Exorcist Baby

Well, it has been a week since my last post, and Ryan is still sick.  Only it's gotten much worse!  He'd been suffering from an ear infection for four or five days before he was diagnosed and given an antibiotic.  She also prescribed a prescription antacid, Axid, for the ongoing reflux issues.  That was Wednesday.

I had never really known the difference between a spitting up baby and a vomiting baby until Thursday morning.  More like Exorcist baby.  Add in continuous diarrhea.  Both Trey and Sean have a sensitivity to antibiotics, so I immediately assumed that was the problem.  But by Friday morning, Ryan had thrown up three times.  Turns out there is a stomach virus going around, so the doc said to hold off on the antibiotic for a full day, and the antacid for a half day while things calmed down.

The problem is....it hasn't calmed down!  Today was Day 6.  I've actually been doing OK, in fact, I told Melissa B. how OK I was just yesterday.  But something about today - I just hit that edge.  The proverbial wall.  I can't do it anymore.  I'm worn out, I can't possibly have any more laundry, and to look in my little guy's eyes and have him whimper back at me is the absolute worst thing ever.  He's actually kept a pretty good attitude - frequently laughing and smiling - but I think even he's getting sick of it all, and these past two days has been so sad and hurting.  Sometimes, he just sings the blues!  He's not crying, but singing in a sad way, like he's telling me all about it.  And it's not good.

Of course, the typical bum rash has appeared.  And I have a funny "be careful what you wish for" story - I was realizing that I'd never use all the current size diapers, I had a huge stockpile and Ryan was going to grow out of them any day.  And then this hit.  First, we're going through 2-3 times as many diapers as normal, and second, the poor little thing has lost a pound in all this.  No worries about those diapers going to waste!

So please pray for my little guy.  Hopefully, this bug will stay true to it's name, and only stay for a week, and then move on.  In the meantime, Ryan is staying hydrated; I'm investing in a spot cleaner; and the piles of laundry are growing exponentially in front of my eyes!  

Oh, I did get this incredibly adorable video today.  A reminder of how amazing our little ones are!

(FYI - sorry for the delay, YouTube issues in posting this video!)

My Poor Little Baby Boy

My poor little Ryan is sick.  Like really sick.  :-(

With his tummy issues, I've kinda felt like we've been three steps forward, one step back.  Overall improvement, but definitely still have bad days.  And these past few days, I felt like we were suddenly only going backwards!  I'd started noticing late last week....that he was playing with his right ear.  Sudden feasting on his hands, even though he wasn't hungry.  Drooling like a mad man.  Stuffy/runny nose (which he's had off and on all winter, but never got sick-sick.)  But it wasn't until later Monday and definitely Tuesday that this kid was miserable.  Really fussy.  We had trouble getting him to sleep, but once he was asleep, he stayed that way.  And on Tuesday, he had a low-grade fever.  And he was definitely spitting up more. (Remember the boob incident?)

So obviously something was going on, but reading up on ear infections led me to believe that it just might be teething instead.  And then this morning, he was doing better!  Or so I thought...by late morning, he took a major turn for the worse, low fever came back and he was inconsolable.  So I called the doc, and they got us in immediately.  By the time we were there, I also noticed that Ryan's eyes were filling up with mucus, too.  He literally just looks sick.

The Verdict:  He has an ear infection.  And because none of our eating changes has had definite results, they also put him on a prescription antacid.  My poor little guy.  He made it all Winter without much complication, and now that it's Spring, the germies finally got to him.

The funny part in all this - even when he was at his most miserable, he'd still try to smile at you while crying, this little silly smile/cry face.  He wanted to feel happy so bad, but he hurt too much!  Hopefully he will be better soon!

Mommy Moments That Suck

Everyday, us mom face moments that we could really live without - maybe it's something that we have done, something that our kids have done, or it's just an overall situation that, for all the love of God, sucks.

Today's moment:  Anastasia came over to drop off some tables she has so graciously been storing since last fall, as well as to borrow our air mattress.  She visited with Trey and the boys and I.  Nice chit chat.  Ryan and I walked her outside, and as I commented that it was cooler than I thought outside, and nestled Ryan into my chest, it happened.

Ryan spit up all over my boobs.  The top half of my left breast was covered, and anyone who has seen my boobs knows that's saying something.   All over the outside of my bra.  All over the inside of my bra.  It dripped down onto my stomach and slowly made it's way to my nether regions.

Needless to say, I ran inside, barely saying goodbye, dropped Ryan into the swing and headed straight for the shower.  There's no "wiping up" that amount of spit up.  At least I can hope that Ryan's tummy felt better after bathing Momma in baby spewage.

Stayed tuned for the next edition of Mommy Moments That Suck!  :-)

When Life Hands You Lemons...

Papa Z recently brought back a huge bag of fresh lemons from my Uncle Tom's backyard - one of the benefits to living in LA, for sure!  How awesome to just step outside and pick up a few lemons or avocados or (insert your favorite fruit here) right off the tree.  You can keep the smog, earthquakes, and plastic blonde women, though.

Regardless, we had 10 plus lemons about the size of softballs (I know!), so Trey looked up a recipe for fresh squeezed lemonade.  Holy cow, this stuff was good!  And the kids had fun doing their part!

Happy St. Pat's!

Gibber Jabber

I love it when our Parents As Teachers educator comes to the house.  Nothing like being told over and over what a genius your child is!  Seriously, I'm starting to think she just tells everyone this, but I'll take it - it's a great ego booster for us worn out moms to hear how awesome your kid is from an authoritative source!

So Miss Kim came last Thursday, and the focus was, of course, on Sean.  She did a full language assessment on him - an auditory assessment - and it seems my little brain child has a 5-6 year old's understanding of language.  Of course, I had to confide in Kim the funny irony of wishing your child would talk, and then when they finally do, you wish they would just shut up sometimes!  Regardless, Sean did outstanding, and Momma is so proud of him - not just for his level of understanding, but also to have the control to sit through the entire testing!  

But Kim was also impressed with Ryan - how strong he is, the way he holds himself up already, and his language also.  Of course, if you had a two year old in your face every day talking, you'd probably pick up a few things too!  This kid loves to talk, too!

So I have tons of videos of Ryan talking, but I suspect I may be the only one who can watch a million videos of my baby babbling all day long!  

Here is Ryan talking at the end of January:

And here is a video of Ryan talking to Trey just last week:

Happy Birthday, GiGi!

Happy 81st Birthday to my Grandma!  We love you, GiGi!