2.26.2007

hello! - 02/26

I cannot believe it is all ready the end of Feb. It seems like just yesterday it was Christmas, and now we're only 10 months away from another holiday season!
Everything is going well here. Josh is back to school today, Zech seems to be fine (ears wise) and the Zantac seems to be doing the trick for his stomach. No more "owie belly" since we started it! If that's all it takes for him to feel better, it's certainly a small inconvenience well worth it!
Ruthie is nearly done her medication for her ears. And she seems to be doing much better. No more clumsiness, so we're thinking it was all her ears.
Isaac has been doing a bit better today. Much less fussy, though I still see him rubbing his ears some. I'm really hoping it's just something he's doing to calm himself or something, and not his ears still bothering him. I know getting tubes isn't that big a deal, overall, but I really would rather not have to deal with it. He's still only got that one lone tooth in there - it's SO cute that we don't care if he never gets any more! :o)
And, that's about it for now from us. Jack Cat goes to the vet tomorrow to get "fixed". It'll be strange to not have him around for a whole day and night!
Oh, and before I go - I uploaded a few more pictures and also a new video to the dropshots site. The video is Ruthie's class at the music festival! I apologize for having to sit SO far away from the stage. it's kinda hard to see who's who, but I tried to go along the video and describe where Ruthie is.

2.19.2007

9 MONTHS! - 02/19

Isaac Benjamin is 9 months old today!
I really can't believe how fast this time is flying by. I thought things went fast Ruthie's first year, but it seems to go by faster and faster with each baby. Sad, but fun all at the same time.
It's amazing to see how much he's grown and changed these past 9 months. He's now saying "dada" and "mum-mum", he can sit alone, roll around, and can "caterpillar" crawl. He's such a great little boy - happy, content, always with smiles and laughs for everyone, and special kisses for mum-mum.
I must admit to a mistake in my last post. I had called the Dr office this morning and everything got cleared up - well, almost everything. We're still waiting on the dosage to be agreed on, but for now Zech will take the minimum dose of it twice a day. Hopefully it'll help his owie tummy.
And for my mistake - I'd gotten confused when I saw "ranitidine" instead of "zantac" on the Rx. But, ranitidine is zantac! Oops! So, it was the right thing after all. After thinking a while, I realize that I confused "ranitidine" with "reglan". Reglan is the one Zech reacted to as an infant.
So, no harm, no foul. It's all being figured out.

2.18.2007

sick babies again - 02/18

Isaac has been fussy (not normal for him) from about Thursday on. The past couple days he's screamed at me when I touch around his ear. :o( So, we took the kids to the walk-in clinic after church today to get everyone checked out.
Isaac's one ear hsan't cleared up yet, and the other looks bad now, too. So, he's on "Azythromicin" (i think that's it?!) It's a much stronger antibiotic. If that doesn't kick the infection, Dr Butler will refer Isaac to the ENT guy in Winnipeg to see about getting tubes maybe. Hopefully that won't be needed.
Oh, luck for us - our family dr, Dr Butler, was on at the clinic today!
Ruth has been very clumsy the past couple days. I remember asking her the other day "What is WRONG with you???" after she kept falling around. She'd fall into walls, couldn't walk across the living room without stumbling. Her ears are a bit red, and there's fluid in one, so she's on antibiotics, too. And she's got a nasal spray to use to help her sinuses clear out. If the clumsiness continues, we need to get her seen again. We're hoping it's just her ears, or maybe a growth spurt. She sure has been growing a lot lately.
And Zech. Well, good news is his ears have gotten better! Yay! We talked to the Dr about his tummy being "owie" so much, especially shortly after he eats. He prescribed "Zantac" for Zech. BUT, apparently the pharmacist had troubles filling the RX. First she said she didn't know what condition it was being used for. We told her Reflux. Then she said the Dr had prescribed it for "appropriate dose based on age and weight". So, we told her he's 2, and at least 25lbs (more like 27lbs, but 25 is on the safe side). Then she says there's a wide range for dose and she doesn't know what the Dr wants him to have. We told her just give him the smallest dose. We have to take him back to the Dr anyways, so we can up it then if needed. Finally we get some medicine and come home.
We have been given "Ranitidine", not "Zantac". When we gave the other stuff to Zech as an infant, he reacted severely to it (very confused, dizzy, forgot how to latch on for nursing, couldn't eat). So, we don't want to try that stuff right now, especially when we haven't tried Zantac for him yet.
I called the Dr office and left a message. I will call again tomorrow morning to see what's happening. I just want him to call in the RX to a pharmacy in Boissevain (closer to us than Brandon) so we can get things started.
I might have to call Dr Goddard for back up, if I can't get through to Butler! :o)
I have an appt for Zech with Butler on March 8th anyways, so I'll be taking the kids to get a follow up check, then.

2.14.2007

new pictures and 2 videos! - 02/14

Oh, and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!
Ruthie's been telling us this for the past week. We have a lot of love in our house!!
All is well here. We're all getting over this terrible cold, and the boys are both getting over their ear infections. I think we're finally on the mend. I only hope that this it the end of sickies for a while, here. That would be nice.
It's been terribly cold here, definitely our winter cold snap. But they're calling for above 0 temps this weekend! I'm hoping they'll come as promised and the cold snap will be over. On with spring, I say!!
I just uploaded some new pictures of the kids, and 2 new videos!! One is of Isaac talking to the other baby in the bath tub, and the other is of Isaac crawling!!! What a big boy!!!

2.06.2007

more sickness - 02/06

My friend, Jen, called me yesterday to let me know that Gracie is in the hospital right now with RSV. She wanted me to know to watch Isaac for signs of it. Since he's been sick with coughing, runny nose, spitting up mucous, not breathing well laying down... and other stuff, we decided to take him to the clinic and have him checked out - better safe than sorry.
Well, he's not got RSV, but he does have an ear infection! Apparently they are contagious in our family?!! So now Zech and Isaac are both on meds for their ears. And the colds all seem to be on the mend, I hope!
I shouldn't really say he doesn't have RSV for sure. I'm kinda unsure because of how the Dr handled that part of it. When I mentioned the RSV (and probably because I had next to no voice yesterday) she said "Do you smoke?" Obviously, no, I don't. Then "Who smokes in your house?" Nobody. "Does he go to a day care where there's smoking?" No. And, for the record, I would NEVER let any of my kids go to any type of care where there was smoking... anyways. Then she checked him out and everything, but didn't say anything more about RSV. She did listen to his chest, though, and told me to give him Dimetapp at night to help him breathe laying down.
So, I'm still gonna watch him for any more signs of RSV. I have a feeling that he does actually have it, and the worst of it was a few nights ago when he ended up sleeping sitting up in his car seat, still gasping and choking every 30 minutes, but I'll keep watching for anything more.
I do get that smoking increases the risk of breathing troubles for babies, but I don't think that just because he's not around smokers means he can't have RSV. Gracie isn't around any smokers either.
Anyways, that's it for now! I'll update when there's something new to know!