I now hate February 14

On Monday the 14th, I noticed Bryson's cough wasn't getting any better, so I called the pediatrician and was told to come in. They did a nasal swab (yeah, the kid didn't like that so much) and told me they were going to test for RSV. Of course, this sent me into a slight panic, as I had heard all kings of bad things about RSV. The nurse called me about an hour later and told me he tested positive. Great. I was told to watch him for fevers or difficulty breathing and if either of those things occured, take him right to the hospital. Well. at midnight I got up to feed him and he felt hot so I took his tamp and sure enough, it was 101.1 (rectally, so fun). Mike and I immediately called my mom to come stay with Brody while we went to the ER. The ER doc called my ped (she was on call thank goodness) and was told to do a full sepsis (?) work up. This meant my poor 25 day old baby had to have blood drawn, a catheter inserted to get a urine sample, an IV inserted, a chest xray, and the cherry on top of the crap sundae, a spinal tap. Fortunately, we were sent out of the room for the worst stuff. I was okay with that, there was a nurse in there who had two young kids herself (one was a 3 month old) so she was very comforting to him. It took over an hour for them to get the IV in, they even called down a couple of OB nurses to help. When we finally got to see him again, he had bruises on both hands, his arms, 3 on his head, and his feet. They managed to get the IV in his right foot. Poor baby was just traumatized. Then we had to wait for some antibiotics to be given to him before we could leave in the ambulance for Sacred Heart in Spokane. Yep, doctor decided he needed to be in the hospital to be safe and there were no available beds in Moses Lake. We left for Spokane around 6 am and I managed to sleep in the ambulance for most of the hour+ ride. On the way there, Bryson's O2 levels dipped a bit so they gave him some oxygen. At Sacred Heart, we were in a romo in the ER for two hours while they readied a more permanent room for us. Apparently, the children's floor was pretty full. And I found out a lot of the babies there had RSV as well, so I felt a little better knowing how common this virus is.



Mike, Brody, and our neighbor came up to visit later in the day. My mom really wanted to come, but she had set up a Make-A-Wish training that evening and had to be there for it. Anyway, when they showed up, I was about to pass out from being so tired. Shelbi took Brody on an "exploration" of the hospital and Mike and I tried to nap for a bit. I probably slept for about an hour. They left for home around 5:30 and I spent the rest of the night feeding my little porker (whose appetite had decided to come back) and sleeping. It's amazing how rested you can feel after a few sporadic hours when you've been up for almost 24! At 8 that night, we got a roommate, a six month old who also had RSV. I swear, his mom looked about 16. I heard her tell the doctor she also had a 22 month old. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to her, but I was aware of the dr telling her CPS would be in to talk with her.



On Wednesday morning, the doctor decided to see how the little guy would do without the oxygen. His sats were dipping a bit, buy stayed above 90 so we were told we most likely would be able to go home that evening.

Here are a couple pictures of my poor baby in his hospital bed:

3 weeks!

Seems crazy that my baby is already 3 weeks old. Actually, he is now 23 days old. He is growing like a weed. We took him to the doctor on Friday so she could look at his nasty butt rash and he weighed 10lb 5oz. He is gaining weight like crazy!

We also had Dr. L listent o Brody as he had been coughing for about 3 days. Luckily, his lungs sounded clear so it's most likely just crap dripping into his throat. We have two humidifiers going in the house and he seems better. The baby has also been coughing but he only did it once while in the drs office and it was while he was lying flat on the exam table so she seems to think it is probably reflux. Over the weekend, the coughing has gotten a bit worse, but it seems to really be bad right after he eats, so I don't know if it is reflux or whatever crap Mike and Brody have. Poor baby. It's making it hard for him to sleep during the day.

Speaking of sleep, Bryson seems to have finally figured out day and night! On Friday night, he actually slept from 10-4. It was awesome. I would like to thank the makers of the miracle blanket! Of course, once he was up at 4, he stayed up till 6, the little stinker. And last night he went to bed at 10 again and was up at 1:30 and then wouldn't go to sleep in his bed so he laid by me until about 3 and then I put him back in the blanket in his bassinet. He lasted till about 4:30 and then got fussy so I put him by me again and he slept till 6 ish. Mike took him into the living room then and I slept till 8:30. It was nice, but I can't wait for the day this little guy sleeps all night EVERY night!

rub-a-dub!

Bryson got his first real bath last night! I was so happy for a few reasons. Mostly, I was happy that nasty umbilical stump had fallen off (though I got a little teary thinking it was the last connection between the two of us, stupid hormones!). I was also excited because this means we get to start a bedtime routine!! I know he is too young right now for any real schedule to happen, but I learned with Brody a baby is never too young to get started on a good bedtime routine. Bath time was always a big part of Brody's routine, so I plan to make it part of Bryson's also. I just need to figure out how to do bedtime with two kids. Right now, it's not a real big deal since Mike is home in the evenings, but when he has to travel, I will have to do it all alone. Unless I can get my mom or neighbor to come over to help at bedtime the first couple of times...

I'm not really sure why I am making that face. Brody had so much fun "helping", I had to keep him from dripping water right into Bryson's eyes a few times!

He seemed to really enjoy kicking back and relaxing in the tub. Which was a huge relief! I was worried I wouoldn't get lucky twice with kids that like the bath!

We have a picture of dad and Brody like this after the first bath so we had to do it again!

Dad thought it would be funny to spike his hair after his bath!

Bryson and his bear

I decided to steal an idea from a friend and pose Bryson next to this stuffed bear each month to see how much he grows! Since I only decided to do it this morning, we'll call this one the newborn shot even though the little guy is already 18 days old!

I am feeling a lot better today. I am not sure if the baby blues are planning to go away on their own this time or not. In any case, I see my doctor this afternoon and I can talk to her. MMaybe we'll wait a couple weeks to try meds again and see what happens. My only fear is that Mike will be leaving to travel for work in a few weeks and I want to be sure I can handle it okay. He promised he wouldn't leave until things settled down a bit here and that his first trip away will be a short one.

Bryson slept pretty good last night. He seems to be sleeping for 3-4 hour stretches at a time at night. Now, I just need to get him to sleep peacefully in his bassinet. All in good time, I guess. I am also impatiently waiting for his nasty umbilical stump to fall off so I can give him a real bath. The thing is just hanging there (which totally grosses out Brody, lol!). Poor baby has a diaper rash that won't go away. Seriously, it looks like someone burned the skin off his butt. He screams when I have to change him and I feel like an ass. The doctor prescribed some butt paste and I am doing everything I can (wiping with baby cloths instead of wipes, letting his butt air out a lot during the day, changing him often). I called and talked to the nurse yesterday and told her I didn't think it was getting any better. She told me I could try a baking soda bath once he could take a bath. If it's not better by Friday, I am taking him back in.

Brody is such an awesome big brother. I am so glad he plays so well by himself and enjoys watching his movies because right now I am a total slacker mom. I can't wait till I feel like myself again and the weather gets nicer so I can play with him and not feel so guilty. And once again, I am SO glad my husband is around right now to hang out with him in the evenings and on the weekends.

Day 1 alone

So Mike went back to work today. I have only cried maybe twice. Yay me! I can't wait to see my doctor tomorrow and get some help. I really don't want to look back on this time and remember being sad and cramky. I want to remember enjoying these days with my new baby. And poor Brody must think his mom is losing it. I can't control the crying so there have been a few times he's witnessed it, no matter how hard I try to keep it hidden from him. I also feel a little short tempered with him which could partly be from the lack of sleep. In any case, I'll be getting some help tomorrow and hopefully I'll start feeling like myself again soon (a tired version of myself, but still...).

Here are some recent pictures of the little men in my life:

Bryson napping in the swing (he seems to be able to sleep ANYWHERE other than his bassinet)

Tummy time with big brother!

Brody LOVES to hold his baby!

Bryson at 1 week old. That little outfit is already too small!

The first couple weeks

I really really hate the first couple postpartum weeks. I have such a bad case of the baby blues. And this rotten, gloomy weather is doing very little to help. Tomorrow Mike goes back to work and I start crying pretty much anytime I think of him being gone (yep, here come the tears). With Brody, he was able to be home with me for over two months, which was SO nice. He is such a lifesaver right now! He takes Brody with him all day and then at night he'll help so much with the baby, no matter how tired he is. Now I am going to have to do all the night time stuff myself 4 nights a week. Yuck. I have an appointment with my doctor on Tuesday and I really hope I can get some help with this weepiness and sadness. I waited 3 months to get help after Brody was born and I don't want to do that again. I want to enjoy my kids and stop wistfully thinking about my life before the baby was here (that makes me feel SOOO guilty!).

I need to stop being such a whiner and get the camera out. I have about a bazillion pictured of Brody as a baby and have taken hardly any with Bryson so far. I'll get on that and start posting some soon!