Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, August 24th - Sunday, August 30th, 2009)

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, August 24th - Sunday, August 30th, 2009)

Weekly Glance...

Weekly Glance (Monday, August 24th - Sunday, August 30th, 2009)

• Very interesting week with our 2nd trip to the ER for wheezing/croup Tuesday morning (see ER #2 post for details)
  
• Really didn't have much of an appetite for most of the week
• Definitely had a few meltdowns this week and was probably because he felt crappy
• But he did hit Mommy twice on purpose so that meant he sat in the time out chair for a bit
  
• Has a fever from Sunday - Tuesday
  
• Stayed home from school Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday
• Went to the playground & fishing with Daddy on Wednesday because he was feeling better
  
• Finally back to school on Thursday & Friday
• Everyone at school definitely missed Alexander and Alexander ran up and gave Miss Sarah a big hug
• Went to Older Toddlers room to help with the transition both Thurs & Friday
• Had doctor follow-up appt on Friday
  
• Peed in the potty at school on Friday
• New favorite phase is "Watch Me"
• Saturday morning was lowkey because of the rain
• Saturday afternoon, Daddy & Alexander went into Boston to visit Daddy's cousin (Mommy was not feeling well & stayed home and slept - migraine & lack of sleep from the week)
• Had some cheese pizza and was well behaved at dinner
  
• Irony of the week: Alexander woke up at 4:30am on Saturday which was Mommy's morning to wake up with him. Alexander woke up at 6:53am on Sunday for Daddy's morning. How is that fair??
• Daddy & Alexander had their weekly visit to Dunkin Donuts, gazebo & playground - even played ball with some kids at the gazebo
• After nap, Mimi, Papi & Auntie came over for a mini cookout & birthday celebration for Mimi
• Played outside & his mood/energy was pretty much at 100%
  

Mimi's Birthday

Today, we had a little birthday celebration for Mimi. We had a little cookout, some presents & our favorite ice cream cake!

Alexander was very excited to help her open presents even though he didn't really care what they actually were...he just wanted to take out the tissue paper!
Then he got very excited to put in the candles & sing Happy Birthday to Mimi! He helped her blow out the candles (not bad for a little boy who was wheezy earlier in the week too)!

Timeline of the Week...

Here's a timeline of the week, more so I can remember when we were at the ER, or the doctor, or home...

Sunday: ER Trip #1 (Mimi came over & helped take care of Alexander with Mommy)
Monday: Alexander stayed home (Mommy & Daddy split the day)
Tuesday: ER Trip #2 (Daddy went to work after ER, Mommy stayed home with Alexander
Wednesday: Alexander stayed home (Daddy stayed home with Alexander)
Thursday: Alexander went back to school
Friday: Alexander went to school, after a follow-up appt with Dr. D

Update...

As of this morning, Alexander's just fine. We went to a follow-up appt at our pediatrician just to make sure he was fine and that the croup was running it's course. I didn't tell Alexander we were going because I didn't want to upset him earlier than I had to. I even pulled up a different way so he didn't know we were at the doctor. But as soon as he knew we were there, he started to tear up.

We had the first appt of the day so that made it easy, no waiting. He was a little whiney/whimpery once in there but there was no major crying episode or vomitting so that's a plus.

Dr. D checked out Alexander (Checked his chest, back, ears, mouth, stomach) and confirmed that the croup was on its way out and that he now just had some congestion in his nose, high upper chest which is why he still had a bit of the cough. He hadn't had a fever in two days so she said just let the cold run its course and everything should be just fine.

The best part besides the 'ok' from Dr. D was that Alexander did not freak out. It might also be that it was because it was Dr. D and not Dr. M. But needless to say, it went well. He even walked out, picked out a sticker and waved bye to the ladies in the office.

Then after the appointment, it was back to school!

Happy Birthday, Mimi...

Happy Birthday, Mimi!

Have a wonderful birthday!

Love,
Alexander

ER Trip #2...

ER trip #2 in 48 Hours...

So Monday night, Alexander started off in his crib but by 1am, he was in with Mommy. But I could tell he had a fever because with him lying on me, neither of us needed a blanket. While he was breathing better than Saturday night, he still was having moments where he would gasp. So I figured it probably best to bring him back to the ER to get him checked out, another stronger nebulizer & potentially see if he needed another steroid treatment.

We got to the ER and thankfully it was empty again. The triage nurse was definitely not nearly as nice as the one from Sunday. First she went to take his temperature and when I suggested I hold him down, she didn't listen, moved his diaper and pretty much did it the most uncomfortable way possible. His temp was 103* and looked at me glaringly and said "did you know his temp was this high?" I said 'yes, that's part of why I'm here'. She was not nice by any means. In fact, I actually made a snide comment to her as she was gripping my son's head like a vice when I was giving him the Tylenol. I told her I would give it to him and if she didn't grip his head, he'll take it but she just grabbed it. She takes the Tylenol from me and puts it in his mouth. After she's done, she turns on her 'nice' voice and says "all better" to which I replied "he would have been much better had you not squeezed his head like a vice". She just walked off. We got into an exam room and the nurses there were so much nicer than the triage nurse. They checked him out, and the doctor came in soon there after. He explained that he read the notes from Sunday and what he was planning to do.

He wanted to give him epinephrine, another steroid (a stronger one), some chest x-rays to check for pneumonia, and do some blood tests to check for other things. He also noticed that he was on the dehyrdated side and since they were going to draw blood, he'd give him an IV to help with fluids. He apologized and told us that we would probably be there longer than we were there on Sunday but he wanted to rule out everything. Which I completely understood & was appreciative for.

They put the numbing patch on his arm and then we did the nebulizer/steroid treatment. After that, we headed down to x-rays. They had this little high-chair contraption that they wanted me to put him in. I put him in and then the technician moved the sides in which hold up his arms up into the air. The poor kid looked up at me so sad & nervous. But on the plus side, the contraption kept him from moving so she was able to get the xrays done in one shot.

After x-rays, we went back to the exam room to draw blood & start the IV. I had Dan leave the room since he is not good with needles. In fact, Dan's face turned pale at the mention of needles by the doctor. Although Alexander cried & was miserable as the nurses/technicians were doing the IVs & drawing blood, he did lie there without kicking & screaming which did make it easier. But the poor kid laid there, crying & looking at me saying "Momma home". Damn near broke my heart.

After a few hours of IV, the pediatrician came in to check him out. He told us that the xrays & blood work all came back fine. He has a croup (viral infection) which now seems to have run into another virul infection (cold) but they will run its course & he'll be fine. He also said that the steroid given to him today will definitely help keep the airways open which will help with the breathing. He then said that we would be able to go home and not have to be admitted. (THANK God!)

Here's a picture of poor Alexander with his IV soon after he woke up from a nap in the exam room.


After we were discharged, I took Alexander home and he immediately had a meltdown. He didn't want to wear a diaper but because of the IV he was filling up diapers quickly. He was not happy with him for forcing a diaper but I was not going to spend the afternoon cleaning up pee/water.

Thankfully he took a nap for 2 hours but woke up just as cranky. So I tried to keep the rest of the afternoon as lowkey as possible. He whined for Daddy during the afternoon but when Daddy came home he still only wanted to cuddle on my shoulder. Thankfully, he slept the whole night & in his crib. Let's hope he's on the mend now...

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, August 17th - Sunday, August 23rd, 2009)

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, August 17th - Sunday, August 23rd, 2009)

you might not be able to tell but his shoulder & neck are COVERED in glitter

Weekly Glance...

Weekly Glance (Monday, August 17th - Sunday, August 23rd, 2009)

• Very lowkey week both at home & school
• Started to transition into Older Toddlers Room a few times this week
• Daddy took him to Burger King for dinner on Tuesday (Mommy was out with Bridget for dinner) - this is shocking because Dan is not a fan of fast food.
• During project time at school they played with glitter which meant Alexander came home covered in glitter - head, neck, ears, shoulder, face! Even after a bath & a good washcloth rub down, there was still glitter days later
• Played outside in sprinklers at school on Thursday
• Went to Target with Mommy on Thursday for our usual pitstop & was extremely well behaved
• Home with Mommy on Friday because of a fever but in a good mode
• Went shopping with Mommy on Friday to get food for cookout and was very helpful & well behaved
• However while at BJs Wholesale, there was a machine washing the floors that kind of freaked him out so he wanted to hold my hand the whole time in the store
• Friday Night/Saturday morning Alexander woke up with a awful cough/fever
• Couldn't get comfortable once he woke up - cuddled with Mommy, then laid down with Daddy on the floor in his room, finally fell back to sleep with Daddy
• Took a very small nap due to cough on Saturday
• Called doctor on Saturday because Alexander was obviously not feeling well (fever/cough/hard time breathing) and Dr. D said that everything we were doing to keep doing and that he probably has croup
• Had a family cookout on Saturday and Alexander was definitely not feeling like himself, he was tired & coughing
• He played a bit but would then want to cuddle with Mommy
• Had no appetite at all on Saturday and barely ate his one hot dog
• Up almost all night Saturday...asleep at 9:20, then woke up at 9:40pm due to cough and wouldn't go back to bed unless cuddling with Mommy so Mommy & Alexander "slept" on the couch downstairs with the fan, anywhere else he got super wheezy
• We barely slept because it seems as if he had 20 minute intervals of 'resting' then he would cough/wheeze and his breathing would become very labored.
• Finally after two breathing attacks, I woke up Dan and we headed to the ER at 5am. See ER post for all the details
• After the ER, chilled out with Mommy & Mimi for the day (Daddy helped uncle Matt move) and we had a very lowkey day
• Sunday was the first day in his short little life where he stayed in jammies for the entire day - poor kid was too sick to bother him with changing clothes
• Slept much better Sunday night than Saturday - hopefully we've already hit the worst patch
• The other effect of the croup is he has strider breathing which is laryngitis for kids and his voice is so cute
• Other stuff:
• New show he likes is "Super Why!", he loves his Super Readers
• Is getting really good at hitting the ball with a bat and even that much more improved on catching balls

Posting Bulletin

Just a note to inform that blog updating will not take place per usual this week due to Alexander's lack of sleep, croup, and ER trip this weekend. We are all pretty exhausted and I plan to head to bed early (as soon as I finish this & take a shower) in case we have another rough night...

The blog should be back to "normal" tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

Trip to the ER...

We made our first trip to the ER during the wee hours of the morning. I'm sure it won't be the last either.

Alexander was wheezing pretty bad during the day and overnight, to the point where he was having troubles breathing a few times at night. He went to bed in his crib originally but woke up 20 minutes later because he couldn't breath. Then he slept with Mommy all night, did I found that he did best downstairs with fan and not upstairs with the AC. That made his breathing much more labored.

He had two bad episodes at 11p & 4am and just when I was ready to get in the car, he calms down immediately as if he knew and then was able to fall asleep. Finally at 5am I decide he needs to get more treatment regardless if he's calm and breathing 'ok'. We head to the hospital and check in at 6am. We picked the best time, there was only one other person in front of us so no waiting at all. The Triage nurse very sweet, and considerate with Alexander. She kept asking if Monkey felt sick too. She tried to weigh him but had to use the infant scale which said 12.1 kg (24.2 lbs which seems super low to me). Then she had to take his temp rectally which made Alexander very unhappy. His temp was 102*.

She brought us to an exam room immediately by 6:15am. We had the Doctor come in, check him out, explain what she wanted to do and we had a nebulizer treatment by 6:30am. They were great about him not feeling good. At about 7am, the new nurse came in to give steriod of prednisolone to help open the airwaves. As part of the plan, they wanted us to wait 4 hours to allow them to monitor breathing which didn't help the long evening feel. Between the steriod and the cool mist we were giving him, it allowed him to sleep a bit, which he needed since he only got small little chunks during the night.

He slept for about 2 1/2 hours and with some minor wake-up moments. He did start to sound abit croup-y again so we continued the cool mist while he slept. Then he was examined by on-staff pediatrician. Pediatrican agreed with other dr that it was croup and that we were doing the right stuff to help alleviate him. He told us to continue nebulizer treatments when needed, keep him in cool settings and mix up the temps if needed. If his breathing gets SUPER labored to bring him back in but that it will run it's course.

He had to have his temp checked again (poor guy) and it was now 99* and so we were discharged and sent home. Overall it was a very very long night/morning, but we got there at 6am, and left at 10:45am...and everyone was super nice & helpful considering he was 2 1/2 and felt like crap.

Family Cookout...

We had a family cookout on Saturday and because Alexander didn't feel well, he was hardly himself but the party was still a success nonetheless.

Of course it was downpouring rain then oppressive humidity for the party and I'm thinking that when we have parties there's always something. At least we didn't have to use the big blue tarp. I'm also thankful it didn't rain during the actual party but man it was hot!

When Alexander did not want to cuddle, he did play with the girls by kicking around the ball. He also played a short game of ladder ball with cousin Brian. I wish Alexander felt better because there were so many little kids for him to play with who were his age. There's always next year!

Here is Alexander playing with the girls

Here's Alexander helping us put bottles in the recycleable bin. Not drinking but throwing bottles away...

Hot Stuff...

Alexander stayed home from school today due to a fever but had no other symptoms. His mood was fine, his eating was decent, and he still napped. But he had a fever for most of the day and because he can't be at school with a fever, he got to spend the day with Mommy.

We rested a bit in the morning, watched Little Einsteins, had some breakfast and then we went out to BJs Wholesale. The whole time at the store he was super helpful, little freaked out by the machine washing the floors but otherwise great.

After a nap, we had some lunch and relaxed some more. His fever was now gone, so we went to Stop & Shop where Alexander was still very helpful and saying 'hi' to anyone who walked by.

So at the time I wasn't sure what the fever was for but now knowing what transpired over the weekend, it does make sense. Hopefully it passes quickly...

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, August 10th - Sunday, August 16th, 2009)