year at around the time we saw Sesame Street Live. I will post some funny photos from the show for Worldless Wednesday tomorrow . . . I think. 

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The Night from Hell – 1 week later with many thanks

Tonight I am counting my blessing that both of my boys are tucked into their room sleeping soundly. Both are now on antibiotics, and one is just back from from a four day stay in the hospital.

A week ago now I was just coming back home. I went out to meet Laura to get some fabric for flannel blankets and pillow cases. I was gone for an hour and a half in a night that never wanted to end. When I arrived home both of the boys were in bed. I was getting ready to sit down to knit when I heard the little guy fussing.

JL went in to try to get him to settle with his pacifier. It worked for a little while. At about 9:30 I heard some strange coughing coming from the baby monitor and went in. I scooped JSL out of his crib and noticed he was VERY hot and having a hard time breathing. We took his temperature and it was 102.8. I quickly got the motrin and bulb syringe to clean out his nose. Ugh, what a mess.

Minutes later JSL was really laboring to breathe. His temperature was soaring and causing his heart to beat wildly. A quick call was made to my parents. I asked them to please come over quick. I just had a feeling (if you ask my friend earlier in the week I made a horrifyingly accurate prediction that this was not going to go well and we would end up in the ER – Mother’s intuition perhaps?). I called our doctor’s emergency number and when he called back asked what to do. He was very alarmed with JSL’s breathing and told us to stabilize JSL’s temperature and then take him to the ER for hydration.

My parents arrived and we put JSL into the tub. He played happily and then WHAM – the nightmare that I never hope to repeat began. Please see previous posts about this here and here.

Now I sit here crying. I am afraid to go to sleep tonight on this week after. I know I will relive those shades of gray flashbacks that a parent should never see on their child. I keep wondering about items and going through what if’s.

  • What if this had happened when I was out?
  • What if my mother was not there to administer rescue breaths to my baby to make him breathe again?
  • What IF?  I can not even fully type this one out . . . you all will know what I mean.

There are other thoughts on my mind too, but I just can not get typed out. Just having them on my mind is painful enough, reading them back would be too much.

I am so thankful that my baby is slowly getting back to himself. JSL is gaining his strength day by day and at the same time learning new tricks to show us. I am also so thankful that my mother was there that horrible day. How painful it must be for her to relive what she did. Still I cherish how my baby kissed her over and over the next day. I think somehow he knew that Nana had saved his precious life.

We also need to thank my father for staying here to man the fort while NHL slept. Big brother still does not know the horrid details of what happened while he was sleeping in his room. I knew that had he gotten up and seen Papa there he would have been comforted. Papa also stayed with NHL most of Sunday and Monday night so JL could be at the hospital with me.

My Aunt S and Mimi also helped us so much. The two of them were able to watch NHL so JL and I did not have to worry about him when everyone else went back to work. NHL had two fun days with Aunt S and her girls (cats). Then the day after JSL came home Mimi had NHL spend the day with her. He loved every minute of it. We truly are so lucky to have family here that our kids are so close to.

I would also like to thank my friends:

  • Laura – thank you for chatting with me into the night while I could not sleep at the hospital. We also love the amazing flannel blankets and pillow cases that were all ready for us when we got home from the hospital.
  • H & J – thank you both for coming to the hospital. JSL loved his puppy puppet and seeing familiar faces. You were able to make us all laugh when we needed it. I will forever remember JL and J putting together my pathetic hospital breast pump and the thunderous laughter that followed. That one nurse never looked at us the same again! H – thank you for taking me home Sunday to shower and get things to stay overnight. I never would have been able to drive myself and while I cleaned myself up, you cleaned up our clutter.
  • Sandy – thank you for your beautiful notes. I will definitely be talking to you soon about things. Sorry that I scared you with that text message, but it was the only way I could let you know.
  • To all of my internet friends – thank you for all of the comments of prayer and speedy recovery for my little guy. I am still catching up getting back to people, so please understand how much I did appreciate it.

Here are some more photos of JSL in the hospital, just back home, and today. Be sure to hover over the photos for the captions. 

Daddy hug time

 

Trying to get Big Brother's card

 

Hmmm. . . I think this is edible

 

So stuffed up

 

Trying to smile and grab camera

 

Back home and snuggling with flannel

 

A much needed family PJ day

 

Brotherly love

 

After one VERY long week

Now I am off. JSL is fussing and I will likely watch him sleep most of the night. I need to see his snuggly little body sleep peacefully. I have to make sure his chest goes up and down . . . I need to hear his soft breathing noises.

 

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Lunar Eclipse February 2008

Tonight there was a full lunar eclipse. I had wanted to head out to view it, but a migraine got me and I fell asleep at the start. I woke up and did not know where JL was. Eventually I looked outside and saw him standing out in the cold with his tripod and camera. I called him on the cell phone (I was in PJ’s and not going out at that point). He reminded me about the eclipse. I eventually sucked it up and went outside with a coat over my PJ’s. It was amazing to see how clear it was and the red glow in the sky.

Here are eight of the sixty plus photos that JL took. They were my favorites when looking at them quickly.

 

01 Lunar Eclipse by JL

 

02 Lunar Eclipse by JL

 

03 Lunar Eclipse by JL

 

04 Lunar Eclipse by JL

 

05 Lunar Eclipse by JL

 

06 Lunar Eclipse by JL

 

07 Lunar Eclipse by JL

 

08 Lunar Eclipse by JL

 

The next full lunar eclipse will not be until December 2010. I can not wait to see all of the other photos of this event that other people have to share.

 

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