Gary made corned beef, cabbage, and red potatoes for dinner. Jenn and John brought a yummy leek and cheese dip on rye bread. Shane brought soda bread. And we had ourselves a traditional Irish feast! I'm so glad that I have a husband that can cook!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
St. Patrick's Day!
Gary and Thor wore matching shirts on St. Patrick's Day.
Gary made corned beef, cabbage, and red potatoes for dinner. Jenn and John brought a yummy leek and cheese dip on rye bread. Shane brought soda bread. And we had ourselves a traditional Irish feast! I'm so glad that I have a husband that can cook!
Gary made corned beef, cabbage, and red potatoes for dinner. Jenn and John brought a yummy leek and cheese dip on rye bread. Shane brought soda bread. And we had ourselves a traditional Irish feast! I'm so glad that I have a husband that can cook!
Thor's 1st Hike
Jenn had some of spring break off so she and John took Thor, Bronson, and Brady on a hike last Friday. And not a short hike, either. They were gone all day! But they had fun and Thor slept hard that night. Thor looks so cute in his sunhat and sunglasses! John's back was sore the next day from lugging around 20 pounds of dead weight the whole way!
Thor's "Man-ny"
I have not been posting on here very well becuase Thor caught rotovirus AGAIN!!! After his hospitalization, he spent a week at home recovering, was cleared by the pediatrician, and went back to daycare the next Monday, March 5. By the next Thursday, he was refusing bottles and by Friday, he was projectile vommitting and squirting diarrhea all over the place. We went through 3 brutal days before taking him back to the ER to make sure he wasn't dehydrated (because he hadn't kept ANYTHING down for 3 days). By Monday, I had had it! He has been horribly sick for 3 months, we managed to get him better, and he catches it from dayare again??!! I started looking for daycare alternatives. (Plus, he couldn't go back to daycare for another week at least.)
Our best friends in the whole world, Jenn and John, live across the street from us. Let me tell you about them. These are the best friends that any family could ask for, and I'm fabulously happy that they are ours!!! We've gone on vacations together, they've helped us build a deck, they watched Sabre while I was in law school, we went to their cool Las Vegas wedding, we spend holidays together, we have dinner parties together, they've lent us patio furniture for the last 2 years (I have "buy new cushions" on my to do list!), and they are an endless source of information and comfort. And now, John is our "man-ny" for Thor.
Yep, I pulled Thor out of daycare and now John shows up every morning at my house to take care of my sweet little boy. John carefully alternated pedialyte and formula in 1-2oz increments every 1-2 hours to make sure that he was hydrated. He has nursed Thor right back to health over the last week and a half. Thor has stopped throwing up and having diarrhea (finally!). I have gone to work able to get my work done without wondering if daycare was going to call and have me come and get him or if Thor was comfortable.
We went to the doctor for follow-up labs Tuesday. Just to give you an idea of how sick Thor was, these were his liver enzyme counts:
AST (normal range is 10-70)
1st day in hospital: 753
3rd day in hospital: 227
3 weeks later: 55
ALT: (normal range is 2-41)
1st day in hospital: 857
3rd day in hospital: 518
3 weeks later: 87 (still a little high, but a vast improvement)
As you can see, these were some scary high numbers. We had to do something else. This arrangment may only last until John finds another job, but it's been a god-send for right now. It's been really great having John taking care of Thor--he does such a great job! Thor is much happier (and healthier!)too.
Our best friends in the whole world, Jenn and John, live across the street from us. Let me tell you about them. These are the best friends that any family could ask for, and I'm fabulously happy that they are ours!!! We've gone on vacations together, they've helped us build a deck, they watched Sabre while I was in law school, we went to their cool Las Vegas wedding, we spend holidays together, we have dinner parties together, they've lent us patio furniture for the last 2 years (I have "buy new cushions" on my to do list!), and they are an endless source of information and comfort. And now, John is our "man-ny" for Thor.
Yep, I pulled Thor out of daycare and now John shows up every morning at my house to take care of my sweet little boy. John carefully alternated pedialyte and formula in 1-2oz increments every 1-2 hours to make sure that he was hydrated. He has nursed Thor right back to health over the last week and a half. Thor has stopped throwing up and having diarrhea (finally!). I have gone to work able to get my work done without wondering if daycare was going to call and have me come and get him or if Thor was comfortable.
We went to the doctor for follow-up labs Tuesday. Just to give you an idea of how sick Thor was, these were his liver enzyme counts:
AST (normal range is 10-70)
1st day in hospital: 753
3rd day in hospital: 227
3 weeks later: 55
ALT: (normal range is 2-41)
1st day in hospital: 857
3rd day in hospital: 518
3 weeks later: 87 (still a little high, but a vast improvement)
As you can see, these were some scary high numbers. We had to do something else. This arrangment may only last until John finds another job, but it's been a god-send for right now. It's been really great having John taking care of Thor--he does such a great job! Thor is much happier (and healthier!)too.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Thor's Teeth
Thor is getting the cutest tiny baby teeth. He has two on the bottom and one on the top left. The top right is going to pop out any day now. He has such a HUGE smile that his teeth seem way smaller than they should be. If they continue to be this small, he will need 50 to fill in his huge grin! He pokes at them all the time. Yes, he chews on things with them, but what he really likes is to play with them with his fingers.
And my guess is that he will become a dentist. His theme song right now is Lady Gaga's "Show Me Your Teeth." He is not content to just play with his own teeth. He wants to play with everyone else's, too. (We try to keep his hands clean.) And if someone has braces--whoa! Total fascination. (Letting him stare at her braces was one way a nurse in the hospital kept him occupied while she drew blood.) He just wants to use his cute little pinchers (his thumb and index finger) to wiggle them. And he is not shy about grabbing a total stranger's teeth if they will bend close enough for him to insert his fingers. (And for that cute little grin and laugh, who wouldn't want to bend closer?!) He does this at daycare too--prying open the other babies mouths to look for teeth.
And of course he loves to bite people with his teeth. And he loves to have you bite (very softly) back! *sigh* I'm afraid I'm going to have the class biter. Now if only I could turn that biting fascination into a desire to chew and swallow food . . . .
And my guess is that he will become a dentist. His theme song right now is Lady Gaga's "Show Me Your Teeth." He is not content to just play with his own teeth. He wants to play with everyone else's, too. (We try to keep his hands clean.) And if someone has braces--whoa! Total fascination. (Letting him stare at her braces was one way a nurse in the hospital kept him occupied while she drew blood.) He just wants to use his cute little pinchers (his thumb and index finger) to wiggle them. And he is not shy about grabbing a total stranger's teeth if they will bend close enough for him to insert his fingers. (And for that cute little grin and laugh, who wouldn't want to bend closer?!) He does this at daycare too--prying open the other babies mouths to look for teeth.
And of course he loves to bite people with his teeth. And he loves to have you bite (very softly) back! *sigh* I'm afraid I'm going to have the class biter. Now if only I could turn that biting fascination into a desire to chew and swallow food . . . .
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Thor's Progress
I don't want to repeat this 50 times so I will just say it here. Thor is recovering from the rotovirus. He hasn't thrown up since Sunday, although he still has horrific smelling rotovirus diarrhea. But even that is slowing down. Thor has enjoyed hanging out at home with John the past few days. He is not enjoying his new food regimine.
We are going through one can of the new formula every 3 days and at $50 bucks per can, we need a new plan. (Contrary to popular belief, lawyers are not made of money.) So we are offering him baby food morning, noon, and night. He doesn't like it. He screams. But we manage to get 2-3 bites in each time. Hopefully, he will decide he likes it. We are also mixing cereal in his bottle with his formula--something I SWORE I would never do for a child--to 1) get him used to the texture and 2) hope he starts to like the taste and will eat it off a spoon. I also have a very sweet friend whose baby has the same formula and she shares with me. :-) Thanks, Robin! And my secret weapon . . . .EBAY!
Yep, I am bidding on cases of the formula on eBay. It's harder than you would think. There are some people that sit on there night and day and monopolize all of the ElaCare formula. But, I have managed to snag a few cases for less than half what I could buy it in the stores for. Now normally, I would not buy something as important and sensitive as baby food online. But a coworker whose baby had the same problem told me that's what she did to afford it and never had any problems. All the cans (and cases) are sealed and sellers aren't allowed to sell expired formula on eBay--the sellers have to post the date it expires and most of them take a picture of the expiration date to prove it. And desperate times call for desperate measures. (I mean really, FIFTY DOLLARS??) So a 6-can case of ElaCare would cost $300 (plus tax) retail. I just scored a case for $98.55 no tax, shipping included. Not necessarily a "bargain" considering it is still $16.43 for a small, 14 oz. can, but super-duper better than I could buy it elsewhere.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but if I could have a do-over, I would not have stopped breast feeding!
Anyway, Thor is now used to the new formula--after many tearful hours trying to hold out on us. We will go see the pediatric GI doctor in a couple weeks and see how Thor is doing. He's finally starting to look like normal again, although thinner. And today, he is a whopping 9 months old!
We are going through one can of the new formula every 3 days and at $50 bucks per can, we need a new plan. (Contrary to popular belief, lawyers are not made of money.) So we are offering him baby food morning, noon, and night. He doesn't like it. He screams. But we manage to get 2-3 bites in each time. Hopefully, he will decide he likes it. We are also mixing cereal in his bottle with his formula--something I SWORE I would never do for a child--to 1) get him used to the texture and 2) hope he starts to like the taste and will eat it off a spoon. I also have a very sweet friend whose baby has the same formula and she shares with me. :-) Thanks, Robin! And my secret weapon . . . .EBAY!
Yep, I am bidding on cases of the formula on eBay. It's harder than you would think. There are some people that sit on there night and day and monopolize all of the ElaCare formula. But, I have managed to snag a few cases for less than half what I could buy it in the stores for. Now normally, I would not buy something as important and sensitive as baby food online. But a coworker whose baby had the same problem told me that's what she did to afford it and never had any problems. All the cans (and cases) are sealed and sellers aren't allowed to sell expired formula on eBay--the sellers have to post the date it expires and most of them take a picture of the expiration date to prove it. And desperate times call for desperate measures. (I mean really, FIFTY DOLLARS??) So a 6-can case of ElaCare would cost $300 (plus tax) retail. I just scored a case for $98.55 no tax, shipping included. Not necessarily a "bargain" considering it is still $16.43 for a small, 14 oz. can, but super-duper better than I could buy it elsewhere.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but if I could have a do-over, I would not have stopped breast feeding!
Anyway, Thor is now used to the new formula--after many tearful hours trying to hold out on us. We will go see the pediatric GI doctor in a couple weeks and see how Thor is doing. He's finally starting to look like normal again, although thinner. And today, he is a whopping 9 months old!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Thor's First Hospital Visit
First, let me thank all of you for your prayers and support while Thor was in the hospital. You all bless my family in so many ways.
Thor has been throwing up and having diarrhea for 2 months now. It was so bad Wednesday that he couldn't keep anything down at all and the poop smell was just awful! He was vomitting til he was dry heaving. On Thursday, our pediatrician sent him straight to the children's hospital--bypassed the ER--where they had a bed waiting for him. He was severly dehydrated. It was good that we didn't wait any longer. His liver enzymers were 5 times what they should have been.
He tested positive for the rotovirus. He had all his vaccinations for it, but this must have been a strain other than type A (the one that causes 90% of infections and that the vaccine is supposed to prevent). The pediatric gastroentologist thinks he also has a milk protein sensitivity.
Because it's a virus, there is no cure. He was on IV fluids only for 2 days so he wouldn't become deydrated again. Getting the IV in was horribly upsetting for everyone involved. Becuase he was so dehydrated his veins were hard to hit. Add to that his chubby little arms and legs and it took 3 nurses and 40 minutes of trying on both arms to finally get a vein. He screamed lilke we were killing him, and I bet he felt like we were. It was terrible! Then they had to draw blood every day for more tests-uggh!
Before the IV, just feeling crappy:
He loved chewing on the IV.
Up close look:
By Saturday we were able to start him on his new (very expensive!) formula. He tolerated it fairly well. By late Saturday night he was on the mend, keeping his food down and only 3 bouts of diarrhea. They couldn't do anything more for him so they released him. He is still sick, but feeling better than before. He may still have vomitting and diarrhea for 1-2 weeks, but hopefully not as bad, or else he will be back in the hospital.
He will have a follow-up with the GI doc after the virus is done to see if he really does have an allergy. Then we can hopefully get this under control!
Thor has been throwing up and having diarrhea for 2 months now. It was so bad Wednesday that he couldn't keep anything down at all and the poop smell was just awful! He was vomitting til he was dry heaving. On Thursday, our pediatrician sent him straight to the children's hospital--bypassed the ER--where they had a bed waiting for him. He was severly dehydrated. It was good that we didn't wait any longer. His liver enzymers were 5 times what they should have been.
He tested positive for the rotovirus. He had all his vaccinations for it, but this must have been a strain other than type A (the one that causes 90% of infections and that the vaccine is supposed to prevent). The pediatric gastroentologist thinks he also has a milk protein sensitivity.
Because it's a virus, there is no cure. He was on IV fluids only for 2 days so he wouldn't become deydrated again. Getting the IV in was horribly upsetting for everyone involved. Becuase he was so dehydrated his veins were hard to hit. Add to that his chubby little arms and legs and it took 3 nurses and 40 minutes of trying on both arms to finally get a vein. He screamed lilke we were killing him, and I bet he felt like we were. It was terrible! Then they had to draw blood every day for more tests-uggh!
Before the IV, just feeling crappy:
By Saturday we were able to start him on his new (very expensive!) formula. He tolerated it fairly well. By late Saturday night he was on the mend, keeping his food down and only 3 bouts of diarrhea. They couldn't do anything more for him so they released him. He is still sick, but feeling better than before. He may still have vomitting and diarrhea for 1-2 weeks, but hopefully not as bad, or else he will be back in the hospital.
He will have a follow-up with the GI doc after the virus is done to see if he really does have an allergy. Then we can hopefully get this under control!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Thor Loves Japanese Food
So remember the post about how much Thor hates food? Apparently, he only hates baby food, juice, and fruit. We went out to eat sushi Friday night and Thor munched on edamame:
He thought the pods were awesome! When they brought my miso soup, he wanted to try it. I could not shovel it in fast enough!! He was screaming his head off while I tried to blow on it so it wouldn't burn him. Thor just sucked it off the spoon like a pro. He was munching on pieces of rice I fed him off chopsticks. (And sucking on the lemon from my water.) I couldn't believe that he actually wanted to eat. I gave him a little taste of my tuna and he thought it was really good stuff.
So the next day I tried feeding him baby food thinking maybe he was ready to eat. Nada. He hated it. He wanted nothing to do with it. He just wants Japanese food. I think it's totally funny that both of my children love eating sushi.
He thought the pods were awesome! When they brought my miso soup, he wanted to try it. I could not shovel it in fast enough!! He was screaming his head off while I tried to blow on it so it wouldn't burn him. Thor just sucked it off the spoon like a pro. He was munching on pieces of rice I fed him off chopsticks. (And sucking on the lemon from my water.) I couldn't believe that he actually wanted to eat. I gave him a little taste of my tuna and he thought it was really good stuff.
So the next day I tried feeding him baby food thinking maybe he was ready to eat. Nada. He hated it. He wanted nothing to do with it. He just wants Japanese food. I think it's totally funny that both of my children love eating sushi.
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