Tuesday 29 December 2009

Adventures in Motherhood - Baby's first cold

So the last few days have been... trying. Connor is sporting his first head cold. The poor guy can't breath through his nose, he thinks that saline drops are gonna drown him and the nose sucky thing (name is completely escaping my exhausted mind) is trying to steal his brain. Sleeping is a challenge as apparently breathing through his mouth hasn't been considered as an option yet so he's cranky, sleepy and stuffy... just the recipe for a fantastic time. To top it all off, he has diarrhea (I'm so glad I hit that diaper sale).

I woke with a sore throat this morning and Cory has aches and pains.

One bright spot is that he hasn't been spitting up as much at all even without his Zantac dosages. I am suspicious that the Zantac has no impact on the quantity of spit up and he is just starting to grow out of it... only time will tell...

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Adventures in Motherhood - First Pediatrician Appt

In New Brunswick, as with most provinces, a referral is required from your family doctor to see a specialist such as a pediatrician. My family doctor, whom I hold in very low regard, fortunately has extremely low confidence in her ability to diagnose a baby therefore she was quick to provide a referral to a pediatrician for Connor's spitting up issue. On a good day, Connor spits up maybe 20 times... on a bad day... well we would all be better off naked to keep the laundry issue under control. As a breast fed baby, the expectation is that he would spit up maybe once or twice a week... wow that would be amazing!!

We had our first appointment with the Pediatrician scheduled for December 10 but in good ol'New Brunswick fashion, the skies opened up and dropped a foot of snow on the ground that morning. Our appointment was in Fredericton (an hour drive away), we had to postpone it... Yesterday was the big day. Our appointment was at 2 PM so we needed to be on the road by 12:30. For most people this would not be a problem, but Connor and I have established a fantastic routine that includes sleeping until noon. So I dusted off the alarm clock for the first time since our 8 am appointment at the hospital for induction... After sleeping through the first 48 minutes of the alarm, we were up and trying to remember why...

We were on the road by 10 to 1... got to our appointment exactly on time... (my mother will be proud). On the drive to Fredericton, Connor fell asleep as soon as we hit the highway and woke only once we had parked. While he slept, the snow started falling... again...

At our appointment, Connor was first examined by Patrick... he weighed in at 14.4 lbs... he had his heart and lungs listened to, his ears and throat looked at, his belly prodded... giggling and wiggling the entire time... Connor even helped hold the stethoscope for Patrick.

Then the doctor came in to examine him... she was shocked... in a good way... she couldn't believe how strong Connor was for a three month old. Probably cause the kid never stops moving... he gets more exercise than an Olympic hopeful. She put Connor on his tummy and he immediately tried to turn over on her... shocked again!! Then she stood him up and he used her for balance only... shocked again!! All the time, Connor is laughing and giggling. The boy knows how to put on a show for his audience...

The long and short of the situation is that Connor has acid reflux... we were 99.9% certain this was the issue before we got there but we needed someone to write the prescription. So Connor is now on liquid Zantac. He received his first dose last night and reacted... well... strongly. Cory and I took a taste of the medication and MAN, THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT! Poor kid... he gets this stuff twice a day...


Sunday 6 December 2009

Splish Splash - 12 weeks old

Adventures in Motherhood - The Connor Files

Well we are rounding the 12th week of Connor today. Wow the changes are amazing. I was just watching him on his play mat and realized that he can now reach the toys on both sides of the play mat at the same time. Just a week ago, he could only reach one side at a time. He now grasps the toys quickly and easily and promptly attempts to put them in his mouth.

Last weekend he had his first trip to the emergency room. Before you panic, the emergency room in our rural hospital is a glorified walk in clinic. I've been in there while patients are treated for hard ear wax... I was more used to a city hospital where death needs to be imminent to make the trip acceptable when I first moved here but I've soften with time. Stop cringing Tanya... I still won't go there for hard ear wax...

Anyway, Connor was throwing up his entire tummy contents. He was still feeding so he was not becoming dehydrated so we had decided to ride it out... but then midnight came and with it was the screaming... his head turned bright red and he screamed for 90 minutes. I tried my usual distraction method of presenting a breast... alas this was refused...

After 90 minutes, Cory and I were broken... bundled him in his car seat, grabbed his CD of Metallica and Nirvana Lullaby's and headed off to the hospital. Once in the car, he fell asleep... we continued to drive to the hospital, debating the whole way on whether we should just head home now that he was settled.

2 am on a Saturday night... the Emergency Room was a ghost town. Not even a drunk in sight... We were in to see a doctor in seconds... Connor woke from his nap a new baby... laughing, giggling and flirting with everyone who came in 10 feet of him. The picture of health!

Nothing to worry about... go home... if he gets worse or shows signs of dehydration... please come back.

He fell asleep on the way home.... transferred from his car seat to the crib without a cracked eyelid... slept 7 hours straight... woke a new baby.

He has been continuing to spit up so he is going to see a pediatrician this week in Fredericton for a potential acid reflux issue. He is also being treated for thrush. Good Times!!