I miss Dr. Haddock

When I was growing up, we saw the same dr. almost every time I went into the office. Whether is was for a yearly check up or for a sickness I saw Dr. Haddock. I grew to know what to expect. Although my mom might be able to tell you different, I even remember when my tonsils shrunk, he gave my mom the third degree. He demanded to know why he wasn't informed I had my tonsils out. My reason for reminiscing is that I'm a little tired of large dr. offices where no one really knows you. Atticus has been sick for about 4 days now and the last two days he's been sleeping for about 18 hours a day. I look in his eyes and I can tell he doesn't feel well. I'm not one to run to the dr. at every sneeze or sniffle. I hate to spend the money to have the dr. tell me it's just a virus. What's weird is that he's been very lethargic and hasn't been eating much. That's totally not my 3 year old boy. I get a lecture from the nurse at the dr.'s office that he probably just has a virus. If they knew me and knew my boy, they would know that he tends to have respiratory issues. He was in the NICU for 3 days after he was born with respiratory issues, he's had rsv, croup and has been on the brink of pneumonia. They don't know me and they don't know my child. If they did, they wouldn't be questioning me. Plus, I have a cold and so does Sebastian and I'm not rushing us to the dr. I'm just wishing for the old days where I was known by one Dr. and not unknown by a sea of medical professionals. I could be proven wrong when we do see a Dr. this afternoon and they determine if it's just a cold.

Just a rough week

This last week was one of those weeks that hits you out of nowhere. We all ended up with the stomach flu and after we thought everyone was on the mend, I ended up with an infected lymph node which has felt like an ear infection. I'm on meds now but man it's been pretty tough. I felt like we were treading water. On Thursday Paul and I tag teamed the kids. They would watch PBS kids upstairs while I rested in bed. Then we'd get them lunch, they'd watch a movie with Paul in the living room, while he rested and I slept upstairs. Then they got a snack, came back upstairs with me to watch PBS kids. Whew...We were just surviving. I have to admit that we worked pretty well together to make it through. I guess we didn't have much choice. I did a ton of laundry on Friday and then started to feel bad again with some sinus stuff Friday night. I was pretty down and out Saturday and Sunday. Paul even took the kids to church on his own Sunday while I slept. I got an appointment to see the dr. today and we waited 50 min after the appointment time and yest I had all three kids with me. I had to get creative. I thought ahead and brought juice pouches and crackers. That only gos so far though. It was my dr. so it had about 5 books and that was it. No other toys for the kids to play with. I mean after a while you can't blame them for playing with the water fountain. I did get to see the dr. and the kids got a treasure out of the treasure box. The kids needed to let out some steam later tonight so we did a dance party right before bed. Whew, we made it through. I'm writing this so that later when the kids are older we can look back on this and maybe not laugh but look back and be thankful we aren't in this last week anymore.

A busy day

I was wishing and hoping for a snow day today and I got one. I scheduled Sebastian's 4 year well child visit today and depending on how long it took I would have been late picking up Alexandra from School. It was good that she went with us because she got her flu mist along with the boys. The flu mist was pretty cool. To be honest I don't think I would have done the flu shots because they were shots. Sebastian did need 4 Immunizations so that's why I didn't want him to have another shot. We got home and I pulled the snow blower into the back room to try and get the belt back on it so I could clean out the driveway before we get more snow tonight. I have to admit, it was hard but I did get it. So, after the kids finish watching Arthur on PBS I'm gonna go try it and see if I got it right or not. It always makes me feel good when I can accomplish something like this because it's not a skill that comes natural. I'll update later to let you know if I did indeed get it fixed.j

Poor Atticus

I hate taking my kids to the Dr. I learned my lesson quite a few times with Alexandra that unless the kids are really sick the Dr.'s won't do anything for them. Atticus has had the same cold as the other two and me but he's not getting better. When he woke up this morning I had a feeling that I needed to take him to the Dr. As the morning progressed, I thought I wonder if he has Puemonia. Boy can a mom tell or what. We had a 1:20 PM appointment and the Dr. confirmed that he has the beginnings of puemonia in his left lung and has an ear infection in his right lung. Whew. He is just exhausted and only wants to be held. It's been a trying few days. The Dr. put him on a higher grade antibiotic to stop both infections. We should see some improvement in the next 2 days, if not we head back in. Pray that Atticus gets better. It's so hard to see them so little and know there's not much you can do for them. Just breaks a mommies heart.

More Alexandra Antics

Yesterday all the kids got baths and Alexandra got to take hers by herself since the boys bathed together. As I'm washing her dirty feet and legs, she says "mom, you're really dirty too. You should take a shower tomorrow morning." What she doesn't really know is that she's right. I haven't showered in a few days :)

She's been telling our sitter that I never do certain things like make her wear shoes and I never brush her hair. She also has tried to convince both Erin and I that she's safer on her big bike withOUT her helmet than she is with it.

On Monday she had her 4 year check up with the Dr. and she had 4 shots. As I sang the ABC song to her she gritted her teeth but didn't shed one tear. It was amazing. We also found out that she has to be 4 and 40 pounds before she can get out of a car seat. She's only 28 1/2 pounds right now. The Dr. was optimistic and said maybe she can get into a booster in 6 months but I think that it might be at least a year. That was not what she wanted to hear.

It only takes 3 minutes....

to scan my head! Can you believe it? When we were trying plan this CT scan we didn't know how long it would take. I got there early this morning and my appointment was at 8 AM. I was actually out of the hospital building by 8 AM. Technology is amazing. Now we wait to see what going on in my sinuses!

Another busy day

Today, I got to sleep in, in to 9:30 that is. Paul was nice enough to let me stay in bed until I had to take Atticus to his 9 month check up. It was really nice to just take one kid to the Dr. Atticus and I played in the room, he crawled around. It's amazing to me how much I enjoy him without two other distractions. He took the two shots well and is doing good on his growth. His ear infection is almost cleared up so that's good as well. I also got to go to the grocery store by myself today. Wow what a day. Tomorrow is Alexandra's last day of Preschool and dance so we get a little bit of a break for the summer. I'm taking Sebastian to get a hearing test tomorrow to see if there's anything physically wrong with his hearing to help the therapists. I know you mom's who have older kids are saying to yourself, she doesn't realize this is only the beginning. I'm going to cherish the somewhat quiet summer!

What a day!

First off this is my 200th post. Who knew I could do that many in such a short time. This day started off by Sebastian telling me that the donuts he was eating was Broccoli! Too funny! Then I mowed the front part of the back yard for Paul. Atticus has still been sick and so I decided to call the Dr.'s office. Because the cough has been around for so long, they wanted to see him. We had to drive out to the Centre ave. office because they had nothing at the closer office. I packed up the kids for a 3:45 PM appointment. The kids did really well as usual in the office but Atticus has an ear infection. He has been so cranky, so It's good to know that something is really going on. The other kids have something too but the Dr. thinks its just a cold. I think today was so crappy because I'm still not feeling well and because Atticus has been sick for so long and the other kids are sick too. This day had a good ending though. Alexandra was blinking her eyes at me when I was tucking her and I asked her what she was doing with a giggle. She said mom, I'm winking at you! It was so cute, it made me laugh out loud and it made things at least seem better for the moment. As I would say to my kids, I need to find my joy today. I'm having a hard time with that today.

Atticus Update

Thanks for the prayers and support. Atticus is going much better today. The Dr. was really pleased to see how much better he was breathing. We will still do the treatments for another day or until the cough goes away. It was so nice to see his happy disposition back today. Again thanks for the prayers. I know that they helped to make him better.

Please pray for Atticus

We took Atticus to the Dr. today and even though the test hasn't come back yet, the Dr. is pretty sure he has RSV. What's interesting is that we all could have had RSV because it's just a cold to kids a year and older but for a little guy like Atticus it can be really dangerous. We have to give him breathing treatments every 4 hours and the Dr. wants to see him back in the office tomorrow morning. The oxygen in his blood is at a good level and they will check that again tomorrow. Sebastian had this when he was about Atticus' age. It's very scary for me and since we've all been sick please pray for all our healing and rest.

I'll keep you updated after the appointment tomorrow. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

A trip to the Dr.

Atticus woke up yesterday with a barky cough. He also had a very rough night for him. All of us have been sick but this reminds me of when Sebastian had RSV so we've got an appointment for 1:30 today. I hope this is the end of the sickness for a while. I'm kind of at the end of my rope and the sleep deprivation isn't helping either. Pray for us today. Paul's coming home for lunch so I can take Atticus without the other kids. Pray that Paul will be able to stay on top of things at work even though he'll be home for a few hours today. Thanks.....

My Tough Girl

The Boys had Dr. Appointments today and I knew i was going to need reinforcements since I figured both boys needed shots. Thanks to Grandma Erbe for the help. The Dr. recommended that Alexandra and Sebastian get Flu shots. The Dr. went out and told her she'd need to have a shot. So she proceeded to tell Grandma she wouldn't cry. She went first in the room. I had to hold her hands and we sang the A B C song and before we knew it it was over. She had a grin on her face when she came off the table and she never shed a tear. I was so proud of her. Both the boys did really well too. Atticus needed 4 shots but a bottle from Grandma helped calm him down.

A trip to the Dentist

You might know that I have always had problems with my teeth. I have fillings in places that I didn't know you could put them. As a child I brushed, flossed and used that mouthwash stuff that helps to fight cavities. Nothing seemed to slow the problem do decay down. As I've had children, I've often wondered would all of them have the same problem or would be blessed to have them take after their father who has great teeth. Anyway, Alexandra had her first appointment today and she did awesome. She even let them clean and polish her teeth which I don't think they were thinking they would do today. So, no cavities right now! Yeah! You see I had fillings in my baby teeth, I don't think this early but I still had cavites. She was so excited to see them clean my teeth and to get a cindarella tooth brush that we had to use the moment we got home. I tried to tell her we just had our teeth cleaned but she still insisted. As for my teeth, I don't have an more cavities right now but there's always six months from now. I know, the eternal pesimist!