Thursday, September 20, 2007

My TB test incident and Wren update

Wren is feeling great. He is crawling and exploring again without whimpering all the time and wanting to be carried. His bottom left outer teeth are cutting through the gums and are visible. His lower molars continue to swell and look as if they must emerge soon.

Among Wren's favorite things is the night light. When he wakes in the morning and finishes nursing he crawls to the edge of the bed and tries to get down to chew it. I have to get up and hide it under the bed before he gets hold of it.

These are the things that Wren understands:

- Where are the fishies? (looks up)
- Kitty? (looks around attentively)
- No (shakes his head from side to side and smiles)
- Ball (looks for ball)
- Throw it! (throws the ball)
- Do you want to eat? (whimpers, falls over and tries to claw at me)

Now, about me. I went to have my TB test at the doctor. I had a sub-cutaneous injection and unlike prior TB tests it was excruciatingly painful. The syringe seemed to have a lot of stuff in it and I asked the Dr whether she was really going to inject all that into me!

When I got home hours later there were a string of calls from the doctors office asking me to call her. I found out later (amidst many apologies) that they had injected me with a Tetanus shot not a TB test. I went in today for the correct shot in the other arm. Unfortunately, the tetanus shot site is extremely painful and swollen. I can't carry Wren on that side any more (and its the only side I carry him) and I can't really sleep on that side because it is very red, burning and ultra-sensitive. The Doc said that it may take another few days for the drug to disperse and the swelling subside. OUCH.

We also went to infant coop for the first time. Wren had a great time and crawled around and groped the other babies and the balls. He especially likes balls. At the doctors office he liked the string instruments - the bass and a banjo - and stayed there a long time scratching the strings to make noise. The only thing that could compete was eating the soil in the potted plants (yes, I stopped him quickly).

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Dr Yesterday Dr Today

I took Wren for a checkup at the Ped yesterday. She saw nothing wrong other than his crankiness. We were told to stop Tylenol for 24 hours to see whether he had a feve.r A fever could indicated endocarditis. We did. He did not have a fever.

Dr Today
But this morning I noticed Wren had a rash on his lower belly. By 11am it was all over his belly. I was near the doctors' office since I was buying a new cable for the garage door. I dropped in and Wren was seen. Apparently it looks like a Roseola rash but his fever was not high enough for Roseola so it was probably some virus. The rash comes on as the virus is broken down.

He is better. He is not contagious. He has a rash.

Oh, and one of his two bottom teeth is cutting through the gum (at last). There are 2 molars and one more bottom tooth poised to follow.

If you're crawling you don't wear overalls

I wish someone would take the Carters designers who make all these 6-12 mo overalls and make them crawl around in them all day. They would be stripping before breakfast. Honestly, crawling babies shouldn't wear overalls.

I have 4 sets of gorgeous overalls in the 6-12 month size. I came to the cupboard this morning and there they were. They are the newest cleanest clothes Wren has because he hasn't worn them. I thought I might try again and took out the largest once and rolled up the legs. Off he went.

As soon as he was horizontal I saw it wouldn't work. They tug at his shoulders and pull between his legs. Still, I pulled him up and released the tension. He looked great. Off he went again - as soon as he crawled the overalls we tight again. Argh.
Meanwhile, in the leg department he was sliding all over the place because even though they were the right length when he stood up, when he crawled his legs retreated into the pants and he slipped and hit his face on the floor.

No more overalls until he can walk.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Wren on Sunday

Wren was generally happier today and between the two bouts of Tylenol he has enjoyed he has not had a fever. That is the good news. The bad news is that he is still obviously happier after Tylenol and extremely irritable, cries easily and wants to be carried most of the time. It is a rare moment right now that he is happy and unmedicated - he is playing with some musical shakers and is entertained enough to be okay.

From this I think he is in pain. It could be his teeth - the molars continue to swell but are not through anywhere. It could be something else I can't see. I really don't know. We will be taking him to the doctor to talk about it.

My nerves are shot because, without Joshua doing baby-care too (which he has been) Wren is very high maintenance and I can barely do anything unless I carry him.

Today, we went to the Pharmacy to get some more anti-fungal (Wren still has oral thrush which is a candida infection in his cheeks which is not supposed to bother them) and the pharmacist commented that his dosage is 1/2 of what is usually recommended. Since Wren is not having rapid improvement with the 1ml X 4 she suggested we walk to the doctor about it. We also bought some gauze so I can swab the inside of his cheeks to make the preparation more effective.

We also went to the library and found a huge pile of good books for Frost. Wren was very helpful. When he saw me removing books from the shelf he started pulling down piles of books and dumping them on the floor. I thanked him for his contribution and put them back. A little girl (age 3) was concerned and kept telling him "No, no!" and saying "I can't understand what he is saying" (he was babbling back to her).

Wren is overtired because he is taking such short naps so I am going to take him for a walk while the chicken roasts. Unfortunately, the babysitter we had organized to watch Wren Friday mornings while I do my school shift has decided she is over committed so we are once again looking for someone.