Will It Ever End?

I stayed home from church today because I was feeling sickly. My mom took Tanner with her to church to meet up with Nick who had to be there early today. Nick called close to 11:00am and said that he was coming home with Tanner. Tanner was looking pretty splotchy so Nick wanted to bring him home. He stopped by a pharmacy to get some children’s Benadryl and to speak with the pharmacist about what might be causing the red spots on Tanner’s body. The pharmacist suggested that Nick take Tanner to the emergency room to have him checked out. So that’s what Nick did. He stopped home before he left and I got a look at Tanner.

He had red welts all over his body. He had two spots under his eyes that were swelling. I checked his body out and there were red spots all over his back and belly, ears, knees, hands, and feet. He looked pretty bad. Nick eventually got home and told me that the doctor said that it was a reaction to the dosage of medication that Tanner was taking. He had been put on Augmentin for his ear infection, and apparently the dosage was too high, and that was what was causing the reaction. We were told to stop the antibiotic and to give him Benadryl 3 times a day until the splotches went away.

Tanner woke up after a 2 hour nap and he looked pretty bad. His whole face was covered in red spots and welts. His body had the same spots all over it. His fingers were swollen in places, as well as his toes, and under his eyes. He had spots on his knees, ears, and back of his neck. It was a hard thing to look at. But, through it all, Tanner was still his happy-go-lucky self. He’s such a trooper. This week has been rough for him with high fevers, ear infections, cutting an eyetooth, and now this reaction to the medication. Poor kid!!

Life Back to Normal

After 6 days of high fevers, Tanner is finally doing better. Yesterday morning I got him out of bed and he was cool to the touch. That is such a nice feeling after your little one has been hot to the touch for almost a week.

Tanner gave us quite a scare this past week. His high fevers don't really surprise me anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still worry that they get up to over 105 degrees, but I've come to expect that now. What scared me really bad was on Tuesday he woke up and I noticed that his lips were turning blue. Freaked me out!! My mom then noticed that his fingernails were blue as well. I immediately called the pediatrician and they had me bring him in right away. The doctor said that the blue lips were a reaction to the high fever. She said that since just the lips themselves were blue and that they weren't blue around the lips as well meant that he was okay. She said that once it starts turning blue around the lips that that is really bad. I had a hard time accepting that blue lips are a reaction to excessively high fevers. But I took her word for it and took him home. They eventually would turn pink again, but I was still really worried about the blueness. I noticed that they turned slightly blue again the next day, but nothing like it was on Tuesday. Scary stuff, let me tell ya! Nick and my dad were able to give him a priesthood blessing Wednesday evening and that helped a lot. I'm grateful to live in a home where my husband and father live their lives in a manner that they are able to excercise their priesthood authority when needed.

To add flame to the fire though, he's cutting a tooth and it's really giving him some problems. If it's not one thing it's another with him. I just want to take the pain from him so that he can be comfortable for a while. But at least he is laughing and jabbering again. That's something he hadn't done for almost a week, so it's nice to get my little boy back again!!

Sick little boy, Sad Mommy

Once again, Tanner has gone and gotten himself sick. And when Tanner gets sick, he doesn't just get a little sick, he gets really sick. In December, after his 6 month check-up, he got really sick. His fever spiked at over 102 degrees, he was congested, and just miserable. After having blood drawn to see what was going on in his little body, they gave him a shot of a powerful antibiotic that doctors normally give to adults. Then, a few days after that, he was sick again and it was back to the doctor for more antibiotics. This time just the liquid kind.

Then in March, he was his sickest. Again, after his 9 month check-up, I got a call at work saying that Tanner had a temperature - this was on a Monday. For the next five days his fever would spike, the highest being 105.7!!! Scared the living daylights out of me. So once again, back to the doctor, bloodwork done, urine collected, and nothing showed up but a high white blood count. So this time he got two hefty shots of the same antibiotics that doctors normally give to adults.

So I take Tanner to his 12 month check-up. Low and behold, he gets sick AGAIN!!! This time with a low-grade fever and an ear infection. 10 days of antibiotics did the trick. At least I thought. 5 days after his last dose of medicine, the fever is back. This time it's worse. But we just let things play out how they would being that it was the weekend. I figured his fever would go away and everything would be good. How wrong was I. I had to take him back to the doctor today. They took his temperature and sure enough, it's over 105 degrees again! His ear infection is back in the same ear and it's back on antibiotics for 10 more days. Holy cow!!

As a mom, I worry every time he gets even a small fever, because I'm always afraid that one day it will spike to over his highest temp of 105.7. I can't sleep at night because I'm afraid that I'm going to wake up to find something I don't want to wake up to. Thank goodness for prayers. I love my little boy so much, and to see him suffering just about kills me. I wish so much that I could just take his place and let me deal with the high fevers and the infections and what not. My heart breaks when all he wants to do is lay on my chest with his blanket in hand and thumb in his mouth, because I know that that's not Tanner. He's my happy-go-lucky little boy who wants to do everything himself and do it full steam ahead.

Tanner, I love you so much, bud. I want you to get better so that we can play again. Sleep well tonight! I pray for you every moment I have so that you will get better quick! I love you!

A Few Pictures

Tanner's Birthday Party

4th of July in Virginia

Spencer does not like the carseat

Swinging on a Sunday afternoon

Chewing on some grass he found in the yard

Where Does the Time Go?

The past month has just seemed to fly by for me. I've seemed to have lost all track of time. But, it's been a good, busy month. As you can tell, we've upgraded from a single stroller to a double stroller. This was it's "maiden voyage". It's a nice stroller, which it ought to be since it didn't come necessarily cheap. The boys are growing quickly.

Tanner's first birthday was a huge success! Cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and even great-grandma (or GG as we call her) joined us for Tanner's special day! He dug into his Tonka truck birthday cake with no problems. Presents abounded and he even got to stay up past his bedtime. A fun time was had by all!

Spencer is growing right along. He started his life at 8 lbs. 9 ounces and was 21 inches long. Now, one month later, he weighs in at 11 lbs. 9 ounces, and measures a whopping 24 inches long! 3 lbs and 3 inches in one month! We're raising a giant!! The pediatrician says he looks like a 3 month old, but that he looks fantastic. We must be doing something right.

We spent most of the July 4th weekend at my aunt and uncle's house outside Fredericksburg, VA. We had a good time. We had a chance to set off some fireworks, so Nick and my dad pitched in to get an hours worth of fun! Tanner was a little freaked out at first, but warmed up to the lights and noise and really enjoyed them. Spencer slept through most of it.

Nick and I are doing well. Nick passed his national radiologic tech exam and is now nationally certified. He's enjoying his job, and really likes the fact that he is finally getting paid to do the work. He's taking a few more classes between now and next summer, and hopefully he'll be able to get into Thomas Jefferson university next year. I just had a follow-up visit for me knee injury from my car accident in April. The MRI showed no tears, but that I do have bruised cartilage. So back to physical therapy I go for 4 weeks and then get re-evaluated. I'm enjoying being home with the boys. I think I've adjusted well. At least I've adjusted better than I did with Tanner. All-in-all, things are going well for us here! Life is good.

Spencer James!!!

Really quick - I'll post more later with pictures - Spencer James joined our family only 7 days later than expected. I was induced on Thursday morning because baby boy decided he didn't want to come out. After only 6 hours, he was here. He weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. and is 21 1/4 inches long. He's doing well. We got to come home yesterday, but had to go back a few hours later because of a complication with the circumcision. So Spencer and I stayed the night for observation last night and we able to come home this afternoon. He's a cutie pie!! Now the fun begins with both the boys.

Still Pregnant...!

My due date has come and gone! I'm five days overdue!! I'm miserable because instead of being 9 months pregnant, I'm not 9+ months pregnant. No woman should have to endure that. I keep thinking that every day will be the day that I will deliver. So far nothing. I stop in for my last OB appointment this morning and hopefully things will have progressed a little bit. I thought for sure I was going to have him last week, but all my contractions stopped. How sad! However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I've been scheduled to be induced on Thursday, June 5, just in case I don't start labor naturally. That's only two days away, and I think baby boy will hang on that long. He seems to like it in there. I'm ready to start sleeping on my back, being able to walk up the stairs with my #1 son without a lot of pain on the belly, and so much more things that we seem to not realize we could do before getting to be 9+ months pregnant! So pray that my delivery is quick and somewhat not too painful! I'll post some pictures as soon as I'm caught up from the overwhelming experience of labor, delivery, then bring home baby!