The persistent cough

Noah got a cough that showed up at the end of November.  It was a virus that was going around.  Chronic cough with no other symptoms.  The cold air and exercise made it worse.  After a few weeks, it improved, but never went away.  Never.  Because the type of cough it was and the fact I noticed it get a lot worse with exercise, the doctor suspected possible exercise induced asthma.  Before putting him through all the testing and expense of a pulmonologist he decided to just try taking Singulair for a couple weeks to see if it went away.  If it did, it was likely asthma.  Well it didn't go away (which I was happy about).  We also noticed it was worse when he ate.  We then tried Zantac to see if it was perhaps reflux.  Didn't help.  Finally, we were referred to see an allergy and asthma specialist.

I was told the appointment would take a couple hours.  Noah packed up some Legos and a couple books to bring.  First they tested him for asthma, the official way.  NO ASTHMA!  We were pretty confident about that, anyway, but I was still relieved for the negative test.

Next they did an allergy skin test.  They poked him with 68 pricks of different allergens in his back.  He was such a trooper.  Sat perfectly still with only a little bit of complaint that it hurt.  The nurse commented he did much better than most adults do.  And she did a great job getting it done quickly.  The doctor was suspecting an allergy to dustmites or mold.  But, his tests came back negative!  He had a mild reaction to ragweed, but nothing bad at all.  So the doctor went a different direction.  He has irritated nasal tissues and drainage causing a post nasal drip/cough.  He is treating him for a chronic sinus infection for 3 weeks.  We see him back in 2 weeks to be sure it's working.  I'm so happy we don't have any allergies or asthma to deal with and Noah and I are both thrilled to be kicking this cough to the curb soon.

Legos kept him busy while we waited

Blowing out candles on the computer

Breathing treatment to see if his lung function improved afterwards.  It didn't.  Which is good!

Slowdown

Noah almost never slows down on his own, even when he's ill, so it's always a little surprising whenever he gets sick enough to stop him in his tracks.  He was diagnosed with strep throat a couple days ago, and the day before he got antibiotics, he mostly laid around and slept.  

A dose or two of antibiotics later, and he was back to his old tricks.  He's still recovering, but he won't be down for long.  

Elliot is sick little guy

Poor Elliot came down with a sudden high fever last weekend on Sunday night.  I gave him motrin, a quick bath (as he'd been playing outside all day) and put him straight to bed.  He had actually been running a fever 3 days earlier in the week, along with a mild croup that I treated at home without the need for meds.  Well the fever and croup went away I believe Wednesday, but he kept a productive cough.  Because he still had that cough and the fever came on so suddenly and high, I took him in Monday morning.  He checked out fine, lungs clear, no sore throat, ears perfect (he has tubes).  She felt this was just a new virus and that these high fever viruses are going around.  He goes to school once a week so that's probably where he got it.

Fast forward 5 days and he is STILL sick with high fevers. And high fevers only.  I was going to wait until this morning to take him in (if he hadn't gotten over it), because they are running about 5 days, but when he got to 105.1 yesterday afternoon 40 minutes after I had given him motrin I decided to take him in.  Naturally I didn't get in for 2 hrs and his fever broke to 100.8 and he was in a playful, chatty, happy mood.  (Which he has been when meds are working in between fevers some days).  He still checks out great otherwise.  Really only the fevers.  They are disrupting his sleep and his days.

We are hoping it's Roseola. If it is, fever should really be breaking NOW and he should be getting a harmless rash.  Unfortunately, he woke up at 2am burning up.  Please pray for my sweet baby to feel better.  If these fevers continue all weekend, his doctor wants to draw labs Monday to see if there might be another cause. 

Fever, fever go away!

Poor Noah got sick Friday afternoon. He was shivering and just not feeling well and sure enough he spiked a fever. Well it was ONLY 101 or so, so instead of lying on the couch watching a movie, he continued to play. This kid just doesn't slow down. He clearly wasn't feeling good at all. All weekend he's been up and down. While on his meds and fever reasonably low he is fine. When it gets above 102, he is pretty miserable. I feel just awful for him, but love the cuddles. When he gets like that he wants me to cuddle with him. And he also wants his new pillow pet I bought for him.

Here he is at 104.5 last night. Give him some tylenol and about one hour and he was down playing, running and jumping. This kid is insane. He's slept all night without waking up shivering with a fever, so I'm thinking day 4 could be all better day. Fingers crossed!

Sick of the sickies

Poor Noah has the worst cold of all time. It won't go away. And he has this rash on his face that gets awful by end of day when I goop him up with ointments and creams to heal somewhat overnight. Elliot has croup, but after some steroids last night he is doing MUCH better and was able to get a good night of sleep. Wish there was a magic pill for colds, too! Paul & I agree GI viruses are so much better. Sure they are awful, but they are generally short lived.

Ear infection. Again!

E has had 4 ear infections since April. He was only off antibiotics a week when he was diagnosed with ANOTHER one this weekend. We even had his ears re-checked in between and they had healed up nicely. He is obviously just prone to them. On a 3rd antibiotic wreaking havoc with his digestive system, I am done with it. He has an appointment with an ENT in a couple of weeks to discuss getting some tubes. I can't wait. He is just so miserable. I feel sorry for the little guy!

Here are recent random pictures I wanted to share.

His latest favorite read. I think he's trying to tell me something. Sorry buddy, you are going to stay the baby of this family

Following in big brother's footsteps. First of all he has on his shoes. Then he pushed the ottoman Noah uses as a step stool and thirdly he got a box of mac & cheese to cook. E has figured out he can climb with this little ottoman anywhere. Good thing we can gate the kitchen off now for his own safety!

His first pony ride with Grandma at our neighborhood's annual picnic

Pitiful

Elliot woke up Thursday morning with one of his eyes completely crusted and swollen shut and snot all dried outside of his nose. Poor thing. He slept on my chest in the recliner from 4:30a-7:00 because he was having a hard time breathing lying down. Even after I got him cleaned up they looked awful. I took him in and he had a really bad ear infection in his right ear (it's his right eye that was the worst, too). His doctor said it was about to burst. Poor thing! Did I mention, this is his THIRD ear infection since April? He's had a total of 5 in his life. We know for a fact the 1st ear infection in April cleared up, but we never had the 2nd one re-checked. This time we got a stronger/broader spectrum antibiotic and eye drops. We are also planning to get them rechecked this time.

If he gets another one, I want tubes. Ear infections are just miserable. And so is the GI stuff that comes along with the antibiotics. Poor baby boy.

Poor little puddin'

Poor Elliot is sick. It started out with him napping only a little over a half hour yesterday. That is not my normal boy. I attributed it to him teething (5 teeth coming in now), but I gave him some motrin and put him down again. No go. He was fussy and didn't want to eat either. I figured it was because he was tired, packed him up in the car anyway and headed to the grocery store for some essentials. I noticed the hallmark sign in the rear view mirror: red cheeks! Poor thing was just spiking a fever (after the motrin). It stayed around 100-101 all day until the Motrin wore off and then it was 102.6. I rotated motrin & tylenol last night. He had a rough first few hours until the tylenol, and then he slept good for about 6 hrs, then struggled again until the next dose of motrin kicked in. He's got a low grade fever now, and a cough, but is in pretty good spirits. Hopefully it's just a quick little virus. Noah and I both had colds last week and they were short lived.

There is nothing more pitiful than a rosy cheeked baby all hot, rapidly breathing and squirming trying to get comfortable in bed. :(

On the mend

Elliot is getting better. Last night he woke up (right on schedule) at 11pm after having thrown up all over himself. Poor guy gets it just everywhere. Of course, by now we have a "system". Easily strip off layer #1 off bed and no changing of sheets required. Switch out a few blankies and the bed is good to go. We had fresh jammies, dipes and washcloths in our bathroom. But, the good news is he skipped his 2am diarrhea wake up! Yippee! He did wake once at some point and I nursed him. He finally woke up with a wet diaper instead of with diarrhea. Progress! Today was a pretty good day, but he doesn't have his appetite back. Before bed his belly wasn't all distended and firm like it has been the past several nights, so I'm hoping he'll sleep without any disturbances..............but, we have the "system" in place, just in case.

I know we've been bad about posting pics lately. Here are some of E in the bath last night. As you can see, his moods are ever changing when he's not feeling well.

Happy

Mean

Sweet

Sick Ells

Poor Elliot got bit by a GI bug on Monday. It started out as really bad diarrhea every time he ate. Tuesday was really bad. But, yesterday he only had it a couple of times and was very happy and playful, so I thought it was just a little 24 hr bug. In fact I was anticipating a great night of sleep. Not only did the boys play outside for hours and get worn out, but Elliot just got a new tooth through (#7) and was feeling better, so nothing to wake him up.

Until early into the night I got woken up by him whimpering in bed. I ignored him awhile hoping he'd go back to sleep and boy am I glad I'm not one of those moms that just let's her baby cry it out, because when I went in to check on him, he was covered in poop. Poor guy. He really needed a bath. His jammies and sheets were ruined and he was a mess. He was so tired he fell right back asleep, but just kept waking up off and on all night with what I imagine was an upset tummy.

This morning he has had diarrhea twice and puked. So I guess he's not "over it" like I thought. BOO!

Still sick.

You know it's bad when you fall asleep on the toilet.

Then after waking him up, he says "I'm not done yet, Mommy".
Elliot is no better. No puking for almost 24 hours in the house though.

Sickies

Last night Paul & I woke up to Noah crying hysterically and coughing at 11pm. Paul went in there to find him crying and scared. He had thrown up all over his comforter and pajamas, and was so scared and confused. Believe it or not, he has never thrown up before. By the time we cleaned him up, took him to the bathroom, put on clean jammies, clean bedding and layered it with towels he was sitting straight up crying hysterically again and ready for round 2. He threw up about 6 or 7 times in a few hour period. Poor guy was so scared and freaked out by it. I admit, I still cry when I throw up and I know what's going on. Poor thing. I felt so bad for him. He also had diarrhea. He wanted to sleep with his light on all night and I stayed with him awhile, but Paul took care of him most of the night, because I was tending to E when he woke up (a couple of times during all the chaos).

He finally got a decent stretch of sleep and has been in good spirits today. He hasn't thrown up in quite awhile, but has only eaten a few crackers and had a little gatorade. He says his "mouth" hurts which is what he told me last night when he was throwing up. And he has a low grade fever.

E hasn't been eating well today or drinking much either. Then a couple hours ago he had major diarrhea. I recognize the smell (from my nursing days) and I'm sure it's rotavirus. I got both boys bathed and put E in his highchair and gave him a couple of teddy grahams. He threw up all over his highchair and himself. Right after his bath of course. Ugh. He also has a low grade temp. My poor boys :(

I am giving some mad props to my hubby. He was the one who did all the laundry, cleaned out the trash can EACH time Noah threw up, cleaned up Noah at least half of the times, and took him to the potty all 3 times overnight. Without so much as a flinch or yucky face. I think he'd make a really good nurse :)

All I Want For Christmas...

...is two more front teeth and antibiotics, stat!

Elliot has several nicknames - Ed (derived from "Ed-uh-wit" - Noah's initial pronunciation), E, and Easy or Easy E. The latter is because Elliot is just so chill most of the time. So when he wasn't quite as happy with his new presents as he should be, Mandy figured there was something wrong.

The day after Christmas, while she and Noah attended the annual Bingo extravaganza at Grandma Lois and Grandpa Gene's, I took him to the doctor. Turns out he's cutting two new teeth and has a double ear infection resulting from his recent cold.

While we could tell something was wrong, he didn't complain a whole lot, so it was tough to tell how much he was going through.

As you can tell from the picture above, taken right before his appointment, the teething is causing us to go through about four shirts a day because of all the drool.

Oink

Noah is recovering from possible H1N1. We aren't entirely sure. He only ran high fevers for 2 days. And a low grade one for half another day. Usually with the H1N1 it lasts longer and we are surprised if it was H1N1 Elliot would have escaped it. But, so far he's only had a runny nose (which actually started before Noah got sick). Noah had a croupy cough for 2 days, but now it's a productive cough and he's congested. And just not 100%. He's sleeping on the couch right now. Thank God!

Our pediatrician only has limited quantities of the nasal mist vaccine now for H1N1. They are only giving it to pregnant moms, healthcare workers so far. But, soon hopefully they'll get more in. And some for babies too (babies can't have the nasal mist; it's a live virus). Since we aren't sure Noah had it, we definately plan on vax'ing him just in case. And of course Elliot, who I would be most concerned with if he caught it being so small. Us too, if we can get it.

This pig fever stuff is for the birds. Er, I mean pigs.

ETA -
Here is a great article about the H1N1 vaccine. A lot of moms seem to be scared of getting a "brand new vaccine", but it really is the same as the seasonal flu shot. Good read.

http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/

Sick Toddlers

What is it with toddlers passing their nasty viruses around CONSTANTLY?! I mean every time Noah is sick there are like 5 of my friends with sick kids too. Last Friday at the park Noah's sippy cup was used by Sidney and Jack. So I'll blame them this time :) The good news is THIS time Elliot stayed healthy. WHEW! Paul & I got very mild symptoms. After being home-bound Monday-Thursday, Noah is almost over it now. I took him to a Funky Mama concert yesterday and today Paul took him to Little Gym and we'll be going to the parade and a get together at a friends house later. But, what is a post about a sick Noah without a red cheeked picture or two?

I'm glad he likes baby swings NOW!

STILL sick

What the heck? It's been almost a full week now. Not only is Noah sick, but so am I and Elliot. Elliot doesn't have it as bad, but I feel horrible for the poor thing. I kept Noah well for a whole year and couldn't keep Elliot well for even a month. I hope we ALL are over this soon! I think Noah is so cute with his rosy little cheeks though. So here are pictures of my sweet little guy today when he just had enough and had to rest.

Aunt Sam was showing him YouTube videos of animals "speaking". He was laughing along, until it got suddenly quiet.

Posing with the sleeping boys.

Having some fun with Noah. Probably a good thing we didn't have some markers and razors handy, like back in the college days...

Noah wishing we would just leave him alone to sleep.

Tough decision. Post-5:00 naps, no matter how short, can throw us into an unrecoverable tailspin for bedtime. And it is almost impossible to wake him when he crashes that hard, that late. So, Paul did the only logical thing to do - he picked him up and walked outside in the 35 degree weather. Noah woke up saying, "Coooldddd!!!" He paid Paul back by soaking him at bathtime.

Poor sick baby

My big baby that is. He's restlessly napping barely able to breathe. He had a rough night last night. We are hoping the powerful breastmilk antibodies keep Elliot well (worked for Noah for the 1st year, but then again he didn't have a big brother breathing/coughing on him either).