Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Neb 'em!

Well...you may have seen that we have good news and Gavin doesn't have croup, though I do feel sorry for the kid at our daycare that is sick with croup. Our physician said that we should be using a nebulizer to help open up his airway because Gavin has been wheezing and trying to catch his breath. Poor guy...we didn't know and couldn't tell he'd been wheezing, but we also don't own a stethoscope to be able to listen that well. It was also interesting to hear Gavin's physician say that pediatricians disagree on whether or not a child under the age of two can be "diagnosed" with bronchitis. Not sure if it's because they're still developing and it is closer to asthma, which he doesn't have, or what the specifics are. Even though I was intellectually curious, we went to the doctor to treat Gavin. So if you have insight into this, I'd love to know!

So now Jackie and I are proud owners of a nebulizer machine. It requires a little bit of assembly coming out of the box, but not bad overall. Some tubing, a mask, a microwaveable sterilization bag, a few viles of the solution, and the machine itself. The treatments take about 10-15 minutes and have turned out to be actually quite soothing for Gavin. Jackie and I have each given Gavin treatments, in addition to a few treatments at daycare (after obtaining a doctor note giving them permission to treat him) and found it best to be holding Gavin on our lap with his back to our chest, rocking back and forth and singing songs. We're supposed to give him treatments every 4-6 hours as needed over the next week and a half. Though I'm up writing this post because I can't sleep (~2:30am), we haven't had to give Gavin a treatment in the middle of the night (knock on wood).

Finally, I can't go without sharing a funny photo. Gavin loves when bath time rolls around in the evening, stops whatever he's doing in his play area and crawls as fast as he can (not walking on his own yet) to the bathroom. He pulls himself up to the tub to see the water filling, then moves along the toilet to the toilet paper holder, and just recently learned he can move the silver lever on the toilet and flush. Maybe as my Mom suggested, we could start potty training :)


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Sick baby :(

Well, just when Jackie and I thought Gavin was on the mend he took a turn for the worse yesterday evening. He coughed and coughed, and at one point, we thought he spit up blood. Now not being so sleep deprived I think it may have been ibuprofen we gave him yesterday evening. Jackie and I are crossing our fingers that we'll get some firm treatment plans from our pediatrician today. We went last week Monday and were told that it was a cough, but we've come to find that a child at our daycare was diagnosed with croup! Note that I tried to read about croup from the American Academy of Pediatrics website but found that you have to pay over $200 to access their materials. So, I looked at WebMD instead and found some helpful information.

So, keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer that we have a diagnosis and a treatment plan to get our little boy feeling better.

Here's a video of Gavin earlier today rolling around the basement in a fort in his playroom. Makes me want to built a fort and camp out in our living room!

Monday, December 12, 2011

The privilege of being called dada!

What a privilege it is to be a parent. I've been overjoyed each and every day when I have the chance to hold my son, to watch him put his fingers up to my hair and pull at my curls, and to watch him be brave and take steps towards me without assistance. I absolutely love when his smile is from ear to ear when he sees me walk through the door at daycare. But most of all, I love him as Jesus loves me, proud, and unceasingly.

Happy baptismal birthday Gavin! You've gone through so many changes and so much growth. I look forward to many more years of being your Dada :)