Sick ... again

Little boy blue, once again you're not feeling well. Last Friday you allready got hit by a fever spell, and yesterday it finally got to you. Now you've been running high temperatures all day and all night, and showing signs of having a cold again. I nearly got desperate by your unwillingness to sleep, and now feel embarrassed 'cause you've slept the entire afternoon. I SO hope the extra rest will be refreshing, and the fever will stay away tonight!

Sick Baby

You've been having a cold since weeks, and yesterday I detected some spots on your chest and belly. Since you also had a slight fever, daddy took you to our GP. He diagnosed Fifth Disease (Dutch readers: 'vijfde ziekte'= de vijfde ziekte is een milde vlekjesziekte die veroorzaakt wordt door het Parvo B19-virus). You're spots got worse overnight, now you've got red patches under your eyes, and some spots on your face. It all started out with these little spots:

Though you feel drowsy, you still have fun during the day, it takes a little more effort to put a smile on your face, but it's there!

On the beach

Yes, that's your happy feet kicking the air. On our first ever vacation with you, we took you to the beach on a hot summer's day. And it was fun. You slept, you drank, you looked around, you even dipped your feet in the great big sea. As if you were thinking: 'I've done it all now', you started whining, so we took you to a beachbar to give you your bottle, clean you up, and - also important - get something to eat ourselves. We thoroughly enjoyed the week by the Northsea with you, despite the discomforts. First of all, we left home with you suffering from a bad diarrhoea. Daddy went to the pharmacy to get some stuff to prevent dehydration, and some cream for your soar little bum. Also you got very obstinate when we offered you your bottles of formula. You only wanted to drink when lying flat (on the floor, on the grass, on the bed etc.). So we're getting used to feeding you this way, moving you upwards after some minutes. But then there's the times you don't wanna drink milk at all. It's tough to discover what the real reason for this change is. Most likely it's the fact that you're teething, which also explains your sudden cries in the middle of the day or night. We have been enjoying you however, despite these little troubles. You've laughed with devotion, learned new things and requited our love for you with a passion. Sometimes we forget that you were born just over six months ago, still a little baby. So much character, so truly YOU!
Well, little one, overall it's been a wonderful week.

Pressure helmet, Part 1

Today we went to the instrumentmaker to get a plaster mould of Flyn's head. This is needed in order to make the pressure helmet, which he needs to correct his flat head. On this picture you can see the flattening of the right sight of the occiput.


Picture 2: awaiting the procedure, playing with some plastic that the therapist gave him.

Picture 3: head swabbed with some shampoo, to make the removal of the plaster easier.

Pictures 4 and 5:bobbing net on top of it, as a foundation for the plaster.


Picture 6: drawing reference points with a blue marker.

Picture 7: undergoing the placing of the plaster.

Picture 8: getting tired and annoyed.

Picture 9: you've had enough!

Picture 10: shaping the plaster on an unhappy baby's head.

Picture 11: finally done, relieved and overwhelmed in mummy's arms.

Recovery

OMG, what a few days it has been! On Wednesday night our little boy suddenly got sick, his cough sounded shrieking, he had a light fever, but even more worrying was the apparent tightness in the chest. By that time it was 2 o'clock at night. We called the emergency doctorsoffice, who sent a doctor to see our babyboy. The doctor listened to his chest. As the little man is only fourteen weeks old, the doctor thought it more safe to take Flyn to the hospital. And so we went, in the middle of the night, daddy driving, mummy with the sick boy on her lap. It was a twenty minute drive, but it felt like a lot longer! Listening to our baby's exhausting breathing and seeing the long dark road ahead didn't do much good for our bloodpressures!

Finally we got to the hospital. The paediatrician (who by the way also was woken up by the call from the hospital) diagnosed pseudo-croup. Our babyboy got nebulized with some Pulmicort, which should make him feel better in a couple of hours. Daddy could sleep in the hospitalroom with Flyn (since I'm dreading hospitals after my delivery!), and I drove the long way home (which I found quite scary, at 4 in the morning). After a few hours of sleep, I drove back to the hospital (well, my dad drove:-), and at midday we could take Flyn home, along with some instructions and a Pulmicort prescription. Last night we put a bed next to the babybed, to watch over our little patient. His airways are still somewhat clogged, like he has a bad cold, but he's getting better, and drinking, smiling, 'talking' and playing like ever.

Most favorite toy at the moment: his chubby legs (as you can see on the picture!)

Easter bunny

We tried to get a nice easter picture of our little boy, but as you can see, he's not that into it:-) Never mind, we were glad he was back to his old happy self, after four awful days. Last Wednesday, Flyn got his vaccination, and he had a bad reaction to it. First of he started crying in agony all Wednesday afternoon. Then he screamed each time we put him to bed. Also his arm became red and hot (the shots were in his legs). And the most worrying was the fact that he got very hyper, like we had been putting coffee in his bottle for days! It wasn't until this Monday that he finally recovered. Now he is so relaxed and fun all day, making massive progress in his development. We're so proud of our little man!