1st Hospital Trip

*This post was written last Tuesday, May 26th, but due to technical difficulties, it wasn’t posted until today.*

After today’s puppy party, we went with Ethan to a nearby park. While at the park, Alex somehow slipped and smacked the side of his head on some metal steps. He cried and cried, then felt okay and played some more. Tim and I debated taking him to the doctor, but he seemed okay. Then, on the way home, Alex started getting really nauseous. Once we were home, he seemed a bit better and ate some lunch. When he started to feel sick again, we decided I should take him to urgent care. Turns out urgent care will just tell you to go to the hospital, so I got Alex back in the car and went to the ER. Poor boy threw up on the way and was really sleepy. That was the only time I was really scared for him. The hospital staff was amazing and took us straight back to a room and started checking him out. After a ride on a stretcher and a CT scan, the doctor gave him a clean bill of health – no concussion – just take it easy for a day or two. When we left the hospital, Alex told me, “That doctor’s office was fun!” I just hope we don’t have to go back any time soon! We mostly laid on the couch the rest of the day and relaxed. I think he had a dull headache when he went to bed, but he seemed okay otherwise. We definitely started our summer off with a “bang”! *Update - he was fine all week! No more upset tummies and no bruising!

2 handsome boys on the playground

A mid-stretch picture of the goose egg.

Alex was pretty entertained. All the nurses were oohing and ahhing over him.

The technician told Alex he’d need to hold his head still and silly boy put his hand on his head to hold it still. He was so brave!

Valentine’s Day 2015

While Tim and I don’t do any more than exchange cards and cook a nice meal, we did try to make Valentine’s Day special for the boys. Unfortunately, Alex was sick again with a high fever, so he missed his party at school. At least he never seems to realize he’s not going to school on these sick days. Valentine’s morning started with a bit of excitement … Alex had been complaining of leg pain the night before and woke up in so much pain he refused to walk and started yelling for me from his bedroom that he couldn’t walk. After a frustrating few hours, he started hobbling around and eventually was back to normal by evening. We think he’s going to have the same extreme growing pains Tim had as a boy. Poor thing … not a fun way to celebrate Valentine’s Day!

Alex’s Valentine’s … ring pops and gel clings.

Flowers and cards for Miss Barrie and Miss Sharon.

Alex had so much fun creating a card for Daddy.

You can’t tell from his face, but Spencer had a ton of fun with Daddy’s card as well!

Thank you to everyone who sent us cards!

Valentine’s breakfast! Cinnamon roll reshaped into a heart, baked egg heart, and bacon!

TNMT Heartbreaker and Spud Muffin … my two sweet Valentines!

Tired of Being Sick!

Two of my last seven posts have been about us being sick! Well, now it’s three out of the last eight. This has been a miserable month! Poor Alex has gone through 2 different bugs in the past week! As it turns out, Spencer’s fever on Tuesday was a respiratory infection. He was just throwing up from the high temperature (he tends to do that … how fun). Wednesday night, Alex was crying with severe stomach pains and a headache, so we went to the doctor on Thursday. He was just having a hard time getting over his tummy bug. They both tested negative for flu and they don’t have ear infections, so that was good news. But … no medicine since they have viruses. Friday morning, we wake up and Alex now has Spencer’s respiratory infection. AHHHH!! Poor thing told me, “Mommy, it’s starting all over again. I sick again!” This second virus is vicious! 103.9 fevers and just feeling miserable. Here’s how the boys spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday:

Spencer walks around and plays off and on, but has been super clingy and crying a bunch. So, he’s definitely not back 100%. Alex has mostly watched Curious George and Bob the Builder and asked for drinks … he’s had very little appetite (which is why he’s having headaches). We are soo ready to be healthy again!

Sick Again?!?!

So, of course we had plans last Saturday, and of course I noticed Alex felt warm before he went to bed Friday night. It was 100 … then 102 when he woke up Saturday morning. Then … well, I’ll spare you all the details, but a stomach bug has invaded our house. ARGH! Sunday morning, I woke up sick. I don’t know how Alex managed to play as much as he did Saturday and Sunday, because I was stuck in bed all day Sunday. Thank goodness it was a weekend and Tim was home to take care of the boys! I thought we were mostly better (no more fevers and Alex seemed on the mend), so he went to school today. We came home and played outside in the beautiful weather … then I noticed Spencer felt warm while I was getting him ready for his nap. 102! ARGH! It was 103 before Tim was home with some medicine … then, more stomach bug. I hate seeing my babies sick! Cross your fingers Tim doesn’t get it (though I have no idea how he’ll escape it).

This stomach bug is especially vicious! Spencer went from this

to this in a matter of hours!

Sheet Tents

The week before summer camp, we all had a bit of a summer cold. Add that to a couple of rainy days, and you have some crazy little boys! So … we made tents in the living room …. every day for 3 days. Tim and I have had our fill of tents for a while!

After a tent reincarnation, I was cleaning the kitchen and came back to find my children on top of the tent. They were having so much fun!

Such silly boys!

Teething

Poor Spencer has had an awful time teething this week. He hasn’t wanted much to eat and had a couple rough nights earlier in the week. At one point during the day, after he’d already had some medicine, I remembered reading that cold or frozen bagels/pancakes/waffles were good for teething pain. Spencer worked on this bagel for two days before it was left on the floor and Kovu found it.

So Much Sickness!

I am so ready for all this sickness to go away! There has been a sick person in this house for almost 2 weeks! Poor Spencer started running a super high fever the same evening as his 9 month check-up. I was on the phone with the nurses all weekend and took him back in that next Monday. They called it Roseola (a virus, so no meds) and he started feeling better by the next day. Then I came down with it and had to call my parents in for reinforcement. After I started feeling better, Alex went downhill and had the same high fever and vomiting as Spencer (thankfully I never threw up). The worst part for all of us have been the mouth ulcers – and that part seems to be the longest lasting for Tim and me. I did a little research and discovered we all had Hand Foot Mouth Disease, not Roseola. Still no meds since it’s a virus. At least we didn’t break out in blisters all over! Now Tim has it. What kind of weird virus waits to pick off its victims one by one?

This is the only nap Spencer took the whole time he was sick, and he would only sleep Friday and Saturday nights with Tim or me. We were exhausted!

Poor Alex either slept or watched Bob the Builder all day when he was sick.

First Round of Colds

We seem to have survived our first round of colds with two sick children. Last Monday, both boys woke up with runny noses and fevers. So, we hunkered down, stayed out of the cold, and rested up. Luckily the fevers were gone by day 2 and the runny noses are mostly dried up by now. Poor Alex was pretty restless midweek – between staying inside due to the weather being cold and not being able to go anywhere because he had a cold, he must have been pretty tired of me. Poor Spencer’s bottom teeth are still pushing, so he had some rough evenings. I’m just glad I didn’t have to bring two sick babies to the doctor’s office! We’ll be going enough in the next month between Spencer’s 4 month check-up on Wednesday, Alex’s check-up in December, and my follow-up.

Here are a few pictures of our lazy week:

All cozy on the couch!

Alex was playing games on the Nexus and watching a movie on tv. Spoiled!

Showing Spencer how to play.

Spencer fell asleep in the 3 minutes between changing him and leaving him to get a snack for Alex.

Still Having Fun

I ended up taking Alex to the pediatrician yesterday to check his wheezing and for a suspected ear infection. Turns out my mother’s intuition was dead on – he has a virus (luckily no flu or strep) and an ear infection. We have medicine now and he is finally getting his appetite back. Poor guy has barely eaten in 5 days! Fortunately, Alex has been in a good mood for most of this cold and is trying his best to be a good sport about being cooped up in the house. I just need him to stay patient another day or two while I get better!

Being goofy and trying out his big boy mask for the nebulizer.

I was trying everything to keep Alex in a good mood while doing a treatment at the pediatrician’s office.

The whole family making the best of a family sick day.

Wheezy-Cheesy

You’d never know it, but Alex has been fighting some kind of bug for close to a month. He doesn’t seem to realize it, but he’s had a low grade fever almost every day and is on his 2nd ear infection (at least in a different ear this time) in the past month. I took him to the doc yesterday and we got some stronger medicine for the new ear infection, in hopes of finally killing this bug. Then … he decided to take it up a notch and started wheezing last night. I called the on-call nurse, and we decided he could wait until today to see a doc. When I took him in, he ended up getting a breathing treatment with a nebulizer. He did not like that one bit! Luckily the one I’ve given him here at home went much smoother. In case you don’t know what a nebulizer does, it just vaporizes medicine into a fine mist, like a humidifier. You are supposed to put the mouth piece in your mouth so the mist doesn’t escape, but it’s kind of hard to get an almost 2-yr-old to cooperate. Instead, I have to hold the mist in front of his face and hope he gets most of it. At least it makes a huge difference! We’ll be doing these every 4 hrs for the next few days, so cross your fingers it goes well and that he gets better soon!