Pink Eye & the Flu

Two weeks ago Justin caught pink eye at school; when Carl picked him up from school his teacher told him that several students were out with pink eye.  After they got home J started complaining about his eyes and the next morning he woke up with a crusty eye and couldn't even open it up so Carl took him to the Dr.  We were very diligent with keeping the boys apart and hand washing regularly so we thought we were in the clear with Nathan catching it.  That is until a week later when Carlene called saying Nathan was rubbing his eye and he had sleep in it; great.  I called Dr. Hirsch and although she thought it was somewhat odd that it took a week for symptoms to appear, she said to go ahead and start Nate on the eye drops. 

Sunday afternoon Carl and I were in the middle of  a photo shoot when I came down with a sore throat and body aches.  On our way home I started getting cold chills.  Oddly enough, when I woke up Monday morning I was completely fine.  Tuesday the body aches were back and I became nausea but I was fine on Wednesday.  With the exception of having a problem getting my left contact in.  I didn't think too much about it, I just came back to it 10 minutes later and no problems.  But by the time I got to work that contact had to come out so I spent the rest of the day wearing only one contact.  And lo and behold, I woke up this morning with sleep in my eye and the body aches were back.

I saw the Dr. this afternoon and she confirmed I do have pink eye in both eyes.  When I commented on how strange it was that I got pink eye 2 weeks after the boys first showed symptoms, especially since we were so good about hand washing.  But I had to laugh when she jokingly reminded me that I'm the queen of catching all types of strange infections.  And I seem to catch every single cold the boys get.

So yeah, I have pink eye and the flu and Carl came home with cold chills.  Our family never seems to catch a break when it comes to illness. 

1st Cold of the School Year

Last week Justin had his first cold of the school year.  He threw up the Thursday before but he didn't have a fever and wasn't coughing so I sent him to school.  He was fine at Carlene's on Friday but had a runny nose on Saturday and then started coughing on Sunday.  We kept him home Monday and Tuesday and fortunately he was well enough to go back to school Wednesday.  Too bad Carl caught his cold but I got lucky, go figure since I'm always the one catching the boys' colds. 

Endocrinology Appointment

Last week we saw the pediatric endocrinologist that Justin's pediatrician referred us to.  She wasn't as quick as the Dr. at Toledo Children's Hospital was to say that J had a hormone growth deficiency.  Even though he's very small for his age she clearly saw growth on his charts. 

 

However, the results from the initial screening performed at TCH were low so she ordered a hormone growth stimulation test.  In short, a 3 hour test on an empty stomach in which they manipulated J's blood sugar to check his hormone levels.  They drew blood every 15 minutes and even though it was through the IV it still took it's toll on J and mommy. 

 

We have a follow up appointment at the end of the month to get the results. 



Toledo Children's Hospital

Sunday morning we woke up to Justin seizing so we called the front desk and asked them to send an ambulance.  It seemed like forever before they got there, but the resort sent security and a medic who gave J some oxygen and the seizing calmed down a little.  Once we got in the ambulance the EMT's drew some blood and determined that J's blood sugar was low so they started an IV and gave him some glucose.

 

After an hour or so he started to perk up but by that point he had been poked and prodded so much that any time anyone came near him he had a major breakdown.  Seeing him all jittery and nervous as if he was hallucinating and seeing things was worse than seeing him seizing at the hotel.  The hospital staff kept looking at us as if I was somehow doing something wrong even though no one came in the room to see what was wrong.  Finally after an hour the Dr. came in, asked if this was normal and when I said no he gave him something to calm him down. 

 

Because of his really low blood sugar (28 when normal is 70) Justin was transferred to Toledo Children's Hospital for further monitoring.  Monday morning we met with the pediatric endocrinologist and he said that J had chronic ketotic hypoglycemia which is common in really small children and he was pretty certain that J had a hormone growth deficiency.  So he ordered the initial screening and told us to follow up with an endocrinologist closer to home.

Because of the seizures we also met with a pediatric neurologist who confirmed that the seizure was provoked by the low blood sugar so he didn't feel there was any neurological disorder.  However, J had a cat scan and EEG to rule that out and both came back normal.

 

Monday afternoon they stopped the IV and after J was able to maintain his blood sugar on his own we were discharged late Monday night.   

 



Just Chillin

While I was getting my hair done I got a text from Carl saying that Justin threw up twice, he was very clingy and felt warm.  When I got home I took J's temperature and it was 101.3 (red) so I layed him in our bed and put a cold wash cloth on his forehead.  Carl had already given him some medicine and when I re-checked his temp it had gone down into the yellow range.  I let him stay up a little longer than usual so we cuddled and watched Dora in our room until I put him to bed.   

When I talked to Carlene this morning she did tell me that J didn't eat breakfast but I didn't hear her tell me he was coughing as well so I just figured he wasn't hungry.  But when I mentioned that J threw up she said "oh yeah, he was extra clingy today and felt a little warm". 

I checked his temp again when I put him to bed and it had moved into the green zone so I'm hoping he feels much better tomorrow.

Pneumonia, Gastritis???

A week of illness and I'm still not really sure what Justin had, I'm just grateful he's finally back to his old self.  It all started last Saturday when J and Nathan started coughing and had runny noses.  On Sunday J developed a fever which subsided Monday but came back Wednesday.  So when he woke up with a fever Thursday morning I took him to the Dr. and Dr. Hirsch thought she heard some wheezing so she gave him a breathing treatment and sent us for an x-ray.  After reviewing the x-ray she diagnosed him with pneumonia.  I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and for her to tell me I had to take him to the hospital, but instead she sent J home on antibiotics and breathing treatments every 4 hours.  She also gave instructions to immediately take him to Children's if his fever increased and he started throwing up.  Thursday evening he got worse so we packed up and headed to the hospital.

I checked the waiting time on line and it gave an estimated wait time of 48 minutes and when we got there the waiting room was jam packed.  The ONLY upside to having a preemie is that you're taken pretty seriously so fortunately we didn't wait long (5 minutes) to be taken back to a room.  I wish the same could be said of our actual ER stay, we spent 6 hours there while they ran a ton of tests and took more x-rays.  Fortunately everything came back negative: no flu, no RSV, chest x-ray was clear, blood count was normal.  But the tests did show that J was dehydrated so they started an IV.  And the Dr. didn't like J's cough so she gave him another breathing treatment, along with Zofran for the vomiting. 

The only thing I was perplexed about was the fact that the x-ray taken at the hospital was clear.  Granted I didn't see the one taken that evening, but I saw the x-ray taken at Dr. Hirsch's office earlier in the day and I clearly saw patches in his lungs.  The nurse at the hospital even said that it sounded like J had left lung pneumonia.  But the Dr. at Children's diagnosed J with gastritis (an irritation of the stomach lining due to infection, stress, certain foods or medicines) and sent him home on breathing treatments.  I spoke with Dr. Hirsch Friday afternoon, after she had gotten the final report back from radiology, and she said that the radiologist's findings were inconclusive and had given a 50/50 diagnosis of pneumonia so she said to continue with the antibiotics and breathing treatments.  J's fever finally broke Friday evening and thankfully hasn't come back. This whole thing was pretty scary and took me back to the last time J was diagnosed with pneumonia:  blood gas', saturation levels, breathing treatments; it was all very overwhelming. 

Sick Baby

Poor Justin, he came down with a stomach bug Monday and couldn't keep anything down.  Carlene called me around 9 Monday morning and said J was very fussy and clingy and wouldn't eat.  Another hour went by and she said he was still crying, finally drank his milk, but threw up.  After lunch I got a message that he had thrown up a few more times so I packed up and headed home.  Monday night was rough; he was up every hour.  He'd wake up hungry so I'd give him something to drink but then  he'd throw it up.  Then he'd wander around aimlessly trying to find a spot to get comfortable.  When he finally settled down he slept for only 30 minutes and then we'd start all over again.

On Tuesday he was  still a little fussy but he was able to keep his Pedialyte down and slept through the night with no problems so I figured it was just a 24 hour bug.  But when I got home from work Wednesday he was extra fussy.  He wanted to be cuddled, but only for a moment before he started wiggling himself out of my lap and wandering around aimlessly trying to get comfortable.  I tried everything to calm him down but to no avail.  Needless to say bedtime was absolutely dreadful and it took 5 hours to get him to sleep. 

Oddly enough, this bug brought a new phase.  Justin won't sleep in his crib.  Everytime I put him down and closed the door to his room I'd hear the pitter patter of little feet a few minutes later.  And everytime I went in to check on him he was in a different spot; the first time he climbed on his dresser and laid on the changing pad.  The next time he climbed onto his glider and the last time I could barely get into his room because he laid down (and fell asleep) on the floor right by the door.  Looks like Carl's going to have to convert his crib to a toddler bed when he gets back next month. 

Running on E

That's how I feel after getting about only 6 hours of sleep this past weekend. Nathan was up every hour on the hour Saturday night and last night J threw up 4 times. I tried rocking him in the glider, walking with him, laying him down in his crib and rubbing his back but he was pretty inconsolable. After changing his clothes and sheets twice I brought him to bed with me thinking that might help calm him down but he tossed and turned. Needless to say I was feeling pretty depleted when he did finally settle down and I was able to get in bed. But of course Nathan woke up as soon as I laid down.

J hasn't thrown up out of the blue in quite some time but he wasn't warm to touch and didn't have a fever so of course I feared that his reflux was rearing its ugly head; just as I thought we were finally turning a corner. He threw up 3 times this morning but was able to keep down the Pedialyte Carlene gave him just before his nap. He also kept down his milk after his nap and was back to his usual happy self and snacked away on Goldfish. He had no problems eating his soup for dinner and even wanted the sweet potatoes I was feeding Nathan. So now I'm pretty positive that it was something he ate yesterday that didn't agree with him and just needed to work it's way out of his system. Here's hoping tonight's a lot better than last night.

Back to Normal

Either J had a 24 hour bug or the Benadyrl/Tylenol combination worked wonders because J's back to his old bubbly and independent self. Just a day after our trip to the Dr. he was doing handstands in Nathan's bassinet.

Another free picture collage by Smilebox

Trip to the Dr

We thought Justin had gotten over whatever bug he caught while we were in Myrtle Beach. But yesterday he only drank one cup of milk, wouldn't eat any solids and had diarrhea. He managed to drink a second cup of milk, only to throw it up immediately after finishing. Since he didn't have a fever I didn't worry to much.

Well this morning Carlene called around 9:30 and said that J was lethargic, which sent me into panic mode. Of course my mind went back to September 2008 when J was hospitalized with pneumonia after having the same symptoms. I immediately called his pediatrician and was told to bring him in.

While I was undressing him I noticed a red rash all over his body. It hurt just to look at it and J was clearly miserable and kept scratching himself. I actually noticed some redness on his legs last night but I chalked it up to irritability from the frequent diaper changes yesterday.

Long story short, J has hives. Dr. Hirsch said hives are pretty common with strep, and since his throat was bright red she tested him for it. The initial test came back negative but it takes 48 hours for the throat culture to come back.

She gave him some Benadryl, which fortunately worked pretty quickly and helped settle him down. I've never seen J as irritable or clingy as he was today; Dr. Hirsch even commented that this was not his personality and she's never seen this side of him before.

I hope we're past the worst of it now; it's painful to watch J suffer and not be able to do anything about it.

The hardest part

about being a mom is watching your child suffer. My heart broke seeing J so miserable on our trip home from Myrtle Beach. When we finally got home early Monday morning he had a temperature of 102 so we gave him some Tylenol, turned on his vaporizer and put him to bed. He slept until about 11 but didn't eat well and threw up a couple of times. Today he still has a bit of a runny nose but his fever broke and he's eating much better.

Now Nathan has a little bit of congestion and a runny nose. Fortunately no fever and he's not warm to touch so I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a full blown cold.

1st Ear Infection

Justin's temperature spiked to 105.5 last night so we took him to urgent care. Fortunately we made it just in time, just 5 minutes before they were closing, which worked out in our favor because we were seen right away.

The nurse got a reading of 98.7 when she took his temperature under his arm. I mentioned that we started taking his temperature on his forehead because he never stays still long enough to get an accurate reading any other way. But she blew me off, saying that her reading was accurate since I had held his arm down. Now I know I'm not crazy, I took his temperature several times to make sure it wasn't a fluke. And he was hot, not warm, to the touch. Even with gloved hands the dr. noticed how hot J was.

Anywhoo, J's eardrums and throat were both red so the dr. prescribed Amoxicillin to treat the infection and told us to continue giving Tylenol every 4 hours to help reduce the fever and alleviate any pain. We'll follow up with Dr. Hirsch Monday or Tuesday to make sure his ears and throat are getting better. But his fever is going down, it was 99.1 when he woke up from his nap about a half hour ago.

100.8

That was J’s temperature yesterday evening. During story time I noticed he felt a little warm but didn’t think too much about it since he had just been running around. I made a mental note to myself to check his temperature when we went upstairs for the night but got distracted when Nathan woke up hungry. But when Carl got home he noticed that J wasn’t quite himself so he took his temperature and it was 100.8.

We’ve been pretty fortunate that, with the exception of a few minor colds, J really hasn’t been sick or had a fever this high before. So had it not been for AJ running a fever earlier this week I’m not sure I would’ve known exactly what to do. I gave him a lukewarm bath, some Tylenol and re-checked his temperature about an hour later and it had gone down some. But he was breathing a little heavier than usual so we brought him to bed with us. If there was any doubt before, last night confirmed that it’s definitely time for a bigger bed; the five of us were pretty cramped. Just in case you’re wondering the five includes Basyl.

His temp had gone up to 101.2 this morning so I called his dr’s office; they said that if it was 102 or higher they’d tell me to bring him in. They mentioned that there were a lot of virus’ going around and since most symptoms don’t display themselves for up to 24 hours it was up to me whether or not to bring him in. Since he was his normal self and was still eating I decided to continue on with what we’re doing. He’s been a little clingy since I’ve been home and won’t take his cup of Pediasure so we’ll see how tonight goes.

Blissfully Unaware

So a few weeks ago a family friend met Nathan for the first time. Well my dad just brought it to my attention earlier this week that she had a concern about the coloring of Nathan's eyes. Apparently someone in her family had that same coloring and had some type of bone condition but she couldn't tell me much about it so I did some research. My dad kept asking if I noticed anything unusual about Nathan's eyes, which I haven't. Of course after hearing that I stared at his eyes for hours/days on end and at one point I thought I saw something, but I wasn't sure if I was seeing something because someone had said something or if it was because it was really there. Carlene hadn't noticed anything but Carl thought he may have noticed something so just to be on the safe side I called Dr. Hirsch. She said that the bluish/gray coloring in the white of the eye is not that uncommon in newborns. And since Nathan hasn't had any other symptoms/issues (i.e. fractures) she didn't see the need for him to undergo any extensive diagnostic testing. Of course she'll monitor him and keep an eye out for it, but I shouldn't worry too much about it. And although I totally trust and respect Dr. Hirsch I can't help but worry; but I'd much rather be blissfully unaware.

War wounds

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since I got out of the hospital and as much as I want to forget it I'm left with a permanent reminder. Unfortunately I was scarred from all the EEG and other monitoring equipment they had hooked up to me during my stay. And of course the twice daily anti-seizure and blood pressure medication are a constant reminder as well.



Just as I was getting back to normal, early yesterday morning my legs started feeling heavy and I started having back and chest pain, which made Carl nervous since those were some of the symptoms I had prior to my seizures. Needless to say I spent all day in bed taking it easy. But to top it off, last night I started experiencing flu like symptoms and today it turned into a full blown cold.

Admitted to hospital

I just can't seem to catch a break, I was admitted to Sinai Grace Wednesday morning after having a seizure. I don't really remember what happened, I only remember waking up to EMS standing over me on a gurney. So I was admitted to antepartum for monitoring because they thought my seizure was pregnancy related even though it's unusual to have pre-eclampsia 7 weeks post partum. I had a cat scan, which was negative, and I was getting ready to be discharged on Thursday when I had another seizure, so I was transferred to Detroit Receiving. I don't remember much of that seizure either, except that I really wanted to go to Beaumont, but since Carl went to school with a neurologist at Receiving he gave him a call and he suggested I be transferred there for a MRI and EEG. Both were negative, so they don't have any clue what caused the seizures. My blood pressure is elevated so they started me on anti-seizure and blood pressure medication. I schedule a follow up appointment Monday to see what the long term plan is. But when i was discharged i was told no driving and drinking for 6 months; that'll definitely be interesting.

Nathan's first cold

It was bound to happen, everyone in the house is/has been sick. It started with Aiden, who passed it on to Carlene, then Justin, me, Nathan and finally Carl. He's handling it pretty well, but I still feel bad for him, he sounds so pitiful when he coughs. And of course what baby likes the nasal aspirator.

Justin's first cold

I guess it was bound to happen but I was so proud of the fact that Justin hasn't been sick since his bout with pneumonia last year. Last week Justin and I both came down with colds and it's been rough: sleepless nights, complete exhaustion, vomiting, congestion, runny nose, you name it. Obviously having a sick child is no fun, but add a pregnant mommy and an out of town daddy to the mix and it makes things ten times worse.

I've been feeling much better since Sunday and Justin has just a little bit of a runny nose left but he's finally getting back to normal. Now we just have to get back to him putting himself to sleep. For the last month I've been able to put him in his crib and he falls asleep within 10-15 minutes, but last week's cold totally set us back and he's back to wanting to be held and rocked to sleep.