Cooper's RSV update

Last night was better than I expected. We put him in his car seat to sleep and brought him into our room for the night. I was hoping that sitting up would help his drainage. He only woke up twice during the night so I think that might have made a difference. Made me feel better, anyway. We had the oxygen ready to go, but he didn't need it. Around 7am he started coughing and he just could not stop. It was terrible.

Later on in the morning the pediatrician's office called and asked me to bring him in for a follow up visit. He is wheezing and more junky sounding today than yesterday. And she said that he's working a little hard to breathe. But, you really wouldn't know it by looking at him - he looks just fine to me. He's not even fussy. Tired, but not fussy. He's definitely sleeping more and eating less, but all in all, I think he's doing fine. I'm giving him breathing treatments every 4 hours. She said she didn't know if it would help the RSV exactly, but it might help him cough up some stuff, which might make him feel better. Maybe. Worth a try I guess.

The doc told me to periodically check his sats with our pulse ox and if his numbers go below 95 that I have to take him back to the hospital. He's at 96 right now, so we're good!

Well, time for another breathing treatment and hopefully we'll all get some good sleep tonight.

Take care, Christy

Happy Thanksgiving...a little late.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We had the most quiet Thanksgiving we've EVER had. My parents went to Florida to visit my aunt and uncle for the holiday, my big brother, Bruce, and his family went to Northern Va, my little brother, Cabell, and his girlfriend went to her family's house, and my sister had her in-laws. So, that left us and my aunt that lives here in Richmond. So, it was just the six of us. Although, Harlie played outside that afternoon and by dinnertime she was wiped out and fell fast asleep on the couch (which she NEVER does, well, I guess I can't say never anymore, huh?). Anyway, so with Cooper and Harlie sleeping, it left the four of us at the table. But, Tom made a GREAT spread and we had fun and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a little while.

Unfortunately, Cooper had a terrible night. He coughed all night long. He's been fighting this cold for a while now (like weeks) and it just seemed to get noticeably worse all of a sudden. So, as soon as the peds office opened, I called and made an appointment for him. Although I have to tell you - deciding to take one of my "well" children in to the doctor is not easy for me. My perspective is so different now after all that we've been through with Harlie. I'm afraid that I've become a little desensitized. For example, he asked me how his work of breathing has been - labored? Um, no. I think. His nose isn't flaring, I know that. But I saw how hard Harlie worked to breathe last summer - like respirations over 100 was her NORM! So, what do I know??? Anything seems better than that. But I have to look at his baseline, not hers! Get a grip, Christy!

So, anyway, the ped did not like his cough at all, or the way his lungs sounded. So he checked his sats with their pulse ox and his sats were low 90s, high 80s (which is not good). So, he told me to take him to the ER for chest x-rays, RSV test, and pertussis test. And he told me to not be surprised if he was admitted. WHAT? Admitted? Cooper and not Harlie??? Whoa!

So, off to the ER we go. They took some blood and started an IV (he was such a champ, too, hardly even cried) plus they took a swab for the RSV test. Which came back positive! He has RSV. Luckily, it doesn't seem too terrible right now. And with my oxygen, pulse ox, and nebulizer availability, they let us take him home. There's nothing they can do for RSV, other than monitor him and give him oxygen when needed. And I can do that at home. So the risk of him catching something worse at the hospital is greater than the risk of bringing him home. So, we did. Hopefully we'll keep him here. Oh, and he has another double ear infection to boot (his second in just 2 months)! My poor little guy!!!

On a lighter note.. the other day, Harlie wanted to go outside with Murphy. Here's how it played out:

Gotta get my brother's hat on...





Okay, I'm all set...





Gotta sign "outside" just in case the hat and standing by the door isn't enough...





Here, I'll even open the door for myself...




No??? I can't go???





UGH!






Guess I don't need the stupid hat after all. Mean mommy.



And another day with her refusing to take a nap. Despite sitting in her crib for over 2 hours! Man, is she stubborn!!! So by dinner time this is what happened...










And lastly, I'll leave you with a few recent pics of Cooper. He's my round-faced charmer. He really is a sweet baby.














Take care!
~Christy

Funny Harlie

We had a very busy day today. We had to go and get Harlie measured for her new ankle/foot braces (she's outgrown her current ones). Then we had to rush back home for her physical therapy appointment (which went great). And as soon as that one was over, we had speech therapy (which also went great). Right when speech therapy begins I have to go and pick up Murphy from preschool, and when he gets home its crazy. Especially when Beth is trying to concentrate on Harlie's therapy.

Well, back to Harlie's great speech therapy session. She kept her PMV (speaking valve, which we call her "voice") on the entire time - that's an hour, folks (a long time for her). It helps her swallowing and breathing function, which is why it is so important for her to wear it as often as possible. She tolerates it just fine - physically. She just for some reason, likes to take it off. Her hands are closer and quicker than mine, and it is impossible to keep her from removing it. But, she knows that Beth expects her to wear it for feeding, so she does. Which tells us that we need to expect her to wear it all the time and let her know that. At the end of the session, Harlie waved bye-bye to Beth and blew her a kiss. Then she took off the PMV and signed that she wanted down from her chair. So, we said she couldn't get down unless she put her voice on. She grimaced, and it took a few times going back and forth for her to realize that we were serious. So, she put her voice on, we let her down and she went on in the living room to play.

Somehow she ended up in a chair in the living room and took her voice off. Again, we wouldn't let her down unless she put her voice on - and kept it on. So, I asked her if she wanted down. She nodded yes, and then I told her to put her voice on. She would, and I let her down. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she would take it off. Then I would put her back up on the chair. She'd cry a bit and the whole scenario repeated - about 15 times! At one point I grew tired of the whole ordeal. So, when she got down off the chair and took her voice off, I just looked at her. And she turned around and climbed back up on the chair totally on her own!!! It was hilarious!

She finally gave up and left her voice on so she could play. I guess it pays to be consistent. But oh boy it takes A LOT of energy!

Well, that's all I have time for tonight. Talk to you later!

Quick one

I only have a minute because I really need to get to bed. Cooper has been trying to sleep through the night lately, which has been wonderful. Last week he slept till 4am two nights in a row and then he slept till 5am two nights, but then went back to waking up at 1am and 5am. So, we'll see how he does tonight.

It's been another busy week (who has slow ones, anyway?) On Tuesday we had an appointment at the pulmonary clinic. Really, I just go so we can see her nutritionist (Anne). And this time we were going to talk about how to transition from formula to a blenderized diet. But, after waiting for more than an hour and a half, we find out that Anne sprained her ankle and wasn't there. Great. But, they weighed and measured her (she weighs 24 pounds and is 33 inches tall) so they were going to give all her measurements to Anne and she's supposed to call me to let me know how we're doing and what the next step is.

One big thing that happened last week is that we got Harlie down to half-hour feedings instead of hour feedings. What a huge change and improvement for us! That equates to 2 hours that Harlie doesn't have to wear her feeding backpack, which is just great. AND the BEST change is that we finally got her OFF her continuous night feed! YAY!!! It has never felt right to me that she ate while she slept. (Or that it took her an hour to eat what a baby can down in minutes.) So, I really feel like we are getting her to a more normal feeding schedule which will hopefully help us when we finally transition to a blenderized diet.

Well, it is getting late and we have an early morning appointment, which is very challenging for the kids. I'm really looking forward to it.

Take care,
Christy

Suntrust Half Marathon

As you might guess from my absence from my blog, we've had a busy week. You might remember that Murphy got a stomach bug. After a few days, Tom caught it, too. That was real fun. I tried my hardest to keep the bug contained to just the two of them. Murphy got it 10 days ago and Tom got it 7 days ago. As of now, it looks like the two of them are almost back to 100%, so I am hoping I was successful. Notice that I am not willing to chance saying anything for sure as you know how that goes...

The bug really hit Tom at a terrible time. He's been training for his first half marathon (the Suntrust Half Marathon) for a while now and he was sick for the entire week before the race. He lost 5 pounds during the week and barely ate anything. I think Friday night was the most of a meal I had seen him eat since last Saturday. So I was a little worried about him running 13 miles after that. But, he did great. He ran the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 17 minutes. He ran it with our friend Neal, who did great too. Here are some pics:


I had to crop this one so Tom is closer so it's a little fuzzy. But cool that I could put Tom's name on his shirt!




Tom and Neal right after they finished.



Heather, Griffin, Mallory and Neal.





And here's the best picture!



Being at a race always gets me wanting to run again. I've run in a couple 10ks and I ran the Suntrust 8k years ago (before Murphy). So, I think I'm going to make it my goal to run a half marathon next year. There's a half marathon in Virginia Beach in March, so we'll see...

Well, that's it for tonight.


Take care,
Christy

No Mommy, I am NOT tired!

Okay, Murphy. Whatever you say...





He slept standing up like that for about 15-20 minutes. Unfortunately I couldn't stare at him the whole time, so I missed it when he finally fell over and woke up. I suppose a really good mom and dad would have picked him up and layed him comfortably on the couch. Instead, we laughed and took pictures and then enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Ever wondered...

what a little girl who doesn't eat by mouth does with her birthday cupcake?

I know, I'm a little late with these photos (her birthday was September 25). But, I've been a little busy lately. Anyway, I have no idea why she shoved her cupcake in the slats of the chair. But she thought it was pretty funny. And she was right. I would give anything to know what goes through her mind sometimes.

Well, hopefully one day, she'll actually be able to eat her birthday cake. But for now, she doesn't know what she's missing and she's perfectly happy.

Take care,

Christy

The dreaded Stomach Bug!

The dreaded Stomach Bug has struck Murphy. Poor little guy! He is not lovin' life right now. Although he is much better today than he was yesterday. At 10am, he didn't have a fever. Early in the afternoon I felt his head and he was on fire. His temp was 103.3! His fever was kicking his butt and he was dizzy and very lethargic. This didn't work well with his bodily functions, which somehow, Tom always gets on him. And Tom is very good about it and never makes a big deal out of it so that Murphy doesn't feel any worse than he already does. We just laugh later. Well, me more than Tom.

So last night was Cooper's best night. He slept soundly from 8:30pm to 2:30am! Woohoo! But, OF COURSE, Murphy woke us up at midnight. And I felt like I was a CSI trying to figure out how "stuff" got in the places we found it. It was smelly and gross, but all quite amusing, really. Well, except for Murphy. I don't think he's been amused at all lately.

Hopefully, tomorrow Murphy will be much improved.

Happy Halloween

Halloween was fun this year now that Murphy totally gets it. And he got to wear his costume several times for different parties, so he loved that. My neighborhood was crazy - SO many kids! Tom and the guys set up a table out front so they could hang out and give out candy and the girls and I took the kids trick-or-treating. I put Harlie and the suction machine in the wagon. I think she was a little overwhelmed by seeing everyone else. She probably thinks we're all crazy. She was certainly entertained just watching. Here are a few pics.



Harlie, Murphy and Olivia

Cooper

Harlie LOVES her baby brother.

The next morning I was feeding Cooper (Tom was out running) and I realized that Murphy was up and had already gone downstairs. I was surprised that he wasn't calling for Tom - like he normally does. And then I remembered the candy. EEK!!! So, I come downstairs and find him sitting on the couch.

Me: Murphy, are you eating candy?

Him: No Mommy.

Me: Where are the wrappers?

Him: Under the couch.

Gotta love it when they rat themselves out so easily. I hope you all had a nice time!

Take care,

Christy

Murphy's Fashion Problems Continue.

So, after Thursday's fashion debacle, I made the time to go through Murphy's dresser and pull out all his old clothes so that only appropriate attire would be available. In doing that, I found a pair of jeans that were given to me by a friend. I wasn't sure if they would fit him - but I put them in the drawer so that I would remember to try them on him later. There was also a pair of old overalls that he used for his costume for Halloween last year (he was Farmer Brown). I don't know why I didn't remove them. I was trying to finish up and I just made a mistake. An error in judgment, if you will.

So, on Friday morning, I was feeding Cooper and Murphy walks in the room with the jeans that were given to me (that I had not tried on him yet). Well, they were WAY too big. I mean, falling down to his knees too big. So, I said to Tom, "Those jeans are too big!" To this, Tom sighed loudly, rolled his eyes and told Murphy to go get another pair of pants from his drawer. And guess what he came back with...the overalls. Now keep in mind that the drawer is full of jeans and khakis that fit. The overalls were on the very bottom.

And I don't mean to offend, but, I do not like overalls on a 4 and a half year old BOY. And yes, the overalls have SNAPS. Oh - and the best part - they were WAY too short. I told Tom as soon as I saw him with the overalls that they were going to be too small... well, you can just imagine his response. I didn't win the battle and Murphy went to school sporting another great look. Yes, we're on the cutting edge of fashion here at the Holton Household.

Take care,
Christy