Exactly 1 week after we got moved into the house, Asher got very sick with a nasty virus that I also then got (one that had already plagued other family members). It was awful. SO BAD. We were sick for at least 2.5 weeks when I "thought" we had finally gotten better. I regrettably took Asher to get his 12 month shots (delayed) since I had already rescheduled his shot appointment twice before and had to cancel due to his long illness. The day he got his shots I started not feeling great again thinking it was a different bug (wrong). Two days after his shots he was SCREAMING in the night and didn't stop screaming for over 3 days. Straight. He had a very high fever for 3 days straight and didn't sleep at all, he would only scream. NO. MATTER. WHAT. We took him to urgent care and they diagnosed an ear infection and put him on antibiotics. Two days later he was covered in hives, so I rushed him in to his pediatrician who confirmed an allergic reaction and switched his meds. Shortly after that the injection site from his shot got scary (blood red, very swollen, hard to touch, hot to touch, radiating red rings out, growing daily). I took him BACK to the ped who said it was an adverse reaction to one of the shots (chicken pox per the nurse), prescribing another antibiotic to make sure it wasn't an infection at the injection site (I knew it wasn't, I knew it was specific to the vaccine). The horrid spot got better on it's own after a day on medication so I told the ped I wanted to stop antibiotics and she urged us to take at least 3/4 of the dose. The doctor also had confirmed the ear infection was a secondary infection from the same nasty virus he had since early November that just never left him. :( He recently got sick AGAIN, becoming very congested right after Christmas, and finally just NOW getting better. He had terrible chest congestion that went into his ears for yet another ear infection :( MORE antibiotics, ANOTHER horrific reaction to the medication causing terrible diarrhea and a yeast infection (which is apparently common from prolonged antibiotic use) in his entire diaper area. Poor poor pumpkin.
I still love Asher's pediatrician, but I miss his old one, our beloved Dr. C. His new pediatrician, Dr. O, had a long chat with us about his ears. She said if he has 4 documented ear infections in 6 months or 6 documented infections in a year, they refer to an ENT for a consultation (possibly for surgical tube inserted in ear drums). UGH. I DON'T want to do that, but I also don't want my little bubs to have speech delays that usually accompany chronic ear infections. Friday we took Ash in for his 15 month check up. His growth is plummeting in terms of percentile (he was in the 80s and 90s as a newborn and has steadily declined to the 37th percentile for weight now), but the doctor isn't worried as he's still on a positive curve. He's small for his age in height and weight, but still in the safe/healthy range. She said this is normal especially for kiddos who are crazy mobile like Ash (crawling fast at 5 months, walking before 1, RUNNING nonstop now). She said it all evens out and he'll be fine. He was 22lb and 3oz (he lost about 6oz from being so sick) and he was 31.5 in tall. He's still on the iron supplement that is disgusting but he stopped fighting it long ago and it's now part of our morning routine... He also doesn't mind because he gets to watch this every morning with his medicine.
He's been taking the iron since September. His doctor wants to test his levels via blood draw again and if his level AND his iron stores are higher, he can stop taking it. We had a discussion about food allergies too (she has kids who have LOTS of serious food allergies, one of the reasons I picked her!). She's going to do a childhood allergy panel on him at the same time, so they can get all the info out of one blood draw (lots of blood but only one stick, and he has fantastic veins). I think it tests all of top allergens (wheat, dairy, peanuts, soy, eggs, shellfish, etc). She's also adding corn to the panel per my request, as I'm confident Asher's is at least intolerant of that along with dairy, and possibly eggs. I'd be surprised if he has full blown allergies since only less than 5% of kids with serious food issues actually have a full blown allergy. We will need to take him to the lab at the hospital for this draw. She also was alarmed by a protrusion on his abdomen that has been there since birth. His old pediatrician and his GI specialist both commented on this lump long ago, and they both told us it would disappear but it hasn't. Dr. O said she thinks it looks like an epigastric hernia. She said it's similar to an umbilical hernia that babies outgrow, but she said the umbilical hernia will not become obstructed whereas the epigastric hernia can be. She said that often they can watch it for a long time if it's not too big or not growing, but it seems as though more often than not it needs to be repaired surgically at some point ;( She said that if it was going to go away on it's own it should have by now. She referred us for a surgical consult for this. UGH. WHY OH WHY can't this little sweet boy get a break in life?!? She told me not to freak out about it and said she's not a surgeon so she could be wrong, but I don't think she is :( My poor sweet little lovey. My sister is a pediatric physical therapist for kiddos that have some pretty extreme health challenges so she actually got a name of a fantastic pediatric surgeon experienced in gastrointestinal stuff, as opposed to just picking a name off a list. Thanks, Sister.
Despite all of this, despite 6 doctor visits in 8 weeks, despite being MISERABLE and going 5 straight nights only being able to sleep in 30 minute increments before screaming out from ear pain and from congestion keeping him from breathing... Asher is such an incredibly sweet, joyful, funny, and loving little soul. He is SO SO funny. Seriously. I laugh hysterically at him daily. He is also scary smart. His "language explosion" happened before 15months and he chatters like a little monkey non-stop. He mimics everything, so you have to watch yourself closely. He knows songs and books by heart and finishes lyrics for me ALL. DAY. LONG. He has almost every single one of his books memorized. It's adorable. He LOVES to read, and loves his flashcards. He's currently loving his Dr. Suess books, his Sandra Boynton books, his "how does a dinosaur" books, and a book with audio animal sound effects he got for Christmas! His little brain is going a mile a minute and you can almost see it working through his eyes. It's so awesome to watch him learn new things so often! He's insanely busy and only stops moving to read, eat (by force), and to engage in play. He is a HANDFUL, but such a joy. He's allllll over the place, and has recently discovered climbing, so please understand why I can't chat on the phone or do much of anything all day besides keep him safe, cared for, and entertained. We're working on nap transitioning so we've recently also introduced Asher to a video here and there. He likes Bob the Builder but it seems to be quite a bit over his head. He LOVES LOVES LOVES Elmo. LOVES him. He has little interest in Sesame Street right now, but is crazy for Elmo ;) We haven't let him watch any tv besides a very occasional baby einstein video until this point, but 15 minutes of Elmo here and there seems to help him get through with one nap instead of two as it give him a time to sit still which is much needed. His "spirited" nature is as evident as ever with his developmental age of autonomy and independence, so that's a daily challenge, but I know his well, and he's communicating better daily, so tantrums are typically minimal (unless he's teething which he is now, then he's just a mess!).
Ross has been offered a job with his old company, Larson Engineering! Don't get your hopes up, IL peeps, we aren't moving back. Larson LOVED Ross and told him when he left that if he was ever looking for a job again to let them know because they wanted to expand and start a satellite office out of Indy (they have a handful of offices all over the country). Ross found out months ago that the amazing benefit package at RW Armstrong (one of the reasons he took that job) was going to be drastically slashed. It went into effect January 1 causing him to have fewer days off, and causing our insurance premium to basically double, as well as changing our insurance coverage to a crappy plan with a crappy provider. We found this info out a couple of months after we moved here, and they told him it would be effective in 2013. It's upsetting considering it was one of the selling points of this job. Also, the drive SUCKS plain and simple (he's gone over 11 hours a day with the commute). They have had him travel more than they said they were going to, and one of the most worrisome things was that in the last few months, they have been struggling for work. I mean, RW Armstrong is a fancy, global company, but the structural department was a very new and tiny little piece, and it's not growing as they thought (just Ross and his supervisor for their specific niche). The rest of the company is doing great it's just that his tiny section can't sustain work it seems. Apparently he was hired with they thought that they would land a HUGE job, and they ended up not getting it. The last few months they have been surviving job to job which is no way to survive when you are the new guy ;( Ross contacted Larson and explained his situation and what he was dissatisfied with at RWA. Larson created a position for him! They offered to bring him on staff to work remotely (here in our house!) for the Naperville office, while also marketing here in Indy to eventually start a Larson branch here, which he would have a big hand in orchestrating. Essentially for now he'll have his old job back (with a pay increase) and do it remotely from home here while also marketing in the Indy area to build a client base here, in order to eventually have a Larson office in the burbs here where Ross will then work and probably at least partially run. Ross will travel to Naperville monthly for now (only for day trips, no over nights) to check in with and work with his old boss, Trevor, until there is an Indy office. Trevor is the same fantastic boss who was insanely supportive and ridiculously understanding with all of the HELL we went through with Asher in his early days. They really really value Ross. He worked there for 6 years before moving here, surviving many rounds of lay offs. They were about to promote him before we moved here! Trevor told Ross they are very busy now which is fantastic news. The pay is almost identical to RWA, the insurance (now that RWA switched from their awesome plan) is comparable, and we will save a TON of money in travel. Not to mention the fact that Ross will be home for an additional hour and a half of Asher's waking hours every day and be able to come downstairs and have lunch with us whenever he wants! This is a HUGE HUGE blessing, join us in praising God for this provision!
We are coming out of the chronic illness fog and praying hard that Asher can stay healthy for a loooooong stretch here. This poor baby deserves a break! We are just now starting to FINALLY decorate... we had quite the setback dealing with ongoing illness since a week after we moved in here! We have only 2 rooms painted so far, but paint (at least the good kind we like) isn't cheap, and we have a LOT of walls! It's been a much slower process than I would have liked, but we have time, and with each piece of decor I add it feels a bit more like home! The new construction in our subdivision is BOOMING, quite literally. Our street and culdesac are FULL of new houses in all different stages now! It's crazy loud which can be very annoying with a sick baby or one who needs a nap, but Asher LOVES the commotion. He races as fast as he can to his favorite vantage point at our upstairs loft window to look down on all of the trucks. He watches all of the machinery with awe and makes endless truck noises... He can't get enough of the action ;) We are loving having family near by and see each other as often as possible when we aren't sick! It's such a joy having all the little cousins so close to each other and the support of my sister and bro-in-law withing walking distance. Erik was able to pick up a medication for Asher at the pharmacy so I didn't have to take him back out after the doctor... Ross shoveled their drive last time it snowed when Erik wasn't feeling well. My sister ran over a vicks vaporizer for Asher when he was sick... I supply my sister with homemade baby food for her youngest as well as endless brownies for the older girls ;) THAT is why we moved here!
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Thank you for sharing this info, pics & videos with us!!
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