4 months old

Alex is now 4 months old. She is just getting over her first ear infection. Last weekend she was fussy from Friday night until Monday morning. It was one of the longest weekends. If she wasnt asleep she was crying or fussing. And that is not normal for her. She rarely cries. We knew something was wrong, she was hurting and uncomfortable. We were switching between Tylenol and Benadryl. She would even fuss and cry when we changed her clothes and diaper. That never happens. She woke up crying. She cried while trying to eat. I wish we knew right away that it was an ear infection, but we had no clue. All she wanted was to be held or cuddled. I woke up Saturday night to her crying, tried to feed her, but she wouldnt eat. We ended up sleeping on the couch the rest of the night. Well she slept, I laid there and watched to make sure she was okay. monday morning Doug took her to the dr. Yep an ear infection in the right ear. She was given medicine and we were told to continue with the tylenol and benadryl. From that moment on she has been perfectly normal, back to her laughing, smiling self.
She goes to the dr for her 4 month follow up and shots. This will be my first experience for shots with her. Daddy took her last time. Im sure I will tear up if she cries. The dr also might discuss first stage baby food as well. Doug is very excited to start feeding her "real" food. I on the other hand dont look forward to the messes. But Im sure it will be fun to watch her experience her first tastes of foods.

First hospital visit

We had to take Alexandra to the hospital for the first time the evening of March 1, 2007. I recieved a call from the babysitter which is my friend Kari. Alex had been throwing up since 10:30am, sleeping all the time, no appetite and not moving much but no fever, & still has wet diapers. The symptoms seemed to get worse by the time Doug arrived at their house around 4ish. Doug decided to take her to the hospital because she was not smiling, moving, and dry-heaving. I was on my way home from work and then met him at the hospital. Rick was nice enough to go with Doug since he understands Dougs anxiety in hospitals. When I arrived the dr had already looked at her and was going to dicuss the details with another dr. Finally another dr arrived and advised he had admitted 7 babies within his last two shifts for a virus with the same symptoms. Before admitting her he wanted to try give her Pedialyte every 3 minutes. If she kept it down and started to look/act better, we could home. If no change, she was going to be admitted and given an IV. Oh my- my daughter with an IV- I would have lost it. It was already hard enough to deal with seeing my baby girl laying in the hospital bed not moving, not smiling, not talking, looking helpless. She just seemed so out of it and uncomfortable. Doug was already upset and crying. I couldnt even look at him or I was about to cry. I had to stay strong because I know if I were to start crying, Doug would get worse. We began to give her the drink through a syringe and she seemed to want more, so we fed her by bottle. After she emptied her bottle, we three noticed her color started coming back, more movement, she was paying attention to us and the tv and the claminess went away. She also held it down and didnt get sick. We were finally given the okay to go home with her. We were instructed to continue with the Pedialyte, no formula and follow up with her pediatrician. We were there for over 3 hours.
Over night she slept in a bassinet next to me. She woke up around 3 am, ate a lil and began talking like normal until about 4:30am. She even smiled a few times. Doug and I were so happy to see her getting back to normal. I didnt care how early it was or how tired I was. I could have sat there all night listening an watching her. Her pediatrician saw her this morning and said all was well. Slowly introduce formula to her again and if no throwing up or fever she will be good to go.
It was the toughest thing I have had to go through so far. I thought I would lose it and break down. But I held it together. I surprised myself. Now if only I can guarantee this will be the worse thing that could possibly happen for the rest of her life. But I know kids get sick and hurt. Lets just hope daddy can deal with an injury better than I can.....

A lil tip for parents: if your baby seems to have some of the same symtoms as Alex did, try a lil Pedialyte.