Ear infection!

So tired...

We thought we saw signs of teething;  low fever, restless and cranky, chewing his gums, chewing on toys, fingers, rubbing his ear, etc but instead we got another milestone: his first ear infection.
It was the lady who watches Espen during the mornings who saw similar symptoms in her own son and she took him to the doctor. We called the nurses and they told us antibiotics would not make this go away since it was most likely a virus, we would just keep an eye on him and ride it out.

Thanks for the Update, Doc

We went to see a new allergist today for Lucia's breathing/allergy issues. We were excited about seeing this guy; our new pediatrician, who we like, had recommended him. We got there, and I asked a bunch of questions, namely is this asthma? Before we were calling it reactive airway disease. Now it's asthma. He said the difference between the two is like the difference between cola and coke. So. Yes. Asthma.

So we talked about doing the Pulmicort until May, and he said we could take her off in April, but if she started wheezing again, put her back on. We explained that her first symptoms weren't necessarily wheezing, it was more getting every little cold that comes along. He agreed the Pulmicort would help prevent that.

We talked about the potential for gluten to be (as I have read in several books) creating an system-wide inflammation, which in turn is fueling the allergies and asthma. He said no, gluten has nothing to do with allergies. Which is contrary to what I've read, but I don't pretend to be an expert (on everything anyway).

We took more tests, and surprise, she's allergic to eggs and milk still. She had a hard time with the tests today; the nurse was scary despite having a Cat in the Hat shirt on. She cried and cried but managed to stay still for 20 minutes after the serums were applied so we could get a good reading.

On the left: milk at the top, then egg, then the bottom is ragweed. The one on the right is the control (histamine).

The doc came in and announced the results and informed us she absolutely could have her MMR vaccine (the nurse at Kaiser told Pete it had egg in it) because there's no eggs in it. He gave us some handouts from the Interwebs.

Overall we weren't impressed. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he seemed kinda missing a sensitivity chip. He's retiring in June, so we probably won't see him again. I don't really understand the point of us going.

I guess it couldn't have gone well, given the news. Little Miss has asthma. I'm terrified. We are going to meet with an asthma educator (should be interesting, but I'm trying to keep an open mind) sometime in the future to learn how to identify her triggers and course of treatment. Giant sigh.

Lucia update

She has been doing much better today in terms of fever, and I think she will have no fever tomorrow. However, she has also been quite cranky and tired and wanted to be held all the time, so I hope her appetite is back up tomorrow as well. Good news is she has been drinking a lot of water today.

Fun in the ER (update)

We spent about 6 hours in the ER last night. It was boring, and at times upsetting. She refused to drink so we took a syringe with water and squirted that in her mouth while she protested profusely. Definitely not fun, but better than an IV. The doctor finally did another test that actually confirmed she did not have a urine tract infection which is great, but then why does she have 104 in fever? This became obvious to me this morning when she woke up around 9:30 am and had a really crusty nose. Oh well, better safe than sorry.

Back to Daycare

With her baby and a head full of curls. Let's hope she doesn't get
sick today. Please!

Night Fever

Me explaning to Lucia that we have to brush her teeth after her "juice" (probiotic drink).

Lucia and I both haven't been feeling that great this weekend; she's been crankers and has had a slight fever, and I woke up today with a sore throat and what I think to be a fever (we only have one thermometer and it's Lucia's and you can guess where we put it, and you will understand why I don't know definitively if I had a fever). Anyway, things kinda peaked today; I felt progressively worse this afternoon, and was FREEZING when we came home from having lunch in the city, took Advil, put on a heavy sweater (see photo) and we went about our evening. Lucia went to bed around 8, and had her last dose of Motrin around 6. She woke up crying at 10, and as soon as I picked her up I knew her temperature was crazy high again. It was 102.8 F (39.33 C), which wasn't as high as last time, but definitely not good. We've given her Tylenol, and tried to get her to drink some cold water, but she didn't want it. We managed to talk her into drinking some "juice" which is a probiotic drink, but then we had to brush her teeth afterwards of course. I rocked her with a cool rag on her head until she fell asleep; she seemed cooler when I put her down. We are due to check her again at 12 midnight and 2 a.m. The fun never ends over here.

Terrifying

Lucia has been battling a cold this week, which seemed to get worse after she went to daycare Thursday and even worse on Friday. I know she was running a fever when I got her home on Friday, so I gave her Motrin. No big deal. Saturday she slept a lot, but also ate and drank just fine, but she still felt feverish and her eyes were glassy. So we did Motrin every 6 hours. We had dinner plans, and because she was sick and Pete's been feeling like he was on the verge of getting it, I went (it was to a friend's house who lives about a mile away). When I came in the door last night, Pete was rushing to get Lucia who was screaming her head off. I told him I'd get her, and when I picked her up, she was so incredibly hot to the touch. We undressed her and took her temperature -- it was 105.6. I quickly grabbed the baby book and it said anything over 104 you have to go right to the ER. We wiped down her head with a cool rag, then quickly piled into the car, rode with the windows down and drove as fast as we could to the hospital. We're so thankful it's so close by (less than a mile). We arrived, and I registered, and waited outside with Lucia so she could also cool down. We took off her pajamas in the ER, and though she was exhausted, she was eager to climb on the chairs and show us her Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle moves. Once we saw the doctor, they immediately gave her Motrin and Tylenol, and wanted to rule out pneumonia, so she also had a chest X-ray. No pneumonia; it's likely just a virus. We were up at 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 with her this morning.

Today we watched her very closely; she didn't have a fever until about 4 p.m. this afternoon, and she got Motrin then. We are watching her carefully to make sure it doesn't spike again.

It was absolutely terrifying experience.  I hope we never have to do that again.

Little miss pukey barfs again

Third night i a row now. What a joy. Tonight was the worst I think because she threw up all over Heather, the rocking chair, and later also on the carpet. They were both soaked and naturally they both took a bath together for the first time. Which looked like a lot of fun actually. Needless to say, laundry is high on the list these days.

Babble Babble Babble

Lucia is very very into a few things lately:

• Babbling. It goes like this: Babble Babble Babble. Pause. Babble Babble Babble. Pause. She likes to say some things (uninteligable) with lots of emphasis and volume, like SHE REALLY MEANS IT.
• Reading books. She wakes up and likes to finish her *milk, then heads to her bookshelf to select a book. We read that one. Then another. Then another. Then another. Then repeat the first one. Then we go in and wake up Daddy and she wants him to read her more. She holds out a book and says: BEEEE BEEEEEEED. We're interpeting that as READ! *milk = formula
  
• Combing her hair. I taught her how to do this a few weeks ago; now she gets a certain proud look on her face when she does it. It's hilarious, since most of the time she's just moving the handle across her head.
  

In other news:

• Lucia has a cold, which means she's super stuffy and unfortunately for Pete, super cranky all day. OOOF. We're hoping she's on the mend soon, and we're REALLY hoping, we don't get it.
  
• Related: she'll be starting daycare 2 days a week next week. Pete is basically over the moon at this news. It's great; she's adjusting to Stacey and now doesn't have a problem being dropped off. Hooray!
  
• I turn 36 Friday, and I can tell you 100% certainty this has been the longest year of my life. Really.
  
• My parents arrive Sunday! FUN! We're really excited to hang with them and for them to babysit see Lucia. ;)
  

Sigh

As you know we've been sick. Lucia coughed twice yesterday morning, and it didn't sound great. We called day care and they said don't worry, and bring her over. So we did. I called at 3 to check in and ask about her cough; our day care provider said she had only heard her cough 1-2 times.

When I picked her up at 5 though, I noticed she was really congested, and when I got her home and sat with her, when she coughed I noticed she wheezed when she breathed out. I have asthma. My family unfortunately has a very bad track record with asthma (read: highly dangerous). But I didn't think it was asthma last night; I was freaked out at the prospect of having the H1N1 flu. Or really any flu. Because of her allergy to egg, she can't have flu shots.

The good news is that since getting her up 2 hours ago, she hasn't coughed once and her congestion appears to be gone. Hmmmm. Then I remembered that our daycare provider said she just loved playing in the hay in the backyard (Stacey has her backyard all decorated festive for Halloween/Fall). I'm highly allergic to hay. I didn't put it together until this morning.

She's likely highly allergic to hay. The symptoms that resulted out of this allergic reaction are upsetting; she might have asthma in the future. :(

Sick, Party of 3

We've all been sick this week. It started with Lucia running a fever Saturday, and Sunday. I felt bad Monday and went downhill. Yesterday I felt like I got hit by a bus. I'm better today, but now Pete feels like he got hit by a bus. Then Lucia started running a fever again tonight. Good lord.

After two days at home, I'm headed back to work tomorrow. I hope Pete and Lucia are on the mend soon.

First Night Home, Definitely Eventful

I debated blogging about all of this, cause frankly it's just more drama and we really, really can't believe it all went down like it did, but here goes:

Kate made us a fantastic dinner. Pete got choked. For a long time. Could not get the food out of his throat. Josh took him to the ER. About three hours later, they got home. The food finally moved down and the problem was resolved.

While he was gone, I noticed my incision was seeping liquid. Really creepy liquid. So I say to Kate, um, look at this and should I be concerned. We call the advice nurses at Kaiser. They review all of the medications I'm taking and basically freak out that I'm taking Tylenol and Vicodin. I was told to take Tylenol instead of Motrin because Motrin does a number on my stomach. The nurse on the phone freaks and calls Poison Control, then says I need to come into the ER right away for an accidental overdose. And maybe I should get that incision checked.

So Pete literally walks in the door from the ER, and I say, can you take me the ER? We get there, and THANK GOD KATE WAS HERE, cause she took Lucia and called pediatrics to make sure my breastmilk wasn't toxic, and then called my brother to have him come back over because Pete has the car with the car seat, and if they have to take HER to the ER, then they'll need a way to get there.

So they do some weight calculations (thank god I'm still retaining tons of water) and talk to Poison Control, and decide that I'm fine. The amount I had taken -- even if I took it over ONE dose -- it still wouldn't be toxic. However, upon inspecting the incision, they decide that it's definitely infected and they debate admitting me. But I plead my case, that I've got a newborn fresh home from the NICU and I promise to take the course of antibiotics and Pete is given detailed instructions on how to re-dress the wound. They draw a giant area around the redness with a permanent marker and tell Pete that if the redness moves past that area, then we have to come back in.

We got home at 5:30 a.m., just in time to freaking pump milk, make something to eat, and feed Lucia before heading to bed for a few hours. Pete's fine, I'm on the mend, and we're SINCERELY hoping for a ho-hum normal few days of having a newborn. You know, sleeplessness, forgetfulness, etc.

Kate leaves in the morning and my mom arrives tomorrow. We go to the doctor at 9 a.m. to check her weight and visit with the lactation consultant. I'm hoping they're more helpful than the lady last week.

Promising News!

We had a bit of a roller coaster day. Here are the updates:

• We tried to nurse from 9 a.m.- 10 p.m. with no absolute success, but Lucia got closer to getting it than she ever has. After that, the nurse fed her my colostrum and formula through the feeding tube. I can't remember if she threw it up or not.
  
• We came back at noon with my very proud 2 oz of pumped breastmilk, and Lucia received it through the feeding tube.
  
• Unfortunately she threw it all back up.
• At 3:45, we saw the pediatrician on duty and she said that Lucia is a very healthy, happy, playful baby and that medically they couldn't find a reason why she was continually throwing up her food. She also said they have ruled out sepsis (phew). This made us very happy.
  
• The doc decided that the feeding tube itself may be making her gag, so they took it out. Then Pete fed Lucia a small amount of breastmilk from a bottle and SUCCESS! She didn't throw it up.
  
• Pete went back down with more milk at 6 to feed her a bit more and unfortunately, she threw some of that up. The nurses asked him to feed her half of the prescribed amount, then burp her, then feed her the other half. The burping was the culprit, I suspect.
• The only thing that's preventing her from being allowed to go home is the feeding problems, or specifically, the throwing up problems.
• I ate something at lunch that didn't agree with me, so I'm feeling ill and not going back down to the NICU tonight, unfortunately.
  
• We'll see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully not more vomit!
  

Still Sick

Not much to update over here. Still sick. Pete has it worse than me um, thankfully? We're doing OK otherwise. We go to the doc in the a.m. and will post an update here when we have one.