Dear HFMD: YOU SUCK!

Braden never gets sick.Well, there was that one time before his first Christmas when he had his first and only fever, double ear infections, and was lethargic for a few days...but he literally slept it off. He's had the odd toddler runny, gunky snot nose...but hasn't ever reeeeeeeally been sick. Until now.

Braden has always had eczema, he often breaks out in rough, scaly patches once a month or so. But with the use of many different lotions for eczema and the odd oatmeal bath, we've always managed to control it very well on our own. When I left for my weekend away, he had bad eczema on his legs for over a week. No matter what we did this time...it wasn't going away. When I came home on Sunday, Jay said his eczema was getting worse and worse, even though he continued to apply the lotion. After church, as soon as they walked in the house he projectile vomited, luckily it was just the one time. He had a good nap and was really perky after that. By the time I got home he was starting to look worse and worse and ended up going to bed with a fever of 38.8. He passed out midway through a bedtime song, which is very unlike him. The fever broke really fast after some Tylenol and an hour later he perked up and was awake, happily in bed for the next hour or so. He made it wonderfully through the night...but then on Monday his "eczema" on his legs got worse and worse and was spreading like wildfire. He had a patch around his bellybutton and it was beginning to spread to his forearms.

Jay's cousin, and my friend, works in ER with me and I knew she was on that night. I texted her pictures to show the docs at the hospital and they thought either chicken pox or hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD). I, myself, kind of thought at first that his eczema was reeeeeeally infected but it didn't make sense that it would spread so bad. I got him an appointment with his family doc at the clinic for Tuesday AM, but I should have listened to my instincts and took him right into ER that day...for the night was awful. He was up every hour until 3:30 AM and finally got a 3 hour stretch of sleep in until he was up for the day at 6:30. I received a diagnosis of "infected eczema" at my doc's office...was kind of leary of that diagnosis, and went to the pharmacy to get a prescription filled for cloxacillin - a very strong antibiotic often prescribed for skin diseases. The pharmacist took one look at Braden and said "there's no way that's just eczema, it doesn't spread like that - you go get a 2nd opinion RIGHT NOW." Plus, God was watching over us and that pharmacy was out of clox anyway. Eep! I love our family doctor, I do...but I agreed with the pharmacist, so as Braden fell asleep in the truck, I drove the hour + drive to the town I work in to go to my ER with him.

By Tuesday he started to develop tiny blisters on his hands, but none on his feet. He did have a little lesion on his tongue from the night before, I noticed. As soon as I got to triage, our charge nurse said "that's hand-foot-mouth!" I don't have a lot of experience with childhood rashes. Whenever they do come to ER and I triage them...I just write "rash" and let the docs deal with it. I've never really seen HFMD up close and personal...but from what I had researched, it didn't seem like a typical presentation of it.

One tiny lesion on his tongue and as you can see a few small blisters starting on his lips (the one on his cheek is a bug bite!)

We got in right away to see the doc, God bless the nursing card I was able to pull!, and she never did say that it was officially HFMD, but she said it was a really bad viral infection and he had sores all over the back of his throat and she couldn't believe how "normal" and well he was acting. That's been our saving grace, for us and for Braden, is that during the day you would never know that he was sick, but at nighttime...he has a very hard time settling - just think of yourself and what it feels like to go to bed and sleep with a sore throat...without all the sores in your mouth to boot. :( So we left with a prescription for glaxal base cream mixed with 1% hydrocortisone to settle his rash down. By that time it became pin-point on his tummy, genitals and up his arms. Luckily, the rash hasn't seemed to bother him and he does not scratch it - thank God! She also swabbed him for strep throat which came back negative - so that's another good thing.

Tiny blisters on his sweet little hands :(

So I'm unofficially diagnosing him myself with HFMD. The weird thing, to me, is that he got the blisters AFTER the rash on the legs and arms...and usually it's the opposite to what I've read. Here's some more info, and my disclaimer is - I'm writing this as a parent of a child with HFMD and not as a nurse. This is not health advice, it's just information, please follow up with your family doctor if you suspect your child has HFMD:

• it is a viral illness, therefore no antibiotics or any medicine will make it go away, it just has to run it's course
• it's spread through coughing and sneezing, or through stool (eww)
• it usually takes 3-6 days for the disease to show symptoms, which makes sense why Braden got his blisters later I suppose
• in some cases kids get a rash before the blisters (okay, now I know Braden has HFMD!)
• the sores/blisters usually go away in a week or so
• most cases go away in 7-10 days, currently we are on day 5 since symptoms began, I assume day 6 since exposure most likely at the swimming pool on Saturday
• wash, wash, wash your hands to prevent the spread of infection
• the virus can live in the stool several months after the blisters heal - take extra caution with diaper changes, or in our case with wiping a dirty bum
• until the blisters dry, a child is considered infectious

I don't want to show you pictures of how awful his legs were, even though I know it's not my fault, I feel like an awful parent for him having to go through this! Please keep him in your prayers, I hope that his throat feels better so that he can get a decent sleep tonight, he is SO overtired! Being snuggly in bed with Mommy and Gus this AM:

Thanks to all my friends and family for the texts and to my IG and Twitter friends who have been asking how B is doing, it sure means a lot!

Grandma's Stroke Rehabilitation

Grandma has been at the rehab hospital for almost 2 weeks now, and I got to go visit her over the weekend. It was a really nice visit, and every time I see her, I can't believe how far she's come. It's still a bit of a catch-22 situation for me, as I'm sure it is for her. I'm so happy to see her improving in leaps and bounds...but it makes me sad that she'll never be able to do all the things she used to be.

I don't know enough about rehab nursing to know all that goes on, but I was upset to walk into my Grandma's room to find her struggling to get out of her bathroom in her wheelchair. She only has the use of her left arm and leg and she couldn't quite get through the door. How long would she have been there had I not come to help her? It makes me teary just thinking about it. I'm sure they are trying to promote as much independence as they can, but it makes me really upset. I've heard similar stories from my mom and my uncle too. It's just not he same as a nice, rural hospital! I know she's getting the best physio, occupational, and speech language therapy that his province, even probably western Canada has to offer...but my heart goes out to her. She's 79 years old, and they are working her HARD. It's not a vacation, and she knows that...but it's hard work and she hates it there.

My Grandma, all my life, has not been a very outwardly emotional person. She loves us kids to bits and that has always been evident in everything she has said and done for me and Ben. But I've never seen her upset or angry, those kind of emotions. As soon as she saw me yesterday, she covered her mouth with her left hand and sort of gasped and I could see tears in her eyes. I am at a much stronger place, emotionally, with all of this...but it's so hard to see her like this. To just have her independence stripped from her, when just a month and a half ago it seemed like she could very well be ready to leave us. So I can't imagine how she's feeling with all of this.

Her speech has improved greatly. She can speak in sentences, but it sure takes a lot out of her and she needs to work on her VOLUME still. I can tell she has some difficulty getting out a certain word she's trying to think of. She is eating well, on her own, and has been for weeks now. One thing is for sure, underneath all of this, her sense of humor remains!

I can't even begin to describe the bond that I have with my Grandma. I don't know if she'll be able to read this one day, or if my Mom still reads her my blog posts, but she has very much helped shape me into the woman, wife, mother, daughter, granddaughter, nurse, and Christian that I am today...and I am forever grateful to her for that. I love you, Grandma.

This month is Heart & Stroke awareness month. I encourage you all to visit the link, especially forward it to your parents and grandparents so that they can learn their risk factors and try to make life changes to prevent heart and stroke related diseases from occurring. In Canada, heart attacks happen every 7 minutes, and strokes happen every 10 minutes. It is the #1 killer of women in Canada. I thank God that my Mom stopped smoking sooooo many years ago! Still so proud of her for that!!

Please feel free to leave your comments for Grandma!

Guest Post: 18 Days In

We're enjoying our time in Maui, so I asked my Mom if she would do an update for me on my Grandma. Thanks, Mom to my first guest post ever and for updating everyone! Sorry if it's not as "pretty" as usual, doing this all on my iPad and I'm still a bit Apple-illiterate!
---
Well it's day 18 after Mom's stroke. If I look back to where we've come from, she's made a lot of progress! If I look ahead to how much she has to accomplish to get back to where she was, it's overwhelming, sad and depressing. So, our theory is one day at a time. Focus on the tiny accomplishments each day, not the whole big picture, or I think it would be way too easy for her to just give up. So far, thankfully I've seen no signs of her doing that. I know she must have so many questions and worries as to what her future holds in store. Knowing her she's just leaving it in God's hands, as there is no other way.

Her speech is improving, in that her volume is much better. The voice that comes out, is not that of my Mom, but someone else I'm sure! She still starts to say things, and then loses her train of thought and has to give up, but she is able to give me more and more accurate information. However I'm not sure what kind of detailed memories she has from before. She can't remember how to play solitaire (which she used to play all the time), she doesn't seem to be able to read, rather I think she can read the words, but the comprehension is gone at this point. She has not been able to tell me any of her passwords or things like that. I think perhaps her mind remembers these things, but she can't "get it out".

She is able to sit up on the side of the bed (with help getting up) quite stably, so that has improved a lot. She has been sitting in the wheel chair for several hours at a time 2 times/day (a requirement for going to the Glenrose), and yesterday they took her to "the bar" (the parallel bars). They got her upright, with three people helping her and one moving her right leg, she was able to walk to the end of the bars.

Mom is still on a thickened food diet. YUCK! Thickened water, milk, juice, and then bad smelling baby foodish diet. GROSS! I'm sure she can handle swallowing more now, so next week my mission is to have the OT assess her swallow again, and see if that can be changed!

Steve bought Mom an Ipad, so I've been trying to teach her how to use it. So far it's not going that well, but we'll keep plugging along with it. Last night she really enjoyed it, because we Skyped with Sarah, Jay and Braden from Maui!

She's enjoying watching TV again, which is good, because it helps pass the time. She is busy watching curling this weekend, and last weekend she enjoyed watching the World Junior Hockey Championships. She is very possessive of that remote let me tell you!!

She also enjoyed a visit from my two Shih Tzus (and hubby) last weekend. They hopped up on the bed and laid there with her. Animals always cheer you up!

I have been crocheting baby hats like a possessed woman. I really enjoy it, and it helps pass the time all the hours I'm sitting there with such a "quiet" companion! The only bad thing, is now I'm having to sit in an ugly, hard waiting room chair for hours at a time, instead of being curled up in a nice comfy recliner like I was for the first 2 weeks. That's my mission for this weekend, to round up another comfortable chair.

I talked to the head of the Heart and Stroke Clinic yesterday, and the waiting list at the Glenrose is very long right now due to a large amount of strokes over Christmas. Mom is #9 on the list and they guesstimate that she will get transferred up there near the end of the month. I can also tell you that Mom does NOT WANT TO GO! She needs to though. No matter what the outcome, she will achieve the highest quality of life going forward by going there.

A huge thank you to all the friends and family who have visited, phoned or sent emails and prayers for Mom. I read her every one.

So for now, we wait, and while we wait, we do a lot of laughing. It sure beats weeping!
---
Thanks, Mom, for this wonderful post! She and my Grandma are both so strong. Thanks to you all who are reading this and who have cared so much to ask for updates on Grandma. Again, I know the pics are all in the wrong places, but I don't know how to fix them...you get the point!

1 Week Later

It was about this time last week when I got the news of Grandma's stroke. I can't believe it's been that long already, that's how it feels to me, anyway. Due to scheduling problems, which happened to work in my favor, I was able to cancel my two night shifts last night and tonight, so Braden and I packed up and headed to go see Poppy and GG yesterday. I think Mom was really excited to see Braden, he sure brightens spirits wherever he goes! Be it other patients and their family members laughing and me chasing Braden down the hospital hallways...the nurses laughing as I chase Braden out of their staff room...or a sweet itty bitty asking me "where's the Roadrunner today?"

I am happy to report that Grandma looks SO much better 1 week later. She can now swallow and even feed herself, she's off of her IV fluids, and was sitting up in bed, very alert and smiling at me when I went to see her last night. Braden gave his GG a big kiss...and then ran, and ran, and ran, and then ran some more all around the hospital.

She does physio (PT) every day and Mom said she's very determined and completes it all and doesn't quit early, even when the PT asks her if she wants to. Go, Grandma, Go! She answers yes and no questions, she still has the sparkle in her eye, and she's been practicing writing with her left (non-dominant) hand on a white board, and even played Yahtzee with me on my iPad today!

A lot of people have been asking me lots of questions about how things will be like for her with her recovery. The truth of the matter is, I wish I could tell you, I'm sure Grandma wishes she knew, but we just don't know. Recovery from a stroke varies patient to patient so much, that there's just no way to predict.

I thank you all so much for your texts, tweets, comments, and emails asking how Grandma is doing. Grandma is a faithful reader of this blog, Mom has been keeping her up to speed on her iPad, so if you have anything you would like my Grandma and/or Mom to see, please leave a comment, they get read!

An Update on Grandma

I sit here on my couch, with my dog beside me, Jay and Miles on the other couch, and my baby boy (yes, he's still my baby) sound asleep for over 1 hour already. Pretty much all I can think of is my Grandma lying in her hospital bed, with my Momsie and Uncle Steve close by. I wrote a post the other day asking for your prayers, and I thank you for the lovely comments and prayers. I have truly felt them. I asked my Mom if she thought it would be okay if I blogged about Grandma, so here it goes.

I was on my way to work and at 19:10 I saw my Mom was calling me. I didn't have my hands free set in, so I just let it go to voice mail. Once it was safe, I called my voice mail and it was a once sentence message: "Hi, it's Mom, call me back...it's important.". I immediately called her back and what I heard absolutely shook me to my core:

"Grandma had a stroke."

 I told Mom I had to pull over and call her back when it was safe. The tears started. The shock set in. I just can't believe it. I saw her 2 days ago on Christmas morning. Everything was fine. Now she's had a stroke? She can't talk? She can't move?

In the morning Grandma couldn't move her right wrist while doing laundry. It felt numb. She called the Health Link line and the nurse told her to go to ER. My Grandma's wonderfully amazing neighbour took Grandma to emerg. It must have been taking a long time, and my Grandma being impatient, decided to leave. On the way home, Grandma's neighbour asked her if she wanted to grab some lunch...to look over and see Grandma's face start to droop and she couldn't answer her questions. She turned right back around to the hospital, had a CT scan and was diagnosed with a left hemispheric ischemic stroke.

Effects of a left hemispheric stroke are:

• Weakness or paralysis on the right side of your body. Trouble reading, talking, thinking or doing math.
• Your behaviour may become more slow and cautious than usual.
• You may have trouble learning or remembering new information.
• You may need frequent instructions and feedback to finish tasks.

[source]

The bolded information is what Grandma is experiencing right now. That, along with pain to the affected (right) side and dysphagia (trouble swallowing). She also has had atrial fibrillation for years, which is my educated guess as to what caused her stroke. 

Many of you have asked me how she is doing, and I wish I could tell you. I can tell you what I see as a nurse, but I don't know how she is. Grandma is still compus mentis or "with it", if you will. She recognizes all of us and can still use the left side of her body. She gave my hand such nice, strong squeezes when I got there to see her. She can give a half smile and a silent chuckle too. Right now she is just so tired. Having a stroke is such a major event, such a stress on the body, that companied with the morphine for the pain in her right arm and chronic back pain also add to the sleepiness. Her doctor told us her brain is still swelling from the injury, so that can make her tired as well. The good news is, that she can swallow! That is huge news.

Now...we wait and see. There's no predicting what could happen, her prognosis, how long she will have. Days? Months? Years? Only God knows. I just ask that you continue to pray, please. For comfort and for peace. I just don't want my Grandma to suffer - physically or mentally.

My Grandma is so much more than "just" a Grandma to me. I've always had such a special bond with her, I'm her only granddaughter too. Grandma was a nurse and and I wanted to be just like Grandma when I grew up. She was a nurse, I am a nurse. She married a farmer, I married a farmer. I lived with her for 1 school year and the summer that I graduated. It is so hard for me to see such a strong, independent woman like her, in this condition. That being said, I cannot imagine how hard this must be for her.

I will continue to update on the blog and will be going up to see her by the end of next week. Thanks for your love, thoughts, prayers, concerns, and comments. 

I just donated $100 to the Heart & Stroke Foundation for their Year End campaign. I encourage you to donate as well if you can.

Have a Prayer to Spare?

I truly believe in the power of prayer. I got some bad news that absolutely shook me to my core on the way to work last night. I don't want to go into detail at this time on the blog, but it involves my Grandma, Braden's GG. I've always had a very special bond with my Grandma, and her health isn't the best right now...which is such a shock because I last saw her Christmas morning just fit as a fiddle. She's in hospital and I'm praying, praying, praying that she will get better. So I'd like you to send a little prayer for her and for my family at this time. Today my Braden is 23 months old and I'm off on a 2 hour drive to visit my Grandma and see my Mom. I'm not apologizing, because I don't ever feel that I have to post on this blog, but for obvious reasons things are going to be slow. I have Braden's 23 month post done, except for his picture as a certain someone wasn't cooperating when I tried to cheat and take it early yesterday :)

Thanks, friends!

Another Visit to the ER

[Please see updates at the end of this post!]

So this is ER visit #3 for Braden in his 19 months of life...he had a visit when he was 27 weeks in utero...but I won't count that! The first visit was for a weekend ear infection before Christmas, not too much of a biggy, the second visit was for balanitis (scary stuff, especially for Daddy!), and now the third visit for a possible fractured foot!

So what ended up happening was, this AM before lunch Braden was running around Auntie Joy's house and as it happens quite frequently with his fat little toddler feet, he tripped and fell down. Then he cried, as is what also happens sometimes. We cuddled, we snuggled (which is always nice for a change vs. the chasing and running)...but then he wouldn't walk. He tried to walk, but wouldn't weight bear on his left foot. I palpated his ankles, no crepitus, palpated his foot bones...ooh, he kinda withdrew when I palpated under his big toe on the top of his foot. A dose of Advil as we excited Joy's and off to Walmart we went. Surely a few Thomas treats would make him feel better? (I am such a suck! He's not even old enough to ask for treats yet!)

A quick stop at McD's for a grilled cheese to go, a not-so-quick stop at the neverending Tim Horton's drive-through for iced capp's for Daddy & Papa and off we were! I thought surely a good 2 or 3 or (fingers crossed) 4 hour nap and my little man would be back up and running in no time!

...1.5 hours later...

Crying. Sobbing. Not happy Braden. :( Sad. Upset. Helpless Mommy. I went in to see what was up, and the crying stopped and in a little whimpery voice he said "soosa? soosa?" (soother). He immediately found it himself, plopped it back up to those sweet quivering lips, I said "night night?" he laid down, rolled over and would surely go back to sleep...

He was quiet for about 20 minutes but then I had to go in for the rescue. We read some books by the light sneaking in from the hallway, I hoped he would doze off and I could lay him back down...but he was up. Grandma S was here making some supper and I gently put Braden down on the floor...but then the crying started again :( Still not weight bearing? I thought even if he sprained or twisted his ankle, he should be able to walk on it by now? Who am I to know what a soft tissue injury would feel like to a 19 month old? Braden is a pretty tough cookie, so I figured if he wasn't walking it must really hurt. My nurse brain was arguing with my mommy brain:

"Oh he'll be fine, just give him some Advil and let him sleep it off, he'll be good to go in the morning". - NB

"But he can't even STAND on his left leg? That has to mean SOMETHING!?" - MB

After a phone call to my mom, Jay, and a colleague at the ER, off we went to see which brain would win, Mommy Brain won and it was off to emerg. It was super busy, but luckily pretty much the only card we as ER nurses hold, was used and the girls snuck us in and out about as fast as you can on a busy shift like they were having (THANK YOU!) The doc said that there were no obvious fractures in his foot, but in little feet the little bones can "move around" a lot so the xray wasn't necessarily definitive. The deal is, is that if Braden isn't running around like his crazy self showing any improvement by Sunday morning, we have to bring him back for reassessment and likely a 1/2 cast for 10 days. Eek. Just say a little prayer that by the time most of you are reading this in the morning that my little guy will be running around, or at least walking, or at the very least weight bearing?

Also, Braden is now 26 lbs 12 oz! That's over a pound gained in a month - I knew he was growing!

On a totally unrelated note, I'm going to start doing "Flashback Friday". It's posting a picture of anytime in the past (a flashback, if you will ahhhhhthankyou!). I'm going to try to do it to the day, or as close to the day as I can. Here is Braden last year plus 1 day:

Go Esks Go!! Still a crazy kid!

*Updates*

• 0715 - Wake-up. Daddy meets us at the end of the hall and Braden hesitantly feather-weight bears (FWB) putting minimal pressure on his left heel
• 0806 - Will only take 1 heel step to Mommy...doesn't want to walk yet :(
• 0925 - Kind of forgets about foot and walks over to Mommy to bring me a book, kind of ouchie! But he still did it! FWB on his heel/outer foot now
• 1003 - Cousin Luke is here....what? His foot hurt? Pretty much up and running, literally! :)

I Am Going to do a.....

TRIATHLON!!! I can't believe I'm actually writing the words, because I detest running, biking hurts my arse, and I love swimming...but my arms don't! But, in the next 11 months I hope to tolerate...maybe even like running, get my butt in shape (literally and figuratively), and strengthen my arms so I can swim like a fish!

I will actually be doing a 1/2 triathlon in the Tri-Smore 2nd annual triathlon next June with my friends Carley and Lindsay from work! It`s 12 laps of the pool, a 5 km bike ride and a 2.5 km run. Carley and I talked about this the other day at Stampede and Lindsay has done a few, if I remember correctly. It will be so nice to have some girls to train with, it will get me out of the house, something to do, and a goal to look forward to. I've always admired my friends who have done triathlons and marathons...but just the idea of running totally turns me off on the idea.

I am doing this for me, not to see how fast I can do it or what place I come in, but just to prove to myself that I can do it. People look at me or see pictures of me and tell me that I look good and/or that I'm thin...and yeah. I think I look good and got lucky and lost all the baby weight and maybe a bit more, but I didn't do anything to lose it. I just breastfed and went on the odd walk. I might look good, but I don't feel good. I`m not in shape by any means and not toned in the least. Wish me luck and journey with me on my updates of training and eventually competing/completing my first 1/2 triathlon!

Jay is totally supportive of this and we went on a bike ride last night...probably about 2.5 km...and I nearly died. Felt great doing it, butt is sore as always, but because I truly haven`t been active for what seems like years, I`m not gonna lie - I kinda wanted to puke a little bit! Oh good time! And actually, the Tri-Smore is open to all ages so Braden is going to do his first triathlon, with the help of Daddy, with Mommy....it will be so cute!

Sick? Teething? Growing?

I am SO sick of over-analyzing Braden lately. I didn't end up taking him to his doc's appointment in Drumheller yesterday because we ended up taking Danika for a a sleepover, it snowed a bunch, and I didn't want to take "the boy who loves to sleep" for a 1.5 hour round-trip to Drum, plus wait time, plus exam time...for something I'm still not 100% sure about. I can't make up my mommy/nurse brain if he's truly sick (still coughing quite badly and a bit of a runny nose again this morning), if he's just teething (but we've thought that for 8 months now), or if he's sleeping so much, a bit fussy/sucky because he's growing. Maybe it's a combination of all 3? If we lived like 15 minutes away from our doc I'd have no problem taking him in...I've actually left a message for a family friend who is one of the docs in Strathmore's nurses...to see if she'll sneak us in this week. I talked to the ER doc last night about Braden's symptoms and he thought it sounded like bronchiolitis. He is definitely not a severe case, he definitely wouldn't need antibiotics if that is the case, it's a viral infection...he could maybe benefit from an inhaler if anything. I feel like "taking" a Ventolin from work...but I just can't!

I actually just got a phone call and we got in to see the doc in Strathmore tomorrow! I'm really happy that we will hopefully get this sorted out once and for all. Poor little guy just sounds awful in the morning. :(

Naked Baby!

I have been a bad Blogger. But I've been sooooooooooo busy! I'm working like crazy! I haven't worked this much for a long time, because I really didn't work too much when I was pregnant. It sure is different being pregnant and not when working! I had a wonderful, uneventful pregnancy, but just the extra energy and weight you have to carry around make it that much harder!

Anyways, enough of my excuses. I really don't have much to say, Braden's "little guy" is back to normal and for some reason this kid loooooooooves his antibiotics! He goes crazy for Keflex!! How many moms can say that about their kids? His eyes light up like he's getting dessert when he gets his dose after every meal! But every night before bath time I still give him about 15 minutes or so of nudey time, just to air out his bum. Those little blisters that were on his tummy are now gone, but he's getting a rash/eczema(??) to his arms and back now. It is probably from the Keflex/cold/dry weather that we've been having. It is clearing up a bit with Aveeno eczema lotion, but I bet it will go away 100% when the weather warms up and he's done his antibiotics.

It's been twins twins twins the last 2 days for us. We went to Carley's house yesterday and he played with Liam & Paige who are 8 weeks younger than him and then today Katie came over for a visit with Jordyn & Kalia, who are 2.5 years old. Here's a pic I took yesterday from my BlackBerry, and mom is working hard to find Braden one of those cars - he loved it!!

Well, that's about all for now...so much more to do but I'm wiped and going to start the going to bed process!

Praise God

We are just on our way back from Braden's 2nd visit to ER in his little life. The first time was for bilateral ear infections, this time, to put it politely was because his "pee pee" was swollen, red, and VERY painful. My poor little man.

On our way in, I said a silent little prayer that Braden would be okay and that God would take care of him. Luckily his area drained on the way over to ER and it was an infection easily treated with antibiotics. Jay said a silent prayer praising God that Braden was okay, while I was getting his prescription, and instantly saw a flying star. Praise God, he answers all our prayers one way or another.

Sarah
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.

Not All Firsts are Worth Celebrating...

If any of you have been talking to me this week or following my status updates on Facebook, you know Braden hasn't been feeling well. It all started last Sunday when he got his first fever 38.2 degrees. Nothing too out of the ordinary otherwise, but this time I could see that darn top left tooth - tooth #3. He was having a helluva time cutting that darn thing and the few times he let me see/feel it I could tell how painful it must be for him. I'm sure glad we don't remember our teething experiences, it seems like torture. On Sunday night he was super, super cuddly and snuggly, which is not normal for him. We definitely liked that part, as usually he's too busy to do that now...but we knew something was wrong. This continued on through Wednesday and his fever was worst right before I went out for my first solo evening sans the boys. He was 38.9 degrees, but you'd never really know to look at him. Jay said he was in bed by 6PM! He would sleep 14 hours that night and the next night. He fussed a bit but he settled himself back down right away.That is one blessing for all of us with Braden being sick this week - he's a sleeper. He sleeps about 18 hours a day when he's sick - at least. 13-14 hours at night with 4-5 hours of naps a day. Plus he's had sinus congestion (I'm diagnosing) as in the mornings he wakes up with thick yucky "stuff" in/out/around his nose. Poor guy, I don't know how he breaths. That has been getting less and less each day.

Here's some pics of our poor boy. This was last Sunday when he had a 3.5 hour afternoon nap. He tried to "get up" about 1.5 hours into his nap and ended up finishing his nap like this:

And whoever said that bumper pads in cribs are a big no-no...I beg to differ!

And here is that same night (the first night, 1 week ago) snuggles with Jay:

He was sooooo out of it! :(

I found that in the morning after a good night's sleep he would be quite cuddly and nurse extra-long, but then after a dose of Advil - magic! I had my happy boy back, all day...until after his 2nd nap. Then he would be fussy and whiney and could barely stay up an hour before he had to go back down to sleep. Here's a couple of pics of a good afternoon we had this week. I put him down for a nap, but he just played in his crib for 45 mins and this is what I saw when I went in:

Standing up again! So proud of himself.

So he didn't wanna nap yet, so I got him up and we played in his room. This is his new favorite activity in his room, opening the doors of his closet, standing by the bottom shelf and playing with the music toys

Here's the video of him "dancing" to the Winnie the Pooh song:

And then he turned into this:

That is just so his "not himself" look. Time for a real nap this time.

Anyways, so here we are a week later and this morning he woke up early for what we're used to, 6:45. And he would NOT settle no matter what either of us did. Jay thought it was like he was in pain and just didn't know what to do to settle himself. So after hmmm'ing and hawww'ing I texted the ER doc to ask if I could pop in so he could take a quick peek at Braden's ears. He said absolutely, so I did and sure enough - first ear infections, both sides. Poor guy! The only true symptoms he had started last night when he wouldn't let me take his temperature in his ears - he cried and kept turning his head and the same this morning. So he's on his first antibiotics right now for 10 days. He hasn't had a fever since Thursday, and it was low-grade at that. I've kept giving him Advil and Tylenol too. He's had 2 doses of antibiotics today and he was finally normal again tonight. His appetite has been very poor this whole week, especially for supper, but  he finally ate a full meal and played after supper. Hopefully this is the end of this sick time for Braden and these ear infections will clear up soon. I really pray that he doesn't have constant ear infections throughout his life, they are really hard on kids and such a pain to deal with!

A Boy and His Dog

I took these pictures of Braden and Kihei on Sunday morning because they looked so cute! I think they will be just best of friends when Braden is old enough to get into a bit of trouble with her. I'm already thinking I should never teach him how to unclasp her leash, she'll probably convince him to set her free!

We had a great weekend with my Mom and Dad here. They went to the dinner theatre on Friday night and then Jay and I got to go to the matinee on Saturday as they babysat Braden, so everybody wins! Trust me, if you have a chance to go see "We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" in Rosebud - GO! It is absolutely hysterical and is a full-on comedy. Love, love, loved it!

In other news, as Jay put it, our family is like a game of Jenga right now. You know: "jenga, jenga, j-j-j-jenga. you take a block from the bottom and you put it on top, you take a block from the middle and you put it on top. That's how you build the tower; you just don't stop. You keep building that tower putting blocks on top. It teeters and it totters, but you don't give up; it weebles and it wobbles, but you build it on up." So we've got two new babies in the family, Deah is still in the hospital with no signs of getting discharged anytime soon, Jay's mom is "super-Grandma" caring for the Clark girls all day/evening during the weekdays, Joy is getting ready to go to Houston to get their house ready to sell...oh! And seeding is just around the corner, and I seem to be the only adult female that will be around to provide meals unless something miraculous is about to happen. We can only pray!

4 Days Later...And a Few Steps Back...

My poor little man has had this darn congested cold for 4 days now and it's showing no signs of improving, and actually this morning I thought he sounded the worst he has. So the "few steps back" part of the title means that he has not been sleeping well at all. The night he got the cold (before he was showing symptoms) he didn't sleep great, then he went back to his waking once during the night, and now we're back to newborn sleeping where he sleeps an average of 2 hours at a time and wakes up. Poor little guy, he's not even hungry when he wakes up, just uncomfortable. We went from sleeping through the night after Lisa's wedding back to the newborn phase. I've tried aspirating from his nose and there's nothing really there, it's all in his throat/upper chest. The humidifier doesn't seem to be working, he didn't have a long nap like he usually does today...I'm at a loss as to what to do. I ran a hot shower and sat with him in the bathroom to get a steam, did some light chest physio on him...now I just wait it out I guess....unless you have any suggestions? I've tried keeping him mostly upright during the day so it's easier on his chest, but he only sleeps for maybe 1/2 hour in the swing. At least he's still smiley as ever and the last couple of days he's actually started "talking" to us, which has been really special. It's almost like he's teething, but I've felt and I can't feel any teeth popping through. He's been drooling a bit more and constantly has his hands in his mouth - which usually means hunger - but not lately. Hmphhh. So mysterious these little babies!

Well, I plan on taking it easy with the boys this weekend. Hopefully Braden will feel much better next week. Speaking of feeling better...Deah is slowly on the mend. She has a chest tube now and they've drained a lot of fluid off, so she is feeling better. We're thinking of her and hoping she can make a full recovery and get home to her kids soon.

Braden's First Cold :(

I kept crossing my fingers that somehow with all my hand washing and Lysol spraying that Braden wouldn't catch our colds...but inevitably he did. You'd really never know he was sick because he's still his smiley self, but Jay got him up this morning and said he was coughing (he always coughs a bit on his back when he plays), but more than usual and he sounded congested. Sure enough I noticed the same. It makes sense to me now why he had such a bad sleep night last night! He slept 2 hours, ate, slept 1.5 hours, ate...and then struggled to get 5 hours of sleep as he was coughing and couldn't settle himself with his thumb like he usually does. I was so frustrated as to why he wouldn't settle and sleep because he had no cold symptoms until this morning. Poor little guy! :(

But here he is...happy as always and talking to Mommy!

Speaking of ill people, Deah is back admitted in the hospital with anemia and pneumonia. Prayers for her health would be much appreciated, as well for the rest of the whole family who is making sacrifices in their lives to help her family out.

I Just Want To Sleep!

I haven't really slept in coming up 2 days. All I want is to sleep! I have a wonderful baby who is loving sleep and I can't take advantage of it! :( I don't know if this ever happens to you when you're sick, but I'm producing a disgustingly large amount of excess saliva...and I literally have to swallow (or could spit if I wanted) every 30 seconds or so. It is so incredibly ANNOYING! This has happened to me when I've been sick before and I have no idea how to stop it. Sigh.

I hate being sick. No one likes it, but especially not me, cuz I literally get sick about once or maybe twice a year. I have a super powered immune system from all the crap I'm exposed to at work so it just doesn't happen that often. I've still got a stuffy/runny nose, scratchy throat and now this gross saliva issue. No meds seems to be helping. For my birthday (today!) I just want to be not sick, especially because it's Lisa's wedding tomorrow!

Okay, I suppose I'm done my pity party now...

We're Online Again!

Did you miss me? We've been internetless since Tuesday and weren't able to get anyone until today to fix it. Quite a shock to the system when we're so reliable on the internet these days. At least I had my BlackBerry as a backup for my emails and Facebook connection!

So what's been going on this week? I worked a "little" 4-10 PM shift on Monday evening and it was INSANE!!! We were so busy with fairly acutely ill patients and a very busy waiting room and I ran and I ran and I ran! It was a big wake-up call to me that if we are going to possibly be that busy for my last 2 shifts next week, I better at least cancel one of them...so I did! My last official day of work will be next Wednesday, and I canceled the Thursday shift. It's a good thing I did, because it turns out that Thursday at 4 is the only appointment available for my 38 week visit.

Speaking of appointments, my 37 week appointment went very well. Jay was able to come with me and baby is measuring exactly on time, my blood pressure is holding out (I'm actually still quite low - 102/65!), and the baby remains head down. I haven't felt like anything is about to happen...so my prediction is that this baby won't come early. Hopefully right on time - that'd be great!

On Tuesday Jay and I took a trip into Calgary so that I could buy one of the most coveted items on Baby's Wish List which is this little beauty:
This is the Graco Sweetpeace Newborn Soothing Centre! What a mouthful! It came highly recommended to me from everyone I heard about it. I was never going to pay the retail $280 for it (yikes), but I thought if someone wanted to buy it for us as a gift I would gladly accept it! So out of boredom, which tends to affect my bank account, I searched for a used one on Kijiji. Et voila! A gently used one for less than half the price! Score! The lady was super nice, I brought it home, took it apart, washed all the washables and scrubbed the rest with all the elbow grease I had and some disinfectant wipes and it looks brand new. I'm so excited about this swing....and of course the future occupant of it.

As far as the house goes....yeah not much to report. Nothing has been done since December 23rd until today. "It's too cold". Luckily we've got a really great forecast over the weekend and into next week so hopefully they can really bear down and get a lot of work done. We're working on designing our kitchen right now, which I'm really excited about.

Which brings us to today. I met Lisa for lunch in the city, and it was so nice to see her! It just might be the last time I see her before the baby and I absolutely LOVE the gift she got for us and baby, another coveted item, a Baby Roo sling! Thanks so much, Lisa! Mom is here for the weekend, so it should be a good one!!

Oh the relief!!

I feel like a million bucks!! I have gone for regular chiropractic care since spring of 2007. I have continued going about once per month since I got pregnant to keep everything in proper alignment, but my SI joint on my right side has been tight for months and months now. It's not painful, but just...annoying!! Well, today - relief!! My chiropractor finally was able to adjust it after literally trying to pull my right leg off! He adjusted the left SI joint adjusting me from my side, but the right was way too tight to do it from my side, so instead he adjusted it by pulling my leg a couple of times - he was really yanking on it, but I'm so thankful because it worked!

I also had a prental appointment today and all is still well! Baby remains head down and got a little excited today and the heart rate was 160! The only time it's been that high was in all 3 of my ultrasounds. I am still measuring the same, my fundal height growing about 1 cm every week. I'm gaining weight like a champ and I hope that most of it is going to baby! I want a nice little, chubby, healthy baby. I have one more"every 2 weeks" apointment at 36 weeks and then I see him every week until I'm due! I can't believe there's only 10 days left until Christmas Eve. We'll do what we always do and celebrate with my family and then come back to the farm for Christmas day. Christmas will sure be a lot different next year...I imagine it will be a lot more fun!!

No Mexico for Us

Many of you probably knew that we were supposed to be in Mexico right now enjoying our second night (and our one last vacation before we become parents!) at the Gran Bahia Principe Coba resort at the Mayan Riviera, with my mom and dad. Due to the passing of Jay's grandpa, we decided it would be best to cancel the trip and to stay at home and be with family to attend the memorial service. I have absolutely no regrets about doing so, but I can't help but wonder what it would be like...

For more than the memorial service, it's a good thing we didn't end up going, I think God was sending us some pretty obvious signs! We are still struggling to get our mortgage in order (don't get me started!) so we can keep the house-building project going, and if we hadn't stayed at home, our project would have been delayed at least 2 weeks as they required the last payment for our house package this week and neglected to even tell us! It's also important for us to stay at home right now because of Kihei. We'd never let her be the sole reason for us canceling a vacation, but she has caused her 'parents' a lot of stress the last few weeks, and I feel better staying at home so we can keep an eye on her. I don't want to get into details, I've had an amazing pregnancy thus far, but we had a scare 2 weeks ago that took us to the ER one morning, and that also made me realize that if anything more were to happen, I want to be in Canada for the remainder of my pregnancy! Everything has been absolutely perfect since, and they couldn't find the cause for the trouble I was having. Also, Mom and Dad are in Mexico right now, but they almost didn't make it down! Hurricane Ida was brewing up quite the storm at the Mayan Riviera and their flight was delayed by a day and therefore they lost a whole day of their vacation! Hoping you have a wonderful holiday, Mom and Dad, come home safe and relaxed!

We will probably have a little mountain getaway at the end of the month to Banff. It's nice to be so close to the Rockies!

Hot Topic: H1N1 Vaccination

Well, after great debate I finally "took the plunge" (yes, pun intended) and got my H1N1 vaccination yesterday. Ouch!! I've heard differing things about what hurt more: the seasonal flu shot or the H1N1 flu shot? Well the initial puncture and injection of the flu shot hurt more...but I couldn't even sleep on my right side because my muscle hurt so much from the H1N1 vaccine! But, in my opinion, a small price to pay.

I was on the fence about getting this vaccine for a long time, mostly because I wasn't educated enough. There sure are a lot of myths about the vaccine and H1N1 out there. But after visiting http://www.fightflu.ca and talking to colleagues at work, I felt like I could make an informed decision - which ended up being a no-brainer. I had to work an evening shift in ER on Tuesday, and after wearing a mask and triaging every other patient with "flu-like symptoms" and hearing that there are pregnant women hospitalized in ICU on ventilators....oh the horror!! So I went out to the reserve yesterday because a wonderful little birdie told me that you could get in and out in 10 minutes vs. the up to 6 hour wait in the city. My mother-in-law waiting 3 hours to get her shot in town yesterday!

I still don't think there's any need to panic. It's just a fact that H1N1 is out there now. There are some patients that have to be hosipitalized because they're complications can get severe...but the important thing to realized is that not all people who contract H1N1 will end up in the hospital, the ICU, or dead. I find this is the biggest myth of all. More people will die of the seasonal flu this year than H1N1, but it's just scary that H1N1 can attack the healthy people more easily than the seasonal flu.

Do I recommend you to get the vaccine? Absolutely, but it's absolutely your own choice! My biggest recommendation is to STAY AT HOME IF YOU HAVE FLU SYMPTOMS!!! This includes, but is not limited to: fever, cough, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, sore throat. Good hand hygiene is essential, but there is no need to isolate yourselves in your home and live in a bubble!