Pages

4/30/2012

Our first trip to the ER

Easton brushing his teeth after being sick
We knew the day would come sooner or later and it was so much scarier than I could have imagined.  Easton is of course "teething" but starting coming down with a cold.   I took him to the Dr. (just to be safe) and they said he had a low grade fever (99.0) but it's "probably teething".  My mom instinct said otherwise but I tried to remain calm and collected instead of thinking I'm a Dr.

We got home and Easton took a good long nap.  When it was time to get him up, he lay moaning in his crib, rocking his head back and forth.  I knew immediately something was wrong and he was burning up.  Now I started to feel panicked.  Adam was at baseball practice with his team and our daycare provider forgot to send Easton's Tylenol home.   I called Adam over and over until he picked up and told him to get to the store and get medicine.

I tried to keep a cool wash cloth on Easton's head and fed him a bottle until Adam got home.  We then immediately tried to give him a dose of medicine and that's when he gagged on it and threw up all over me. That's when I lost it and started bawling. I was so scared for him and now we had no clue how much medicine he actually got in his system. Poor Adam. A sick baby and a sobbing wife.  

We eventually get Easton's fever down and get him feeling a little better.   We got him to bed and agreed at 10pm we'd wake him up to try and give him another dose.   About 9:30pm I decided to check him and that's when I found him moaning and burning up.  He wouldn't open his eyes and I watched in horror as the digital thermometer kept ticking higher and higher finally stopping at 104.5!   I screamed to Adam we're going to the ER RIGHT NOW!  We attempted to give him the medicine again and then he gagged and threw up all down the front of Adam's shirt. Ugh..... We threw on a pair of jeans, flips, grabbed the diaper bag and packed up Easton, pj's and all, into the baby carrier and flew out of the house.

I rode in the backseat with him the whole way, and he just moaned with his eyes closed.  We pulled in to the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital ER entrance and rushed him in.  Once in triage they were able to get Easton to swallow the medicine so I knew things were looking up. Turns out he had a chest infection.  They also told us that babies can get fevers up to 105 or 106 degrees without being "Serious".  I was shocked.
Easton is his little hospital gown with his red cheeks :-( Poor baby.


Poor Easton was so exhausted from crying for 4 straight hours he slept the whole night through.  I spent the next day tracking his medicine rotation, his wet diapers, his fluid intake, his temperature.  I was exhausted!  The next day I woke up excepting a healthy baby, but we were back to moaning and a 102.5 fever!  Panic stricken and frustrated I paced the floors for 2 hours until the Dr.'s office opened.  They get us in right away to basically tell me, "You're doing the right thing- this is a nasty virus and it may take a few more days!".  A few more days?!  Luckily they sent me home with a prescription for antibiotics which I swear started working right away! 

Easton sleeping in our bed waiting to go to the Dr.

Easton struggled with his fever for 5 long days!  Honestly it was so emotional and frustrating to see your little precious baby, sick and you can't do anything.  I know that this is the first of many fevers, sickness, and trips to the Dr.  but I can say that I've never more scared in my entire life.   It's so great to see Easton back to his happy healthy self this week.  I on the other hand now have his cold! Go figure ;-)

4/06/2012

Where's the mommy handbook?!

Easton sporting his new Summer hat!


I've got to admit, being a mom is all about learning as you go. Let me tell you, time is moving so quickly! Easton is almost 7 months old and is growing and changing so fast.  Every day he does something different and Adam and I are constantly yelling, "Quick!  Come here and see what Easton is doing!"   He is just soaking everything up around him like a little sponge.  One of my worries about this new "sponge stage" is that if Adam doesn't watch his potty mouth Easton's first word may need to be bleeped ;-)

I wish there was a mom handbook I could consult instead a doing a million internet searches every day or using the dreaded trial and error process. (hmmm... write a book?  Def. don't have enough time for that!) I  have had some serious clueless mom moments lately while trying to keep up with this little dude.  I think this one takes the cake.

I have waited for weeks for Easton to get his teeth.   I've wiped up countless puddles of drool,have been drooled on and (prepare yourself..) have had Easton's drool fall directly into my mouth!  ewww.   Let me clarify- I'm not Alecia Silverstone, but I often will lay on the couch and hold Easton up over my head to play with him.  As I'm making cute baby voices and faces- BAM!  He hits me with the drool bomb.  Anyway, on to the clueless mom moment.

Cool dude drooling in his shades
So I wait and wait and wait for these teeth.  I can be a bit impatient.  Every day I feel the two little bumps on his bottom gums get bigger.  Soon I can feel a little sharp corner poke through, but still no actual teeth.  I give him baby Tylenol and frozen teethers ect. ect.  Finally my mom and aunts came to visit and my mom exclaims, "he got his teeth!"

I of course barrel by her like, "Whhat!?  Let me see!"  I feel his mouth and sigh, "nope not yet.  Its just the tops still.  It's been like that for a week."

The girls look at me and laugh- "Carly you'd better get out the baby book because that is considered getting his teeth."

Irritated and shocked I reply, "what do you mean?  I don't see two 'tall teeth'?"

They then let me know that once the teeth break the skin that's it.   It takes actual time for the teeth to grow upwards into 'tall teeth'.  I was, well shocked and replied,

"Well shoot.  He's had those for a whole week then!"

I have teeth but I'm not gonna show you for the picture!