They say, "Third time's the charm..." Well, not in this case! After a HORRIBLE NIGHT last night (probably the WORST we have ever had....even with all the teething, colic, and sleepless nights those first couple months), I took Brody to the doctor this morning. During the night he was up for over an hour and a half screaming and crying and NOTHING would help! I felt so bad for him!! I knew it had to be his ears and not just his teeth because at one point as I was kissing his face and head to try and calm him down, I accidentally kissed him behind his ear. Apparently that was extremely tender and he started screaming in horrible pain. I felt so bad, but it helped me realize we had another problem on our hands and I needed to get him in to see the doctor before Christmas. He threw up on Tuesday, has had a fever (102.3 and 101 and 100.1....so RARE for him!!), has been crying a LOT more than usual, hasn't eaten much at all, and refused to take naps even though he was exhausted! I even drove him around to get him to sleep, and even though he was sound asleep in the car, as soon as I laid him down in his crib he'd start crying and crying and crying. He even fell asleep in his blue rocking chair which NEVER happens! We've had some VERY long days at our house this week, and unfortunately Dave has had to work lots of hours so it's all been on me. I know Brody has been feeling so bad, but he tricks me because he will look so pitiful and cry so much, then a couple hours later he is Mr. Energy and as happy as can be! I just didn't know what to do for him....
At the appointment I found out WHY it's been such a long week......apparently Brody had a ruptured eardrum! Poor Little Buddy! That would explain all the screaming, the refusal to lay down, the fever (because even with his other ear infections he didn't have fever), and vomiting. He had what appeared to be dried food near his ear and I apologized for not cleaning him properly even though he wouldn't let me touch him there, and she said it was actually dried puss that had drained from inside his ear....yuck! I REALLY felt bad for him and knew he was in a lot of pain. Dr. Atchison immediately prescribed an injection to help right away, as well as ear drops to heal his ear drum, and ANOTHER round of antibiotics! This is the 4th time he's been on antibiotics for his ears in 2 months.... I hope this time it helps! So I guess this is his 3rd ear infection...I'm not looking forward to seeing what will happen if this doesn't clear up in 2 weeks. Guess I will have to trust God with that, huh??
Brody is a pro at the doctor these days. He's a "pro" meaning that he knows to start screaming as soon as he sees the doctor with her stethoscope and ear instrument.... I always feel bad for the doctors and nurses, as well as Brody, when he starts screaming.... It takes all of us to hold him down while they check his ears! That's the worst feeling as a mom! I was by myself today, so it was even harder not having Dave with me. Not only did I have to go through the dreaded ear exam, but also hold him down for his injection. Ugh. But, we made it through, and he stopped crying as soon as we were able to get a sucker out in the waiting room. =)
THANK GOODNESS our pediatrician was open on Christmas Eve!!!!!! =)
Pointing at the garland strung around all the windows.
Of course he acted like he was fine when we were waiting for the nurse to call us back...and yes, he likes to have his animals and blanket in tow these days.... =)
So unhappy with me and not feeling well at all..... the interesting thing was we were just in the doctor's office about a week ago, and his last ear infection was gone! It takes such little time to get a new infection I guess... He also weighed 23 lbs. 7 oz. last week and this week he was back down to 22 lbs. 12 oz. I told you he wasn't eating much...his weight proved it. =(
I finally got him to calm down enough to sit on the table while we waited....
He is so funny about how he likes to raise his feet while he sits....
Who IS that baby in the mirror?? =)
After being held down to have his ears checked (he HATES it because #1 he's being held down, and #2 because they usually have to clean out ear wax in order to see if there's an infection now....he gets that from his daddy. lol!) and after his shot, Brody was NOT happy! Poor thing!
Mmmmm... root beer suckers make EVERYTHING better! =)
Sound asleep! I personally like the sticky sucker "juice" that's all over his face! =)
After we got home, I put him in his old carseat....it's still good for something! lol! He slept in it a little while, but then woke up crying. I just let him rest in it out in the living room for a little while and eventually I just ended up rocking him for a bit. He could never get comfortable.
This is what he did the other day after a LONG battle with naptime. I finally didn't know what else to do so I set him down in front of Nick, Jr. (bad, I know, but it was that or just letting him scream which wasn't good for either of our stress levels!) and after 2-3 minutes he was OUT!!! I later realized it was because he could sleep better sitting up because of his ears..... The things we know in hindsight..........
Man, I am not sure how we got so lucky to get such a good looking little boy! Seriously.
I love pictures of him when he is sleeping. The innocence in his face is beyond priceless!
Not common....He sits in my lap, but not like this. He was SO TIRED and so warm....he had a fever at this point.
I mentioned before that this is not very common unless he is sick or extremely tired from not having a nap.....
Doctor's Visit to Re-check (for the SECOND TIME) His Ears From Ear Infection #2
Dec. 16th
So happy in the waiting room! He ran all over the place! Fortunately it was a very short wait because we really wanted to attend the Toddler Class at the library (which we ended up doing...).
Wow! He gained a lot from the previous appointment 2 weeks prior! (that was 22 lbs 12 oz as seen below...)
He was hyper in the room, too! I am so glad he was in a good mood!! He kept tearing up the paper on the table....whatever keeps him happy, I guess! =)
Saying all the animal sounds....he impressed Dr. Cockrell with his camel impression. She said she had never heard any child do that one before. =)
I was so surprised that he was in a happy mood when he first saw Dr. Cockrell...very unusual! He smiled until she started checking his heart beat, then got a little upset. But it was nothing compared to when she checked his ears.... =( What a MAD little boy! He screamed SO HARD that he actually burst little capillaries in his face and made it look like he had freckles! =( After cleaning out the ear wax, his ears were confirmed CLEAR! Hooray!!!!! No more MEDS!! (At least there was good news after all the madness!)
Since he has been so picky lately and not eating much, and especially not eating much food with iron in it, I asked if Dr. Cockrell could check his iron. I felt horrible making him get his finger pricked after what had just happened, but I also wanted to be a caring mom who is making sure he's healthy. He SCREAMED the whole time they took his blood, and continued to long after it was over... =(
Every time he looked at his bandaged finger he got sad and started crying.
Dr. Cockrell finally came back in with the results and told us our little boy had better iron levels than we probably did...they were 41/11 or 41/13....can't remember. =) Don't really know what that means, but I guess if she said they were good, I was very glad to hear it!! (Maybe I should check into that to see what it means...being an informed mom is a good idea, isn't it??)
Doctor's Visit to Check His Ears From Ear Infection #2
Dec. 2
In a good mood....ran all over the waiting room while having the best time!
He even played with a little girl. I was amused by the mom because as her little girl was trying to turn the knob to the bathroom door, I asked her how old her daughter was so I could see at what age Brody might start doing that (so I could prepare myself and the doors, of course! lol!). She proceeded to tell me she was 20 months old and I said, "whew, I guess I have a couple months..." She then said, "Oh, well my daughter is pretty advanced because she has an older brother and sister at home. He might do it later than that." Guess we will see just how advanced her daughter is....not sure if I should take offense to that statement or not, but I'm guessing Brody will do it BEFORE 20 months................................ Note to self: Self, don't make statements such as that EVER! It makes you appear rude, even if you aren't meaning to be.
He was in such a smiley mood this particular day!! I got some GREAT pictures of his cute little smile!
Since Brody tries to run/walk off the table, Dave has to make sure he has his hand out at all times... =)
LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of us!! It's so HARD to get a cute one of us BOTH smiling and that's not blurry or something! =)
He munched on lots of snacks because the wait was kind of long...
Our attempt at a family picture...Brody's enjoying his Captain Crunch. =)
When Dr. Cockrell finally came in, she determined (after wax removal. UGH.) that Brody still had an ear infection....she put us on a different antibiotic that might give him diarrhea. Wonderful. As if we didn't already have enough problems with the eating as it was, now when we finally get him to eat, it's gonna cause problems on the other end. BUT, thankfully he ate yogurt before and after every dose (morning and evening) so it actually helped keep him from any diarrhea at all. YAY!!!! =)
"Sick Visit" For Ear Infection #2
Nov. 20
(mentioned in a previous post, but no real pictures to go with it...thought I would include them here)
After several days of crying, just wanting to be held (so RARE these days), LOTS of congestion/runny nose/coughing, and eventually throwing up, we decided I needed to take him in. He wasn't feeling very good at all that morning, and mostly just wanted to be held in the waiting room (SUPER rare!). Even though he probably shouldn't have, he drank almost a whole sippy cup of water during the very long wait (he'd just vomited a couple hours before...).
so sad.... =(
Eventually he perked up a little (again, a very long wait...), and walked around on the table and even smiled.
He had his very first x-ray to make sure he didn't have pneumonia. He hated having his x-ray! Not sure if I was supposed to take pictures of him in there, but had to for memory's sake. =) I actually had to make sure he was sitting up for the x-ray, but this was taken while we were waiting for the nurse. He was mad that I couldn't hold him so he cried most of the time. I can't blame him since he was in an odd room on a cold table.
It took him FOREVER to calm down after the exam....I mean, he cried for at least 30 minutes. It was terrible. Nothing I did helped. I guess he was so traumatized by the ear check (and wax removal--his first experience) that he couldn't get himself calm. He's like his mommy in that area--I constantly continue to think about traumatic events after they happen and can't calm down easily either. I felt so bad for him.
Dr. Cockrell eventually told me that he had a cold virus (reason for all the congestion/snot), an ear infection (and she isn't sure if it was due to the one a month ago not ever healing with the antibiotic, or if it was a new one), and a stomach virus. We were prescribed an antibiotic for the ear infection, and would let the rest heal on it's own. The snot didn't go away for almost a month (hence the reason THIS ear infection didn't go away after the first dose of meds....) so we had a LOT of nose-wiping in this house!!! And, he sounded so bad when he breathed a lot of the time. I'm glad his x-ray came back clear and that he didn't have pneumonia, but I was nervous since he was still so congested and almost wheezing....
He FINALLY calmed down...
...and CRASHED when we got home!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are some pics I wanted to include for my own benefit of our little boy throughout the last month or so. These events are extremely rare since he is SO ACTIVE, likes his OWN bed when he actually goes to sleep, and is so independent....he does NOT sleep with us, and WON'T. Believe me, there have been several times that I have TRIED just so he might actually go to sleep!! =)
Nov. 20
After getting "sick"....we put down LOTS of old towels on our bed in case he did it again....
Wasn't long before he was fast asleep on our bed...
Much of the time he went from crying to smiling just because he didn't feel good.
Dr. Cockrell told us to try and give him bland foods and keep him hydrated because of the "stomach bug", so I set up a little picnic in the living room that day with all his necessities...
Nov. 21
He actually (finally....after LOTS AND LOTS of crying................) fell asleep on me and slept there for almost an hour before I laid him down. I enjoyed every second of it!!!!!
I even got to doze off a little myself....
He was OUT!!!
Nov. 22
Some of our favorite times......
These pictures look sweet, but keep in mind, there was LOTS AND LOTS of crying involved before we finally were able to get him to calm down and lay on us....he just didn't feel well AT ALL! =( It wasn't the best week for low stress levels here...
Fell asleep on our bed again.
Nov. 23
Actually rested on Daddy for awhile...
And the BEST part of all...he fell asleep in my arms as I rocked him! I love it when he does this, but it doesn't ever happen anymore. I guess I kind of blew it when he was younger and this was the ONLY way he would take a nap. I wasn't always so happy to just sit and hold him for a couple hours every day while he slept since I wanted (and needed) a break and there were ALWAYS chores to do or a nap for me..... BUT, these days I cherish the time because I see how fleeting it is. I learned my lesson! =)
This is the view I see when I look down at that sweet, precious face......
(It's very pixelated because I had to shoot it with a high ISO in order to capture the moment just as it was....)
Hopefully we are free from ear infections for a while! Those things are NOT fun...nighttime was horrible as he woke up crying often, and daytimes weren't much better. I just want my baby WELL so he's in a happy mood and not in pain! =) Plus, it MIGHT help with the eating problem, the crying problem, and the nighttime waking problem....we'll see! =)
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