January 8, 2009

Happy 4 Month Birthday sweet baby boys!

It turns out, today is a milestone of sorts. 4 months old. 4 months of pumping. And...unfortunately, the boys first illness :(

Alec-
Alec has the cold that Olivia brought home. Olivia has had a cold for about a week, and holy heavens it's hard keeping her away from her little pride and joys. We talked about hand washing and sanitizing her hands, but please. She's 4. She is far too excited about her brothers to be bothered with such things. I knew it was only a matter of time, and well... the time is upon us. Alec has some pretty thick congestion that we're trying hard to suck out of him to keep him comfortable. He also has a pretty raspy barky cough.

Evan-
Evan is also congested, but far less so far than Alec. He, however, has a diminished appetite and only took 2 or 3 oz at a time for Grandma today instead of his usual 5 or 5 1/2, which is pretty unlike him. Grandma also said that he has not been himself...more fussy and very few smiles, which if you know Evan, is odd. He definately isn't feeling well. When he got home, we took his temp, which was 100.8, which prompted me to phone the doctor. We've been told that we needed to phone for congestion and cold b/c of the dreaded RSV and so we did. Our doctor's office is wonderful. We phoned at 7 pm, and they are open until something like 7 or 8. I first talked with a NurseDirect Nurse, who must screen the calls for the after hours clinic, and she said that she wanted me to speak with the nurse at the clinic, and transfered me right up. Then I talked with her, and she asked me to hold while she went in to speak with the doctor. The doctor on call tonight at the clinic is OUR doctor, which is so nice. I was on hold 5 minutes or so, and she came back and said that our ped is in his office and asked that she transfer the call directly to him! WHEN does that ever happen...you actually SPEAK to the doctor on the phone!??!?!? Anyhow, he said to use a vaporizer and give him tylenol, so we are doing both. He said he'd get concerned if: his fever got to 102/103/104, if he was struggling to breathe with the congestion, if he was not eating at all, or if he was inconsolable. He took a nap right after I gave the Tylenol and woke up happy and with only a 99.7 fever and drank 6 oz. So, that was a relief.

Now I sit here at 2:23 am and worry a bit about Alec. He is really coughing and congested. I got him up with me (I'm pumping) and thought maybe he was hungry, because he'd wake up, cough, cry, etc. But the second I picked him up, he went right back to sleep. Poor little guy is just not comfortable. So I brought him back in by Curt and propped him up on a pillow (we had him sleeping in his bouncy tonight to keep him more upright) so he can be near us, in the hopes we can comfort him AND so I can hear him breathing. I just worry so much with RSV season and such.

The doctor offered to see us tomorrow and I told him we'd see how they were doing, but I think I will get them in tomorrow to see him. I would just like him to see them both, listen to Alec's lungs, well both of their lungs, and check their ears, particularly Evan's ears with that fever. Poor little guys. I just hate when kids are sick :( :( :( :(

And being back to work is going fine so far. Things there are slow of course, because I am getting all my cases transferred back to me, and need to meet with each of them to get the transition going. But overall, it's going well. I am on crisis pager right now, which is by far the WORST thing to go back to. Calls at anytime of the evening or night...bah. I am off of the rotation in October though, so I do look very forward to that!

And sweet Olivia still has that lingering cold that I mentioned. She doesn't always think to get a kleenex, and wipes her nose with her hand, which makes for a pretty red upper lip and cheek from all the chapping her skin does in the winter. So, we're reminding her constantly to use a kleenex and using aquaphor to try and keep that area moist. She's also REALLY testing us lately. Perhaps it's the age...perhaps it is her just needing the attention...who knows. She will immediately do what she is asked NOT to do. It's SO infurating. We will literally have just finished talking with her about NOT doing something, and she does it. This has resulted in some time outs and loss of her beloved shows for a few minutes at a time. She has also been a pill at bed, getting OUT of bed 2309 times before finally going to sleep, though the past 2 nights have been better. We tried it all...talking to her about the expectations, not allowing her to manipulate (not allowing her 290th drink or to use the bathroom for the 2nd time, etc), and finally taking her beloved "rough doggies" away. Let me just tell you, it took 30 seconds of holding those doggies captive outside her room for her to decide that life was not worth living if she couldn't have those "rough guys". After 30 seconds (or so...she really was mad!) I went back in with her beloved guys and talked with her about the expectation that this is bedtime, not playtime, and she needed to sleep, not get out of bed, etc. Well...she did. She didn't get out of bed and she DID get to sleep. Guess we just needed to get serious with her, and with HER, serious is her best friends her "rough doggies". She calls them her "rough doggies" because she has 4 little doggies that are all the same. The two we got her first have been through the washer 29302 times and you can tell ;) They are well loved, but well...they are SO loved. We bought her two more of the SAME doggies in the hopes to replace the worn out nasty ones, and while she welcomed her new doggie friends into her life, she is IN LOVE with her worn out guys. She calls them her "rough" doggies as opposed to her "soft" doggies becuase they are more worn. Pretty cute actually.

Alright...pumping is winding down...please say a prayer that the boys wind down here with this illness and have no trouble fighting it off. I'll update after the doctor tomorrow.