Flu bugs

A big YUCK!  Aaron spent three days experiencing vomiting and diarrhea.  We spent three days dealing with the aftermath of laundry and an uncomfortable babe.  Mostly, he was in pretty good spirits, just a little less energy and motivation to do anything.  So we spent a lot of time cuddling, which was fine by me.  He is starting to get his appetite back this morning and is currently taking his morning cat nap.  Last night, however, was pretty rough, but for Ben, not Aaron.  He's been hit with the bug and was sick three times in two hours.  If any of you know Ben, he's NEVER sick, so he's pretty miserable.  We were both up from 2:30-4:30am, him in the bathroom and me putting A back to bed.  So this post is nothing but me rambling about the illness and lack of sleep we are currently experiencing.
On another note, I'm going to paint our guest bathroom sometime...hopefully in the near future.  Additionally plan to repaint our bathroom upstairs as well, but I have already painted it twice since we moved in.
Another note, we fly to Nashville next week and my task this weekend is to make a packing list, purchase some luggage and do LOTS of laundry to prepare us for the trip.  Wish us luck!  It'll be Aaron's first flight and I'm crossing my fingers that it will go well!

One in the bed and the little one said...

Roll OVER!  Aaron rolled over almost two weeks ago now, but I haven't gotten around to blogging about it.  Click on the link and watch the video!  Yup, that's right, we actually caught the first one on video!  It was awesome and he acted like he does it all the time and couldn't figure out what we were fussing about.  Silly baby boy!  Since then, lots has happened around the house.  Or at least I feel that way.  Aaron is putting everything straight into his mouth and drooling like a fool.  I bet we go through bibs every couple hours due to drooling and spit up.  He has also started "talking" all the time.  He makes a noise that starts like a really sick car trying to start and if only I had it on video.  I can't even describe the sounds that come out of this kid!  We are also getting close to rolling over back to front but he doesn't really prefer the front so I can't see this being something he does often.  And actually, he has not rolled over again from tummy to back.  He's just happy where he's at and when he's not, he start whining.  Oh well.  It's been fun and exciting to see how he's developing!  I feel like that last month has been a lot of firsts.  Aaron also tried cereal for the first time.  He continues to eat some, less than 1/2 an ounce every other night or so, but I think he'd rather not.  We do have a few photos of that one.  I can't wait to see even more milestones.  Life is crazy, but it's a good crazy.

Aaron Loooong Legs

We had our 4 month check up this week.  Despite getting a little cold, again, everything is going well!  Aaron is growing evenly and rapidly.  He is 14 pounds, 11oz (50th %), 26 1/2 inches long (95th %), and his head is just shy of 17 inches(64%).  If you'll remember, Aaron was at the 65th percentile for height last time.  After measuring him THREE times and checking records from the multiple doctor's visits in March, it was finally accepted as accurate.  He grew 2 inches in 1 month!!!!  I told them I was not surprised but they just kept rechecking and double checking measurements.  So now, he needs to wear 6/9 month clothes for length, but they fall off of his skinny little waist.  He is definitely just like his dad!  The little peanut took shots like a champ this time around too!  We did DTaP and polio, plus rotavirus this time around.  Two sticks and some oral gunk.  We thought ahead this time and fed him just before and after he had the shots which worked amazingly to calm him down!  No tears after!  Made me feel better about it, though it is still hard to watch.  So far, our only reaction to shots has been extra sleepiness and gassy belly.  Whew!  Thank goodness.  He is not currently taking juice on a regular basis and has been able to have a bowel movement all by himself!  We are slowly getting out of the challenging stage.  Though naps are sometimes still a thing he wants to negotiate.  We are working on that one.  He is giggling and smiling all the time and really figuring out how to use his hands.  It's so fun to watch him and see the wheels turning behind his eyes to figure out how something is working or which finger is moving.  I can't wait to see what happens in another month!  Contemplating starting cereal, but concerned about possible constipation that may accompany it.  Guess we may just have to try it and see.

Nap Battle Royale

So....Aaron continues to battle nap time and bed time.  He wants to interact with us...and vice versa.  However, if we put him down too early, he takes an hour to fall asleep or more.  What's more is that we have to sit with him until he falls asleep to keep popping the damn pacifier back in his mouth because when it falls out, he wakes up.  Grrrr!!!  If we wait until we know he is exhausted or even just tired, it's usually tooooooo late and he's over tired and over stimulated.  THEN, he screams...for 30-60 minutes and NOTHING works to calm him down.  We've put him in the crib and let him cry, for an hour.  Only made him more worked up and screamed louder.  We've rocked him until he falls asleep, only to have him wake up crying as soon as we put him down.  We've put him in his swing, which works on an inconsistent basis or until it stops swinging.  I'm so frustrated, feeling like I crappy mom who can't console her child or even get him to relax enough to fall asleep.  I know that's not true but more days are feeling like that than not.  I look forward to Mondays...regretfully...because Aaron goes to daycare and I don't have to worry about getting him to fall asleep for a nap.  THAT makes me feel awful as well.  I should want to spend time with my child, want to rock him to sleep and snuggle.  I'm starting to dread weekends and evenings because I know he's just going to scream and there is nothing that I can do about it.  I'm just feeling inadequate, depressed, and guilty.  Never thought that this would be part of motherhood.

Three Month Photos

So here they are!  Aaron's 3 month photos!  And as I post this, he is 3 1/2 months old already!  Time sure flies!  Finally starting to feel better after his hospital stay and recovering from RSV and an ear infection.  Poor kiddo has had a rough couple of weeks.  Anyway, enjoy the photos!
http://gallery.me.com/bhaylett#100263&bgcolor=black&view=grid

RSV, a nasty little bug

We had our first stay in the hospital this week due to complications from RSV.  Basically a nasty cold bug that takes a long time to get over.  It causes lots of secretions, snotty nose, cough, sore throat, headache, etc.  How do I know?  Because I now have the nasty thing myself.  Oh the things we do for our kiddos.  So here's how the story unfolded:
Aaron had a cold since Saturday, including stuffy nose and cough.  It just kept getting worse so we took him to the pediatrician on Tuesday morning to make sure he wasn't developing something worse.  They diagnosed him with RSV and an ear infection and sent us home with nebulizer treatments and amoxicillin. After a day of those treatments, they didn't seem to be improving his breathing, despite nasal aspirations of his snot with a bulb syringe. He spiked a fever at 101.8 and was just  burning up.  After calling the pediatrician, we decided it would be best to take him in to the ER to have him looked at.  So we spent 3 hours in the ER, having yet another nebulizer treatment and x-rays to be sent home to monitor him.  Aaron slept in his car seat most of the night...for what little he did sleep.  The next morning, he was still working really hard to breathe.  We went in to see the pediatrician and after another nebulizer treatment and no change in his oxygen levels, that it would be best to go to the hospital for observation.  We arrived at Blank around noon, and were soon told that we would be staying over for observation to make sure that Aaron didn't need oxygen over night.  I think the best thing we experienced at the hospital was the awesome nasal aspirator they have!  That thing sucked so much snot out of Aaron's nose that he was able to breathe and sleep fairly well for the first time in 3 days!  Our sleep however, was not restorative so we are planning on catching up this weekend.  We hope.  So they discharged us 24 hours later.  Aaron is still feeling a little crummy, with quite the cough but is feeling a lot better.  We got to see a smile and he's starting to babble again, which we didn't see for at least two days.  Currently, he's napping and I should be too.  Thankfully Grandma Connie came to help out through the recovery process.  We didn't realize how sick the little guy was until we ended up getting it.  Hoping to recover quickly and all of us can be on the mend.

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

He is 3 months old today!  How time flies!  We had a visit with our new pediatrician in Ankeny, Dr. C.  She is AWESOME!  Gives tons of information, guidance on vaccinations, support...I just love her.  Aaron did a great job too, considering he hadn't had a real nap all day.  Yah, buddy!  Here's the stats:

24 1/4 inches long (60%), 13lbs 5oz (50%), and 16 3/4 inch head circumference (65%).  So...pretty average.  We talked about trying some pear juice to help with bowel movements.  Going to try 2 - 1oz bottles throughout the day of straight juice to see if that helps.  We have to try to incorporate this on top of his feedings, as we don't want to just give him empty calories.  Could prove challenging with the timing we deal with for medicine and the fact that he is pretty full after a bottle of formula.  The doc said he is growing well, everything is looking good and he was quite bright eyed for her.  Even gave a little smile.  She was glad that we are scheduled to see the Pediatric Gastroenterologist, which is next week.  She agreed that the bowel problems are of concern, especially now that he's 3 months old.  Hopefully they will be able to tell us some good news.  There are many possibilities, some of which are scary.  But I will not dwell on them now, as we don't know anything yet!  :)  Aaron also had some shots today.  I felt bad because I am altering his vaccine schedule which means more sticks.  But, I also have to tell myself I'm doing what I think is in the best interest of my child.  So every month until he's 7 months old...2 sticks at the doctor's office.  Hopefully he doesn't figure out the correlation by then or he is going to hate me.  I wish I could say he did great with shots but this time...not so much.  He SCREAMED!  I used to think he screamed before.  I was wrong.  Poor kiddo took 20 minutes to calm down enough just to eat a bottle, which significantly helped him relax.  Then the car ride home put him to sleep, which is what he is still doing almost 2 hours later.  Hope we don't have much/any reaction.  Last shots we were just a bit more sleepy and a little fussy but not too bad.  Crossing our fingers.
Aaron also had his 3 month pictures taken on Saturday.  He did a great job, despite still feeling a little crummy after having a little bug on Thursday/Friday!  Pictures will be available soon!  Here's a peak to tide you over.