A SAD DAY AND A STAY IN THE "HOSTABLE"

It was a hard day yesterday. Jared's Grandma Miller passed away on Thursday morning and we attended her funeral yesterday morning. She was 92. We will miss her dearly and always remember her loving and serving spirit. Though we were sad to see her go, we did have a good time visiting with lots of family that we don't get to see very often. It made for a crazy and hectic weekend, though. We were at Grandma Faith and Grandpa Bob's house for most of it, and the girls were a bit...... off due to the craziness. But that's just how it goes sometimes. Goodbye Grandma Miller. You will be missed!

Then, on top of all that, Morgan got sick. She threw up Sunday evening at Grandma Faith's house, but was acting totally fine. She ended up throwing up in her bed, though, Sunday night, and continued to be lethargic, listless, weak, and unresponsive on Monday. Not to mention that she vomitted more and her heart was RACING! When we got back from the funeral (my mom stayed home with the girls), I called the doctor and they told us to go straight to the ER because they couldn't do anything for her at the doctor's office, and it sounded like she was dehydrated and needed to be admitted for fluids. Well, that is exactly what happened. Morgan got to have her own stay in the "hostable." She has been a trooper and a very well behaved and cooperative patient. The new children's floor is awesome here, and they have treated us so well. Hopefully we will be able to go home sometime today.

FOOD FIGHT

I used to be a girl who LOVED to eat. I would cry if I didn't get my food right NOW. Mommy always was so happy that I would basically eat anything she put in front of me. Oh, I had my favorites, like crackers, sweet potatoes, bananas, etc. But I really just loved to eat, and would even crawl up to my highchair and sign/say "eat" even when it wasn't time to eat. When we'd go out to eat, Mommy would bring food for me, and I'd have it all gone before Mommy and Daddy's food had even gotten there. I was the girl who could down a whole ice cream cone (without the ice cream) in no time flat. Well, Mommy is wondering where that little girl went to, because in the last two weeks, I have become a very finicky, picky eater. It started that I wanted nothing to do with my "milk." I started drinking milk again, but now I do NOT want to eat. I mean, I could go all day without eating and be happy. Not even my favorites can entice me. Oh, I'll eat maybe part of a cracker or a few small bites of banana and then be "all done." I won't even touch vegetables anymore. I will sometimes eat applesauce or oatmeal or jello, things that "slide" down easily, but that's about it. I even have gotten into the habit of hitting Mommy's hand or pushing it away when she tries to give me something. (Mommy is trying to teach me how to say "no thank you" in sign language. I can do it, but usually only with Mommy's prompting AFTER I have hit her hand away.) Another thing I have started doing with my food instead of eating it is mashing it up or playing with it, which usually means it ends up on the floor. I just DON'T WANT TO EAT! Mommy wonders if it is because she tends to give me the same foods a lot due to my milk allergy. I can't just eat what Mommy and Daddy are eating. (Mommy wonders if she should adjust her cooking and maintain a "dairy free kitchen" so I CAN eat what they eat, but Daddy does NOT like the sound of that.) Today Mommy tried a few new foods, including strawberries and beans, but NOPE. Would have none of it. Mommy says who wouldn't like strawberries!? Anyway, Mommy is hoping this all has to do with my not feeling well, but she's afraid it's a phase/stage I am going through. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

I was starting to get on a great sleeping schedule again, waking around 8:00 or so (at least that's when Mommy hears me....she doesn't know how long I just lay there awake since it's dark out and I think it's still night...). Then, I'd go about my morning pretty happy, and I'd take a nap from about 1:00 to 3:00 or 4:00. Then, I'd go to bed around 7:30-7:45. I'd been going right to sleep with no troubles, and life was good in the sleeping department again finally. Well, now with being sick, it's thrown everything off again. I am usually up between 3:30 and 4:00 in the morning with a coughing spell (Mommy has to come in and hold me in the chair for awhile to stop the coughing spell), and I don't ever really fall asleep again since I just keep coughing off and on. So, by the time morning comes around, I'm already exhausted. That makes for a very grumpy morning, and I'm getting into a lot more "trouble" now too and not obeying Mommy very well because I'm so tired and grumpy. (Plus, I now can walk anywhere I want to and get around really well, so that is another reason I am now getting into things and doing things I don't usually do.) For naps, I don't always sleep well or it takes a while to get to sleep because of my cough. Sometimes Mommy has to come in and hold me so I don't cough. And last night I cried for awhile when Daddy put me to bed, and I was super grumpy all evening. This being sick stuff is NO FUN....for me or for Mommy and Daddy either. Let's hope I get better soon!

BARKING LIKE A SEAL

Well, it seems we're in for a LONG winter if I have croup again already. Yep. Croup. After two days of the barking cough, I developed a stridor (Mommy learned that from the doctor) which is a wheezy, barky inhaling breath during a coughing spell. Since I had croup back in January, Mommy recognized the signs, so she pulled out the vaporizer, ran steamy water in the bathroom, etc., etc. But when I developed the stridor, she decided to call the doctor's office just to be safe. They wanted to see me immediately to make sure I don't have pneumonia or anything. Thank goodness I don't! But I can't sleep or eat because I cough too much, and I'm so tired! I do still have more energy, though, than Mommy thought I'd have being sick. I still like to push my walker around the house as fast as I can. Instead of carrying around my baby, though, I found a new companion: my straw cup. I have been wanting to drink a LOT of water lately since being sick (Mommy usually can't get me to drink hardly any on a regular basis, so she lets me drink all the water I want to right now). So, I just grab the straw with my teeth, and away we go. That way, I can drink all I want to and still have my hands free to push my walker toy. Now, how's that for multi-tasking?

WHAT A MOTHER'S DAY

Well, it wasn't quite the first Mother's Day Mommy had in mind. I woke up crying at 6 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep. Then, I proceeded to scream and cry ALL day. Nothing Mommy or Daddy did would pacify me. They decided I wouldn't do well at church but we did try to go to Aunt Jamie and Unlce Dusty's house to celebrate Mother's Day with them and Grandma Faith and Grandpa Bob, but that didn't last long. I was a mess.

It seems I just start to get better and then.... (sigh) I did throw up again all over Uncle Brad on Saturday night. And now today I am still extremely fussy and won't sleep again. Mommy is tired, frustrated, and grumpy, if I do say so myself. But then again, we all are.

Poor Grandma Joy and Grandpa Doug got sick, too, on Mother's Day. I don't know if I gave it to them or if they picked it up elsewhere. But Mommy really thinks mine isn't the flu but due to other things now. She just doesn't know what. She sure wishes I could talk to tell her what is wrong. She may call the doctor this afternoon ..... again..... just because she can't get me to stop crying and fussing. (Which really isn't like me at all.)

More updates later....

JUST CAN'T GET RID OF IT

I was doing so well...

Until this morning.

I hadn't thrown up in 48 hours, and I was slowly getting back to normal (eating rice cereal, bananas, applesauce just fine and SLOWLY starting formula again).

Then, I threw up all over again this morning.

It's been a week now.....

(sigh)

AN UPDATE ON THE FLU BUG

Okay, well, Mommy and Daddy are both feeling 100% better. Me? Nope. Not so much. I go in 20-24 stretches of no vomiting, and Mommy thinks, "Great!" Then, suddenly, I throw up all over again. (sigh). So far, I have had about 6 ounces of formula since Friday night, most of which has come back up. Right now, I am living on Pedialyte, and small amounts of applesauce, rice cereal, and puffs. On top of all this, I have 3 teeth coming in at once....yes 3! So, Mommy wonders if some of my "infirmities" are related more to my teeth than the flu now???? I have just not been my talkative, happy self lately. I've been pretty melancholy. Mommy says I look "frail" and "pale." (Okay, being in the 96% for weight, I'm definitely not frail, but Mommy can definitely tell I've lost weight.... about 1 lb so far according to the doctor's scale.) If you think of me here in the next few days, say a little prayer for me.... please?

Here are a couple pictures Daddy took of me at the hospital on Sunday.....

PASS IT ON

Well, there are just some things that are not nice to share with others.....the flu being one of them. Mommy and I ended up passing the flu bug on to poor Daddy after he did a great job of taking care of us. Now we have three sick ones in the house. Who's taking care of who? Good question! I actually ended up in the ER once again this morning....why can't we ever get sick during a week day for goodness sakes? I wasn't keeping anything down again and was refusing liquids, and I had become very lethargic this morning to the point that Mommy could hardly wake me up. Well, since Mommy still was sick, Daddy had to take me by himself. It was at the ER that he started feeling sick. A nurse had to stay with me for a bit while Daddy went to the restroom. Like I said, Poor Daddy! Anyway, they once again gave me tylenol and pedialyte and sent me home. Sound familiar? Now being at home again, I am still refusing liquids and just want to sleep all the time. (sigh) Time to go....we're all going to lay down for a nap! Let's just hope I decide to eat/drink something when I wake up or it could be a LONG night ahead....

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE.....REALLY BAD

The Good: The last four days or so, I have been taking really good naps again. No fussing, sleeping about 1.5 hours. Yea for me! (Mommy did try something new....she put a blanket up over my window so it is really dark in my room. Don't know if that is a coincidence or if it really does help.)

The Bad: Mommy can see three (maybe four?) teeth trying to come in. Yuk!

The Really Bad: Mommy and I both got the flu yesterday. Mommy started feeling yucky around noon. Luckily I was being a good girl and kept myself pretty entertained on the floor with my toys while she laid on the couch. I wasn't showing any signs, though, of being sick until I woke up suddenly at 9:30 p.m. throwing up all over my bed. That just about did Mommy's queasy stomach in. She kept feeling worse and worse throughout the night as I kept throwing up and eventually just kept dry heaving until I finally fell asleep in Daddy's arms around 2 a.m. Mommy started throwing up around 1 a.m. and had a 101 fever. When I woke up this morning, though, I seemed pretty happy and had no fever. Daddy would only let me have Pedialyte, though, and I didn't like that at first. I wanted my food! But I got used to it. Mommy has been sleeping all day, so Daddy and I have had lots of play time together. Just this afternoon I started having diarrhea, a bad diaper rash, and a low grade fever...but am still smiling and playing. Poor Daddy. He is taking care of two sick ladies on about 3 hours of sleep. He deserves an award!

DE JA VU

Well, here we are again. Seems an awful lot like back in January.....I'm sick! I have again been in my pajamas all day, and I am sleeping in my "recliner" in my crib so I can breathe and not cough as much. I am back to drinking Pedialyte every 10 minutes instead of my food since I keep throwing up. I have a low grade fever, and I am FUSSY! The only difference this time is that instead of sleeping all the time, I don't sleep at all.....therefore, neither do Mommy and Daddy. :(

WE'VE TURNED THE CORNER....HOPEFULLY!

I am so glad to be in my own house again. I've been taking my bottle without throwing up, which is a huge success! Granted, I'm only eating about half what I used to, but we have to work slowly up to that. My tummy still can't take a whole lot at this point. I still have a cough and a runny nose, but I am so much better than a few days ago. I slept through the night with only a few coughs, and I am actually smiling and playing now, which is a big change from a few days ago, too. Let's hope this means things are looking up!

A TRIP TO THE E.R. - ROUND THREE!

Yep, you read that right....a third trip to the E.R. I did pretty well on Thursday evening and Friday taking just Pedialyte (no formula). So Mommy started to give me little bits of formula Friday night. Did it stay down? Nope. My fever was still hovering around 100-101, and I still had a nasty cough that kept me (and Mommy and Daddy) up all night on Friday night, too. I was very pale, my eyes were red and sunken, and all I wanted to do was sleep (but I couldn't because of my cough). So on Saturday morning when I wouldn't even take the Pedialyte anymore, Mommy's friend, Stefanie, who works in the ER came over to see me. She said we should probably head back to the ER, but that this time she'd come with us since she had some pull, to make sure I wasn't just basically given tylenol and sent home like the last two times. Well, it worked. We got right in and suddenly, things started happening. They did a swab test for RSV, they put in a catheter to draw urine to test for other infections, they took more chest xrays, they hooked me up to an IV for fluids, and they started me on an antibiotic. When the ER doctor came to talk to us, she said the xrays looked like I may have a touch of pneumonia. Suddenly, we were being admitted to the children's hospital. We spent Saturday night and most of Sunday there where they continued to give me fluids. They did give me more tylenol, and my fever went away. After awhile on fluids, Mommy and Daddy noticed a big difference. I perked up a bit, and actually smiled at them. They started having me try small bits of Pedialyte again, and once I was able to keep that down, we tried formula again. I was able to keep it down for two feedings in a row (very small amounts of it anyway), so they let me go home. I still have my cough and am VERY tired from hardly any sleep the last 48-72 hours, but I am glad to be home. Mommy and Daddy are very hopeful that I can continue to keep formula down and that I can get some good sleep tonight (so they can get some sleep, too!) I did lose over 2 pounds, through the whole ordeal, too. Daddy had jokingly said a few days before that I was getting too fat and needed to lose weight. I guess he needs to watch what he wishes for, huh? Thanks, Dad.

A TRIP TO THE E.R. - ROUND TWO

Well, I'm still sick. On Wednesday night we ended up back in the emergency room. (Although Mommy and Daddy thought it was a bit unnecessary. But, you have to listen to the doctor, right?) My fever had been coming and going all day, ranging from 99 to 101. I also began throwing up everything that Mommy and Daddy put in my mouth, including medicine. So, after showering Mommy AND Daddy AND the couch Wednesday night with my dinner, they decided to put me in the bathtub again. But I just became really lethargic and weak. I had been that way all day, really. Just laying in Mommy's arms, not really doing much of anything except sleeping and throwing up. Finally at 8 p.m. Mommy called the doctor to ask them for advice on keeping fluids in me. In the course of talking to the nurse, she began to get concerned when she heard I was pretty lethargic all day and throwing up all my food. She was worried I was getting dehydrated. So, she told us to go back to the ER. Mommy and Daddy didn't really feel THAT was necessary, but off we went in the frigid cold temps. Well, being out in the cold actually did wonders for my croupy cough, and by the time we got to the ER I think they wondered why we were really there. But I still did have a 102.7 fever, so they gave me a tylenol suppository and had me drink some pedialyte and sent me home. I slept pretty good when we got home, but woke up Thursday morning and proceded to vommit it all right back up. And I continued this all day yesterday, too. Mommy even tried just giving me little bits of formula at a time spread out over the day instead of taking a whole bottle every few hours. But since that wasn't even working, I am now just drinking very small amounts of Pedialyte every 10 minutes that I am awake and trying to keep that down. I haven't thrown up now since midnight, so Mommy and Daddy are encouraged and crossing their fingers that I will continue to keep these little bits down. Daddy was actually home with us the last two days because his school was canceled due to the weather. Mommy was very glad to have him at home during this ordeal, though Daddy doesn't like the idea of making up those days later at the end of the year. But he is back at work today, so Grandma Joy came over again to see me. :) I'll keep you posted on how I am doing later this weekend.

FEELING LOUSY

Well, I had a decent day yesterday with no fever, but as evening rolled around, I began to feel more and more lousy. By bedtime, I had thrown up once, and my cough was getting worse again. I coughed my way through the night but got a little bit of sleep. This morning, though, I had a fever again and I threw up all over me, Mommy, and the couch. After that I just laid in Mommy's arms for most of the morning, hardly moving except to cough. I tried to take a nap because I was SOOO tired, but I just kept coughing and coughing. I decided I don't like being sick. At least Daddy had a snow day today, so he was able to stay home and help take care of me. Mommy was glad about that.

A NIGHT IN THE E.R. AND A DAY IN MY P.J.'S...

Last night I woke up at midnight vomitting. As the night wore on, I was coughing more and more and becoming very raspy, wheezy, and I eventually was having some trouble breathing. I also had a fever of 101. When my coughing turned to "barking," Mommy and Daddy decided to call the Doctor. After listening to me over the phone, the nurse told Mommy and Daddy to take me to the Emergency Room. So, we headed out in the wind and snow at 2 a.m. for the hospital.

I did not like it so much there. There were all sorts of strangers trying to do all sorts of things to me. Plus, I just really wanted to sleep. After 2 hours, 2 chest xrays to check for pneumonia, and a dose of steroids they sent me home with a diagnosis of croup.

We got home at 5:00 a.m. and I went to sleep (finally!) while Daddy tried to get a little catnap in before having to turn around and go to work.

Now today, I've been just sitting around in my pajamas, and sleeping mostly. It is hard to eat because I can't breathe. Grandma Joy came over to help me feel better. :) Right now, I am doing a bit better. At least I am playing a bit with Grandma. But Mommy says I am still pale and sound a bit "hoarse."

SICK BABY

Mommy and Daddy have been sick last week with nasty colds, and they were nice enough to share it with me. :( Last night I woke up twice coughing so hard that I threw up. I am not too bad when I am sitting up, but I cough, cough, cough, when I lay down. So, since I was SO tired and couldn't lay down to sleep for my nap without coughing, Mommy put me in my reclined infant chair and stuck that right in my crib so I could sleep. I fell asleep with only a little coughing and slept for 2 1/2 hours straight.