The One I Haven’t Wanted To Write….

I’ve been milling this post over in my mind for a week and a half now, trying to come up with the right words to describe the fear and horror of watching you’re baby struggle for air. I’ve decided that there are no words strong enough, so instead I will just tell you what happened.

If you’ve followed my blog you might remember a few month’s back when Noah had a bad experience with cheese. If not you can read it here. Well, the ER doctor had told us at the time to wait a few months and then try dairy again. As Noah approached 8 months we decided we would try it again soon so I bought some organic baby yogurt. I was so afraid to feed it to him that it set in the fridge until like 2 days before it expired. Anyways, we decided to try it on Monday of last week (I think it was the 14th?) We only gave him 4 baby spoons full of the stuff (and of course he LOVED it) because we were afraid to give him to much. Well ya’ll apparently 4 spoonsfull was WAY too much. Almost exactly 1 hour after he had it he started sneezing like crazy. There was snot everywhere! Then the hives appeared, and boy did they come fast. Well we immediately gave him benedryll and called the doctor. The doctors said to bring him in right away so we loaded him up. Noah had been screaming the entire time, but by the time I got him in his carseat he was having difficulty holding up his head.

At this point his entire body was bright red and it sounded like he was having trouble breathing. By the time we got out of the neighborhood he had stopped crying and was seriously struggling for air. Thank God we live like 1/2 a mile from the hospital so we just booked it there since we were already in the car. I am SO thankful for my husband who remained calm the entire time, because you guys I LOST it. Billy had to walk me through things to try to get him to cry so there I sat trying to tickle his feet and begging him to “just cry for mamma.” As soon as we got to the ER I scooped him up and ran inside. While the receptionist was trying to get his info a nurse saw us and yelled that she was taking us and she rushed us back where they immediately started working on Noah.  It was so overwhelming watching them wrap my baby in a blanket to hold him down so they could put an IV in him. I had actually walked away, but then Noah looked at me with this fear in his eyes and I realized just how selfish I was being. I immediately returned to his side, where all I could do was sing “You Are My Sunshine.”

The nurses and doctors were amazing! They got his IV in first try and immediately gave him epinephrin and more Benedryll. He also had a breathing treatment right away which he did not like but I took his fighting it as a good sign; at least he was breathing. After the breathing treatment they gave him some steroids. Actually, he ended up on steroids for 6 days. All of the drugs worked their magic very quickly and soon Noah was flirting with the nurses and being his regular happy self. Unfortunately about half an hour later he started itching and screaming again so they had to give him another dose of Benedryll. Noah seemed completely stoned for about 10 minutes and then he was BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS CRAZY. Apparently he reacts to medicines the same way my father does (Benedryll makes him hyper, novacain doesn’t work -which we learned from his circumcision)

After the last dose of meds the doctors told us they wanted to keep him for observation overnight so we were moved upstairs to the pediatric ward. It was amazing the difference in the nurses up there. They are some seriously amazing people and Noah absolutely loved them, but really the kid loves everyone. Luckily my mom came up to visit and brought us up some things. By about 9 o’clock the crazy effects of the drugs had started to wear off and Noah fell asleep. He had a hard time getting comfy with the IV (he was sleeping on the cot with me  while hubby slept on the pull out couch) but did pretty well. At 1 am his IV went bad but since he was nursing and peeing fine they said they could just leave it out. At that point Noah fell alseep and didn’t budge until about 7 when a nurse came in. (He slept straight through the nurse checking him at 4.) She told us that Noah looked great and as soon as the doctor looked at him we should get to go home. We were so excited. Unfortunately it took until about 1 pm for the doctor to see us and another hour and a half for the nurse to discharge us, but we were thankful none the less.

The whole trip only lasted about 24 hours but it felt like a week. I honestly don’t know how parents of seriously sick children do it. My heart goes out to them. I can’t even imagine their struggles. We left the hospital with a healthy baby and a prescription for a junior Epipen. The doctor told us he actually had to look it up and see if Noah could have it because he had never given one to a child that small. It’s scary but it’s also a relief just knowing that it’s in the diaper bag at all times.  We followed up with our pediatrician yesterday and he’s getting us a referral to a pediatric allergist. Until then we just have to hold off on trying any new foods. My hope and prayer is that he outgrows this. Dairy is in EVERYTHING. He has had pancakes and things in the past that have dairy in them so we are hopeful, but I guess only time will tell. Here are a few more pictures from our hospital trip to close this post out. Sorry everything is blurry!

By the way Noah thought this crib was the bee's knees and ever learned how to pull himself up on it!

The One With The Fedora…

About a week or so ago we were at the mall doing some shopping and decided to stop in at Janie and Jack. Billy had seen a fedora in the window and he HAD to get it for Noah. (My husband desperately wished he could pull off a fedora, sadly, he can not.) So we went in and tried it on and OH MY GOSH I nearly died from the cuteness. The best part is Noah loves it and he’ll wear it for hours. Here are some pictures in case you need proof that my child is the coolest kid eva!

You wouldn’t believe the number of comments we have gotten on this hat. We literally can’t go anywhere without random people stopping us to ask where we got it, and how we get him to keep it on. (Personally I think he knows it looks awesome, and that’s why he keeps it on.) By the way the second picture is Noah doing “so big!”  Man I love that kid!

Wordless Wednesday…

Noah’s 6 month photo shoot.

When Pregnant Women Are Taking Over The World….

When we were trying to conceive, it seemed like the world was being over run by babies and pregnant women. They were EVERYWHERE! I  saw them everywhere I went. Sometimes it felt like they were taunting me or something, and at times it was extremely hard not to just burst into tears. I know I would have looked like the crazy, crying lady because none of them knew what was going on. As hard as it was to see random pregnant strangers, I think the hardest thing was that both of my (younger) sisters got pregnant while we were trying.  As the oldest child I think I felt like it was my birth right to give my parent’s the first grandchild and it took a while for me to accept the fact that that just wasn’t going to happen. (Please note that I love my nephews SO SO much and wouldn’t change a thing now.)

It’s funny how we have this time table of how we think our lives should go but God often times has other plans. I learned many lessons while trying to get pregnant that have shaped not only who I am, but what kind of parent I am as well. When we did finally get pregnant it was clear that the timing was perfect. Funny how that happens.

Okay, I’m way off of my intended topic. Time to get back on course! When I started writing this post my goal was to talk about how I was pregnant at the same time as 7 of my friends and family members. I kid you not there were six other pregnant women at my baby shower. It was like a fest of hormones but it was amazing! It was so fun to get to share that experience with so many of my friends, and now Noah has so many friends and cousins that are so close to his age! I love that he has so many people to play with!  One of my friends had her baby girl the same day I had Noah even though our due dates were a week apart. Noah is one hour and 2 minutes older than her daughter and the funny thing is they were the exact same size; 6 lbs 8oz. (Of course now my little chunker-monker has like 4lbs on her.)

Looking back I realize how blessed we were to get pregnant at the exact time we did. When I was 3 months pregnant I got laid off. I taught preschool for a public school district who laid off all first and second year teachers (and I was a second year teacher.) At the time it was devastating, we didn’t think we’d be able to make it on one income. Three days after I got my pink slip we had our little pregnancy scare and it quickly became clear that we were going to find a way for me to stay home. I actually could have gotten my job back since I have a specialty degree, but staying home is the best thing for our family.  Okay I’m getting off topic- time to wrap this up.

I know there are many women that struggle with infertility, and when you’re trying desperately for a baby it can seem like the end of the world so here are the words I would share with you. Relax, I know it’s hard not to let it consume you. Have faith, don’t stop believing in it. Trust, there are lessons being learned even if they are difficult ones.  And lastly just talk to your spouse, infertility is happening to them to and it really can bring you closer together.

Okay that was a wordy post. Let me close it out with a cute picture!