ET Phone Home

Wow – as most of you know, this has been a pretty crazy week for us. I won’t go into all of the details, as I’ve talked to all of you who read this and I think that I have told you most of what has happened. But, long story short – Alex wasn’t acting himself last Thursday – was very lethargic, not eating well, etc. I thought that it was either really bad gas or it was the ice cream that I had eaten the night before that wasn’t agreeing with him. Boy was I wrong! I took him to the dr. and, by that time, he was really pale and didn’t look good at all. Turns out, his heart rate was racing, so they told us to go to the ER immediately. While there, he broke out in a rash and developed a fever. (102.6!).

We ended up in the ICU for 4 days at Hasboro (you know it is serious when you end up there). And, then we were moved to a “regular room” after that until this last Thursday. First let me tell you that being in the ICU at Hasboro definitely puts things in perspective. The girl next door to us had her room completely decorated with signs and stuffed animals, which would indicate that she had been there for quite a while. There was a little boy probably about 2 years old on the other side of us who was strapped down to some weird looking chair and had tubes coming out of his throat the entire time and then – the real kicker – a boy actually died while we were there. We didn’t realize this was happening until we heard his mother screaming at the top of her lungs and they came to close our door. It was horrible. So, for those reasons, I was happy to move up to the “normal” floor. However, things were definitely a bit more chaotic up there. We had a screaming baby next door to us (then again, we were that room with a screaming baby at times as well, so??) and then had a toddler on the other side of us who screamed when he was mad and then banged on a play drum when he wasn’t. Then there was the little girl with the IV who was being wheeled around the floor in a wagon and then there was the guy who came to play the guitar for all of the kids during the day. So, things were definitely a bit more active, which resulted in a bit less sleep for us all.

Speaking of sleep – I stayed with Alex every night while we were there. I now know what the new fathers go through in the recovery room after having a baby. Wow – those chairs (josh calls them transformer chairs because that is exactly what they look like) that fold out to a bed really are not comfortable. Not to mention, the nurses that come in, oh I don’t know, ONE HUNDRED times a night to check on us. Ugh. Oh – and, the antibiotic machine that beeps every time the antibiotics are done. Yet, somehow, none of the nurses can hear this. So, it requires me to get up and go to the lobby to tell them before it wakes up my sleeping child.

And, then – this is my favorite – the med students. I hate them. And, they know it. I was definitely known as that bitch by all of them. Inevitably, they would come into the room to check (ie, use my son to learn) on Alex right when he had fallen asleep. It started off with me just being bitchy and saying things like, “yes, I do mind if you look at him, but do I have a choice?” and then just turned into, “no – you can’t look at him right now. He hasn’t had a fever for 3 days, so do you really think that it is necessary to stick that thing up his butt again?” They hated me.

Now – to get to the title of this post (and to shed some humor on this horrible situation). One of the 5 things that was attached to Alex while he was there (no, I’m not exaggerating) was a monitor that was attached to his big toe that monitored his heart rate. On this little monitor was a red light. It was hilarious. While his foot was under a blanket – it looked just like ET. We tried to get a picture of it, but weren’t too successful. You’ll have to use your imagination.



One other positive thing that came out of this – while we were there, we had the GI doctors take a look at him for his reflux. One of the tests that they did was to stick a probe up through his nose and then down his throat and leave it there for 24 hours to measure the acid coming up and down.




The actual process sucked – I couldn’t feed him for 4 hours before and obviously, he wasn’t a big fan of having something shoved up his nose for 24 hours. BUT – the good news is – they saw no acid coming back up. So, the meds that he is on is working! I feel so much better knowing that the reflux isn’t bugging him anymore. Then again, we no longer have an excuse if he is fussy!
Another positive - My mom flew out here the day after Alex got admitted and has been here ever since. It has been a huge help having her around, to say the least. A girl just needs her mom during times like these. And, clearly, Alex needed his grandma!

ANYWAY – we are now home. Thank god. hey never did find out what it was, so they are treating him as though he has the worst bacterial infection he could have. He has an IV in his arm and we have to give him antibiotics through this once a day for 2 weeks. It is a little nerve wracking being in charge of antibiotics being given to your 8 week old, but we’re managing. Here is a picture of him attached to the pump that we use to give the meds.


It is also kind of a pain in the butt giving him a bath. My mom came up with the idea of covering the iv in Seran Wrap - it worked!






On a lighter note – I found out that, once again, I have a creative friend – look at what Jess sent us! These are both made out of old t-shirts. Ingenious, I tell you.




On another lighter note (and, primarily because I can’t include a post with no mention of Miss Avery), I thought that this was hilarious. Take a look at what she drank her water out of this afternoon at lunch. AHHHHHH...a girl after my own heart…



Thanks to all of you for all of your calls and thoughts this last week! We really appreciate it.

A Week of Firsts

This was definitely a week of many firsts. First and foremost – this was the first week that Alex was happy more than he was upset. Yes - Mr. Alex seems to have taken a turn for the better. It really is amazing.
We ended up going to the doctor because he was having a really hard time getting back down at nights and almost sounded as though he was having a hard time breathing – wheezing, etc. And, of course, as soon as I mentioned that, they wanted to see us right away. The doctor thinks that he has some post nasal drip going on and that, mixed with the acid is causing him to be uncomfortable. So, she increased his medication and we now have a humidifier in our room. Both seem to be helping, because he is a different child! He almost never cries during the day any more except when he is tired. Which, brings me to our next first. Even though he has gotten better, he still will not sleep during the day unless he is being walked in the stroller or driven in the car. SO – instead of fighting it, I decided the other day to just walk him to get him to take a nap. Avery was taking a nap and Josh was gone, so I decided that I would just walk him in our yard. I did that for about 5 minutes and he was out. I thought about taking him out and putting him in his room, but then realized, why rock the boat? So, for the first time ever, I just left my child sitting in the middle of the yard sleeping. Now – some may think this is a bit cruel. However, you will note that he is sitting in the shade AND I have that marvelous bubble around him that my sister sent to me (and, that I use daily) AND, I decided to take advantage of two children sleeping and to sit in the sun on the deck, which was relatively near where he was. So, really, I wasn’t all that bad of a parent – I’d like to consider myself smart, actually.

Here he is looking happy! Well, not really happy because he hasn't really started smiling yet, but content...



Alex also found his hands for the first time a little over a week ago. It's pretty cute- you'll be holding him and all of a sudden you"ll hear this sucking sound - sure enough, he's sucking on his fist.


The next first was Miss Avery’s first real temper tantrum. Wow – this was a doozy. Don’t worry –I will not include a picture of this one (not that I have one anyway – can you imagine??? Now THAT would be the ultimate blogger – a mom who insists on photographing her child’s temper tantrum…). We were at the beach and something happened while she was up at the bathroom with Josh. The next thing I knew – I could hear a screaming child coming back down to the beach (mind you – the bathroom and where I was sitting on the beach are NOT close, which gives you an indication of how loud this tantrum was). When she got down to where I was, she preceded to throw her hat on the ground and scream, at which point, her father reached the end and dragged her back to the car kicking and screaming – all of this while probably 10 families turned around to see what the deal was. Lovely.
Unfortunately, that tantrum was the beginning of a pretty rough couple of days. I think that she has reached the point of, “Why the hell is HE still here??” and she is letting us know about it by whining, crying and just generally being very difficult. These are the times as a parent that you wish there was a rule book that told you what you should be doing in these situations. I’m still learning, but so far ignoring her seems to be a good way. If it gets really bad, she sits somewhere until I can tell her she can get up, but that hasn’t seemed to have any long term effects considering this behavior hasn’t stopped. And, leading to our next “first” – what is even more unfortunate, is we had some friends of ours over for dinner for the first time the other night. They brought their son Max, who is the same age as Avery and their son Travis who is the same age as Alex. Well, Max wanted to borrow Avery’s bike and Avery didn’t really like that so much, which led to her second tantrum. However, eventually, she got over it and, as you can see, she and Max had fun together…however, I’m pretty certain they think that our child is a total nightmare. Ugh.


Another first – Chili went outside for the first time ever this weekend. I didn’t have the heart to just let him out and to just see what would happen (i.e., hope to god he just never returns). Instead, I got him a leash and a collar and let him out on the deck. He loved it and just laid down in the shade. However, I think that it got too hot for even him at one point, because he nearly begged to be let back inside after about 20 minutes. On that note, I have officially posted an ad on Craigslist to try to find him a new family and I plan to post a picture of him at the local vet and the bulletin board in town in the hopes of finding him a new home. It’s time. He needs more attention than I am willing to give him and if he doesn’t get it, he pees. Which really pisses me off (no pun intended). So far - no takers.

And, last but not least - this last week was the first that I heard of my dear friend, Amers, being a seamstress (yes - I'm stretching the "first" theme, but I really wanted to include this picture because I was amazed that a) she can do this and b) she can do it with a 6 month old in the house). I received this great gift for Alex that Amy made. I was so impressed that I needed to share:

OK-off to try to get in a shower so that I'm presentable for Avery's ice cream social at daycare. I'm thinking that whole no dairy thing is going out the window tonight - we'll see how the new happy Alex handles it!

Big Bad Wolves

So, the other day, my mother-in-law told me a somewhat funny, yet freightening story. She said that she was talking to a co-worker and he asked how Alex was doing and when she said that he was a bit fussy (see below for further discussion on this point), he made the comment that he can’t believe that the human race even exists because, in his opinion, infants, until the age of 1 should just be thrown to the wolves because they are just too difficult most of the time. Well, clearly that seems a bit harsh and quite unrealistic, but come on – all of you with kids out there, you have to admit – there have been times where something along those lines sounds like a damn good idea. However, seeing as how I’m not totally insane (although, recently, I’ve wondered), I’ve decided to throw him in the Ergo rather than throw him to the wolves in order to get him to calm down. First of all – for all of my friends who plan to have more kids and don’t have this – I would highly recommend it. It is WAY more comfortable than the Bjorn and you can use it until the kid is pretty old, as it will eventually go on your back and they can ride in it that way.

Oh, and you will notice my 2 year old looking a bit PWT without a shirt on. By that point, I had tried to get her to put one on for a half hour and had just given up - I've learned to pick my battles. ANYWAY – yes, I have succumb to “baby wearing” because that is one of the only ways that my child will calm down at times. Either that, or nurse him, which is also a type of baby wearing, I guess. Poor Alex has reflux really badly and is in pain a decent amount of time, which in turn, causes us to have to deal with a crying child for most of the day. I have found that, as long as we stay on the go, we are fine because he does sleep in the stroller and in the car, so that is what we’ve done. I’ve also cut out all coffee, chocolate, dairy, spicy foods, peanut butter (yes, I read that can irritate their stomach and it does seem like he does better without it) and tomatoe-y foods out of my diet to see if this will help. I swear – I need to just eat boiled chicken breasts and bread and that will probably cure this problem. Anyway - I’m hoping as he gets older, he will grow out of this. With my luck, it will be right when I go back to work. We’ll see. Although, I must say - even with all of the issues, he sure is a cute child! :)
yes - he is clearly borrowing his sister's blanket








On a positive note – we did actually all get out of the house one night!!!!! I swear, you would have thought that I was going to prom with how excited I was. Josh’s cousin and uncle were in town from Florida, so we all had dinner at his parents club (we’re fancy like at – actually, we just tag along – his parents are fancy like that). It was just so nice getting out of the house and enjoying a glass of wine and good food and wearing something other than workout clothes or the one pair of shorts and one shirt that currently fits me. AND, as it turns out – I do have eyes!!!! I just need to get a little makeup on them in order for anyone to see them!


Here is a picture of Avery all ready for the big night out wearing one of the cutest dresses I think that I’ve ever gotten her (and, it should be given the freaking price). I was psyched that she actually got a chance to wear it because I was convinced she wouldn’t.


And, here is Alex in one of the nicer outfits that he owns.



On another positive note – Christine came in from NYC this last weekend. It was so great seeing her and having some girl time. She is amazing with Avery and Avery really adores her. She is still asking where Auntie Christine went. She was a HUGE help with both Avery and Alex. This is her trying to give Alex a bottle – didn’t have a ton of luck, but then again none of us really did.

Which, brings me to my next story. I was bound and determined to go out to dinner with Christine on Sat. night and have sushi and wine – 2 things I haven’t had in a long time. So, I figure, might as well make sure Alex will take a bottle before I leave (mind you – I had given him one a week earlier and he sucked it down). Well, that night? Not a chance. He wanted nothing to do with it. So, basically, the night started out with me crying on the couch nursing Alex, Josh trying to suggest 1000 different things that we could do in an hours time so that we could at least get out of the house, Christine trying to occupy Avery by taking her for a walk outside and my inlaws coming in the middle of the entire fiasco not really quite sure what to say or do. Well, eventually, Christine and I left and went to a restaurant down the road from our house and got a glass of wine and ordered food to go (all at Josh’s suggestion) while Josh took Alex in the ergo and walked around the neighborhood for AN HOUR AND A HALF so that he would sleep. In the mean time, his parents cooked (josh was originally supposed to cook for them) and fed Avery and got her ready for bed. Pretty crazy all around, but I have to say, I felt like a new woman after just an hour and a half away. The two glasses of wine didn’t hurt either (ironically enough, Alex slept very well that night. Hmmmmmm…I may have found a soloution! Kidding. Kind of).
Avery continues to do well with the situation, but is having a few more emotional breakdowns lately. I think that the 5 days away from daycare this weekend was part of the problem, but there were a few discussions had that involved me explaining to her that she can not scream “no” at her parents, etc. She still loves her baby brother Alex and wants to give him hugs and kisses whenever she can, which is good. She also likes to give him stickers out of her 700 sticker Thomas book. Poor kid...

That’s about it for the last couple of weeks. I hate to sound like things are horrible. They really aren’t. We’re managing. But, man! This two kid thing is a challenge at times! I’ll close with a classic picture of Avery and Alex – this pretty much sums it all up…