A Week of Firsts

Many new and exciting things have taken place in the past week. And when you have small children there is a first for everything, especially for a newborn. Micah's umbilical cord came off last week, and he got his first bath in the baby tub on Saturday. It wasn't his favorite thing, but he's becoming more used to them. He had to because he got quite a few due to blow-out diapers and spitting up on himself over the next couple of days.




Sunday was also Micah's first Easter. We were told before leaving the hospital that viruses were still pretty bad going around and to keep him home for the first four weeks. I really wanted to take Micah to church on Easter, and while on the phone with a nurse regarding Joshua's health (by the way, he had a double ear infection this past week) I asked her about taking Micah to church. She told me no, so I heeded that advice. Darrin also did not feel comfortable about taking Micah to church either. My parents graciously offered for us to meet my mom at church between the two services so she could take him to their house and we could attend church as a family. It worked out great! After church we went to my parents' house for Easter lunch and egg hunting.




We had the most beautiful Easter weather we have had in years! It was absolutely gorgeous!

Among other firsts are Micah's first smile and laugh. He smiled at Darrin yesterday and later at me. He has not done it since, so I've not gotten it on camera yet, but rest assured that as soon as I can capture it I will post it! This evening Darrin was holding Micah and as he slept in his Daddy's arms he giggled in his sleep. It was too cute!

Now Micah was not the only child who experienced a first. Joshua did as well, but it wasn't a good first. He lied for the first time. Well, if you don't count the times that he tells you that he does not have a dirty diaper when he does. Joshua was holding something that he had taken out of the dishwasher. When Darrin, who knew Joshua was holding it, asked him if he had it Joshua said "no" and immediately dropped it on the floor. Oh, it is hard to see your children be deliberately deceptive!

But I can't end on a bad note. Joshua got to dye Easter eggs for the first time. Well, he ended up breaking more eggs than coloring them. He didn't want to use the dipper, and if we put an egg in the dye for him he would reach in with his hand and pull it out. Rebekah, on the other hand, was a pro at dying the eggs since this was her third year at it. After the eggs dried Rebekah put stickers on the eggs while Joshua rolled some around on the table pretending they were cars, complete with "brrrrrrrrrrmmmmm" sounds, or he would knock them on the table only to crack the shell. Oh, well. At least we made some memories.




Speaking of Easter fun, the kids had their Resurrection parties at preschool last Wednesday. Darrin kept Micah so that I could attend the parties, and since they were at the same time I went back and forth between the two classrooms.

Rebekah's class did a craft making a Fruit Loops butterfly (that was eaten by the end of the day) followed by lunch.





Joshua's class had lunch first and then made a craft. I totally missed him making his craft, though, because I wasn't expecting the class to make anything.





Boy, has it been a busy week! And things are definitely not slowing down any! For now, the rest will be left for another post.

It Keeps Getting Worse

When I took Joshua to see the allergist last week I knew Joshua was coming down with his sister's cold. Well, sure enough that evening he had a low-grade fever, just like Rebekah. The difference was that Rebekah got over her fever within 24 hours, and Joshua was still suffering off and on after 48 hours. So to the pediatrician's office we went. We were not able to see our regular pediatrician because it was on Saturday. Sure enough, Joshua got another double ear infection! So, here we go again with another round of antibiotics. I'm certain this is NOT due to a milk allergy because it is from a cold.

We were scheduled to have the oral test for penicillin allergy this week, but since Joshua is on an antibiotic right now we have to wait a week after he's off the medication to do the test. In the meantime, we are just working through this most recent ear infection.

The other day I was playing with Joshua while Rebekah was at preschool and I noticed when Joshua was laughing that his cheeks inside his mouth were swollen. I called in to the pediatrician's office, and since Dr. Rodger's is out of the office on Thursdays we got an appointment with Dr. Meredith. I hated that the appointment was scheduled for the evening, but at least it gave Joshua time to get a nap before we had to go. It just made for a late supper for our family.

As much as I like the other doctors in the group I really want Joshua seen by his pediatrician. I feel like we need some consistency, and I hate that Joshua is yet on more antibiotics. Dr. Meredith checked Joshua's ears, and they are better but still not well. Joshua was only half-way through the medicine, so I hope his ears clear up by the time he finishes the course. Apparently, due to the antibiotic (either this one or the combination of so many in a short time) Joshua has developed thrush. I always thought this was an infant problem, but it's common in young children too. Since Joshua is still nursing occasionally I got a prescription to use as well.

I so hate that we are dealing with this, but I know that things could be much worse. At this point, though, I'm ready to take Joshua to the ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist) to have him get tubes. I just want my baby to have relief and to be healthy.

An Eventful Day

For the last several weeks Rebekah and I had been trying to work out a time to go shopping for her ballet and tap shoes. Something always seemed to interfere, the kids would be tired while we were out before we got to shoe shop, we had scheduling conflicts, or Rebekah would lose the privilege to go shopping. We finally got to make that shopping trip to Payless on Wednesday. Payless is on the same road as the pediatrician’s office, and as we approached our destination Rebekah asked about Dr. Rodgers and if we would see her today since we had just seen her on Monday for Joshua’s ears. She asked if Dr. Rodgers was there today and a number of other questions about her. Little would I know how prophetic this would be.

So, onto Payless we went. Joshua also needed some new white shoes since he had already outgrown his. I was going to buy some cheap ones at Payless as well, but they don’t come in the toddler sizes. So, after we found the right sizes for Rebekah’s dance shoes and made our purchases we headed over to Stride Rite to buy some shoes for Joshua. It was already 12:30 by this point, so I asked Rebekah if she would rather eat lunch first or get Joshua’s shoes. She wanted to finish shoe shopping, so we headed straight to Stride Rite. My plans were to hit the food court for lunch afterwards then let the kids play in the Play Area if it wasn’t too crowded. (A number of roads had flooded the night before due to all the rain and many schools were out of session.)

My plans changed drastically! No, they were destroyed…

No one was in Stride Rite while we were there, so the kids had fun playing around exploring, and Joshua would even run to the exit and stop where the carpet ended. I just knew he was going to run out into the mall, but he didn’t. He stopped and looked at a nice young woman sitting in the mall across from him who smiled back. I brought Joshua back in to try his new shoes on. As soon as they were securely on his feet he was off running again; this time he went out into the mall. Rebekah ran over to him to help me guide him back into the store. As soon as I picked him up Rebekah turned and ran back in and kept running. She had her new tennis shoes on that most likely were not quite broken into and she tripped over her feet. Her face was right near the edge of the bench. She got up crying, but she ran off like she normally does when she is hurt. I usually let her have her space then she will come to me. So, as I let her run off to a corner of the store the sales clerk told me Rebekah was bleeding. At this point I ran over to find blood coming out of Rebekah’s forehead. She had hit it on the corner of the bench leg which was wooden and had a sharp 90-degree corner. It had left a pretty good sized gash above her left eye in the middle of her forehead.

The sales clerk brought out some paper towels for the bleeding, and as I put them on her head I guided her over to sit down. I had Rebekah sit there while I got Joshua strapped in the stroller. The nice lady that was sitting out in the mall saw what happened and came in to offer her assistance. Her husband was getting a massage in the mall, and she was just waiting on him. Let me tell you, this woman was a Godsend! She was so calm, unlike myself because I was just in “task mode” trying to get done what needed to be done, and she spoke really softly to Rebekah and calmed her down while I got Joshua strapped down and called the pediatrician’s office.

At this point I knew that I wouldn’t have time to change Joshua’s shoes back, so I handed over my credit card while the sales clerk rung me up and I talked with the doctor’s office staff. Oh, how I hate when they go through all the necessary questions: patient’s name?, how old is she?, what’s wrong? (which she didn’t seem to listen to anyway), any siblings?, date of birth?. Then she asks, “So, was this the eye?” “No, it is her forehead, and I think she’s going to need stitches!” “Oh, my! OK, hold on…” Dr. Rodgers’ nurse is out of the office due to knee surgery, so I talked to the substitute for the day. After getting the details she told me to bring Rebekah on in to see Dr. Rodgers.

By this time, the sales clerk had brought out a first aid kit and the nice lady had taped a gauze over Rebekah’s gash. The bleeding had stopped by now. I noticed that the lady’s shirt said “Physical Therapy” on the front, so I asked her if she was a physical therapist. No, it turns out she is a former ICU nurse! God was so good to bring her along to help me. I HATED that I was not the one to comfort Rebekah and to tend to her, but this lady was an amazing help so that I could tend to the other things I had to do. I look back on that and think how much Rebekah wanted and needed me to just console her, and I had to be on the phone and couldn’t tend to Rebekah. Sometimes I feel really bad about that, but I know that I did what I had to in order to take care of Rebekah too, and that is why this former nurse was there to help me.

After Rebekah was bandaged and ready we headed out, Joshua with his new white shoes on because I didn’t have time to change them. It felt like it took FOREVER for us to get loaded, coats on, back out to the car, strapped in, and to the pediatrician’s office. Thankfully, her office is within viewing distance from the mall, literally, just around the corner, so it’s not far at all, but it took time to get there. On our way I called Darrin to let him know what happened and he immediately got off work to help me since I had Joshua with me.

Once we signed in and I put our bags down in the waiting room they called Rebekah’s name. We settled in the room and Dr. Rodgers joined us pretty quickly. She assessed the wound and told me that Rebekah would definitely need stitches. She said she would be glad to do it, but she also gave me the option of taking Rebekah to the ER since she wasn’t sure what kind of scar she might leave. It was a pretty straight stitch, so she felt better about that, but she was also more concerned since Rebekah is a girl and will be more self conscious about a scar than a boy would. So, I asked her if she was saying that Rebekah would not have a scar if we were to go to the ER. Well, it would be luck of the draw. We could get someone with lots of experience or someone with little experience, like an intern. After consulting another pediatrician in the office Dr. Rodgers agreed that since it was a straight stitch she should do fine. In hindsight, Darrin and I both are really glad she did the stitching. They may have rushed at the ER, and the wait there is HORRIBLE! We really hate the ER! I also asked her how often she does stitches, and after finding out that she generally does them once over two weeks I felt confident that she would do a good job.

So, Dr. Rodgers put some numbing solution on a thick pad and taped it to Rebekah’s wound to prepare for the stitches. While it was soaking Darrin arrived. All the while Joshua was really good and played quietly in the room. We weren’t sure if one of us would have to take him out of the room, so we asked Rebekah who she would like to stay with her. I was really heartbroken when she chose her Daddy, but Darrin assured me that she just wanted protection. She was probably just scared. Joshua continued to be really good, so I was able to stay in the room with him while Dr. Rodgers stitched Rebekah’s forehead. At one point I picked up Joshua and he noticed a picture of koala bears with “KOALA BEAR” at the bottom. He kept saying, “…dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot…” I finally noticed that there were a number of dots inside the letters, and he was touching all the little dots while he said that. Too cute!

After Dr. Rodgers got several of the stitches in place Darrin took Joshua so that I could stand with Rebekah. She was so brave the whole time! She cried some, but she handled everything so well and did exactly what Dr. Rodgers told her to do. I was so proud of her!

After all of this Rebekah, Joshua, and I were very hungry and tired. We got home at 2:30 and ate lunch, and Joshua and I took a nap. This event had wiped me out completely! Rebekah, though, that afternoon was playing as if nothing ever happened. She was dancing in the living room and went on and on about her new ballet and “chap” (tap) shoes.

I changed her bandage for the first time yesterday and took pictures. She had a bruise developing that first evening, but it was nearly gone yesterday, and any swelling that showed on Wednesday was gone by yesterday as well. I’m adding links for the pictures because some of you may have a really weak stomach. It is not super bloody, especially like it was at Stride Rite, but it is a wound. If you are interested in seeing it you can click on the links below.

Stitches Photo #1

Stitches Photo #2

I just received a call from Dr. Rodgers this morning as well. She first asked me how Rebekah was doing and then proceeded to give me the results on a RAST blood test Joshua had on Monday. I'm not sure if I posted about this earlier, but Joshua had allergy testing done to see if he might be allergic to gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley, etc.) or casein (the protein found in dairy). It turns out he is not allergic to gluten (although he may be sensitive to it if we were to try a urine test that Dr. Rodgers was not aware of), but he is allergic to casein and will most likely outgrow it. So, now it appears that we know what has been causing Joshua's chronic ear infections. For now I'm going to pursue a casein-free diet and do some more research on this. I'm thankful I had some testing done so that we know what to eliminate from Joshua's diet immediately. But do you know how hard it is going to be on Joshua? He LOVES dairy products - milk, cheese, and yogurt are among his favorites. This is going to be difficult, but hopefully we'll rid him of these ear infections.

More Christmas Fun

While Christmas is officially behind us the season still lingers. Sometimes it's easier to get out and enjoy things after all the rush is over and we can relax. Darrin is on vacation until the first of the year, so we've been enjoying movies as a couple and doing fun things with the kids.

Last night we took the kids for a drive to see some lights. We had planned to hit three places, but the kids were tired by the second stop that we cut our night out a bit short. I'm so glad we hit the first house when we did. The kids LOVED it, especially Rebekah! We've been to this house once before when Darrin and I were first married, but I had forgotten about it.





The front porch





Inside the garage - Rebekah loved being in this "room"!








I thought this model of the twin towers was really cool, too.


Today we had a fun day with just Rebekah. We went to the Imax theater to see "The Polar Express" in 3D. When we first arrived we had a few minutes to waste because they were not allowing guests to be seated until a few minutes before the movie started, so this gave Rebekah the perfect opportunity to ask for popcorn.

We have seen the movie many times because Darrin recorded it on our DVR last year. Rebekah has been known to ask to watch it in the middle of summer in fact. As a result we know the movie well, and Rebekah kept exclaiming that we had it at home or she would tell me what was going to happen next. The loud noises of the train or other various parts of the movie hurt her ears in places, but overall she really enjoyed it as did Darrin and I.


After the movie we ate lunch at Cheeburger, Cheeburger (a first for all three of us) and then returned to my parents' house to pick up Joshua.

Unfortunately, I have some bad news about Joshua's ears. They have not cleared up from their last double ear infection. He is on one last round of antibiotics, and if this doesn't work we will pursue an ear, nose, and throat specialist and have Joshua get tubes. Please pray his ears heal and that we won't have to go this route. I'm not opposed to tubes at all, but I'd rather this round of meds kill the infection and avoid tubes if at all possible. Our pediatrician recommended an ENT who is in the same group as mine, and this particular doctor deals with many children. As much as I really like my ENT I am all for going with one who treats children regularly. Hopefully it won't get to that point, but at least I can know more what to expect if it does come down to it.

Sick and Tired

What a yucky day to be out, but that's exactly where we were. On my way to drop Rebekah off at preschool I decided to call the pediatrician's office to have Joshua seen. He has been waking after an hour during his nap, slept in again this morning until 8:15, and he messed with one ear as we were heading out the door. I couldn't get an appointment that didn't conflict with either picking up Rebekah from preschool or Joshua's nap, so I just showed up at the doctor's office and asked them to work Joshua in. Thankfully, Dr. Carroll was willing to see Joshua. (Our regular pediatrician, Dr. Rodgers, is off on Thursdays.)

Joshua has another double ear infection, and since we didn't have a follow-up last month after his previous ear infection Dr. Carroll said he is not certain that it is not the same one. In a couple of weeks I am going to take Joshua to see Dr. Rodgers for a follow-up and discuss with her the possibility of having tubes put in his ears. Tubes may not be the most pleasant, but it's better than getting repeated ear infections and being on an antibiotic all the time. I've had tubes recently, and I think they are wonderful for preventing ear problems.

Joshua is not the only one feeling poorly. Lately I have been intending to call my endocrynologist to find out when I'm due for a follow-up appointment. I know it's been a year since I last saw her, and I'm pretty sure it's time to make another visit. My weight has been on the low side, although I'm not losing weight. People come up to me occasionally and ask if I'm eating. Well, yes, but sometimes not as good as I should because it's hard to make time to eat due to caring for the kids. People don't think that making comments about being underweight hurt, I guess because being overweight is much more prevalent and a concern for people, and many can relate to this problem. But comments about how thin I am do hurt. I don't want to look like I'm all skin and bones! So, while I'm not losing weight I can't gain any either.

I've also noticed lately that I'm really tired by lunchtime. I don't have the stamina to do much housework by the afternoon when I finally have the time to do it during Joshua's nap, and my patience is running thin with Rebekah. All she wants is help and a playmate, but I don't have the energy. So I've made a call to see my endocrynologist to have my bloodwork checked and to see how my thyroid is doing. Amazingly, my thyroid was in great shape all during my pregnancy with Joshua and for several months post-partum, but Graves is one of those things that can kick back into gear after having been in remission. Once I get that little white pill in my system I hope to be feeling a lot better.

A Weekend Off

This weekend Darrin and I are headed to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo for Family Life Today's "Weekend to Remember" marriage conference. We haven't been to a marriage conference or retreat in a number of years and are really looking forward to "getting away" for a few days to focus on our marriage.

One thing that I'm looking forward to is getting a little break from being Mommy. I adore my kids, but sometimes moms need a break to unwind. Unfortunately, both the kids have a cold and Joshua has another ear infection. But I know the kids will be in good hands while my parents are here to keep them this weekend.

Lately Rebekah has been going through another stage in her development, and it's not been fun for us. She has been really sassy with us, even defiant at times, extremely slow to follow through or obey, and just plain mean at times. We are trying to figure out how to handle this so as to nip it in the bud but also to help her work through this as well to mold her heart to want to do what is right and to please the Lord. It has been a rough journey. I think that having a weekend away will be good for me so that I feel refreshed to come back on Sunday and better deal with the attitudes and behaviors Rebekah has displayed this past week.

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

Sickness

This week, and particularly this weekend, has been rough for our family. Earlier this week Joshua had a couple of days of clinginess and not wanting to nap. Every time I put him down for a nap he fought it, and once he did go to sleep he awoke after only about 45 minutes. I decided to take Joshua to see the pediatrician, and he not only has another ear infection (possibly not healed from the last time), but his other ear is infected as well, so he's got a double ear infection. Joshua is still really cuddly with me and struggles going down for a nap, but he seems to be better, although he is nursing a lot more this week.

On the flip side, Joshua is walking around full-time now. He only crawls to get to something to pull up, but he's walking all over the place these days. He's enjoying his newfound skill.

Thursday night/Friday morning in the middle of the night I woke with chills and aches in my legs. After taking some Tylenol I felt better, and after eating breakfast and taking a shower I felt stronger, so I ran some last-minute errands to prepare for Rebekah's party that was planned for today. By the time I got home I had the chills and aches again. I had a low-grade fever of 100.1. Rebekah was asleep on her bed by this time, which is unheard of for her, and when she woke 3 hours later I checked her temp. It was 101.2 orally. I called the moms of Rebekah's guests and rescheduled the party for next week. I was disappointed in a way, but relieved because I really didn't feel well.

Darrin also went to the doctor for a sinus infection, but it was caught early, so he's feeling much better already. Rebekah is feeling better also, but at times she says she is well and other times she says she is sick. I'm still not completely well yet. Hopefully in another day we'll all be feeling lots better.

Yet Again...

The last few days Joshua has been super clingy and such a Mama's boy. I thought it might just be that he is 18 months old and dealing with a new world now that he's officially a toddler as well experiencing separation anxiety. The last couple of days Joshua has absolutely fought a nap. He would cry and cry, and I even had to let him cry himself to sleep, which has not been the norm in the past.

After two days of taking short naps of only 45 minutes I decided to have his ears checked again. Sure enough, the last antibiotic didn't take care of his previous ear infection, and now the other ear is infected, although it's not as bad. Joshua is on a different antibiotic. It is one Rebekah took for a double EI and cleared it fine, but it did give her diarrhea, so I'll be watching for the same in Joshua.

On a different note, as I was driving the kids to the pediatrician's office it was snack time, so I grabbed a bag of animal crackers for them to munch in the car. Rebekah was in charge of handling the bag and handing a cookie to Joshua when he fussed asking for another. It was so cute to watch as I peeked over my shoulder to see their little arms outstretched reaching to each other as the cookie met between their hands.

Another Ear Infection

My poor little guy has his third ear infection since the first of the year. Darrin noticed that he had a low grade fever Sunday night, but after some Tylenol Joshua's temperature stayed low. He has been more fussy than normal over the weekend, and was particularly fussy yesterday. He was rarely content if I wasn't holding him. Joshua reached up to his left ear once, but I wasn't sure if it was just a coincidence or if his ear was hurting. I decided to take him on to the doctor, and I'm so glad I did! His left ear is infected. He has no cold symptoms yet, but I wonder if he will. The last time Rebekah had an EI (double EI in fact) she never had a fever with it, and her cold symptoms didn't appear until after she was diagnosed and started on the antibiotic. I'll be keeping a close eye on Joshua. He has been struggling during naptime as well, and even last night he cried out a couple times, probably from pain. Hopefully he'll be feeling a lot better soon.

***I've posted twice. Read on!***

Isn't this supposed to be Summer?

*I've posted 3 times tonight, so check them all out!*

Who knew that colds could be common in the summer as well as winter? Evidently, Rebekah picked up a little cold recently. Yesterday she was feeling rather sluggish after church, especially as the day drew to a close. I had planned to let her play with her neighbor friend Emmy, but Rebekah seemed tired, and her eyelids were red. She claimed that her eyes hurt. I decided to make a call to Emmy's mom to let them know Rebekah wouldn't be up to playing that evening.

This morning Rebekah seemed pretty happy, but as the morning went on I was hesitant to take her to playgroup. She was extra cuddly and just wasn't acting herself. She seemed tired and was fussier than normal. Rebekah's voice also sounded like her nose was stopped up, although she hadn't had any other indications of a runny nose or stuffy head. In the end I decided to keep the kids home. Around 11:00 or so this morning Rebekah told me that her left ear hurt, so I made an appointment to see Dr. Rodgers. I gave her some Motrin and put heat to the ear to give it some relief. By lunch time Rebekah was feeling much better. She even asked me, "Does my ear feel better?" as if she wanted me to ask her about it. When I asked she told me that it did. By that time the Motrin had kicked in, but what was to come once the medicine wore off?

We didn't get to go to the pediatrician's office until 3:30, but that allowed Joshua to get a good nap before we had to leave. Rebekah not only has a fairly severe ear infection in her left ear, she also has a mild one in her right ear. Evidently, she has a high pain tolerance, so if she mentions something hurting I should take it seriously.

Since we had to wait a while on the prescription to be filled we went to Chick-fil-A for supper. Rebekah seemed to enjoy that well, especially since she got to play on the indoor playground. We were all tired, and I managed to get the kids their baths and to bed at a decent hour even though Darrin is gone on business. Hopefully Rebekah will be feeling better tomorrow.

Update on Joshua

With Joshua having an ear infection we decided to skip physical therapy last week. He missed the previous week as well because Amanda had a death in the family. Joshua has not been as progressive lately with his gross motor skills until yesterday. All of a sudden he decided to start pulling up quite a bit on the couch and take a step or two! Now, he has pulled up to a stand only a handful of times, but yesterday he did it with ease, then he tried to cruise, so this is huge.

I think part of the reason why he hasn't made as much effort lately is because he has just not felt like it. He's been a lot more cuddly lately. I took him to the pediatrician yesterday to see if his ear infection had cleared up. The antibiotic he has been on has given him a red bottom from diarrhea, and he was pulling on both ears and crying out of the blue Sunday evening. Come to find out the ear pain is not even an ear infection. It has cleared up completely. The pain is all teething. So that is why he was waking every 3 hours Saturday night! Well, don't you know, he's got a new tooth today! Not only is it a new tooth, but it's a fang! His teeth are coming in a weird order. Normally the front two teeth come in before the eye teeth. He has two front bottom teeth, but no top teeth, and an eye tooth on top has just started to cut today. The eye tooth on the other side is not far behind. I guess I'll have a cute little Dracula on my hands.

Ear problems

Monday I called the pediatrician's office and got an appointment to take Joshua in to be seen. He and I both had a cold last week; I am better, and Joshua improved, but his cough started sounding like congestion had moved to his chest. Come to find out he has another ear infection. Fortunately, he's not contagious. He is on a round of antibiotics and is feeling kind of crummy. After talking with Joshua's therapist on the phone I decided to cancel his physical therapy this morning when he fell asleep in the car at 10:30. The poor guy is just worn out!

I went to my ENT to have my ear checked. It retained fluid due to the cold I had, and of course, it was in the ear where a tube was coming loose. (I had tubes put in soon after Joshua was born, and one is still in tact.) The doctor removed the fluid and replaced another tube in my ear, and I can hear so much better! It's so funny that I never had problems with fluid in my ears until college.