RSV

Ben had another fever on Thursday afternoon, so Friday I took him to the doctor to see what was wrong with my Chub-Chubs.

Turns out, he had not just a double ear infection but also RSV, a respiratory virus.

He has a cough and a seriously runny nose, and he is wheezing a bit. But besides the physical symptoms, you would never know he is sick. He is playing and laughing just like always.

He got an antiobiotic for the ears, and we are doing breathing treatments with a nebulizer for the RSV 3 times/day for a week. Let's just say getting a baby to sit still for almost 10 minutes with a mask over his face is not the easiest job in the world.




But after a lot of struggling, he finally acquiesced.

As you can see, he is still his happy-go-lucky self...as long as the nebulizer is nowhere to be seen.

Poor Baby

I got a call from Ben's daycare, Creative World, on Thursday afternoon that he was running a temperature of 102.6. I picked him up and brought him home, hoping it would be short-lived. I should have known better. I had planned to take Friday off to do Christmas shopping. Any time I try to plan a Ben-free day to get something done, he has a way of reminding me that he is my top priority. So shortly after I got him home, his eyes starting oozing yellowish gunk. Uh oh!

Friday morning I called the doctor and we went in for a visit. He is on prescription eye-drops and we've been administering tylenol and motrin, as needed.

The poor little guy can't keep down solid foods but is doing okay with the bottles. He woke up at around 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday burning up and miserable. This morning at 2 a.m. his temp was 103, the poor thing. After 2 hours, I finally got him back to sleep and, much to our relief, he woke this morning without a fever. He is still not interseted in eating solids, but he is playing more and seems more himself.

Yet through it all, he is such a trooper! Point in case:

Yesterday I put him in a laundry basket with some toys and pushed him around. (Hey, it always made us girls feel better.) He loved it. You can sort of make out the eye irritation in this picture. His eyes look like someone punched him.

He loves balls these days. Especially this basketball Grammy sent him. He throws it pretty well. I think he must take after his cousin Lily with his skills!

Poor baby!

Later that night, he was really burning up, so we left him in just his diaper. Can you say white trash baby!

Later Mike put a bib on him for dinner (although he refused to eat). Him wearing nothing but a diaper and a thanksgiving turkey bib just cracked me up for some reason. I'm sure he'll hate me for this picture one day.

Family Visit

I was really looking forward to partying with my Aunt Jaimee, Uncle Jason, and cousin Lily, but unfortunately I got sick (Mom calls it a "stomach bug" but I didn't see any bugs) 24 hours before they arrived.

So I spent the first few days of the visit looking pathetic and cuddling in anyone's arms who'd take me. Luckily, Aunt Jaimee was happy to take on the job. She is comfy!

After a day or two, I was feeling a little better and started noticing a big kid roaming around. I was pretty impressed with how she could walk and hold her own bottle. How does she do that?

Aunt Jaimee played fun games with me. My cousin Lily thought it was pretty funny, but after a while she wanted her mama back, so I had to get down.

Which was fine, because there is nothing I like better than to crawl around and see what kind of trouble I can get into.

And Uncle Jason was happy to play with me too. We had fun "walking" around. I am not as advanced as Lily, but I'm working on it.

But sometimes a guy just needs a little down time. So I cuddled up on Uncle Jason's lap with Lily for a good story. I prefer to eat my books rather than read them, but this was okay too.

I had a great time hanging out. I hope they will come back again soon. Meanwhile, I'll be working on my walking skills so I can keep up with Lily next time!

Hand, Foot and Mouth

Turns out all this spitting up and fussing is because Ben has a fairly common viral infection called Hand, Foot and Mouth. I took him to the doctor on Tuesday and they showed me the bright red sore throat and all the little sores at the back of his throat. Poor little guy. No wonder he didn't want to eat for 2 days.

He seems to be on the mend and in good spirits again. The doctor said he probably got over the worst of it this weekend, and now we just have to wait it out.

Unfortunately, the infection is highly contagious, so no school for Ben until Monday. Dad and I are taking turns staying home with him. But he is a charmer, so it is not too much of a hardship being home with him all day!

4 months old and already skipping school, the little scammer! :-)

By the way, ben is 4 months old today. Hard to believe; the time is flying by!

It's Been a Day

If you believe in karma, then I must have done something very wrong recently. Because today has been one of those days.


First, Ben has been sick, vomitting, fussing, screaming...


Next, while running errands, I had a few issues. If you have ever been to Costco at 1 p.m. on Sunday, you know that is enough to try anyone's patience. I am tired and stressed from a sick baby, so I am already at the end of my rope when I finish paying and head to the food court for a quick lunch. Only after waiting in a line 10 people deep am I informed that the food court is cash only.


Mike borrowed my last $4 for coffees this morning. I leave empty-handed and hungry.


I go to the ATM to get some cash. The ATM informs me that it cannot dispense cash at this time. Excellent. I finish my errands and return home, tired and cranky. Lucky Mike.



After dinner, I load the dishwasher and add the soap. Only in my frazzled state, I apparently accidentally used the dish liquid instead of the dishwasher gel.

Let me assure you that bad things happen when you use the wrong soap in the dishwasher.

One mop, one bucket, 3 towels and a lot of elbow-grease later, I try to look on the bright side. I am certain I now have the cleanest dishwasher in the neighborhood.

I decide to self-soothe with some Dove Promise chocolates. Each chocolate comes with its own "promise" written on the wrapper. I open the first one, looking for a little inspiration. No joke, it says "Think of every day as Sunday." If every day is like this Sunday, I'll pass. Hoping for better news, I open the second chocolate. It reads "Make the most of today." Hmmm.

With tidings like that, I think I will put the other two back.

Poor Baby

Saturday morning we woke up to a sick baby. He drank his bottle, and then proceeded to throw it up all over mom. Every so often this happens, so I didn't worry too much. With help from Dad, I gave him a bath to remove the formula from his "Danny Devito" hair and put him in his robe for a bit, just to make sure he wasn't planning his next vomit attack.

All seemed well, so we went about our day. But after a long nap, he threw up his next meal as well. He was crying, fussy, irritable and nothing would make him happy. This is not my baby. Ben is usually fuss-free and so easy-going, so clearly something was wrong. We got through the day and hoped he would be better in the morning. No such luck.





He woke up cranky and again threw up all his formula. With the worry of a first-time mom, I called and had the pediatrician on-call paged. Dr. Devidio called me back and informed me that a stomach bug has been going around and he was pretty sure that is all Ben was suffering. He recommended pedialyte and continuing the infant tylenol we'd administered before bed the night before (don't worry, it is generic, not the recalled version). Above is his first taste of grape-flavored pedialyte. He was confused by the taste at first, but decided he was a fan and sucked down 2 oz. We then gave him 1/2 strength formula after he kept down the pedialyte for an hour. He is now napping. Hopefully he is on the mend already and will be back to his normal, charming self soon.



Mom sure hopes so, for his sake and hers!