Back on track??

I haven’t posted in such a long time, mostly because I just haven’t had the energy to do anything. We were sick here (in some combination of family members) for about six weeks, and that really has taken a toll on my energy (especially since I was sick for three of those weeks myself). We finally all seem to be more or less back on track, health-wise at the moment, though. Thank goodness.

We’ve had many things going on recently. Veronica is starting to work on talking, and is trying out new words regularly. But she’s not a baby who likes to perform on demand, so if she says a new word for one of us, it’s nearly impossible to get her to repeat it for anyone else. I suspect it’s going to be like her walking — she’ll work on it privately until she feels like she has it mastered, and then she’ll be off.

Colin is teething (I suspect Roni is too, but  not as obviously). Poor little guy has, to my best estimate, six teeth all coming in at once. He had one break through (one of the canine/pointy top teeth) while we were on vacation, and now it feels like the other top one and all four molars are working their way through. 

So he has become a major chewing machine. After he chewed through three or four board books, John was forced to take all the books away before they all were destroyed (Colin also likes to bend the pages in half). He since then has chewed through several teething toys and has started gnawing on the tables and his high chair. Our front window sill is lined with little teeth marks.

His physical therapist was over when he chewed through the teething toy, and recommended these sticks to us. They’re designed to help people who have had a stroke learn to chew again, but she said they’re pretty indestructible — so we’ll be ordering some for our little guy. It’s either that or a doggie chew, which I thought would work. But John shot down that idea. I guess he doesn’t like the thought of Colin crawling around with a bone in his mouth. (I thought it would be kind of funny — I guess that says something about my warped sense of humor.)

So my fingers are crossed that we’re through the illnesses for now — we didn’t have to take Colin to the hospital at all, but there was one night I was seriously considering it. Having a sick baby is exhausting; having a sick baby with lung problems is even more so.

Sleep, breathing and other essentials

Colin is still sick (or is sick again, I’m no longer sure at this point which it is), and Sunday night took a nasty turn. He was working so hard to breathe, and was crying all night long (16 hours, to be exact). Poor little puppy would only sleep if I was holding him in the rocking chair, and if I had to shift, he would wake up and cry. I seriously debated about taking him to the ER a couple of times, but then he would fall asleep and I didn’t want to wake him.

So, of course, when Monday morning arrives and the doctor’s office opens, he bounced back like there was nothing wrong. (The nap with daddy for an hour may have helped too.) We watched him very closely all day yesterday, and he stayed much better, so we didn’t go in to the doctor. 

Last night was soooo much better. I did have to give him a breathing treatment at 10:30, but before and after that, he was sleeping like the proverbial baby (not like a real baby) with gentle breathing. It was music to my ears (I seriously sat in the bed and just listened to him breathe for half an hour I was so happy.) He’s still pretty congested (as am I), but otherwise seems to be doing well.

Which leads me to a theory on why he suddenly had such a rough night: On Sunday, for whatever reason, Colin choked on pretty much everything he ate — even things he normally can handle well. So now I’m wondering whether he actually aspirated some food, which was causing all the discomfort and breathing problems. Yesterday, we served him pretty much just purees and things that dissolve in his mouth (or teeny tiny bites of other food), and he only choked once. Last night he slept well. (See how I arrived at my theory?)

So I’m doubly glad that we have a speech therapy assessment coming up for him. I talked to the therapist who will be coming out yesterday and ran through some of his issues. I also mentioned that we were going to see a nutritionist as well about his lack of weight gain. Much to my happy surprise, she told me that we also qualify to see a nutritionist through Early Intervention, and she would try to schedule the nutritionist she works with to come along to Colin’s eval. That’s a nice bonus, because the more people we can have come to us (rather than having to go to them), the easier my life is. 

So we’ll continue to watch Colin closely today and see if we think he needs to go in to see the doctor. I’m a little more nervous than normal because we’re supposed to be going on vacation this week and having a sick little boy away from home would not be good. But I have my fingers crossed that he’s on the mend again. 

Oy vey, what a day

Today has been a very, very busy day. I took the day off, because we had accidentally scheduled Colin for two doctors appointments today — he was supposed to have his hearing test at the audiology department at Illinois Masonic and then he and Veronica had their 15 month appointment (hey, they don’t turn 16 months until tomorrow) at the pediatrician this afternoon. 

So, you may have noticed I said “was supposed to have” his hearing test this morning. Yes, that’s true. We were all set for the appointment, even to the point of putting Colin down for a very early nap, since the appointment was at 10:00, smack in the middle of nap time. Unfortunately, John got to the hospital, waited in line to register, and realized he had not stuck the referral in his wallet like the thought.

They won’t see you without the referral, so John tried calling me to see if I could fax it over to the hospital. And that was no easy task. Neither John nor I have much luck getting cell phone reception at Illinois Masonic, and the one public phone they showed John wouldn’t put the call through. They finally let John use the desk phone, but as luck would have it, his call came at the same time I was upstairs with a crying Veronica, so I didn’t even hear the phone ring.

So a frustrated John and wiped out Colin came home at 10:15. Veronica and I had been planning to head out in search of mittens (because her little hands were like ice cubes this morning when we took Ethan to school), so we decided it was a fine time for a quick family trip to Target. An hour and a half (and $250) later, we were home in time to have a very quick lunch, then off to the pediatrician’s office. 

Colin’s lungs sound rather gurgly, which I could tell even without the stethoscope. So now we’ll be giving Colin at least one treatment a day of the Atrovent to help him breathe easier. Colin has dropped back down lower on the growth charts, despite our somewhat half hearted (or maybe I should say half focused) efforts to ply him with extra calories. He’s still below the chart on both weight and height, but has fallen back further on height.

So we're also now going to be seeing a nutritionist for him. (I want to see a nutritionist for me, but no one has prescribed a visit yet, so I guess I’m out of luck. Darn!) One more thing to squeeze in to our already full calendar. But with luck, it will make a difference.

Veronica is doing great, health-wise (and really in pretty much everything, except her sleeping). She’s gotten even taller (31.5 inches, if they measured correctly) and is in the 75th percentile for height. Her 21 pounds 11 ounces puts her in the 30th percentile for weight.

Both babies were getting pretty tired by now, and this appointment involved a blood draw as well as two shots. They weren’t happy campers by the time we went home. Fortunately, they tend to bounce back pretty quickly (and we’ll give them a dose of Tylenol before bed, just in case), so I am hopeful that tomorrow will be a better day. 

And just for kicks, here are a couple of pictures of them in their Halloween costumes from yesterday.

They each thought the other was cute in their costumes, my little skele-babies.

Colin is loving (to eat) the ghost duck our friend Joy brought him.

Veronica is getting tired of all the photos here. 

What a difference a year makes, huh? This time last year, Colin had only been home from the hospital for a few days, Roni was still hooked up to the apnea monitor, and the two of them together weighed less than Ethan did at birth.