15 Months 1 Week 1 Day - Ear Infection Update

So, we're pretty confident that the vomitting was a result of the Suprax. Christopher did fine last night. No vomitting AND he slept ALL NIGHT LONG! Yay! Since I'm still in Tullahoma at my mom's, I had the prescription for Zithromax transferred to the pharmacy down here. I decided to wait until tomorrow to start it so I can give it to him with breakfast.

After Christopher woke up from his nap today, we ran a few errands. While out and about, we stopped at a park here in Tullahoma. It's just like Kid's Castle in Murfreesboro, which was neat. The main difference was that it wasn't as crowded! Christopher was actually able to walk around in the toddler section without being run down by older kids! We didn't stay very long, though, as it was quite warm! It's been hitting 80+ degrees the last couple of days and is supposed to continue to be that warm through the weekend! I'm afraid that this is the beginning of tornado season! It won't stay this warm until Summertime, so the bad storms have to come sooner or later. I guess it's time to get the closet ready.

We'll head home sometime tomorrow. Probably in the afternoon after his nap and lunch. Shad should be home around dinnertime. Richard's planning to come down, too, so we'll probably all go out to eat at Mellow Mushroom. They just celebrated their one year anniversary in Murfreesboro and we've never been to this particular location. We've been to one in Knoxville and really liked it, so I'm looking forward to trying the one here.

Well, it's bedtime, so time to go!

15 Months 1 Week - Ear Infection Update

Christopher ended up throwing up again overnight last night. Just as yesterday, he acted just fine during the day and ate normally, so it can't be a stomach bug. This time, I'm confident it's a result of the abx. I called a nurse at Dr. Tammy's office who got all the info from me and said she'd call me back later with Tammy's recommendation of what to do next. I'm at my mom's, so called the clinic to give them her number since my cell phone doesn't work here (bad signal). Well, 5:00 came and went and I didn't hear anything. Finally, around 6:00, I got a phone call from Tammy herself. She wanted to speak directly to me instead of letting her nurse handle it. I told her that I hadn't given him any today so we'll see what happens tonight. She's not going to be in the office tomorrow, so she went ahead and decided to call in a prescription for Zithromax just in case we need it. If he DOESN'T get sick tonight, I'm to go pick it up. However, if he DOES get sick, then we'll know it's not the abx, so I'm to cancel the order. What happens next all depends on what happens tonight.

As previously mentioned, I'm staying at my mom's house tonight and possibly tomorrow night. I told her it all depended on how Christopher was doing with all this EI/abx crap going on. I left my house for the 1 hour drive down during his naptime hoping he'd sleep in the car, but he had other ideas. He maybe got a 20 minute nap, so basically nothing. I should've made him take a nap after eating lunch once we arrived, but he was acting just fine, so I didn't. Boy, did I learn a lesson today! He had an extreme meltdown around 5:30 and wouldn't calm down for anything! I ended up letting him nurse and he fell asleep ON ME! He hasn't done that since he was a newborn! I think he only slept for about 30 minutes, though, and was still ready for bed by his normal bedtime of 8:30. He's sleeping in the pack 'n play tonight, so I hope everything goes well and we both get some MUCH needed sleep!

While on the phone with Shad, I realized that with trying to remember everything for Christopher (including his medications), I forgot my birth control pills! Oops! I was already planning to call my OB's office anyway to ask about getting back on Ortho Tri-Cyclen. Several women have told me that even though they were still breastfeeding, they were able to get back on regular birth control after the baby turned a year old. WARNING...TMI: I'm SICK of being on the mini-pill because it has TOTALLY screwed up my cycles!!! I started off normally, but over the last few months, my cycles have gotten shorter and shorter. I started going only 2 weeks between AFs. The last time I started, it actually happened AT my annual exam. Fun! That was exactly 15 days ago and SHE'S STILL HANGING AROUND!!!!! Okay...end of TMI... Since I left my mini-pills at home, I'm going to call tomorrow to see if my doctor will prescribe my regular pill instead.

Well, that's all to update for now. I'll try to post again soon to update on what happens tonight and what we end up doing about the abx.

15 Months 6 Days - A Few Extras

A couple of things that I forgot to mention in my previous post:

Christopher has been keeping a runny nose for the last few months, so after the 2nd ear infection, Tammy put him on Claritin. That seemed to be working until this latest round of ear infections. We're taking a few days off to allow the abx to kick in and then we'll restart it. We're supposed to continue using it through the Spring. Poor child is doomed to have allergies. I have seasonal allergies while Shad has seasonal AND other allergies (cats, dust, etc.) AND asthma. His dad also has asthma, so I just hope Christopher doesn't end up with it, too!

We decided against buying Cheryl's laptop. Instead, Shad found a good deal on one off Ebay. We now have a Dell Latitude D600. We're still hanging on to Cheryl's while Shad's in NOLA, though, just so I have one to use.

Shad and I both signed up for softball. I have my first practice next Tuesday evening. We'll practice each Tuesday until the week of April 16 when the games start. Whether or not I get to play every game is up in the air right now. It all depends on my game schedule and Shad's game schedule. We'll have to find someone to watch Christopher if we both play at the same time. If we can't, then I'll probably be the one to have to miss. I'm so out of shape! I should've been going to the gym to get ready! I'll just have to make sure to warm up really well and to STRETCH! I don't need pulled muscles againt this year!

Okay, it's bedtime and that's all I can remember for now! Until next time...

15 Months 6 Days - Catch Up!

Wow! I've been a slacker! I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I last updated this blog!
SO...what's going on???

Walking: Christopher's walking great now. So well, in fact, that I'm moving him up to the 1-year-old Sunday School class at church this coming Sunday (March 25). He needs to be around walkers and not crawlers, so that'll be good for him. He has yet to actually start running (successfully), although, he's been walking faster and faster. I'm sure it won't be long. He's tried to run a few times only to fall on his face! LOL!

Teeth: He now has his molars and is working on his bottom canines. That'll make #13 and #14 when they come in. At the rate he's going, he'll have his 2 year molars by the time he's 18 months! He goes for a checkup with the dentist sometime in April. Hopefully, that will go smoothly.

Health: He can't seem to shake those darn ear infections. He got his first back in December and has either not gotten rid of it or now has his 3rd one. This time, it's his first double ear infection. The first time, he was given Amoxicillin, which we soon found out that he's allergic to. So, they switched him to Omnicef, which has HORRIBLE side effects! Poor thing got his first yeast rash. For the second EI, they once again gave him Omnicef. Since that hasn't worked, he's now on Suprax. I was warned to keep a close eye on him for a reaction since there's a 20-30% chance of one since he's reacted to the 'cillins. Well, he threw up in the middle of the night last night. I figured it was a reaction to the abx as he was acting and eating just fine. I called and spoke to a nurse who thought it was more likely a result of a coughing spell and not a reaction to the meds. I guess we'll find out for sure tonight since I gave him another dose this morning. If he gets sick again, it's the meds.

He was supposed to have his 15-month weight check tomorrow (Thursday, March 22), but since he's been sick, Tammy recommended that I cancel the weight check and schedule a "sick visit" for this past Monday (March 19). She said that if his weight was a problem, we'd reschedule the weight check for another time. They weigh him at each visit, including "sick visits" and this time, with clothes and a dry diaper, he was 20 lbs 14 oz. When he was there 3 weeks ago, he was 20 lbs 8 oz with clothes and a semi-wet diaper. Tammy said that she's satisfied with his weight and that it looks like he's just taking on his own curve. Considering his height, he doesn't need to be at the same weight as the average child. IMO, that would make him OVERweight instead. She's definitely going to be keeping a close eye on it at future visits, but we shouldn't have to worry about extra weight checks!

Other than dealing with ear infections and the side effects of the abx, he also had a stomach bug a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, he only had one day of vomiting. The diarrhea continued for a few days, but it wasn't really bad.

Eating: He's almost off the baby food now. I still give him a jar if we're going to be out and about or if Shad and I are eating something like chili or tacos that we don't want him to have. He got his first Happy Meal from McDonalds a couple of weeks ago. I got him the chicken nugget meal with apple juice...also a first. The only other time he's had juice was when he was constipated at about 5 or 6 months old. Of course, I really watered it down. He LOVED the juice box! Note to self: only give him a juice box when it can go in one of those plastic holders! He loved that part, too! I occasionally give him rice cereal mixed with fruit for breakfast. However, he's also eating regular oatmeal. As of right now, his favorite seems to be the fruit 'n cream variety...specifically strawberries 'n cream.

Nursing: I'm still nursing a couple of times per day. Primarily at bedtime and in the middle of the night. We experimented a couple of weeks ago and found that he CAN go to bed without nursing or taking breastmilk/formula, so that was a plus! We tried that when I wasn't home, so don't know how he'd do if I was home. I think it's going to be the middle of the night nursings that will be the hardest for him to give up. I was wanting to try and wean him soon, but am not going to attempt that while he's continuously sick. That would be just plain cruel! My "goal" is for him to be weaned within 6 months...that's by September. Surely that can happen!

Hair: He's still quite bald, but the hair in the back of his head is growing more now. He's actually getting enough that we're noticing CURLS every so often! It's SO cute! Of course, Shad wants to cut them off!!! I told him that he'd better NOT touch them! First of all, I think curls on babies/toddlers is cute. Second of all, it's taken HOW LONG for him to grow hair??? We're not cutting ANYTHING off for a while!!!

Talking: Still nothing more than Mama and Dada...and those don't happen very often. Hopefully, his language skills will take off in the next few months. HOWEVER, I've been teaching him a little bit of sign language. So far, he knows "please," "more" and "eat." I'm trying to teach him "thank you," "all done" and "milk."
In other Christopher news: I've signed him up for the preschool at church. He'll start this Fall and will be in the 1-year old class. The minimum age will be 18 months by then, but he'll be about 20/21 months. As of now, he's only 1 of 3 kids signed up! While he's in "school," I'll be working in the 2-year old class. We'll both be there on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-2. That'll be good for me to work and good for him to be around other kids in a structured church environment.

We turned his carseat around to forward-facing after his last visit for his ears. That's when he was officially over 20 lbs. I know it wasn't by much, but he's so much happier facing forward! We've now installed the portable DVD player that Richard (Granddaddy)gave us for Christmas. We've only had the chance to use it once. I let him watch VeggieTales, but he didn't really pay much attention to it until the trip home when it was dark. Then, he only watched it for a few minutes and fell asleep.

Shad and Tami News: Shad left for New Orleans on Monday (March 19) and will return on Saturday (March 24). He's on a mission trip with our church and is helping to rebuild a house that was destroyed by Katrina. This is the 2nd time for him to go since Christopher's arrival. The first time was when he was 6 months old. It seemed so much easier that time! Probably because he wasn't mobile and wasn't sick so much.

I had my annual ob/gyn exam a couple of weeks ago. I've lost all the baby weight and am now 1 lb under my pre-pregnancy weight!!! Yay!!!

We got our tax return money back in February and were able to pay off my car!!! Another yay!!! We're now going to start saving up for a new (used) vehicle for Shad. His truck is on its last leg, so hopefully we'll have time! He's wanting to get a Ford SportTrac. It especially needs to be something that we can transport Christopher around in! And preferrably something that I can drive, too.

Well, it's time to head off to church, so I'd better end here. I'm hoping to update more often, especially to document all his illnesses/ear infections. His next scheduled doctor's appointments are in 3 weeks to check his ears and then his 18 month checkup on June 19.