It is a blessing to know that we don't go through life alone. Though the past two weeks have been a bit turbulent, our family has been surrounded by love and support. Here is how it has played out:
The evening of
Sunday Nov. 1, found us in the Emergency Room. Adam had been bitten on the face by a dog during a family meal. Grandpa escorted us to the ER and our friend Janee', an EMT visiting from Utah, rode with us. By the time we arrived Adam had stopped crying. And though Emily and Adam's clothes were splattered in blood, the bleeding had subsided also. Adam was admitted almost immediately. To our relief it was very minor for a dog bite, a small puncture and laceration on his nose, neither needing sutures or glue, just a little lavage and time to heal. They started Adam on an antibiotic that night.
On
Monday afternoon Adam was seen by his pediatrician for a follow up visit. They gave him a booster DTAP vaccine due to the possibility of getting tetanus from the bite, and said he was looking good. They told us to come in Wednesday for his normal (previously scheduled) visit.
After the appointment we dropped Nathan off at work. Since it was only going to be a little over an hour more he was working, Emily decided that she and Adam would just wait there instead of going back and forth. While they waited Adam played with the radio, turned the wipers on and off, and found delight in pushing the main power button on the dash. It was at this time that an explosion happened in Adam's diaper. So Emily went to take him in to change him and noticed the car was acting unusual. When they came back out she went to start the car and it would not start. Then explosion number two came, leaving us with only one fresh diaper to spare. About this time Nathan finished work, and came to see if he could figure out what was going on. As Nathan read the owner's manual we learned that night that a Prius can indeed run out of battery and be jumped. Two of Nathan's co-workers got jumper cables that Michaela (Nathan's boss) kept in the office, and helped to jump the car. Thanks guys!
By
Tuesday the diarrhea was getting bad. At some points he was having three messy diapers in an hour. When Emily called and spoke with the nurse she said the diarrhea was due to the antibiotic, and just make sure he did not get dehydrated. On the positive side Adam's nose was healing nicely. That night we decided that the diarrhea caused by the antibiotic outweighed the potential benefit(the antibiotics were just in case the wound got infected) and since his nose was healing so well without signs of complication, we did not give him any more.
On
Wednesday Adam was scheduled for a wellness exam. We saw the same nurse. She commented that his nose was looking much better, and agreed with our decision to end the antibiotic. Then Adam was seen by a doctor who we had not met before, who had a god complex. He treated Adam roughly, us like we were stupid, and said the strangest things. These are a few of the things he told us: When Nathan told him that Adam also eats whatever we eat in addition to nursing - "he can eat whatever he food he wants, it doesn't count, he only gets calories from breast milk", and "You don't need to worry about the diarrhea... diarrhea does not cause dehydration".
Thursday we were down to only three loose diapers for the day.
Friday Emily went to lunch with a friend while Daddy and Adam enjoyed pancakes at home.
Saturday morning Nathan said he felt a little off. By midday he had taken to bed not feeling well. Emily and Adam attended a costume birthday party for one of the children in our primary class, leaving Nathan to rest. By that night Nathan had a fever. Adam also was grumpier than usual, and had a couple more bouts of diarrhea.
Sunday morning we made some calls to find people to cover for our primary class at church. Because it was the Sacrament Meeting presentation and we have a large active class we had one of the student's parents fill in for the program and two other dads cover the class time. It was nice to know our kids were taken care of. By late morning Emily was beginning to not feel well also. Around three o'clock Nathan's temperature was 103.1 -- high enough to get Emily on the phone to see how concerned to be. Adam was feeling good and had more energy than both of his parents combined.
On
Monday Nathan stayed home from work. That evening Grandpa Summers came by after work. He gave us priesthood blessings and helped take care of us for a bit. Thanks Grandpa.
Tuesday morning Emily was woke up by a very hot Adam laying next to her. We got up, stripped Adam down to his diaper, and attempted to give him baby Tylenol, which he spit out. So at four am we found our selves giving Adam a bath in hopes of lowering his temperature. The bath was a success and we went back to bed. That morning Nathan went in to see his doctor. He was told he had the flu but had had it too long for them to give him Tamiflu. They drew blood to recheck his liver values from June, and sent him home to rest saying they suspected he would be contagious through Friday. Adam would only sleep if he was in Mommy's arms. That afternoon one of Emily's visiting teachers brought by some frozen chicken pot pies that we could just heat and eat. Very thoughtful. Aunt Miranda also came to check on us. It was nice to see her again. We took Adam into the doctor again. They swabbed his nose and tested for flu and said he was negative, and must have a virus that is going around. We were starting to feel a little better, but by night fall were pretty miserable again. Adam was so hot and feeling terrible that he had little tears slowly falling from his eyes. We checked our temperatures again: Emily was at 103.4 and Adam was at 104.2! We called grandma. Again we drew a bath, this time for both Adam and Mommy, and were able to get some infant Tylenol down Adam... until he vomited it in the bath water -- gross. But between the bath, Tylenol, and heaven's aid his temperature came back down again. He nursed literally all night, not sucking the whole time but only delatching to switch sides.
On
Wednesday we spent a lot of time in bed. In the wee hours of the morning Emily got an impression that Adam had a special angel supporting him. Our visiting teacher was kind enough to do a grocery run for us to refill our beverage supply, bringing much more than we requested. That afternoon our friend Meredith called saying they had something they wanted to bring over. After being told we were sick, she replied that they would not stay long, but wanted to bring something to cheer us up. They brought a delicious hot home-made apple pie, and a birthday gift for Adam. As soon as they left he began playing with his new tool puzzle. It was good to see him playing again. We all enjoyed the pie. Thank you much Steve and Meredith! That evening we also had other people calling to check on us. It was nice to know we were being thought of.
Thursday Nathan was feeling much better only a little cough lingering on, YAY! He was able to resume work from home. Adam was feeling much better also, actually getting down and exploring again. His threshold is still low for getting upset but it is good to see him smiling and playing. It was Emily's turn to be seen by the doctor. She wass still weak, and a little short of breath, but every day improving.
Today
Friday we all felt much better.
We are grateful for all who have been angels at this time in our lives, booth for heavenly and earthly. May you all be blessed!
After the appointment we dropped Nathan off at work. Since it was only going to be a little over an hour more he was working, Emily decided that she and Adam would just wait there instead of going back and forth. While they waited Adam played with the radio, turned the wipers on and off, and found delight in pushing the main power button on the dash. It was at this time that an explosion happened in Adam's diaper. So Emily went to take him in to change him and noticed the car was acting unusual. When they came back out she went to start the car and it would not start. Then explosion number two came, leaving us with only one fresh diaper to spare. About this time Nathan finished work, and came to see if he could figure out what was going on. As Nathan read the owner's manual we learned that night that a Prius can indeed run out of battery and be jumped. Two of Nathan's co-workers got jumper cables that Michaela (Nathan's boss) kept in the office, and helped to jump the car. Thanks guys!
Adam has a new tooth coming in, and it looks like maybe another one is coming in soon! He wasn't feeling his best today, and maybe that was the reason why.
Awe, all clean again.
At four this morning we got house guests. Aunt Meshanna and Loran came to spend the weekend with us. When Adam saw Aunt Meshanna he snuggled right in and gave her a hug. After we got them situated we headed back to bed, to try and catch some sleep. Adam was very excited by their arrival and could not get back to sleep until sometime around six thirty.
Adam is becoming much more vocal about choices of clothes. While he and Mommy where out running errands they found some clothes that had been marked down in price. Mommy held up a couple of shirts and asked Adam which one he wanted. He quickly smiled and grabbed one with a red race car from the Disney movie Cars. When it was time to get ready for bed the new shirt was laying on the bed where we were going to get him in his pajamas. As Mommy went to get him dressed he got fussy and wiggled away from the pajamas. He then grabbed the new shirt (many sizes too big), and smiled. He was delighted that we let him wear it tonight as a nightshirt.
Adam has been trying out a bashful phase. When people talk to him, he turns toward Mommy or Daddy and snuggles right in.
We had a really good time with Steve and Meredith Aquila today. We strolled through Old Town Alexandria, making our way to the water front. Adam wanted to get in with the ducks. After our outing we enjoyed dinner and visiting together. It was nice to have a day of relaxing with friends.
Adam enjoyed his first graham cracker. He was even generous enough to want to share with Mommy.
The ocean is full of scary animals who want to eat you. It is such a relaxing place.
Here are two of Daddy's favorite people. Daddy thinks that the shirts both of them are wearing are very cute on them. Daddy loves his family very much, but he wasn't wearing a cute shirt, so he wasn't allowed in the picture.
Mason District Park was a fun park to explore. It is a large park with two playgrounds, sports fields, tennis courts, trails, a hidden dog park, an amphitheater, and picnic areas. This evening after Daddy got off work we had some family time together in the park. After had a small snack we ventured down one of the hiking trails, following signs leading to the dog park. It was scenic and peaceful. Smaller trails branched off along the way. A few hills and almost a mile later we passed the dog park. A sign on the fence read: Limit 62 Dogs. As we continued it got darker and darker, making it harder to distinguish where the trail was or to read the guide posts pointing back to the main park. With low visibility we were relieved to see the lights of the tennis courts and parking lot come into view. This park merits more exploring, but next time maybe we will go around lunchtime.
Mommy spent the day in bed sick. Adam kept her company and shared the snacks Daddy brought them. He loves to drink out of real cups, and eat whatever we are eating. Between Daddy & Adam, Mommy was well cared for. Thanks, guys.
Our front bushes have burst with color as thousands of pink flowers have covered them. No flowers were eaten in the making of this photo. Amazingly enough, Mommy's reflexes were quick enough to snatch the flower from Adam's hands after this photo was taken but before he closed his mouth.
