Blogger's Guilt... April 25, 2011

Only I would feel horribly guilty about not writing in my blog as frequently as I think I should.  I must remind myself NOT to beat myself up if I don't get to it....it's not homework...it's not a job.  I should not dread doing it.  NO GUILT! NO GUILT!  NO GUILT!  Okay, I still feel a little guilt. So, here's my attempt to 'catch up'...I gotta warn you, it wont be my best written entry...I'll be lucky to get words out in the right order. My goodness, it's been WELL over a month since I've written...I blame our health for some of it. Here goes...

It has been a rough and turbulent month.  I swear, the night after I wrote my last blog saying how fantastic it is that Aiden's  eating more and more by mouth, he got sick!  It hit him out of nowhere!  Sandy, our nurse, noticed a lot more secretions toward the end of the day, but we thought it was nothing.  Then after his bath, after he went to sleep, we noticed he was starting to have chills...coughing...then fever....more fever...more coughing...and by the morning, his secretions were GREEN.  Just like that!  We knew then that we needed to get Aiden to the ER...and quick.  And thank goodness we did!  Turns out he had pneumonia.  UGHHHHHH!   Not again!  Aiden's new found curiosity of putting things in his mouth has definitely changed his health record.  Before his jaw distraction...he maybe had one cold.  Don't get me wrong, the jaw distraction was the best thing to ever happen to Aiden... I cried when I saw his tongue for the first time...I cried the first giggle I heard, I wanted to cry when I realized that he breathes through his mouth and nose.  Now I wanna cry every time he gets sick.  I hate seeing him suffer and I hate feeling so helpless! (all moms and dads do...) So, we got Aiden set up with antibiotics and the ER sent us home, they felt we were capable of taking care of him instead of checking him in. I think it's much better he rest and recooperate at home, rather than in a terrifying PICU bed.  Aiden's fevers continued  to come back, but once the antibiotics kicked in, we could see the difference.  The discouraging part of all of this is, Aiden pediatrician put a hold on Aiden's feedings by mouth.  She was afraid he may have aspirated while eating, it's too close to him getting pneumonia not to be concerned... but none of us think that was the cause. I'm sure he would have started choking or coughing, like we do when something goes down the wrong pipe.  But, we'll do as the Dr. says.  Now, at that point, we were hopeful that the antibiotics would kick this bug's butt in time for Aiden's hand surgery that was supposed to take place on the 5th of April. 

He was getting better and better, although I was still concerned about his cough.  It never completely went away.  And wouldn't you know it, after 10 days of antibiotic, he gets a fever and yellow secretions the very next night!!!  Juan took him to see the pediatrician and they did some trache cultures....even did a dreaded catheter culture to rule out a urinary tract infection.  They also wanted to check for some more serious bugs to see if he would need to be checked into the hospital for an antibiotic treatment through an IV.  Luckily, although his xray still showed pneumonia, all the tests came negative, except for the bug he had been treated for earlier.  So, his surgery had to be postponed and he had to go back on different, stronger antibiotics for another 10 days.  Thankfully the bug responded much more quickly to that round of meds.  What DIDN'T help is...ALL of us got sick.  I had chills and sore throat, cough and sinus issues...Juan had a nasty cough and needed antibiotics...and Sandy had bronchitis and borderline pneumonia.  That kind of makes me think Aiden didn't aspirate at all...maybe it was something contagious he caught somehow.  Now...we are ALL healthy.  Aiden's hand surgery is scheduled for August 12.  He can enjoy his summer!

We did manage to get outside a few times when Aiden was feeling well...we had some nice weather.  This was really the first time Aiden took a walk...without his stroller.  He was still cautious...leary of every bump and crack in the sidewalk, but he  made it half way around the block.  Not bad for the first timer!  I can't wait till the more constant nice weather finally arrives.  He'll be running around at the playground and in the grass...being a crazy 2 year old.  I truly look forward to that.

 

Aiden just keeps growing and growing.  Not  just height wise, but intellectually.  His latest thing is humming.  Humming and humming and HUMMING, complete songs!  At first it was just Twinkle Little Star...now it's every song, every animal sound.  He also mimics sentences and words.  We wonder if maybe, while he was sick, his throat was sore.  It's like a dam flooded!  We've also been catching Aiden doing things that catch us off guard.  He plays drums with rhythm.  SERIOUSLY!  Right now, his favorite is when I sing "When the Saints (I say ants) Come Marching In..." and he drums along with me, after each phrase.  And with purpose!  Also, he has his favorite song on his little laptop that he scrolls to, and on the piano he tries to play it...and it sounds like it!  He's definitely going to be a musician in the future.  I take videos so I can sell them for some good money when he becomes famous.  Teehee...I'm MOM, I can't help but over-react and be super proud and amazed with everything my Luv Muffin does.  I hate that I haven't written about all the little things Aiden has done, so like I've have before, I may just make a Facebook Timeline for the past month or so.  It's kind of like a diary. 

This past Saturday was Karla's first birthday.  That was a lot of fun!  Aiden was running around like a two year old does, smiling at everyone that approached him.  All was dandy until that enormous Elmo showed up!!!  Aiden didn't like him AT ALL!  Uhhhh-UH!  He sort of just sat in my arms and cautiously watched from far away...even cried when Elmo tried to shake his hand.  After that, he was exhausted and took a nap.  A LONG nap.  (I wish we adults could do that sometimes...take a nap whenever we darned well pleased.) Once Aiden woke up, he was back to his happy go lucky self. WHEW! 

Yesterday was Easter!  We got all dressed up and it was a feast with the family.  Juan was so excited to actually eat meat after his 40 day abstinance.  He was definitely jonesing for some meat...he's a carnivore through and through. 

When we were ready, we Skyped my mom so she could watch Aiden open his Easter Basket.  He loved it!  It was actually a tin basket with some toys....a frog, a soccer ball, some cars, and candy.  I got a little frustrated because my mom couldn't really see anything, it was too chaotic...but that's ok. At least she got the jist!  Later on in the evening, we got a video call from my mom, and it was also Jeff and Mary Ann (with Michael and Ian) and Lynette and kids.  It was so wonderful!  I felt like I was with them in the basement of my mom's house.  Aiden showed of his bongo skills, playing to "When the Saints."  He also, as SOON as he saw Mary Ann on the screen, made the 'cheek popping' motion...he TOTALLY remembered her from our visit this past January!!  His memory is incredible.  So, it was a lovely Easter...soon Aiden will be ready to hunt for Easter eggs.  I even taught him "Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail"...yes, he hums that, too! 

Today I met my goal of cleaning the back room to get ready for tomorrow...my mom's comin' to town!!!  YAY!  For two glorious weeks!  With Skyping almost every night, Aiden shouldn't need to warm up to GrammaDonna at all.  But, we'll see...ya never know with him.  I'm so excited, hope I can sleep tonight! I know I left some things out...I still have mommy brain.  I have an AWFUL memory, that of an 85 year old. But that pretty much sums it up.  It was a month of illness followed by some fun. :-D  I can't forget to mention that when Aiden went to see Dr. Barbato, his ped, after he was completely well...she said we can start letting Aiden taste, and then next month, start him eating by mouth again.  She may want to order another swallow test, but she says she also doubts that he aspirated while eating.  That's GREAT news! Anyhoo...I promise, I'm gonna try to write more often. TRY!  Good night!!