Sickness

For those of you who know Francesco and those who have read my blog I am pretty sure you get a sense of the enormous amount of energy the boy has.

Friday morning (12:20 am) he woke up coughing and crying, low grade fever. Within the hour he was at 103.5 degrees F, a dose of Motrin and another hour we were all back to sleep.

Come the lovely hour of 5 a.m. the fever had returned, now it's time for Tylenol. By the time my husband left for work with Nicolo I was starting to question if he was really sick, he was bouncing off the walls.

2 hours later as I was on a conference call for work I knew he was not well. He told me he was "tired" ( totally not something he would ever say) and then he laid still and quiet on the couch. I actually had the people on the call hold on a second so I could check on him because he was so quiet.


sickness, originally uploaded by cgiordan25.

After my call I knew he needed to see the doctor, also because when I looked at his throat I saw a bunch of "pus" on his tonsils. I had given him another dose of Motrin by this time and as we waiting in the doctors off he played cars, rode around the room on the doctors stool, and open all the drawers that were not locked. I again started to question if he was sick.

As I tried to explain to the doctor that this child who was tearing up his exam room was really sick, he stopped me and said, "his rapid Step was positive, good call Mom!"

Again as the afternoon progressed he was "tired" and as the Motrin kicked in he bounced off the walls. It was like caring for Sybil.

This a.m. , after a few doses of antibiotics, he was back to normal, which means he was never tired and did not stop all day. All day (starting at 6:00 a.m.)!

The Dust is "Starting" to Clear...I Hope!

What's that saying...When it rains it pours! Well it's been pouring here. Just as I thought things would settle down my boys decided that I needed more to worry about.
First, Francesco had Strep Throat and had to spend 3 days home from daycare. That's 3 days home in the house, that in its self is enough to drive a Mommy over the edge, but we survived. He also did excellent at taking his medicine and even though he is done he keeps asking for more.
Then Nicolo felt it was his turn to play the sick card. He decides he going to up the ante and have a bad bout of Bronchiolitis with and ear infection. Double whammy! Nicolo is not so cooperative with the nebulizer or the oral medication. He has now learned to spit the medicine back out, this is after a few second so you think he swallowed it...but he didn't. Also, try holding a loud, mist blowing mask up to the nose and mouth of a one year, who you have to normally pin down just to wipe his nose. FUN!
Well that was all in the last two weeks and as of this beautiful Monday Francesco is over it and Nicolo is well on the mend. Nicolo is even slightly more cooperative with the neb, the same can not be said for the antibiotic, but I will take what I can get.

This is what Nicolo thinks of his medicines.


This is what he thinks of his new nap schedule.


We are trying to transition him to one nap a day so as to be on schedule when he moves to the toddler class at the end of the month. Here I was trying to give him a snack to keep him occupied and he fell asleep. I am calling this my Best Shot this Monday.

Swing on by Tracey's for more Best Shot Monday captures.

Wordless Wednesday

This is what a 103 fever and strep throat looks like.

Check out all the others participating in Wordless Wednesday.

Croup there it is....

So as I had said it's been a little crazy over here at Mia Due Bambini.  It definitely has something to do with my two boy!

As you all have seen Francesco bought himself four stitches last Friday.  He was running one way looking the other and tripped.  We spent a total of 3 hours in the ER to have four stitches placed in his chin.  Those came out with a little protest...okay a lot on Wednesday.

So there we were on an ideal Wednesday, putting the kids to bed.  All were fed, bathed and ready for slumber.  

Around 10:30 we hear Nicolo cough like a seal.  G goes in to check on him and picks him up.  I come in and he is patting him on his back saying "I think he has some phlegm stuck".  I then realize that he has stridor!  He is having a hard time moving air out as well as in!  I listen with my stethoscope and he is wheezing terribly.  He has CROUP!

I take him outside for a total of 5 second and run him up to our bathroom.  G had the shower already on and steaming up the bathroom.  I proceed to call the doctors after hour line.  When the operator could not get my number right I told her to forget it I will take him to the ER.

We put him in the truck and I take off for the hospital.

I get behind a car on a one lane road going 5 mph!!!!! I put on my flashers and they graciously move over.  I then forget to turn my flashers off.  The whole time Nicolo is in the car seat next to me having a hard time breathing....but smiles at me when I talk to him.

I get to a red light and wait impatiently for it to turn green.  Just as it turns a police officer drives by.  He sees my flashers and pulls me over!

He calls the paramedics...I am now only 3 miles from the hospital!  He make me wait and gives me a lecture on calling 911.

So the paramedics get there, and when they put him on the pulse ox he registers at 100%.  I take a small sigh of relief.  At least now I know he is perfusing.  They start him on a cool saline nebulizer.

We get to the hospital and we get seen right away.  His breathing was still labored but improved by this time.  The doctor checks him out and feels he needs a dose of OraPred and a cool mist nebulizer.

The doctor tells me the two thing that freaks parents out is Croup and Febrile Seizures.....been there, done that!

In the end he was just fine, we were released at 2:00 in the morning.  Since I had to wait for Paramedic I had to have G come with Francesco to get us and stop to pick up the truck on the way home.

I spent the next two night sleeping in Nicolo's room in case he had more episodes (which I was warned may happen).  Happy to report that did not occur.

Called the PCP the next day to find out if they wanted to see the baby, they felt that it was not necessary unless he had another episode.  The nurse did tell me that her arms were still sore form holding Francesco down the day before to have his stitches removed!

All I can say at this point is !@#$%^&*()!@#$%^&....not to mention I have a gazillion new gray hairs.

Must say that Nicolo was still an absolutely pleasant child through this whole ordeal...where did I get this kids?

What's Worse?

What is worse than you being sick?

Your children being sick.

What worse than your children being sick?

A sick husband!

When your kids are sick you give them TLC, Motrin, Fluids and their Binky. They settle down, cuddle up, watch some TV, and get some rest.

When your husband sick you try all the above, without results. Your husband won't take the medicine or won't take it as directed (and expects you to be a pharmacist and know how to dose all medications in the cabinet). He will take his temperature every 15 Min's, just so you are aware he still has a fever. He will drink coffee all day instead of the water you told him to drink. He will fall asleep in the recliner and snore after you told him 20 times to go to bed.

He will watch you struggle to tend to your 21 month old with the 3 week old in your arms. It won't even occur to him that you could use a hand (just because he sick doesn't mean the kids don't need tending to). He won't even realize that you did all the infant feeding the past two night to let him get rest and that you a extremely sleep deprived.

To top it all off I also have his mother calling me to see how he is. I have to reassure her I can take care of him as long as he listens to me (which he doesn't). She then wants to know if I need her to come home (she is out of town), as if I am not capable of tending to a sick husband. Then again maybe she should come home and I can send his sorry a** over to her house to recover. He would love that.

All I have to say is I hope the baby, Hercules, doesn't get what he has (he already has a mystery rash), I hope Bubbie doesn't go down that road either (he already had a bout of something) and I sure a hell better not get it. If I do I am going really lay it on him thick!