Rough Few Weeks

Never before have I been more thankful that overall we have 3 very healthy and happy boys!!  These last 2 weeks however are really starting to take it's toll on this momma!  It started on a Thursday... Jacob came down with a really bad cough with a little bit of congestion.  By Monday we were heading to the doctor, knowing that these types of things always end up in his chest.  Sure enough... the beginning sounds of pneumonia and a lot of junk in his sinuses.  So, we begin antibiotic #1 that lasted for 5 days.  Fingers crossed this works and he doesn't go into full blown pneumonia.  Tuesday Luke starts with the cough but he seems to be handling it pretty well.  No fever, little congestion... so on Thursday we're back at the doctor's office but this time for Luke's 6 month well visit.  Since it was "only" a cough they decided shots would be fine.  Within a few hours he was in a bad way!!  Miserable, screamed if you touched or moved him, didn't want to be put down, tired, cranky, and then by that evening his fever was 103.  Stinking shots!!!  That same night, Thursday, night Chase wakes up in the middle of the night with a really high fever... and by really high I mean up over 104!  What in the world is going on... now we have not just one child sick and on antibiotics, but the other two are running super high fevers.  By Friday afternoon, Chase's fever was gone and he was back to normal.  Jacob didn't really seem to be any better, except for the fact that his sinuses had improved some.  Luke was still running a high fever but at that point I was just thinking it was still a result of his shots.  All weekend Luke goes downhill... lots of calls to our pediatrician's triage nurse line were made.  I've never had a 6 month old with such a terrible cough so this is all new to me!  Sunday morning Charles takes the big boys to church... again, at that point we thought Jacob was coming out of his crud.  About an hour after they leave I start to notice that Luke is wheezing ... I am not a doctor but I know that is not the kind of sound you want coming from a 6 month old's lungs!  So, off to the weekend clinic downtown.  I pray a shield of protection about him as we walk into the office, knowing that it's mainly the sickest of the sick who get seen on the weekends.  The doctor diagnoses him with bronchiolitis that probably started out as RSV.  They do a breathing treatment in the office to see if he would be one of the 50% of babies who respond well to the steroids.  The treatment helped a little but not as much as they would have liked.  Sunday afternoon I'm getting ready to talk out the door and Jacob wakes up from his nap with a very high fever... again, up over 104.  Thinking that he probably has the fever virus that Chase had I thought I'd give him a good 24-36 hours before I start to worry about it.  Well, by Tuesday morning he still is running a high fever so off to our 4th doctor's visit in a week... a horribly infected ear and very nasty sounding lungs, full blown pneumonia.  Now on antibiotic #2, a very strong one that is used mainly to treat the lungs and hoping the ear gets treated at the same time!  Ugh!  And then this morning off to the doctor again for Luke... wheezing is back, cough is just as bad as ever.... his bronchiolitis has gotten worse but his pulse ox levels were still good.  Keeping a close eye on him as his body continues to fight this, praying he starts moving in the right direction and that it won't affect him down the road. I think the one thing that could only make all of this worse is the fact that I have not gotten a full night of uninterrupted sleep in well over 2 months... and lately it has been sleep for an hour or so, crying baby, sleep for an hour, crying baby... so on and so forth all night long.  Last night from 1-3:30 he was only content if he was sleeping on my chest.  Like I said at the beginning, never before have I been more thankful that this life, life with sick children, is only temporary and that we have been blessed with such healthy kids! 

... need I say more?

Battle of Jericho

The big boys have such an imagination these days!  Just this morning they were upstairs playing so nicely together when something caught my attention... I stopped what I was doing to listen and this is what I heard:
Chase: "Jacob, I'm Joshua.  And you're my army."
Jacob: "Ok!" (with much excitement)
Chase: "Now we have to march around Jericho.  Jacob follow me and we'll march around the city. And on the seventh time the walls will come tumbling down."
As both of the boys marched around their city (buildings made with their Legos) they sang the song that they know that goes along with that story and every now and then they would take a break from that song to sing "Jesus Loves Me".  What fun they had playing upstairs together this morning.  It makes me proud to know that when they are alone and they think no one is listening, they pretend using the Bible stories that they know. And it's times like this morning, when they are getting along so well and playing so nicely, that it makes all the hard work, training, teaching and frustrating parenting moments more than worth it!!  I can't wait to see how Luke will fit into the mix one day!!

Luke is 6 months old!!

Six months ago (yesterday) we added such a precious gift to this family... not sure where the time has gone or how it has gotten away from me so quickly!!  Luke is turning into such a fun little boy... he smiles at anyone and everyone (even when they're not even looking at him), he loves to play, loves to watch his big brothers, loves to talk and hear his own voice, has such an adorable little laugh, loves to roll over - both ways (in fact, he loves it so much he does it countless times in the middle of the night), loves playing with his hands & toes and is such a bundle of joy!!

He is his Daddy's biggest fan ... his face brightens up so much when Daddy walks in after work.  To say that he loves bath time would be an understatement!  He kicks and splashes so much that whoever happens to be giving his bath comes out looking like they had just had one too... wet from head to toe!  Luke started solid food just after he turned 5 months old and is such a pro already!  He's a huge fan of oatmeal, any fruit and all the veggies I've tried so far (which happen to only be green beans and peas at this point... but if he likes those two things then I can't wait to see what he does with sweet potatoes!!).  We're having to hold back on the fruit for now... he's reacting to something and the fruit is our first guess.  Once the rash goes away we'll slowly add fruit back in one at a time to see if we were right or not.  He is so content and just goes with the flow most of the time.  His smile completely melts my heart... I love how happy he is, even while teething!  He's definitely working on those bottom teeth... his gums have been sore for a few weeks so I'm sure any day now he'll wake up with a new tooth! 

He never meets a stranger... he is, in just about every way, just like Chase but I'm hoping that the stranger anxiety will be totally opposite!!  He's so close to sitting by himself... he has the strength, just not the balance.  His favorite toy right now is the Jumperoo that we're borrowing from the Jones family.  That child can get going and loves it!!!  He has gotten SO much better about riding in the car... we went through a period of time (from about 2 months until about 5 months) that he would cry as soon as we got in the car until we got out but he's over that now (thank goodness!).  We're loving this sweet third boy of ours and we are so thankful for him!!  He fits into our family perfectly and it's so true that God made no mistake adding him to our crew!

So, now on to his 6 month stats:

Weight: 14 lbs. 15 oz. (11th percentile)
Height: 26 inches (37th percentile)
Head Circumference: 42 cm. (12th percentile)

So my little one is tiny... just like Chase.  That comes as no surprise to me... I've been saying that he's built just like Chase from the very beginning.  Dr. Shrouds (our pediatrician) is a little concerned because everything (weight, height and head circ.) is starting to slow down.  I thought he'd be a little less concerned when he heard this is exactly what Chase did but until that curve stays consistent he said he is going to keep a close eye on his growth.  Here is a graph that Charles made comparing the boys' weights... it really shows just how closely Luke is following in his big brother's footsteps! :)

I love this sweet little man... his smiles brighten my day and his snuggles make my heart so happy!  Happy 6 months, sweet Luke!!