Keep it on the Up and Up

Has anyone noticed my blog titles USUALLY are tidbits of song lyrics?  Probably not. It's okay.  I'm a dork like that.

We've been dealing with Blake having a cold recently.  Every person in my family has been sick so it seemed inevitable, despite our efforts to keep him from those who weren't feeling well.  My grandma was sick, then my mom, then my grandfather, then Michael.  I have a smidgen of it, but it hasn't gotten too bad yet.  He started early last week with a fever of 100.  I called the doc and they said I didn't have to bring him in until it was 100.4. The triage nurse told me to treat him with saline drops and a nasal aspirator.  That did great, and within 2 days he was fine.  His symptoms returned, slightly worsened, on Saturday night.  He has an appointment Tuesday for his 2 month check up, but I'm going to call in the morning to see if maybe we can go in tomorrow.  I doubt he'll be getting his 2 month shots, though.  We'll probably have to go back for those.
To help with his cold I've continued with the saline spray and aspirator. I also, thanks to suggestions, put vapor rub on the bottom of his feet and placed socks on them.
I used Maty's instead of Vick's because it's all natural and doesn't use petroleum jelly.

Hoping he feels better soon!


I'm pleased to report that he's been doing better with the fussiness!  Maybe it's the probiotics?  I've been giving them to him twice a day in his bottle.  We haven't returned to the doc yet, so his Zantac is still the same dosage (1.1mL), so I can't attribute this improvement to that. Therefore, I'm going to say it's the probiotic (and all the other things I've tried).  I switched from using FloraBaby to FloraStor.

So far I know it's available at Publix and Target.  He's been on it for 8 days.  He hasn't exactly been feeling 100% with being sick, so I'll have to reevaluate this once he's gotten over this cold.  He still cries at 9 every night, but I accidentally found a combination of things that calm him down.  I love it when I come across things by accident.  I call it the "ball-fan-white noise-bottle" method.  Creative, huh? Acronym BFWB.  I was trying to get him to calm down the other night.  Usually the yoga ball doesn't work during this time, but I was getting desperate.  At 9:00 Michael and I turn all the lights off, turn down all the sounds, and we put the vent fan and light above the oven on.  It was time for a bottle so I sat on the yoga ball. I don't dare bounce him while eating so I used the rolling method. (Just slightly roll back and forth). Unintentionally, I positioned myself perfectly beneath the fan where he had direct eyesight to it.  Between rolling on the yoga ball, being beneath the fan, bottle feeding him, and the white noise, he drifted to sleep in no time.  Miracle!  I won't complain that I didn't come across this on accident sooner.  I'm just glad I did! It's better than the hour long screaming.

I continue to stop him frequently during feedings to burp him.  Each time I do this he cries.  And each time he burps he cries a little harder.  The "wet burps" continue and I can hear the liquid coming back up.  I really wish this was happening to me instead.  If it's a really painful burp then he just stops eating altogether for that feeding.  Guess he's smart enough to know the liquid is causing it and he wants nothing else to do with it! It breaks my heart because there's nothing I can do for him.  I just keep on trying to burp him because I know it will make him feel better, but getting there is painful.  He does this cute thing where he pouts his lower lip when he cries.  It's seriously the cutest thing ever. (Okay, so I know he's in pain.  That part isn't cute of course.)  I just do my best to tell him it's okay, I'm here for him, and he'll feel better if he just lets it out.  Wish he understood me.

This morning we spent 2 hours cuddling in bed.  He slept longer than usual, I'm sure due to not feeling all that well.  I laid him on my chest and together we drifted off.  I wish I could freeze those moments forever.  I know that someday I'm going to miss them.  I know that someday I'm going to long for them back so much that it's going to make me cry.  It's making me get teary-eyed just thinking about it!

I'm still really tired.  There are so many little things to do during the day to keep Blake happy, to keep him from being fussy, that I get nervous I'm going to forget something as I'm trying to juggle all the plates.  With so much to do and remember I often let him go too long without changing his diaper! Tonight I totally forgot to put his Zantac in his bottle.  I constantly have words and reminders circling on in my head. Yoga ball, socks, fan, white noise, bath, bottle every 2 hours, burp after every ounce, Zantac, yoga ball, probiotic, wash bottles, filtered water, gas drops, yoga ball, gripe water, diaper, tummy massage, tummy time, yoga ball, read a book, baby laundry, keep him upright for 30-40 minutes after every feeding, yoga ball...and oh yeah, it's 3:00 and I haven't eaten at all today! 

I've kept track of my yoga ball bouncing.  I spend 5-6 hours a day bouncing him on a NORMAL day.  Bad days are 6+.  I tell you, my legs are going to look AMAAAAAAZING! The down side is that my back is paying for it! HA!

I just hope he outgrows this.  Not for my sake (though that would be a bonus) but for his.  I hate seeing him in pain.  Yes, there have been improvements in the past week (praise God!), but that just means there's been more added to the list to help him be more comfortable.  And I'm okay with that.  I'll do anything for him.  Even if it means staying up all night just to keep the list of "things to do" going for him so he's comfortable.  I'll do it.  With a little coffee. Ok, a lot.