5.31.2007

We're all better! - 05/31

Zech's arm is looking all better and normal now. Redness and swelling was completely gone yesterday morning when he got up. We haven't given him any Benedryl since Tuesday and things look good. Thank goodness it's all right and was so easily handled!
:o)
We're all busy otherwise! We had a few days rest, though always busy around the house, and Josh and I had dentist appts this morning in town. Everything looks good - no cavities for either of us! Yay!!

5.29.2007

Zech's arm today - 05/29

Zech's arm is looking much better today - the redness is completely gone, and the only swelling is very slight and just in a small area on his upper arm. I have not given him any Benadryl yet today, but I think I will give his 2 (instead of 3) doses today, just to get that last little bit of swelling down, and then we'll not give anything tomorrow and see how he does.







5.28.2007

5 days after dptp + hib - 05/28

Zech's arm is looking tons better today. The redness is completely gone, and there's only a little bit of swelling in his upper arm. I will give him the Benadryl thru today, and I'm hoping the swelling may be completely gone tomorrow morning so we can stop the antihistamine, as well.





Ruthie had her end of the year dance recital yesterday afternoon. She did very well with her performances! (videos are uploaded on the site, May 27) Unfortunately, she did lose her tap shoes somehow which we're not pleased about. We were told we didn't need to change the kids or anything, there would be helpers for all of that, yet the shoes are gone. Most annoying part is that there weren't any shoes left in the change room at all (we stayed until everyone else had left the room) which means someone had to have taken 2 pairs of tap shoes home - how do you not notice that?? I called the dance studio and the owner as soon as we got home yesterday and will be calling again today. I plan to continue calling until I get either the shoes or some money to buy a new pair.

5.27.2007

4 days after dptp+hib - 05/27

Zech's arm is looking much better today. The swelling and redness is only now on his upper arm, and the redness is only very slight. I think we will use the steroid cream just this morning, maybe once again tonight, and then stop that. We will continue to give him Benadryl 3x a day until the swelling is completely gone everywhere.






On a side-note; Ruthie's dance recital is this afternoon! She is very excited about it. We are all going to watch, not sure how much I'll get to sit and watch with the boys there, but I did take her to the dress rehersal on Friday and saw the performances. I will make sure to get Josh to take a video of her 2 performances and will post them tonight or tomorrow.

5.26.2007

3 days after dptp + hib - 05/26

Zech's arm is responding well to the Benadryl 3x daily and the steroid cream 2x daily. The swelling is slowly coming down. This morning his hand and wrist were still well, and the swelling was going down above his wrist as well. You can see that a bit in the pictures.

His upper arm is still very swollen and red, but the swelling has come down some from the top of his shoulder.

A bruise is showing where the needle was actual given.






5.25.2007

zech'a arm today - 05/25

The swelling is still gone down in his hand, and now has gone down in his wrist as well.

I was not able to get another dose of benadryl into him last night, but gave him one as soon as he woke up this morning. I hope to get 3 doses in today.

His upper arm is still red, swollen, hot, and hard, spreading down past his elbow still. But the redness hasn't spread any overnight.

We applied the steroid cream last night after bathtime, and I just applied it after taking these pictures.





5.24.2007

boys' dr appt. - 05/24

The boys both had appts with the family doctor yesterday - Isaac for his 12 month check and needle, and Zech for a quick check and his 18 month needle.
Isaac is 21lbs (25th %) and 30 inches (50th %) - he's doing well, growing good, but has definitely dropped a bit from starting at well over the 95th %! He got his 12 month needle (MMR), cried only a little bit, and that was that. Such a good boy!
Zech is 30.5lbs (50th %) and 38 inches (75th%) - I have no idea where he gets his height from! Must be Grampa Sam.

Zech got his 18 month needle (dptp + hib). He's all caught up now, until time for school booster. He cried... a LOT... when they did it. A sucker helped, but only a little bit. He complained about his arm hurting a lot the whole rest of the day. We gave him ibuprofen at bedtime and he slept fine all night.

This morning, though, his arm was very swollen, red, and hardened. I didn't think much of it, as he said it didn't hurt. By lunchtime the redness and swelling had spread some. I took a few pictures of his arm and uploaded them to the pics site to link to some friends, to ask what they thought. Everyone agreed that I should at least call and ask the office about it, so I did. (really I was going to, but wanted to make sure I wasn't overreacting about this) The nurse said to come in right away, so in we trucked.

By the time Zech was seen (not really very long, only a few hours after lunchtime) the redness had spread to the top of his arm and down past his elbow. The swelling was all down his arm, into his hand.
The Dr. checked his arm, and listened to his chest. Chest is clear (good!), and Zech is acting normal for himself, so it's a localized allergic reaction to the vax (or at least something in it). We're to give Zech benadryl and put on a steroid cream 3 times a day. The Dr is supposed to call me tomorrow morning - if I don't hear anything by late morning, I will call and leave a message for him, though if it looks worse tomorrow morning, I'll definitely be having him seen again.

As of bedtime, his arm is still very red and swollen and hard, but his hand is looking and feeling normal. I'm hoping to somehow get him awake enough to take another dose of Benadryl before Josh and I go to bed, and hopefully we'll see great improvement in the morning.

Scary stuff, this parenting thing.Here are the pictures of his arm. Amazing enough (to me anyways) he says it doesn't hurt at all when I touch it or put pressure on it!



5.19.2007

Sir Isaac Benjamin is 1 year old! - 05/19

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Happy Birthday, my Baby Boy.






We celebrated Isaac's first birthday with Josh's aunt and uncle, and his grandparents. They came for a BBQ supper and cake. It was nice, but made me sad to think of everyone I want to be near who isn't.


I have been thinking a lot this week about what was happening one year ago - seems forever ago, and yet seems like just yesterday all at the same time. I do still wish things had been able to go differently with Isaac's birth, but in the end all was well - both of us healthy and here.


Pics will be posted soon, I promise. I'm tired right now and worn out from today. These first birthdays are brutal for mommies to have to go through!

5.18.2007

1 year ago today... - 05/18

Mom was in Brandon with us as we prepared for Isaac's arrival. Ruth and Zech were SO happy to have Nana with them!
And Grace Marie was born!

5.16.2007

Eek! A mouse! - 05/16

I just took some garbage stuff out to the bags in the garage. When I moved the one, a mouse ran out and under the stairs!
EEK!!!!
Guess Jack needs to step it up. And I guess Josh needs to set some traps out there.
As I sit here thinking about that, I wonder should I move the strollers I have under the breezeway. I'm not sure mice would bother them, but would they try to nest in them? YUCK!
Other than that, we're all fine and well. Busy, but good. Ruthie's dance class is winding up for the summer, which means extra trips in for rehersals and the end of the year concert. I'm a bit ticked off that, even though we're parents of a dancer, we have to pay $20 to watch her dance in the recital. I think that's a bit odd. I'm not sure what's going to happen next fall with dance. I think Ruthie would like to continue, and I know Zech would love to start. But I'd like to be able to find a time slot that works a bit better for us, especially for Josh being able to come and watch sometimes. But we'll have to see what their schedule looks like when it gets made up. I definitely think we'll continue the swim lessons in the fall. I'm not worrying about anything this summer - with the trip to NS and camping with Jen and Paul we'll be busy enough, I think.

5.07.2007

some pictures to share - 05/07

I can't believe how big he's getting! :*)

hair just like daddy's!
you can see his 2 new almost teeth in this one - poor kid! though he's not sad here, just making his new funny face for the camera!!

Zech saying "cheese"... I think.
Ruthie
Zech at swim class! It's amazing to see the difference in him - just amazing!
Okay, and that's all I'm posting here! To see the rest, and a few videos, too (the one of Zech going on the slide really is awesome to see!), just check out the "pictures and videos" link over there ---->
Other than that, things are going well for us. Either the burning of the grass or the tick stuff we put on Myles is working (or maybe (HOPEFULLY!!) the tick "season" is over for the year), but we haven't seen any new ticks for a few days now. Course, it also rained all weekend long, so we weren't outside to get any, but Josh mowed the back lawn this afternoon and Myles was out there in the grass with him, and neither have any ticks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we're done now - those things are just a bit too much for me to handle.
We're going in to town tomorrow, of course, for Ruthie's dance class, but afterwards we're going to be going to the church for a pizza "party" of sorts. Friends of ours from the church moved (last year) to BC and they're back in MB for a family wedding. We're going to have dinner with them and just visit a while. It'll be neat to see how much their girls have grown and changed, and for them to see Isaac and Gracie. Most of all, though, I can't wait to see Ruthie and Alliyah - they were the best of friends when the Kowalson's were here, and they still talk about each other quite often. Ali has even become Ruthie's "imaginary" friend. I can't wait to see them together again.