Wordless Wednesday- "Ellie for the last 8 days..."

(Unfortunately all taken on different days...Keep those healthy thoughts coming!)

Little O' Cutie!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Ellie colored this a few weeks ago while waiting at the dentist. I love her choice of colors!


I had cute green outfits for the girls to wear out today (and of course take pictures in) but Ellie is still really sick... So she will be staying in her pajamas and we are staying home. If I get a chance, I'll at least try to capture (and post) some Josie-in-green cuteness later!

How High Is Too High?

Think about this question...

What would you do if you took your child's temperature at 3 in the morning and it was 104.7 degrees?

This happened to me last night and it was scary! Mostly because I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I had already been doing the the alternating between Tylenol and Motrin and she had a lukewarm bath before bed. My doctor's nurse had told me the other day that if it goes above 103.5 then I might go ahead and give them a call back. But I didn't get the specifics of- "Does that apply to paging and waking the doctor at 3AM?" and "At what exact temperature does it turn into an emergency situation?". Therefore, I urge all of you to ask your doctor these questions before you ever get into that situation!

I did call my doctor today and here is the info I got:
By the way, this applies to a 3 year old (and older children). If a baby has ANY kind of fever (100.4 or above) then you should always page your doctor...even in the middle of the night. And, of course, ask YOUR doctor what they recommend. This is just what my doctor says:

A fever only should be treated with Tylenol and/or Motrin if it is causing your child to be uncomfortable (usually at the 102 degree mark). Otherwise you could interfere with the fever's "job" of fighting whatever infection is causing it in the first place. You can treat a high fever by alternating the medicine. The first dose will be a single dose of BOTH at the same time. Then give a single dose of one or the other (alternating them) every fours after the initial dose.

A fever will not cause brain damage until it hits the 107 range. (Can you believe that?) At that point it becomes an emergency situation and requires a 911 call. (Specific answer #1 that I wanted)

Any fever below 107 is acceptable as long as it comes down at least .2 degrees within an hour of a dose of Tylenol or Motrin.

Any fever (in the 102-106 range) that does not respond to Tylenol or Motrin at all requires a call to the doctor- even in the middle of the night. So if your child has a 104.7 fever and it goes down when given medicine, then she's most likely okay. If it does not do anything, or goes up, then call or page the doctor. My doctor told me that usually, as a precaution, she wants you to page her whenever you get a reading of 105- even if it does go down. (This was the other specific answer I was looking for.)

Of course she told me to call them ANYTIME, no matter what the temperature and even in the middle of the night, if I am ever concerned at ALL or have any questions.
And also to call if there are any other symptoms besides just a fever. Here is a list I found on kidshealth.org:

When to Call the Doctor

The exact temperature that should trigger a call to the doctor depends on the age of the child, the illness, and whether the child has other symptoms with the fever.

Call your doctor if you have an:

• infant younger than 3 months with a temperature of 100.4° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius) or higher
• older child with a temperature of higher than 102.2° Fahrenheit (39° Celsius)

Call the doctor if an older child has a fever of less than 102.2° Fahrenheit (39° Celsius) but also:

• refuses fluids or seems too ill to drink adequately
• has persistent diarrhea or repeated vomiting
• has any signs of dehydration (urinating less than usual, not having tears when crying, less alert and less active than usual)
• has a specific complaint (i.e., sore throat or earache)
• still has a fever after 24 hours (in kids younger than 2 years) or 72 hours (in kids 2 years or older)
• has recurrent fevers, even if they only last a few hours each night
• has a chronic medical problem such as heart disease, cancer, lupus, or sickle cell anemia
• has a rash
• has pain with urination

Seek emergency care if your child shows any of the following signs along with a fever:

• inconsolable crying
• extreme irritability
• lethargy and difficulty waking
• rash or purple spots that look like bruises on the skin (that were not there before the child got sick)
• blue lips, tongue, or nails
• infant's soft spot on the head seems to be bulging outward or sunken inwards
• stiff neck
• severe headache
• limpness or refusal to move
• difficulty breathing that doesn't get better when the nose is cleared
• leaning forward and drooling
• seizure
• abdominal pain

Also, ask your child's doctor for his or her specific guidelines on when to call about a fever.

*Other things my doctor (and kidshealth.org) mentioned to do for your child are a lukewarm bath or sponge bath (never cold because it can cause shivering-which will raise your child's temperature), dress the child in lightweight clothing (and only use a lightweight blanket), give plenty of fluids and have the child rest.



So, what I did for Ellie, was give her more Motrin and put ice packs on her. (I now know not to do this.) Her temperature went back down to the 103 range (where it's been hovering since Tuesday) and she was able to go back to sleep. I was very worried, though, and wish I had known the answers to my questions BEFORE this happened.
So everyone, if you don't know what your doctor recommends about fevers, then call and ask! Get the very specifics. It'll save you a lot of worry in the middle of the night...


By the way, I went ahead and took Ellie to the doctor just to make SURE it was nothing more than this virus going around and it's not. I can expect 1-4 more days of this yuckiness...

So far so good...

The ultrasound tech did not see anything obviously wrong with Josie so that's great news! Of course the radiologist still has to read it so we won't know for sure until then. The tech joked that "She just has a big head because she's so smart!" I had to laugh because my little genius Ellie has a small-for-her-age sized head. In fact, her and Josie's head measure the same size! Just look...



Pretty crazy huh?

Speaking of Ellie, she has been running a 103 degree temp since yesterday. I called the doctor and there is a virus going around that will cause this with no other symptoms and it will probably last for 4 or 5 days. Yuck! That means we'll be missing playgroup, ballet, tumbling and a birthday party. (She's not going to preschool anymore...more about that another time.) She feels miserable and just wants to hide from the world.

(See her foot?)

Poor thing...I don't blame her one bit!
Everyone think healthy thoughts and send them our way, okay??? :)

6 Months Check-up

Josie is also a little behind in her check-ups so she just had her 6 month one yesterday. Here are her stats...

Weight- 17lbs (75th percentile)
Length- 27 1/2 in (95th percentile)
Head Circumference- 18 in (above 100th percentile)

The doctor has been following her head size closely because it is much larger than it is supposed to be. It has grown a whole inch since her last appointment so she is having an ultrasound of her head (through the soft spot) tomorrow. The doctor said she is not concerned since she is showing no signs of neurological problems but she just wants to be on the safe side and have a look.

Other than that, everything with Josie is perfect! The doctor didn't even hear a heart murmur this time so hopefully that is past us!

I'll give an another update after we get the results of the ultrasound...

6 Months

I'm a little late on this, but I did want to make sure I marked this milestone. Josie is 6 months old!!! How on earth did that happen? It is truly amazing how fast it has went...
She has such a personality now! She smiles so easily...you just have to make eye contact and there it is! She is also super ticklish under her chin and squeals with laughter even if she just thinks we are about to tickle her. It always makes me laugh when I hear her laugh. She is also a little chatterbox and it's fun to hear all the new sounds she can make each day. She really has turned into such a happy baby and the only times she gets upset is when she is hungry or wants so badly to get to a toy that's out of reach. This baby wants to move! She does roll all over the place, but it doesn't always get her where she's trying to go.

Here are the new things she is doing:


Eating Solids

We started rice about a month ago and have now progressed to many different fruits and veggies. She seems to be hungry ALL THE TIME and I spend a considerable amount of time making food and feeding her each day. She lost all interest in breastfeeding so I started pumping and giving it to her in a bottle. My supply quickly diminished doing this and so her bottles became more and more formula until now that's all she takes. It's a little disappointing, but I never did set out to do extended breastfeeding and I at least nursed her for the same amount of time as I did Ellie.


Sleeping in the Crib

Now I DID set out to co-sleep with Josie for as long as she fit in the co-sleeper. Some of my fondest memories with Ellie were waking up to her beautiful little sleeping face just inches from mine every morning and starting each day with baby cuddles before getting out of bed.
It was the same with Josie...but only for the first 5 months. Then it just started not working for us anymore. For one thing, she sleeps very fitfully. She tosses and turns and makes little baby noises pretty much the whole night. She doesn't actually wake up during these times and doesn't need me to do anything for her, it just never let me actually fall into a deep sleep. Then when she went through a phase of waking up several times a night again, after actually sleeping (rather fitfully) through the night for a few weeks, I knew it was time for a change. I was exhausted. So the logical choice was to move her to her crib in the nursery. The only problem with that, though, was that Ellie still held claim over it! So in sleep-deprived desperation, we borrowed a twin size mattress from a friend and set it up in Ellie's big girl room (next to her toddler bed). And I went from co-sleeping with my 5 month old back to co-sleeping with my 3 year old! It worked, though, and Josie took to the crib immediately. I think she is happy to have her own space and part of her problem was that I was keeping HER awake when she was in the co-sleeper in addition to her keeping me awake. She is now only up once a night at most and has even slept through the night on occasion again. And for the last 3 nights, we have been able to lay her in the crib while still awake and she falls asleep on her own! That did not happen with Ellie until at least a year old or maybe later.
The co-sleeping with Ellie only lasted 2 weeks and then I gave her the choice of sleeping with Mommy or by herself with a tent over her bed.
She chose the tent! She now loves her new big bed and I'm so happy the the transition went smoothly. I honestly did not see how we would ever get to this point and it just goes to show that things will just "work out" and I shouldn't ever worry or stress about how it will happen. I must say that it was a a lot of fun "camping out" with Ellie and I will have fond memories of her wildly imaginative bedtime stories and our more serious late night talks.


Sitting

This has been progressing over the last few weeks. I think the longest she has sat happily so far is about 15 minutes. It's nice because it opens up a whole new set of "sitting" toys for her to play with. Ellie loves it, too, since it is easier to play with her.



So yeah, our little baby is growing up. Way faster than I want her to. Each time I pack up a set of baby clothes (packed up the 3-6 months this weekend), I get so sentimental. Even though I think this is probably our last baby, it's amazing how strong the desire for another one is still there in times like those. I vow to enjoy every moment with Josie and cherish each milestone and to take tons of pictures and video to capture these precious times. She brings so much joy to her Mommy and Daddy and Big Sis!