Cold Bug.. Go Away!

Time of the season again... all of us are sick. Whatever bug is going around, this one is no fun. I got sick first, then Ryan. Kids were doing fine. We were hopeful.. but nope. Got the call today to pick up Liam from school with a fever. Poor kid. Sorry buddy... just gotta let this pass.

Liam's sick, but oh-so-cute little face.

He was wearing a fleece, but still pulled the hoodie up to get even warmer.

E is the last one of us standing (and still smiling!).

Oh Liam!

While Emilia got away with jumping down an entire flight of stairs without any injuries, Liam is the opposite. Non-dramatic, Liam tumbled awkwardly onto his elbow while throwing a tantrum in bed. His fall was no more than 2-3 feet onto a soft cushioned mattress.

With an acute fracture of the elbow, Liam will be in a cast for the next 4 weeks. Poor buddy. He is not happy.

On top of that, all of us (except Ryan of course) have been sick for the past 4 days with low-grade fever and cold symptoms. Sigh!

Stomach Bug

The kiddies and I have gotten a case of the stomach bug. No need to explain details. It's just not fun.



At least Liam is getting a little bit of pampering from the nanny after a rough weekend.

The Count Down Begins...

Update on Emilia's Roseola: She is now starting to look and feel better. The rash is mostly going away, only a faint remnant. She lost about a pound during this, but her appetite is coming back. She was still really irritable yesterday, but today her mood seems to be more on the chipper side.

And so, with Emilia back to high-energy, we've started getting ready for little bro's arrival. The count down begins as we are less than a month away from due date. I'm at 36 weeks preggers right now, able to hold a mug of water on my table of a belly, and at the last check up, baby bro is upside down and has a weight estimate of 5-5.5 lbs right now with 4 weeks left to go.

I'm not sure how much Emilia understands the concept of a baby brother coming, but she loves to give her "brother" sweet little pats and kisses (that is, she loves to pat and kiss my belly). She "reads" the baby magazines and loves to point out all the babies in it. And I've referred to our family and how much fun her play time will be when she'll have her baby brother to play with.

Thank you thank you to friends that have given baby boy or gender neutral clothing to us! He is well equip with clothes up to 6 months now and even has a few items up to 9 months. We're slowly, but surely, getting ready for the big day... washing everything, bringing out all the stashed newborn gear and cleaning them - baby carriers, carseats, bouncer, bottles, etc.

Just like with Emilia's birth, we are planning for this blog to be the source of information update. Makes it easier. Family and friends can check in on their own time and be updated on the latest news. We're excited and nervous at the same time. As we've heard from so many, that life changes even more drastically with the arrival of a 2nd baby. Baby boy, we're ready for you. Come on out soon!

Roseola

Emilia is not feeling well. She's been sick since Sunday with sudden onset of high fever (103-104). At first, even with the fever, she acted normal... active, happy, and playing. But then on the 2nd day of the fever, she was really tired, wanted to be held, and easily irritated. She slept 5 hours nap, and another 12-13 hours of sleep that night. She also had a loss of appetite.


The high fever lasted for 2 days, til Tuesday, and then she had a low grade fever (~100) on Wednesday. The fever finally broke by Thursday, only to be replaced by a rash over her face and upper body. Poor baby! Doing some research and talking to the on-call nurse, she was diagnosed with Roseola, sometimes called "Baby Measles". She's in the second stage of this bug, and hopefully the rash will go away within a few days. She's been really tired and laying on the ground a lot. Still not eating much (also her bottom molars are breaking through the gums at the same time.) I tried coaxing her to eat by giving her some of her favorite foods, but nope. She even said no to a strawberry popsicle! So, all in all.. not a happy camper, but definitely a trooper.

Christmas

Xmas this year was simple and sweet. Emilia got sick. Connie started feeling under the weather shortly after. And Ryan is now getting a sore throat. There's been lots of soup and Chinese meds. Emilia was a bit lethargic and very snuggly, so holding her all day with extended naps were in order. The Nosefrieda is awesome. Emilia would not be able to breathe without it. She is now on the up side of the sickness and getting better every day. Not sure about the adults yet.. However, Xmas was to be had and so lots of new toys and play time, warm applesauce and hot cocoa, pajamas and rolling around the carpet made Xmas simple and sweet.


We spent the bulk of the holiday at home, but did venture out a little bit to spend some time with grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Em had fun, her very first Xmas!!, and hopefully nobody got sick. =P

Croup

Croup is a condition that causes an inflammation of the upper airways — the voice box (larynx) and windpipe (trachea). It often leads to a barking cough or hoarseness, especially when a child cries.

Most cases of croup are caused by viruses. Those involved are usually parainfluenza virusadenovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Croup is most common — and symptoms are most severe — in children 6 months to 3 years old, but can affect older kids, too.

Emilia is now going through her first real illness. She started acting a little under the weather on Tue eve so we put her to bed a little early. At 11 pm, she woke up crying and had a really nasty cough. She also seemed really hot so we took her temperature. We have one of those armpit thermometers, and it really sucks because it's difficult to use and takes forever to get the temp. Anyway, her temp was 100.8 so she was definitely running a fever. We decided to call the night nurse at our pediatrician's office. She listened to the cough over the phone, and instantly said it sounded like croup. She recommended that we take her to the ER, and have her diagnosed and treated there. The main risk was that if her throat swelled too much she might have difficulty breathing. We arrived at Palomar Hospital ER around midnight, and found it to be standing room only. Interestingly there was a baby ahead of us with the identical cough. We finally saw the doctor, and he confirmed the croup diagnosis. They (actually I) administered an oral steroid which helps control the inflammation in the throat. We got home, and got her to bed around 2 am. Of course she woke up crying/coughing around 3 am. They say that cool, outside air can make them feel better. So I held her by an open door with the wind and rain howling outside. It actually worked, and we got her back to bed shortly thereafter. She seemed to get a little worse the next night, but has been better since. Her fever is down (temp was 98.8 today), and she has a good appetite and energy. She still sounds like she has something stuck in her throat and her nose is runny, but we think she's on the downhill side of this now. Hopefully she'll be good to go for Christmas.