One of Five

Gardening
Hot
Sticky
Sweaty
A curious toddler
24 hours later
An itchy leg
48 hours later
More itchy patches covering this curious toddler’s body than non-itchy patches
Red
Oozing
Swollen
Legs
Cheek
Eyelid
Arm
Back
Belly
Butt Crack
and more...

If you haven’t gathered by now, Jonathon is covered with Poison Ivy. And after doing an inspection of his body, I have seen where his hands have been, even though they shouldn’t have been there. (Ahem, now he *really* has a reason to scratch his butt)

Honestly, I am surprised that it has taken this long for one of the children to end up with poison ivy. They are always outdoors, getting into the weeds, chasing bugs, frogs, and butterflies.

Perhaps the first four have Daddy’s immunity to the culprit. Regardless, this poor little guy is NOT happy about being covered in such an itchy mess. I sure hope it goes away quickly.



UPDATE: I wrote that post on Sunday however, since then Katelyn has now gotten it on her face, near her right eye! I'm not liking this one bit!!!

Holy Crap, Literally! Is there a FLOOD?

Please forgive the delay in this. I've tried to keep everyone updated via facebook as much as I could. This is the latest news.

It's almost 2pm. We have a plan, finally! A fifth doctor came in and saw Jonathon a while ago. After doing some palpating, they determined he had a very large mass of what they believed to be stool. He's never had an issue with constipation before but they said that since he is beginning to make the transition to being a "big boy" (no more diapers), he could "hold it" and therefore, end up constipated. She thought the stool was pressing on the bladder and causing him to retain urine.

They decided to give him a suppository to see if things started moving. We removed his diaper, which they have been encouraging him to use instead of the toilet, to find that he FINALLY peed on his own!! No doctors hovering over him, scaring the pee out of him (literally) and no cath. She said that if all went well and he was able to pee and poop then we may be able to go home about 6pm tonight.

After the suppository was given, we napped. He woke up, hid behind the chair and yep, you guessed it, filled his pants! Daddy had the short straw and was granted the diaper change duty on that one. :D The only thing I got to hear was something about a "tennis ball" and the not so pleasant smell that woke me up from my nap. I must have been down wind.

So, he has successfully peed and pooped on his own. He has been started on Miralax to help keep things moving. As I'm typing this, he is making me laugh! He was on all fours, playing with the toys and stopped. He lifted his leg up and assumed the position of a dog peeing on a bush. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I just peed. It hurt a little bit."

The cloud seems to be lifting here. I am SO glad to see the sunshine coming back. He has been so funny this afternoon. He's talking, playing, and just being silly. I was becoming worried but am so glad that he is doing much better than he was a few hours earlier.

As of now, it appears the cath may not be an issue for us. I can relate to the cath issue post bladder repair though. I had bladder repair with my hysterectomy and couldn't void after the surgery. I ended up coming home with a cath in place and a leg bag. NOT pleasant. I finally had enough of it and removed it on my own within a day. I wouldn't want Jonathon to have to deal with something as unpleasant as that, especially at three years old.

Thanks again for the support and listening to me babble on about this. It means alot.

Have a great day. With any luck, we will be sleeping in our own beds tonight!!

Becky

Prayers Please! Jonathon is sick...

This has to be quick as we are awaiting a transfer out of here.

I worked last night, arrived home at 8am and Jonathon was sleeping. We decided we would do some driving around for a while so we woke him up and left. By 9:30am, he was complaining that his "belly" hurt. I thought maybe he had to pee so I told Tim to pull over to the side of the road. I got him out and he stood there, trying and pushing but no success. We buckled back up and kept driving. For the next hour, he was having what we now know were bladder spasms. He cried out in pain when you touched his lower abdomen. We went home and he asked me to carry him in the house. Once inside, I laid him on the floor and gently touched his "tummy". It was rock-hard. I looked at Tim and said "we need to take him in NOW!"

We arrived at the ER, was taken back immediately and an initial bladder scan was done. It showed 415 cc's in his little bladder. They cath'd him and sent some of the urine off for tests. They tried inserting an IV and ended up calling IV therapy. Four sticks later and an IV was in place.

The plan was to run blood work, urine tests, kidney function tests, do a kidney ultrasound, and run a bolus of fluid to see if he would urinate on his own. After an hour and a half another scan showed 67 cc's. The latest scan is showing his bladder has filled to a whopping 183 cc's.

They spoke with the urologist here and they said to see a three year old with a urinary retention issue is uncommon. Typically these issues are seen in elderly patients, especially males with enlarged prostates.

When we arrived, his scan was 415 ml. The latest scan was 183 ml (done at 2:05pm). They are concerned because an adult with 200 ml of urine will make them have to urinate. A three year old with nearly 200 ml way too high, especially when he has no need to urinate (nor can he go).

The doctor just arrived (2:10pm) and told us that there is an obvious issue as he is not able to urinate. They are now calling Sparrow to speak with a pediatric urologist. He told us that they don't have any one here at Allegiance that is able to take care of a pediatric patient with urology issues and therefore they feel he needs to be transferred to Sparrow (our request) or U of M. They should be back in a bit to share with us where he will be transferred to.

PLEASE keep us in your thoughts. I worked last night and haven't been to bed yet. I'm exhausted and it's starting to show.

Please...let it stop!!

As of tonight, we have four children now with Strep Throat! Emilee has been home the last two days. After her appointment today, she will be home again tomorrow. She too has strep throat just as all three of her brothers do.

Please keep it away from me!! I truly don't have the time or energy to be fighting strep.

Tonight, class was cancelled. I had hoped to come home and have a little time with the kids and hubby. Instead, hubby decided to head out and go to the fire station. again! *sigh*

I'm about to tuck the kids into bed for the night and may just decide to head to bed myself. I am sure I could use the extra sleep!

Here's to hoping for a better weekend ahead!
-Becky

One, Two, THREE Strikes...

Well, all three boys are now battling Strep Throat. I'm afraid that the girls won't be far behind them either.

I'm still recovering from my ankle injury. The bruising has extended not only down to the sole of my foot but up my calf as well. I did it good!

In other news, I'm looking for homeschooling information. We are having an issue that hasn't been successfully resolved with the school system and am not quite sure where this will bring us. Hopefully I'll know more about all of this next week.

I'll keep you posted!

Sitting in the Hospital on Friday the 13th

*sigh*

I wish I was home sleeping but I'm not. Instead, I am here in the ER with Austin, awaiting a doctor to come take a look at him.

He's had allergy and flu-like symptoms for the past 2 days along with a fever that has been at 103. After taking benadryl and motrin this afternoon, he broke out in a head to toe rash. The rash hasn't let up at all. In fact, I think it has gotten worse.

In other news, the FIL is still in the hospital awaiting news of what they are going to do with him. Please keep sending up your thoughts & prayers for him.

Tonight, Jonathon decided that he didn't want Austin to steal all of the spotlight. Instead, he decided that he would spike a fever too. He is sitting at 103 currently as well. He's home with daddy though while I get Austin taken care of. Honestly, if it hadn't been for the rash, I would have just treated the fever and thought nothing of it. Afterall, I've dealt with numerous fevers over the years!

I have a pretty funny story to share about my EMT class but haven't had the time to write it all up yet. I'll try to get to that tomorrow. Or, would that be today? *sigh*

Hope your Friday the 13th is better than ours has started out! :)

Pneumonia

Has found it's way into little Jonathon's lungs. He definately has pneumonia bilaterally. They are going to try to treat him with oral antibiotics as long as they are able to get him to take them.

Unfortunately, we will be sitting out all of the Holiday functions these next 48 hours and sitting at home.

Obviously, if he worsens, we will be bringing him back to be admitted. I hope that he starts to mend quickly!!

Poor Buddy!!

We're in the hospital!

Tis the season...

BaHumbug!

I'm sitting here with Jonathon waiting for some direction on what they want to do. He will be going for a chest xray in the next couple minutes to help determine what is going on inside his little body.

He's had that icky cough for a few days but tonight he spiked a fever of 102.8 and became worse. When we finally got to the hospital, he had a SpO2 of 89%. His heart rate has been up between 145-150.

Thankfully, he's doing a bit better than when he got here and threw up directly down the front of my shirt and into my cleavage. He has been given some Tylenol just now and his SpO2 is running 95% with a pulse of 147.

I'll update more as soon as I know more...They are here to get him for his xrays.

Please think of Jonathon...

He's not feeling well! He started with a cold a few days back that slipped down into his chest. It seems to have now settled in his lungs. I've slipped into EMT mode and have been on top of his vital signs most of the night. I do not want to end up in the hospital this week with him.

He is currently sleeping but not peacefully. He wakes up every 20 minutes or so and just seems uncomfortable. He has that deep chest cough that sounds like he's going to vomit before he's through coughing. He just doesn't feel well and there isn't much I can do that offers him much comfort.

Please keep us in your thoughts!! Thanks so much.

Seriously, it's not a laughing matter!

Shortly after school began, one of my kids was trying to describe one of their fellow classmates to me. Imagine trying to keep a straight face when they say, "the one with the polka-dots all over their face." I tried not to giggle, I really did. And I certainly didn't let my child see that I was failing silently giggling. I mean, we teach our children not to call names, tease, or be unkind and here I am, an adult, giggling over some poor childs polka-dotted-face.

If I had only known....

Jacob has the chicken pox!

And now you know the rest moral of the story.

Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.

Somewhere tonight, perhaps another child is telling their parents about the kid in their class with the polka-dotted face.

Yes, sadly this is true. My son has a case of the chicken pox.

*sigh*

1-888-222-1222

What is that number, you ask?

It's the number I found myself calling with trembling hands, a pounding heart and wet cheeks.

That, my friends, is the number for Poison Control.




Jonathon, being the quick and curious two year old, was in the hospital today for an accidental drug ingestion. Let me assure you that we keep our medications out of his reach; however, in record time he was able to get into my purse and open two bottles of pills. It happened so quickly and even with "child-proof" medication containers. Trying to remain calm, I looked at him and said, "Did you eat any of these?" He said, "Yes....yummy!" I immediately called poison control and was advised to get him to the local ER immediately due to the medications he was exposed to. Whether he did or didn't eat any is still unknown. All of his blood tests, vitals and ekg's were reassuring. He was released after six hours of monitoring.

I had to rush from the hospital to my EMT class and just arrived home a few minutes ago. He is sleeping, peacefully, with Daddy.

A huge THANK YOU to Marissa for helping me out with the other kids. I appreciate it more than you know.

In the next twelve hours...

Things are going to start coming together. We were suppose to meet with the landlord on Wednesday to go over the lease but we never did. I started becoming concerned, questioning whether or not this was the plan that was meant for us. I placed a phone call this morning to see if all was okay. By this evening, my fears had started to surface. I made another call at 7pm and was able to speak to them. Unexpected plans came up and they didn't make it back into town yesterday. We could have met up with them tonight but Tim was working. Instead, we are meeting tomorrow to sign the lease. I think I may just go crazy these next 12 hours.

To top it off, we are opening our yardsale tomorrow morning. Suprisingly, as we pulled things out this afternoon, we had two customers. Overall, we made $356.00. Not bad for not advertising or even having signs up, eh? We joked saying we could make our first rent payment if we kept going like that. :)

Anyways, the ONLY child asleep is Austin, who is still under the weather. I pray he's feeling better tomorrow! Poor guy.

I started looking at the calender and noticed that there is only ten days left of the month. ACK!! I'm not sure of the move in date but I'm assuming close to the first of the month. We'll find out tomorrow I guess. After that, it's time to bust our keesters and get things moving!

I should get some rest for tomorrow. The sale starts at 9 but I have so much to do before then. And the signs still have to be posted. *sigh*

I'll check in tomorrow. Thank you to all who have continously checked in with us these last few days. It's so heartwarming to know you're there. Thanks Nik for the boxes. It is *greatly* appreciated! Thanks to Dan for dropping them off!

To those who have offered to help us move with trailers/trucks/etc. please know we're not ignoring you. We are waiting to see what the move in date is before we decide what day we'll be needing your helping hands. Unfortunately, I think the first weekend of the month is the 4th. On the other hand, Tim is off the entire first week of July. That's a plus!

Off to hit the pillow. Thanks for caring about us. Love you all,
Bec

Uh oh

Austin has swimmers ear. Normally, I wouldn't freak out about it except for the fact that it is in the same ear that he had the reconstructive surgery on a few years ago! He's pretty miserable tonight. Hopefully it passes quickly. On top of that, he also had a wart removed today while at the doctors office. The poor guy! He handled it like a trouper though. I was proud of him. Please keep him in your thoughts as he gets better!

Another day spent packing, sorting, pricing, and pitching. That seems to be the theme around here lately. I have to admit that the hubby is doing really well when it comes to him getting rid of things. He's a very big packrat, which drives me insane. He's doing well...so far.

The kids are finally asleep. You can tell it's summer time. The hustle, bustle and later than normal bedtimes are here. Unfortunately, I think our schedules will be a bit off for the next month or so while we get things in order for our move. Eventually we'll be back on track. Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself.

With that said, I'm going to go relax a bit myself. We worked on the girls' bedroom tonight. Of course, they had to keep everything. I had several boxes and bags. You know, the trash circular file, the sell box, the keep box, and the toy box. Some of those things that they couldn't part with somehow ended up in the circular file or sell box. I have a sneaky suspicion that they will never-ever-know. :)

Have a great night.
-B

Chatter Box

So I realize I've done alot of "chattering" lately after a long string of no posts. :) I guess I was being lazy having writers block.

This weekend was a interesting weekend, to say the least.

Friday, our normal plans were a bust due to weather. Instead we decided we'd celebrate with our friends on their 10th anniversary! Double Digits. Woooo hoo! Congratulations to them...and may you experience many more.

Unfortunately, the weather moved in quickly and took out our power. We (women) came home and rescued the sitter before the kids could freak out. Then Tim ended up on fire calls for the next few hours. Finally about 9:30pm, we had moved the kids to the other couple's house and decided to head to Red Lobster to celebrate. All I can say is the husbands boys were not on their best behavior. The poor waitress (who was a good 20 years older than us) rolled with their hormonal, teenage boy talk chattering and even gave us a few good laughs too! It's a good thing they put us back in the far corner, alone. After a nice very large Strawberry Lobsterita, we headed home. We were still without power with a restoration of 4pm on Saturday.

Saturday, the power came back unexpectedly around 5:30am. We woke up and started getting ready for Jacob's birthday party. The kids had a great time. It was a day filled with ten children, four adults, many laughs, a cake fight, a hose fight (between two moms), burgers, hotdogs, chips, and lots of fluids. And of course, a few pretty bad sunburns even after applying lots of SPF 50 sunscreen. (Needless to say, I ended up buying SPF 70 for now on) The evening ended up bringing more storms but we kept our power. Unfortunately, one of Jacob's guests had to leave early since he wasn't feeling well. He arrived home only to vomit all over! Poor Guy. In the middle of the night, Emilee started throwing up too. I'm pretty sure it was from too much sun mixed with a bit of dehydration.

Sunday was filled with more playing and a few slow-moving adults who were tired from the weekend fun. Errands were run, kids filled the yard, and storms rolled in again in the afternoon causing us to lose power once again. *sigh* We had it back on in the early evening though, thank goodness!

Monday, Jacob was miserable. He had the worst burn I've ever seen on one of my kids. He wasn't blistered or peeling so we kept applying topical sprays and aloe. Nothing seemed to work, he said.

Tuesday, was a good friends 32 birthday! Happy Birthday, Damon! Hope it was a good one. It was also the day another Great-Nephew was born!

Jacob also called home from school again. This time, he said he wanted to come home. He said his skin was falling off. I told him I'd go down and look at it and then decide. Needless to say, he came home. He said some kids were poking at his burn and pushed skin right off. The school put two bandaids on it, which then ended up peeling a huge section of skin off his shoulder, leaving it very raw and sore. I tried several things to help him. Nothing was working. I read up on various treatments via the internet and found that a zinc oxide works well (found in desitin). I remembered when Jonathon was in the RNICU and had a horrible diaper rash that nothing would cure. They called down for this skin paste and I still had it. It had 20% zinc rather than the 11.4% of butt ointment. So, I used that on his shoulders last night along with a cool shower, cool compresses and motrin. This morning, he said it felt better but was still open, oozing and very sore. He had a field trip today so we put no-stick pads on the area and wrapped him up so his shirt wouldn't rub on it today. I hope he does well through the day! So far, no phone calls.

And here we are, Wednesday. The kids have a 1/2 day of school tomorrow and Friday and they are done for the summer.

I'll check in again later, I'm sure. I hope you are all enjoying your week.

Not again...

Why is it that just when one illness starts to subside, something else lurks back into the picture? I am so frusterated at how sick the kids have been this spring. Tuesday morning around 5am, I woke up and found Katelyn laying on the floor. When I asked her why, she said she threw up on the bed. Sure enough, she did. I turned the light on to clean it up and she took off running to the bathroom to do it again. Needless to say, she stayed home today. A few hours later, Emilee started vomiting. Tonight, Tim started with it and was sent home from work early. Please pray that nobody else gets it.

I've spent several hours cleaning the livingroom carpet tonight. My arms are sore from pushing and pulling the machine. Not to mention that I haven't even finished 1/2 of it yet. To say that it was dirty is an understatement. Amazing how much grime can get into your carpet over time without you realizing it. Wood floors are on our list of things to do. We also installed a new screen door for the front. It has a retractable screen/storm window. It's pretty cool.

Jacob's birthday was a good one. He's saving his money to buy something special and seems to have a nice loot started. To celebrate his birthday, he (and the rest of the kids) are proud new owners of 3 week old baby geese. I'll post photos when I finally find my darn camera battery!

Hope you had a great day!

It's the illness that never ends...

Okay, so I realize that it's technically been eleven days since my last update. And in those eleven days, so much has happened. I am just returning home from yet another hospital visit and would love to share all that has gone on but I'm exhausted! A quick rundown will follow and tomorrow, after I write my research paper, I will give specifics. I've been thinking of you all, hoping you're all healthy and enjoying this great weather we've been having!

Saturday April 19: Urgent care visit for me. Told I had strep, given antibiotics.

Sunday April 20: Can't swallow anything. Now Jacob has it too. Both of us to ER. By the time we leave, Jake's fever is 103. I'm given celumedrol, fluids, and a Rx for T3 and "magic mouthwash." And...they call for the strep test that was done the day before...NEGATIVE~!! Grrr, why did they give me antibiotics then? Hello! Ever heard of Antibiotic resistance!! (This doctor was a piece of work, which I'll share with you if I remember later this week).

Monday April 21: All kids home sick.

Tuesday April 22: Jacob home sick.

Wednesday April 23: All kids to school. Emilee has K-roundup!

Thursday April 24: Jacob home sick yet again.

Friday April 25: All kids to school! Jacob manages to go twice this week. He stayed in bed sleeping most of the week away! (Keeping Jacob in bed is very rare!)

Saturday April 26: Fairly calm day.

Sunday April 27: Back to the ER with Jonathon who has had a fever (up to 104.5) for the past WEEK and has now developed a mouth full of ulcerations, spots, and is still with a fever of 101.5. Sent home, waiting for a phone call (now at 1:30am Monday) with results.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted! I'm sick of everyone being sick. I can't wait until we're back to normal. This past month has been absurd! Oh yeah, I forgot to share with all of you (and those that have children, just wait...your turn is coming, I'm sure). Our spring break started off with a case of headlice, in which three of the kids were "blessed" with. (When the kids returned to school, I called and reported it. We must have had a mild case and I caught it EARLY as there were only 2-3 bugs on three of the kids! There was a child in one of their classes though that was sent home because of an infestation!) The boys all ended up with shaved heads and the girls went through hours of "torture" as we combed every-single-piece-of-hair-on-their-heads. So not only did I get to spend a boatload of money on treating it (60.00) and washing every single item in our household at the laundrymat (75.00), but on top of it, my brand new washer sprouted a leak in the "boot" seal. Thankfully we purchased the 5 year warranty with it because the parts were 150.00, the labor was 160.00 and the service call was another 60.00. Talk about robbery!

So...we're starting this week off with:

Jonathon having a mouthful of sores, ulcers, and spots as well as a fever.

Emilee having a birthday on Friday (Five, already?)

And Momma having her final Chem exam on Saturday! (Thank Goodness)

I'm praying for an uneventful week. I'll share more tomorrow (well, today I guess since it's already 1:30am).

Stay Healthy,
Bec

Cruddy

Oh my goodness! Let me tell you, we have the most beautiful weather right now. There is only one small problem. Momma is sick.

Early Monday morning, Jonathon was throwing up. Tuesday morning, Emilee was throwing up. Wednesday morning, Jonathon was throwing up again. Wednesday night, Momma's back decided to stop functioning. After some good drugs, she carefully crawled into bed shortly after 9pm.

By this morning, my skin has become ultra sensitive, which makes it real interesting when you must wear clothes. It almost feels as if I have a horrible sunburn on my back, especially my lower back. As the day has progressed, so has the sensitivity. My lower back feels like I'm having 1000 needles jabbing in it, my left leg aches and throbs and even though I feel like I'm burning up, I want to do nothing but wrap the most plush blanket in the house around my body to protect it from hurting.

Please make this go away!! I know my back is hurting from a flare up from back injuries I have. Unfortunately, after tonight, I'll be out of any type of medicine that will bring me any relief. I'll be calling the doctor in the morning to see what they can do.

And to top it all off, I'm losing my voice. Oh, life is fun!

Stay Healthy!

Confused

Apparently my stethescope has an internal crackle and wheezing system which activates during the evening hours causing the lungs of a child to sound as though they are filled with yucky gunk. In addition, apparently the pulse ox monitor also has an internal option that triggers to show low Oxygen readings during the evening and early morning hours which coupled with the stethescope, causes parents great distress. They also cause parents to make appointments with a physician who then examines the child and looks back at the parent as if they are a nut case.

Welcome to my day!

As mentioned in a previous post, Jonathon is sick! So, after a very long night and early morning, I called his doctor this morning. They set him up to see someone we've never seen before but in the same office. I was fine with that but was less than impressed when I left.

Basically, she heard nothing, found nothing, felt I should not be giving him decongestant, and was told that if his sats fall below 92% tonight, to take him to the ER. Oh, and she did give him an antibiotic for an upper respiratory infection.

Now, some call me crazy, but I know what I heard. I wasn't the only one here that heard his lungs. I told her this. I also told her that he had a big coughing fit just before we left to go in. It's quite alarming when he does this, almost as if he was choking. Maybe that's why she heard nothing, I don't know. Tonight, I hear it still. He is clingly, crying, and very unhappy. His sats were 95% but we'll see where he goes after he goes to bed. I'm just frusterated. Of course I want there to be nothing wrong but I am fearful that something is being overlooked. I don't want to end up in the hospital. I don't have time for that!!

So, that's my day in a nutshell. I'm feeling crappy myself. My nose is constantly running, I'm sneezing, my throat is itchy, and I'm irritable. Let's not forget that I'm exhausted to boot.

I just want him better. That's all. Healthy and Happy.

-Becky

It seems to have reached his lungs!

Tonight, Jonathon is feeling a bit worse. I can hear the crackle & wheezing in his lungs. I've started breathing treatments after borrowing a pulse ox monitor and seeing his O2 levels were running between 90-93%. He's currently at 93% after a treatment. I'll be calling the doctor in the morning to get him in to be seen.

Please send up a few prayers that this doesn't require him to be sent to the hospital. I'd appreciate it greatly!

Have a great evening. G'night everyone.
-B

Hanging on...

Jonathon is sick. Quite sick, really. This little guy just seems to get any type of bug lately and holds on to it for a long time. He has an appointment on Friday for a regular check up and I'm hopeful that he won't get any worse before then. It was this time last year that he landed himself in the hospital for nearly a week while we were out of state (Bless my dear SIL who stayed with him!)

I'm constantly listening to his lungs, hoping I'll catch any changes before they get too bad. It's definately in his chest but not settled down into his lungs, I don't think. Tonight he feels a tad warm so I'll continue to watch that.

Jacob and I are still not feeling up to par so it's going to be an early to bed night for me.

Stay Healthy! I'll check in again soon.