It has been one of those months {or has it only been a couple weeks??}.
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| What the kids think my nursing pillows are for |
Our precious baby has been doing, truly, oh- so well. Growing strong, gaining weight { a big 10 1/2 pounds}, not showing ANY signs of his prematurity when looking at his {adjusted} age of 7 weeks.
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| Easter |
A gift from our God alone!
Then, a couple weeks ago he contracted conjunctivitis {pink eye}. it's been going around Devin's preschool. and Jimmy got it really bad. In only one eye, but over night it became awful, oozing, very red and very swollen. I did all the usual remedies, without any success of taming it. In we went to the doctors office where she was very concerned about the degree of redness and swelling. It was more than the typical case, looking like a bad infection that could progress quickly causing significant eye damage if not treated. I agreed eye drops were necessary. But when she said he needed oral antibiotics and an antibiotic shot I said 'thank you, but not thank you'. Wanting to give the drops a chance to clear it up. I took him home, drops in hand. discussed it with Andrew, prayed for wisdom. Over the hour or so that we did that it got even worse. I cried a little, then took him back for the shot. It was a difficult decision to that do to his gut health, clearing out all the good bacteria with the bad.
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| Owie eye |
It was evident within a few hours the antibiotics were indeed necessary as the eye improved significantly in a very short time. God is good to my boy.
But then, as I feared (and often is the case), while his immunity was down he caught a virus. it's been a very worrying 6 days of fevers, congestion, coughing, eating less than normal, and wanting to be held lots. Yesterday it was time to take him back in, as the fever was still nearing 102*, eating less without improvement.
The doctor was a new doc to the practice that I'd never seen before, but he seemed to be a very insightful {albeit strongly opinionated!} After much humming and hawing checking his oxygenation, temperature several times, and close observation the doctor felt an ER visit was warranted. A high fever in a baby under 2 months of age is very concerning. We worried it could be an infection of an organ, a urinary tract infection, something connected to the pink eye (which had returned a few days prior).... too many unanswered questions if we were looking at a simple virus.
More tears and big fears on my part, we left the older kiddos with our wonderful Aunt Maggie for the evening and off Andrew, Jimmy and I went to the ER at the Children's Hospital. Jimmy was acting more sleepy, disinterested in eating, and had a high fever. Confirmation to my heart that we were doing the right thing.
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| Sick time snuggles + multitasking mama |
He was such a brave baby! Through getting blood drawn, taking urine {rather uncomfortably}, swabs way up his nose, other pokes and prods he cried some but soothed easily in my arms. We insisted on his care being done while he was held close on my chest...right where a sick baby should be.
Let's just say, after our NICU experience I am not afraid to ask LOTS of question and say "no thank you" to most of the otherwise routine protocols of the hospital. (such as an IV, nice but not necessary numbing medication for a blood draw, etc) At one point the Doctor came in to have a discussion with us about not giving tylenol to reduce his fever. as we felt a cool, damp cloth was sufficient. I knew it was at a normal, non-dangerous range, and as fevers are designed, surely doing its work to fight off any possible infection or virus. This was the third discussion someone had with us about it, questioning why we wouldn't give it.
We discussed why she would like him to have it (we had held off given any at all during the week since the fever cooled with the damp cloth). she said that it would help paint a more clear picture of his level of sickness if he seemed to improve quickly with it. and if the labs came back borderline than she would feel better knowing he had the tylenol. Several times she said she would "feel better" if he had it.
So I asked her, "well, would YOU like some Tylenol then?"
She laughed. Getting the picture that I didn't feel it was necessary just yet. We agreed to reconsider in an hour when labs came back if we needed to see that piece of the puzzle.
Praise the Lord, the lab results came back in a relatively short time, and were completely normal. His white blood cell count was normal, indicating no infection of the bladder, kidney, organs, etc. No RSV, or other serious viruses. His platelets were slightly elevated as you would expect to see in a child fighting a typical upper respiratory virus. An answer to prayer! He was sick - as we all could see - but nothing more serious than fighting the "common cold".
We got to go home --- finally --- at 10:30 pm. We were all very tired and ready to go snuggle at home and sleep in our own beds.
That was all last night.
Today Jimmy is sleeping better, eating a little more, and hopefully on the mend. I'll start a home remedy for his ears, which did look a little red from fluid near his inner ear. Praying he continues to improve over the next day or two and we can keep doing when he's so good at - growing and growing... & melting our hearts with his precious smile!
His bottom two teeth are just about to poke through, and boy are they giving him grief. With his sweet nature, I wouldn't know he was teething except that he is eating a bit less and squeaking a bit more at nap times.
Let me take another sip of coffee....
