The Cesspool I call Daycare!!!

Excuse the subject line of this post, but damn it's been one of those weeks!!!! 

Last Monday, I trekked all the way from downtown Charlotte to Waxhaw to Matthews to get Stella to the doctor.  The kid woke up with that oh too familiar gunk (greenish nastiness) coming out of her eye.  Oh the memories from Lottie's ever present gunk eyes - AKA ear infections. 

I just knew it was the devil I call EAR INFECTION.  Sure enough after a thorough exam, she was diagnosed with a left ear infection.  She also had symptoms of the bark like seal cough but through antibiotics I was hoping for that to clear up as well............. 

Fast forward three days and I was trekking from Charlotte to Waxhaw to Matthews to take Lottie to the doctor for her bark, seal like cough.  I haven't had to take that girl for a sick visit since she had tubes put in her ears (13 months old).  Unfortunately, we weren't able to see our regular pediatrician and had to see one of his colleagues.  She was great and upon hearing Lottie's cough determined she had CROUP!  Bugger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (English slang) 

It was determined the best way to rid croup was a 3 day dose of steroids.  Let's just say - she only ended up taking 2 doses.  I just did not feel comfortable giving her steroids.  Thankfully, it cleared up and she is fine, but those two days of steroids were awful!  She behaved badly and just wasn't herself.  I don't know how people can take them recreationally.  Idiots!!!

Okay, fast forward to this week.  My throat started feeling pretty sore on Tuesday and I thought, "oh great, a cold is coming!"  By Wednesday morning, I was dizzy, had a fever and could not swallow.  I tried my best to get to work, but I just couldn't.  I called my PCP and scheduled an appt. first thing.  I probably would have let it ride, but being sick and caring for two kids might be the absolute worst thing imaginable.  After seeing the doctor, I was diagnosed with strep throat.  Ummmmm, I have NEVER had strep throat!  Awful.  I had a high fever and the worse swollen throat imaginable.  As a remedy, I was written a prescription for 10 days of antibiotics and 3 days of steroids.  Just what I needed right??????????

Holy cow, now I know how my kids felt on steroids!  I just finished up my last dosage and while it did a heck of a job of getting the swelling to go down in my throat, it has made me feel awful!  I have been sweating like a pig, it literally has given me hot flashes and the sweats!  So gross!

Thankfully, we are all starting to feel better and back on track.  The only thing I can think of that started all this mess was the cesspool of germs that come from daycare.  I know it can be a good thing that kids are exposed to the germs sooner than later.  Their immune systems will go strong, but gosh it's hard getting the every so often phone calls and the back and forths to the doctor.   Oh the struggles of the working parents!!!!!!!!! 

Hopefully, this coming week we will be back in a routine.  Routine is key for our family! 

Okay, enough of the rant.  While I love the place my kids go to learn and grow, I hate the germs that come along with it!  Guess that's just a part of life right??????  Keep in mind I've been on steroids people.  Poor Steve is all I can say.  :)

Continued.............

Ha, I just read my previous blog and thought, "Wow, I sound like a crazy sick woman!!!"

All has pretty much settled on the home front and starting to get back to normal.  After Lottie's doctor appointment on Wednesday, the doctor stated her ear infection had completely healed (thanks to the Rocephin injection) and she just has an oral yeast infection most likely caused by antibiotics and the NON STOP putting toys in and out of her mouth. 

I've gone through and disinfected the house, wiped down the toys and boiled things that absolutely should not have been boiled!  Ooopppssss.........  I ended up having to throw away a few of Lottie's toys that did not survive the boil.  Sorry baby!

This past weekend, Lottie and I had a girls weekend together.  Steve and a friend went to Raleigh for the weekend to catch the Hurricanes game.  Lottie and I shopped, napped, cleaned and played and were in bed by 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night. 

Lottie loves Target!!!

Fingers crossed we can get through the next couple of weeks without the recurrence of an ear infection!!!

The Dreaded Ear Infection is Back!!!!!!!!

That's right, it's back!  Thankfully in only one ear but still - Ugghhhhh

For the last two weeks, Lottie has been coughing, sneezing and spreading snot all through the house!  When I took her on Christmas Eve, her ears looked great and after being tested for RSV, etc. - she checked out clean.  Fast forward two weeks later and her symptoms have not changed - in fact her cough seemed to have gotten worse.

I got to work on Friday at the crack of dawn in order to leave early to take her to the doctor.  Once we checked in and weighed in (18 lbs, 14 oz), we went back to the exam room.  I explained that her cough/cold has not gone away.  He took one look in her left ear and said there's the problem - she's got herself an ear infection.  That is why her cough/cold is not going away.  After looking back through her chart, we thought the best course of action would be to give her a Rocephin injection followed with 10 days of oral antibiotics.  If it doesn't clear up within that time, we are definitely getting the referral for tubes.  I hate it, but at this point, it seems like it makes the most sense.

Poor baby after her injection in her thigh

After a Rocephin injection, you have to wait 20 minutes in the office to make sure there is no allergic reaction.  Thankfully there was none. 

Fast forward to Saturday and guess who's caught the stomach bug from daycare - Lottie!  I gave her a bath on Saturday evening and I swear within an hour after giving her a bath - it started!  She threw up 3 separate times and we ended up going through 4 pairs of pajamas.  This is the first time I've had to deal with actual throw up and let me tell you it was GROSS!!!!!!!!  Thankfully, I got her settled and in bed and there were no more incidents!

Fast forward once more to Monday.  Around lunch time my stomach started feeling queasy.  I thought it was just heartburn, but by the time I picked Lottie up from daycare and got her home - I started feeling really sick.  That's when it started.  I caught the BUG!  I proceeded to throw up from about 6:00 p.m. through 1:00 a.m.  I thought this can't be happening!!!!!  I literally thought I was on my death bed. 

Tuesday morning finally rolled around and I had to call into work.  I felt lightheaded, weak and had absolutely no energy.  Steve took Lottie to daycare and I headed back to bed.  That didn't last long!!!  Steve called around 9:00 a.m. and said that daycare had called saying Lottie has white stuff in her mouth, looks like little white pockets on the inside of her cheek.  They said we need to come pick her up.  WHAT??????  But I can barely move - how am I going to take care of a 10 month old when I can barely function myself?  So, I put myself into the shower hoping to feel somewhat human again.  (Didn't work)  I fixed myself a piece of toast so that I could at least drive and not pass out.  Once I got to daycare, Lottie seemed fine.  It appeared that she has a little yeast infection in her mouth most likely caused by the oral antibiotics she's been taking for the ear infection.

I think Lottie must have somehow known that mommy wasn't feeling very well, because she was such a little angel yesterday.  We did a lot of napping and a little playing - mostly napping!  Thank goodness!!!

Today, I'm back at work.  But as luck would have it, poor Steve started throwing up this morning.  We just can NOT catch a break right now.  He went ahead and went to work, but is leaving around 1:00 p.m. to get Lottie back to the doctor for a recheck of her ears and mouth.

What a NIGHTMARE!!!!  I may as well just hand over my paycheck to the Pediatrician's office and daycare.  Agghhhh!

To Be Continued.............

Hand Foot & Mouth Disease / Our First Weekend Away

It is official!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Lottie caught HFMD last week. 

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a common childhood illness. It causes sores in the mouth and on the hands, feet, and sometimes the buttocks and legs.  It can occur at any time of year, but hand-foot-and-mouth disease is most common in the summer and fall.  The virus spreads easily through coughing and sneezing.

Matt and Danielle got married this past weekend in Pittsburgh.  It was our first weekend away from Lottie.  I knew that being without her for 48 hours or so was going to be rough but had no idea what was actually in store for us. 

To recap, last Monday and Tuesday Lottie had a Rocephin injection for her never ending ear infection.  Thankfully after a recheck of her ears on Wednesday, her ear infection healed 100%! 

On Thursday night, I noticed that Lottie had a small bump on her face and a few bumps on her left arm.  She also had some diaper rash.  I thought maybe she was having a reaction to the Rocephin injections earlier in the week. 

On Friday morning, I noticed that the diaper rash had gotten a little bit worse.  She seemed like her usual happy self so Steve and I dropped her off at daycare and headed to the airport to catch our flight at 9:55 a.m.

Around 1:00 p.m., I received a call from daycare stating Lottie had a 102 fever.  Holy waterworks - this mama about lost it.  Being at work and getting the phone call is one thing but being a few states away is quite another.  I immediately called my cousin who was keeping Lottie for the weekend and told her what was going on.  Without hesitation and asking any questions, she wrapped things up at work and went and picked Lottie up.  Meanwhile, I spent the next two hours on the phone with her pediatrician's office trying to diagnose her and figure out if she needed to be seen or not.  At the same time, I was faxing a permission slip over to the doctor stating my daughter could be treated.  In the end, my cousin took her in and she was diagnosed w/ HFMD. 

On one hand, I was so sad to hear that, but on the other, I was so glad that it wasn't an allergic reaction to the Rocephin. 

I spent all of this week sanitzing everything in our house - toys, sheets, high chair, etc.

Overall, this couldn't have happened at a worse time.  I felt so guilty not being there for my baby when she needed me.  Everyone kept telling me to stop feeling that way, but when you are a mama - you can't help it!
I tried to enjoy the rest of the weekend away - and I think we did.  The wedding/reception was so much fun and I'm so glad that we were able to share this day w/ our good friends.  It was definitely memorable! 

Congratulations Z & D!!!!  Hope you are having the best time on your honeymoon!  So jealous!

A special thank you to my cousin Ginger!  I honestly don't know what I would do without her.  I am so thankful she was watching Lottie this past weekend.  She is a mama of two and is my go to for all things baby!  While I'm spazing out and being a worry wart - she is the epitomy of calm!  Thank you for all you do!  Love you!!

A few of the ladies

The Bride

Sweet Maids

Reception hair

Steve, the Groom's dad and I

First Dance 

Some of the fellas

My sis and bro-in-law

The Bride and I

Priscilla and I

The Bride's Parents

The Groom and Steve

Hacker and Steve

Todd & Steve

Time for BED!!!!!  Mama's feet hurt!

On another note - my camera really let me down this past weekend!  Hoping Santa brings me a nice one now that we have Lottie!  If anyone has any reccomendations, please ADVISE!!!! 

The Never Ending Ear Infection

Lottie will be 7 months old in 4 days!!!  I can NOT believe how quick the time goes! 

My poor baby is suffering from a double ear infection.  This has been ongoing since August 1st.  I initially took her in because of the greenish discharge leaking from her left eye.  I thought she might have had an eye infection or pink eye.  Not the case. 

I had Steve take her in for the third time yesterday afternoon because once again her eye is oozing with a greenish discharge.  I thought for sure the last round of antibiotics had cleared it up.  But after 2 weeks of not taking the antibiotics, it is BACK! 

With that said, the doctor suggested one more round of the same antibiotic for 10 days.  He is doubtful it will clear up the infection, but will give it one more try.  If the infection has not cleared in 10 days, we will be given a referral to Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat for TUBES.  Just the thought of Lottie being put under anesthesia is scary. 

But, from what I've heard from family and friends is it is a God Send and their kids have not had an ear infection since.  It is relatively an easy procedure that lasts 5 minutes. 

Please pray for Lottie and her ears over the next few weeks that we will see some improvement and she can get back to feeling 100%!

On another note - she weighed in at 16lbs, 9oz yesterday!!  My baby is porking up!  :)

Our First Double Ear Infection

It has been a sad couple of days in the Cooper household!  Lottie has a double ear infection.  It started on Saturday.  I noticed that she had just a small amount of greenish / yellowish discharge coming from her eye, but just assumed that it was sleepy or that she had gotten something in her eye.  Sunday rolled around and it progressively got worse and worse.  Throughout the day, I could not keep her eye clean enough.  Every time I cleaned it with warm water, 2 seconds later, more discharge was coming out.  I finally said to heck with this and called the triage line at Matthews Children's Clinic.  I got a nurse on the line and we discussed her condition / symptoms for over 20 minutes.  We thought that because she wasn't pulling at her ears or putting her fingers in her ears that it might be an eye infection / pink eye vs. an ear infection.  Thankfully, the pharmacy was still open and we were able to go down and pick up the drops that were called in.  However, the nurse said that whatever she had was probably contagious, therefore she could not go to school the next morning. 

The Drops!!!!!!!  Do you have any idea how difficult it is to put drops in a baby's eye?  Awful!  She was crying and squirming (clearly did not like the idea of anything going in her eye - I don't blame her one bit!).  I felt so bad and wanted to cry myself but knew that we had to get the drops in.  We finally managed to get them in after numerous failed attempts - most of it going on her cheek. 

Throughout the night on Sunday, I was constantly up checking on her after every cough, sniffle, you name it.  Not to mention I had the deadly vaporizer going that sounds like boiling water next to her bed (see previous post).  By the next morning, her little eye ball was so pitiful.  She could barely open her left eye.  I waited until the doctor's office opened at 8:00 a.m. and called to see if I could get her in.  Thankfully her doctor had an opening at 9:00 a.m.

Before her examination with the doctor, we jumped on the scale.  I was pretty excited to see how much she weighed since we hadn't weighed in since 6/28/11.  She weighed 15 lbs, 6 oz.  She has gained a whooping 2 lbs since June.

When the doctor came into the exam room, he didn't waste any time looking in her ears.  He said she had a double ear infection.  Of course me being me said, "But I clean her ears out religiously after every bath every day."  ( I didn't want him to think my baby had dirty ears).  He laughed and said that had nothing to do with it, that a lot of babies get ear infections.  He prescribed some antibiotics and sent us on our way.  She has to take a 1/2 teaspoon twice a day for 10 days. 

I think the hardest thing about all of this is knowing that my baby does NOT feel good.  I hate to see her coughing or sniffling and having goo come out of her eyes.  It makes me want to cry. 

I really can't wait to see her later and am praying that she has had a better day today. 

Will keep you posted!!

T

The Sniffles

There was an unusual amount of sneezing and sniffles coming through the monitor last night.  I'm afraid that Lottie might be catching her first cold.  :(  Steve and I didn't get much sleep last night as we laid worrying that Lottie was uncomfortable.  She never cried or woke up, but you could definitely tell that there might be something coming on. 

I broke out the Vicks Steam Vaporizer that I got at one of my showers last night but of course I didn't have the liquid Vicks medicine to go into the machine.  BOO!  Completely unprepared!  But nevertheless, I went ahead and read the instructions, filled it with water and added salt (???).  It worked and steam was coming out like it was supposed to.  But me being a bit of a worry wart, I didn't know whether or not it was safe to keep it plugged in and running all night since I've never used one before.  It sounded like the water was boiling even though the machine did NOT feel hot.  The sound of boiling water near my baby's crib was unnerving.  So in the end I decided that for the sake of all of us getting rest and no house fires, I unplugged it!

Has anyone used this Vaporizer before? 

Here's to hoping that my sweet baby isn't catching a cold!  I feared that when she started day care this would happen.  So far we've been lucky!  Hope it stays that way!