He was miserable. Lethargic, sad, couldn't sleep well, chest x-rays (which he HATED), tons of trips to the pedi and 4 round of antibiotics in two months.
I was miserable. My boy just cried and cried all the time and I felt like a bad mom. I also felt like a crap employee because I rarely worked a full week at work in two months.
Hubby was miserable because I was so angry that my boy was sick.
Ever was miserable because he woke up a lot in the night so we were all up when we should be sleeping.
I KNEW my boy has asthma. KNEW it. Every virus the babies picked up Ever got rid of in 3 days and Ocean had for at least a week and settled in his chest. I have asthma. My grandma has asthma. My cousins have asthma.
I ignored my mommy instincts when the pedi's said he was just getting viruses at the daycare. Finally I put my foot down and went to an Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Specialist.
Osh has asthma and reflux, which aggravates the asthma. I felt bad that I waited so long. I also remembered all the breastfeeding stats about repiratory issues and wondered if I screwed up by only breastfeeding for 6 weeks. The specialist said that is nonsense, asthma is hereditary and no food on earth could prevent it. He said every fourth person in my family will have asthma and looking through the line that is pretty true. He and his nurse assured me I am a great mom, especially for going with my gut and bringing him in. Obviously this put the specialist at the top of my good list.
He takes Qvar in an inhaler twice a day and a reflux med in the morning. The specialist said not to take antibiotics anymore and we have a four step plan that includes other inhalers and breathing treatments and over the counter meds.
My son has been sleeping like an angel. He has been so healthy! He is the happiest boy. I love seeing him like this. I also truly enjoy at least 7 straight hours of sleep a night. Really, that's a pretty sweet side effect.
Moral of the story: Trust your instincts. I should have done this a long time ago and our life has changed quite a bit for the better in the last two weeks.
Sorry for the lack of posts this week. The rest and relaxation gods thought I got too spoiled on vaca last week so they decided to make my work life a disaster this week and I was working 11 hours days some days! Suck balls! The good news is that those full nights of sleep made them much more manageable.
Family pics from our fab vaca
We all had wild hair because the place we stayed at was a huge lodge in the middle of nowhere and the water was chlorinated, so it was liking washing your hair in pool water. I should have taken more pics of the babies heads because they looked like fuzzy little chicks every morning.
On the photo front to answer some questions: I have a Canon Rebel XT1i. It is pretty common, you can even buy the newer version (XT3i) at Walmart for around $600.00. It took me awhile to learn to use it correctly. The main thing is lighting and figuring out what time of day, where in the house/outside, etc the light is best. I read the manual to my camera. I also bought an instructional book/DVD combo by Scott Kelby. I also took a two hour class on how to use this type of camera properly. I bought an additional lens that I use most often for the pics you see on here and it is an EF 50mm 1.8. I have Photoshop LightRoom, but 99% of the pics you see on the blog are not edited at all, just straight from the camera! The other thing, when I know someone who is awesome at photography, I always annoy them with lots of questions. :)
Poor Ocean! I'm so glad you got that figured out!
ReplyDeleteDo not beat yourself up! I obviously think that breastfeeding has lots of great benefits but my friends who have been super serious about it have had kids plagued non-stop by ear infections. My kid got about 6 oz total of breast milk and has been sick two total days in over 13 months. Sometimes it is genetics or just that kid's immune system. I hope this has Ocean doing better on many fronts!
Poor Osh! Yeah, I hear you about trusting instincts. It's a hard line to cross, not insulting the doctor who has one hundred years of experience versus instinct, but we gotta do what's best, even if we piss people off.
ReplyDeleteYeah, breast is best nonsense, but I know a ton of kids who never had breast milk and are just happy and healthy. I hate this idea that somehow the lack of breast milk must be the reason for X, Y, and Z. Nonsense. So much goes into the health of a child; it cannot all rest on the breast.
You are a lovely mommy, and those two buggers know that!
I'm not happy he has asthma, btu I am happy to hear you found out and he's doing so well!!
ReplyDeleteThe other Jill's child got 6 oz more of breastmilk than my twins did! LOL And, I can count on 1 hand the number of Sick Child visits in 5.5 yrs. And, my kids are pretty darn smart, if I do say so myself. I used formula, not battery acid in my bottles. Some breastmilk fans make you feel as if formula is poison.
Did you go with a nanny or stay in the day care?
Way to follow your instincts! I hate when dr.'s make you feel crazy for questioning your child's health! Cute pics!
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