Garden Flower Wachs

It has been quite the week for our family. We found ourselves in the ER with Eden on Wednesday. She’d been throwing up a little. Then a little turned into more and then more turned into 15 times in an hour and 10 minutes. We were just going to take her to the doctor, but when we got there, she had continued to throw up and he said we could take her to see him, but he would likely just send us to the ER and we would be double billed. We opted for one bill and took her to the ER.

She was a good little patient, though. She got some medicine for anti-nausea and anti-vomiting and did much better. The diagnosis? Gastrointestinal virus. In short, the flu. She was on her way to dehydration. Poor little Eden. We were told she could only have Pedialyte, juice, clear broths and clear liquids for the first 24 hours. Then it was the “BRAT” diet for the next 24. She didn’t mind it at first, but was waking up in the middle of the night to eat because she was so hungry. She did sleep a lot, too. But when we tried to then re-introduce formula and solid foods she wanted the sugary Pedialyte. All that work for no sugar and then she HAD to have it! It’s been hard to convince her that the once-loved peas are still yummy even though they don’t have sugar added to them. She’s doing much better now that she has realized that when she felt better she was no longer going to get everything she wanted- exactly when she wanted it.

So after a 3-hour ER visit, a trip to Wal-greens to get her prescription and the necessary fluids, 3 full loads of laundry to get her clothes- our clothes- her car seat cover and straps, and all of her blankets and burp cloths clean we finally could relax a bit. She slept contently while we also caught a couple of naps to try to recover from the craziness of the day. Oh yes, and we treated ourselves to Carl’s Jr. burgers, too. I am sure that helped.

Our friends and family have been a great support. The ward here has really rallied around us to make sure that we’re doing alright and that Eden is being taken care of on all sides. We’re so blessed to have a great support network out here. Many of the ward members here have become like family for us. We didn’t think that it was possible, but with God all things are possible. Thank you to all of you, near and far, who have kept us in your prayers and called us to check in. This has been an unexpectedly crazy time in our family, and we appreciate all the support and love you have given to us.

Eden cut her second tooth on Jan. 5 and we are just now getting around to blogging about it! Things have been busy around here. Eden and her friend are going to have a little play date today, and both mommies are excited! (This may be more for us right now, but at least the kids will learn how to share, right?)

We’ll post some new photos of this playdate tonight or tomorrow morning. We’ll see how things turn out!

So we forgot to mention that Eden got her first tooth! She was a champ while teething, and she did it while we were in Michigan! She’s great, isn’t she? So now she has one cute little chomper on her bottom gum line- and she’s getting another one. She’s been sleeping a TON and not eating as well as she normally does. She’s been VERY snuggly, which isn’t out of the ordinary for her, but the constant comforting is not usually needed. Poor girl. Teething can be so hard!

Especially when compounded with her very first ear infection! Yuck! It’s not fun. She’s been doing as well as any baby would, but she just hasn’t been herself lately. She was a little off in Michigan, but it only worsened when we came home. She started to tug at her ears a little bit, but I wasn’t sure if it was discovery or if it was discomfort, so I watched and waited. She has also been using her pacifier a lot more, so I knew something was up with her. Her eczema has also been redder and rougher than usual, so we wanted to make sure that we were doing all that we could to help her skin heal- and to make sure that it wasn’t an allergic reaction to something we fed her. So we called our pediatrician, and got the nurse-on-call. She advised us to go straight in to the InstaCare. We packed up Eden, gave her a snuggle and I slid into the back seat with her so that she wouldn’t feel abandoned. (She’s usually pretty good about riding in the backseat by herself, but since she’s been sick, she’s had a really hard time when I leave the room.) When we got there, we signed in, payed our co-pay and waited for about 5 minutes until we were taken back by a really nice physicians assistant. He talked to Eden and let her play with his stethoscope while he was trying to get her pulse. (And wow! Was that ever difficult on a 7-month-old baby who wants to play because she is out, but should be taking her nap!) Then the doctor came in. He was from Chicago and told me the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee. I apparently, am the latter. Anyways, he then proceeded to talk to Eden and ask Wade and me about ourselves and “our story.” He told Eden all about his grandson who was her age and that in a couple of years we should introduce them because “he is a very handsome young man, and a beautiful girl like you deserves a handsome man.) We just laughed. He was great with her! He also let Eden pretty much do what she wanted so that she could get comfortable. And that is exactly what she did! She pulled at his coat, and tugged on his pens, eventually loosing the stethoscope around his neck and getting it to her mouth. She’s so curious! He sat her on my lap, kissed her forehead and then looked in her ears. That was the hard part. She cried as soon as he touched the right one. And it was confirmed when he looked inside it- it was bright red. He gave her a little tongue depressor to play with and gave us a scrip for Amoxicillin. Gross. As soon as we picked up the medicine from the pharmacy and opened it to give her her first dose, it brought Wade and me both back to our childhood memories of being sick. Yuck. No fun at all. But Eden loved it. She’s really good about taking her homeopathic medicine, though, so this shouldn’t have come as a big surprise to me. IF this stuff doesn’t work, we’re going to take her to a homeopathic doctor and have her treated there. And either way, she’s going to be eating a TON of yogurt to kill off the yeast that is infiltrating her body right now through the medicine.

We kept her home yesterday and she slept like a champ for most of the day, and as soon as she took the medicine she seemed to feel better. But then last night Wade had to wake her up from her nap- otherwise she may have woken up at 2 a.m. and thought it was dinner time! This morning wasn’t much different. She slept until 8:40. She is usually awake at 7-7:30. I tried to get the two of us out the door for church, and after succeeding in that, the car failed to start. Rats. It’s also -5 degrees right now where we live. It’s freezing, and probably not best for Eden to be out in that kind of weather- even if she is on medicine.

So, we’re just going to stay home today and let Eden heal. She’s a tough little fighter, so I think she will feel better in no time.