Summer's Storm

We had no idea the storm that was going to be hitting us.  

This was Summer on Monday.  She had fever beginning Friday night and a really bad, non-stop cough and as I stated in my previous post I finally went to the doctor on Monday.  I was told that she had a fever virus that was aggravating her asthma and to do breathing treatments every four hours.

 

Although, the doctor told me to watch it for 48 hours, by the next morning I could tell there wasn't any improvement and I called for another appointment.

My poor little girl was coughing her head off and struggling to breathe.  Turns out her oxygen levels were low so they put her on an oral steroid to work in combination with the breathing treatments.

Wednesday morning, as you can see she still wasn't herself (forgive my post workout appearance).  The oral steroids weren't showing improvements like I had seen when she has taken them before.  This mama started to get ticked off...my baby should NOT have fever for 6 days and a doctor tell me it is OK.  The day had been long and when Zane woke up from his afternoon nap I popped them in the car for a drive.  I decided to call the doctor to get an appointment for the next day (as I knew my doctor was out of the office).  They said I would have to wait to schedule the next morning or I could come now (5:15pm).  I hadn't planned on getting out of the car but thought it might be a good idea to see a different doctor for a different set of eyes. 

 When we got there her oxygen level was 88 which is not good.  Even after a breathing treatment it did not improve and the doctor said we needed to go to the hospital.  OK. I tried to keep it calm.  Then the doctor came back in the room and said that we needed to go in an ambulance.  WOW, I had to breath deep after that information.  Summer lost it and started crying hysterically.  Zane, was in the baby bjorn and was on his very best behavior (thank you God).  I tried to call Chad and my mom but the background noise of crying felt like I couldn't really communicate.  When the ambulance arrived they said that Zane could not ride in the ambulance and that I could drive behind and meet them at the hospital.  Say WHAT?! No way am I letting my 3 year old, who is already terrified, ride alone in an ambulance.  The pediatrician nurse offered to drive my car with Zane and meet me there.  I was relieved and said yes without a second thought. 

I was able to calm Summer down once inside.  We said a prayer and tried to appreciate this "once in a lifetime" ambulance ride.

When we got to the hospital room Summer asked me, "Where I bed?" I told her that she was sitting on it.  She responded, "But it not pink."  Luckily, Nana brought her pink blanket (along with all of our other nighttime necessities) to the hospital that night and made her more comfortable. 
Next question, what do we do with Zane.  He has to be with me since I am nursing and I don't want to leave Summer (even though daddy was there) yet I feel that it is too germy for a baby.  I spoke with the doctor and he thought that we would be fine as long as we stayed in our room and don't walk the halls.  So all four of us had a spend the night party in the hospital. 
That night, they taped the oxygen line up her nose in preparation, thinking that once she fell asleep her levels would drop.  Surprisingly her oxygen levels stayed up.  By 4:30am, I requested that the tubes be removed as they were causing her MAJOR grief...it was sad.  And so they did.  And after that time, her levels dropped and they had to put them back on.  Oh, that was sad because she fought it going in the second time.  We requested an oxygen mask and although it was against their policy, they rigged one for her.  

On Thursday, they continued to diagnose Summer with a viral virus in the lungs and no medicine.  She was still doing breathing treatments and her oral steroid.  Coughing remained non-stop yet her fever had gone away.  Thankfully Nana came to visit both days to lift her spirit and give Mama and Zane a chance to go home and take a nap and shower.

 We are so grateful for our church group, family and friends who came by to bring us meals and gifts.  And all of the prayers from everybody everywhere.  God's love was shown in such an obvious way.

Friday the doctor said that Summer was stable enough for him to feel comfortable with her recovering at home.  I asked about a chest x-ray and so he did one (pictured below, Summer was unsure about the unknown of an x-ray).  He said it came back showing a nasty viral virus of the lungs.  He told us that she was "as contagious as any other kid on the playground" and when I asked about her cough and being in public, like church, he said he would allow Summer to be in the same classroom as his kids.  Ok. We were discharged Friday night and thrilled to be going home.

We came home Friday night and Mimi flew in to stay with us.  Over the weekend Summer's cough continued to be non-stop and so hard that she started throwing up/hacking. She would cough and hack about every ten minutes.  If I coughed as much as she has over the past 12 days, I would have six pack abs by now!  Monday, we went to the pediatricians office for a follow up appointment with a different doctor in the practice.  Her oxygen levels were low again.  Once we got in the exam room I could see that she looked pale.  They gave her a breathing treatment and this doctor suggested she get tested for walking pneumonia.  I asked if that was contagious and she said Yes.  I was then upset...we had just been told that she was "as contagious as any other kid on the playground." What if I had sent her to church or school?! 

Earlier in the week the doctors office pricked her finger for blood to test for pneumonia and it was negative but VERY traumatic.  Therefore, to have to go down to the lab and have a needle stuck in her arm and draw out a large amount of blood was literally making me jittery.  I was trying to stay calm but I knew I was leading her into the lion's den and she was clueless.  God was with us and it was actually less traumatic than the finger prick.  Ironically, they did not do any blood work in the hospital...leading me to have a lot of questions about the quality care we received. 
Test results came back Monday (yesterday) that Summer has walking pneumonia.  I was thrilled that there is medicine that she could begin taking.  She took one dose last night and slept thru the entire night without coughing and no breathing treatments! She hasn't done that in the past 12 days! However, I couldn't sleep for getting upset and frustrated that the cure was so easy if only diagnosed accurately!  I googled walking pneumonia and she had EVERY symptom! I feel that the doctors jumped to the diagnosis of virus, which has no treatment, without ruling other illnesses out.  In fact, I had to push them to do a chest x-ray.  I even asked if taking antibiotics could harm anything and they said yes.
Summer has had 3 doses of antibiotics and is doing dramatically better.  She is back to her old tricks of drawing our her bedtime like usual with every question and "gotta tell you something" but this is not over yet.  We have another appointment on Thursday and I really hope to get some answers from the doctor as to why this was missed over and over and how I can better advocate for my children in the future.
Our Bible lesson on Sunday was so fitting (watched online), in Luke 8:22-25 Jesus led his disciples into a storm.  He knew it would cause them fear and grief but he did it to strengthen their faith.  I can tell you that the storm we just went through with Summer, and the outpouring of Christian love we received increased my faith.  God never let's go of his children and I can always lean on him for strength.

Just like you (Zane_5 month)

Just like you we have our share of troubles.  This little girl has been fighting a fever virus for the past 5 days.  After trying to treat it different ways I finally got so confused that I called the doctor and we went in for a visit.  Summer has asthma but it doesn't come across a dramatic asthma attack with wheezing...for her, it is a persistent cough that wears her down until her little eyelids are only half open.  Sad, right.
Coughing=Asthma, Coughing=Asthma, Coughing=Asthma...I seem to forget that and always think it is something else first. You would think that I would have figured that out after doing daily breathing treatments for 8 months this fall, winter, spring.  I am a mom-in-training!

Today our little guy Zane is 5 months old!  Since we were just at the doctor yesterday I weighed him and he came in at 17 lb 13 oz.  That's over a pound and a half gain since last month.

At 5 months Zane likes:

• To eat: rice cereal, oatmeal, applesauce, bananas, sweet potatoes
• To be held by his Mama
• Baby Bjorn, facing outwards
• Eating his hands
• Baby Einstein DVD, Baby Mozart
• Bath time-he and big sister have splash contests
• Routine, Routine, Routine in his own house!

At 5 months Zane dislikes:

• Car rides
• Sleeping through the night, prefers a few snacks in the night
• Sleeping in public
• Avocados or Peas
• Taking a bottle

We have a love/hate relationship with the miracle blanket.  Zane loves the swaddle feeling however when he wakes in the night it is my opinion that he wants to eat his hands but can't get to them.  Unswaddle him you might recommend.  Well, he doesn't know what to do with his hands and doesn't just suck a thumb like most kids.  Instead he beats himself up and gets ALL WORKED UP!
However, after last night I had to try something different and I was willing to let him cry through his nap this morning...I mean really, what does sleep mean to me anymore anyways.  He cried for about 5 minutes but then got comfortable.  I tip toed in and took a picture to document.  I do believe that he is still breathing but he often puts his hands over his eyes while nursing so that is what he is doing here.  He is in the sleep sack with his arms tucked in, rather than out the arm holes, to try to keep him semi-swaddled.

The Happier Version of Zane

Zane has a new squeal! Much happier than the scream.

Finding Joy

Secret is out...Zane isn't perfect!  In fact, he's a screamer.  I like to think of it as he really really really loves his mama.  So much that when he wakes up and realizes I am not with him, he screams for me.  And when he can't see me in the car, he screams for me. 

One day last week I had to run a long errand across town.  He first got perturbed by having to stop at a red light and one thing led to another which led to a sleepy child and all h.e.l.l broke loose.  It turned into a 45 minute scream fest and I was having to pull Bible verses to keep sane!  I thought how can I find JOY in this trial...well at least I have a car that he can hate to drive around in. 

As we were pulling into the Walmart parking lot, I made this 30 second video to send to Chad to explain to him why I was in a bad mood.  This type of nerve damage just doesn't fade by 5pm (keep in mind I had been listening to this nonstop for 45 minutes).

*Beware this video is of a screaming baby*

 

I'm going to try to blame some of this on early teething.  He has his hands or fists in his mouth ALL.THE.TIME. Minus this picture, he wears a bib because he soaks his clothes in drool.

Here Big Sister is getting her first experience of playing with the Brain Pop Jr app on my phone...and she's hooked.

Summer said "I not hold Zane in long time."  Um, there's a reason, he's practically your same size sister. 

Ironically, after Zane had cried for 45 minutes in the car, I put him in the baby bjorn and we shopped in Walmart for an hour content as could be.  He just loves me that much!  Today we had to break out the baby bjorn around the house as I just can't get anything done carrying this big boy in my arms.  Plus he loves it and it strengthens mama's lower back (seeing the joy folks). 

Meanwhile, little miss mama has double the responsibility as she has two babies to care for.  That's right, she now has Addie and Addisyn (her two real friends are always with her in pretend).  On a weird note, and maybe too much information...she told me tonight that she had to feed her babies donut milk from her boob.  She said that as I was walking through the kitchen to fill up the dogs food bowl and I just chuckled and rolled my eyes...the things she says these days keep me in a constant smirk.

Like when she saw ants on the sidewalk she said, "awe, that's sweet its a baby ant."

Or when we got back to the garage and she dramatically said, "this garage is a big mess!"

Or when she said, "Police officers no pull over birds-they no have wings."  

 Hope you can see the joy in whatever your trial is too.

Sweet Kiddos

Where to start...
Mimi and Do came into town and we had a great visit.  There was lots of play and housework...may not sound like fun but we greatly appreciated it!

I KNOW I am partial BUT this boy just gets cuter and cuter!

 And then there is this smile...now that is just ridiculous!

Summer Summer Summer your personality is SO BIG right now! She loves her baby named Addie (after her friend).  She takes a bath with Summer every night and must get clean with bubbles, dried and have her diaper and pajamas back on.  She must be tucked into her bed (beside Mommy's bed-oddly enough she doesn't want her baby sleeping in her room).  I say this all to give you a snapshot of how important Addie is to Summer.  And the other day when I told her to get in bed for nap, and yet Addie wasn't sufficiently tucked in...we had the combination for a complete meltdown!  Uncontrollable crying, unrecognizable vocabulary and literally melting to the ground was the scene before I allowed her to take 2 minutes (our timeframe of choice) to finish tucking Addie in and get in bed.  Oh 3 year olds! 

If that sounded negative, let me give you a positive about being 3.  While I run on the treadmill in the garage (and Zane naps) Summer is big enough to hang out with me and play.  This week she has been working on a special artwork for Daddy's birthday (Thursday).   She is able to follow directions and keep the paint in the right area and when done wipe her hands clean before coming inside. Yay 3 year olds!

Today, we were driving and I was waiting for traffic to clear before turning left.  Once it was safe, I turned and this was Summer's response..."Wow Mommy you did it! You did it mommy, I know you did it! I know I know."  I just chuckled and smiled.  Thanks for the positive reinforcement pumpkin!

A minute later we passed this pond and she said, "Remember when mommy went to lake in Roll Tide without I?  Remember?" I said yes and she said she wanted to go to lake with me and I told her I would take her next time.  She asked why mommy not take her and I responded that it was for mommies only and that sometimes mommies need to be by themselves.  She responded, "No Mommies not be by themselves.  Mommies miss Big Sisters."  Such a sweet heart.