Another one?

Ear infection that is....
So Alex started coughing the other day... and continued to cough for a few more days. I stayed home with her on Monday and went to the doctor. Guess what.. another ear infection in the right ear! I could have started crying. This will be ear infection # 2. It upsets me so much. But the dr advises its normal, especially with this weather. Babies tend to catch colds which cause congestion which then builds up in the ears. She is back on the pink bubblegum flavored medicine. More than likely she caught a cold from the other children and/or baby she is with during the day at the babysitters. Almost everyone there was sick with an ear infection, cold or flu. Once this weather gets warm and stays warm, the risks for ear infections goes down. I have a feeling she will get more and then end up getting a set of tubes. Lets just pray one set of tubes will fix the problem and ear infections do not become routine.

Easter

Alex had her first easter. She wore a beautiful dress. We had lunch with Grandma Thayer, Paw-Paw and Nana. Later that evening PaPaw visited. She got see her cousin Ethan again. We were not able to see Grandma Scheible or Uncle Ty though. They stayed home sick with the flu. Alexandra also got her first easter basket. I cant wait for the years to come to give her even more in her easter basket.

4 1/2 months

Alex is now 4 1/2 months old. She sits up on her own, though sometimes tumbles over when trying to check out her toes. She rocks herself back and forth. She loves her jumperoo. Her feet can now touch and she has figured out how to jump. She is absolutley hilarious to watch. At her last dr's appt she weighed 15.9 and is 25 1/2 inches long. We started feeding her stage 1 baby food. She tried pears the first time and loved them. So far we have given her pears, sweet potatos, peaches and now peas. And so far no allergic reactions and she likes them all.

Last weekend when it was warm I had her outside with me as much as possible. Doug bought her a fancy Radio Flyer wagon with a canopy. If she isnt in the wagon, she is in her stroller. So far, she loves being outside. It puts her to sleep.

Since this weather is going to get cold, we will be stuck in the house once again. Hopefully we will all stay healthy and now get another cold.

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.

Valentines Day

I had the opportunity to stay home with Alex on valentines day. Thank you to the bad weather we had. I had so much fun dressing her in a valetines Day outfit. I think she had fun as well.