Week 19
So Friday, the beginning of week 19, continued the RSV saga. Tyson just felt miserable. It was the saddest thing ever. He would cough so forcefully, that his whole body would just heave. And he would do a cough, cough, cough, cough, and then a pitiful cry at the end of his coughing fit. I'm sure his throat hurt him from coughing so hard. It just broke my heart. I decided that both he and I deserved the right to stay in our pajamas all day long. And so we did. We hung out in bed a lot, and he napped quite a bit, lying on the pillow beside me. I had to give him the inhaler a few times. His fever stayed throughout the day, but only being in the 100-101 range, so that was good. Heath got the 411, when he got home, that after two nights of no sleep in a row, Heath would be on Tyson duty that night. I had to work all weekend and I couldn't start the weekend being up all night again on Friday. I had decided that I would sleep in the guest room because I would just be awake listening to Tyson crying (I'm a light sleeper) even if I was not the one up with him. But when push came to shove, I could not leave him and go downstairs. Heath figured early on that he was not going to deal with getting up and going to the nursery every 30 minutes (as I had been doing), and put Tyson in bed with us. One of Heath's co-workers gave him a type of "co-sleeper." It is like an infant seat that you put in bed with you, between your pillows. Heath propped it up a bit too, so Tyson was sleeping with his head elevated, and it worked like a charm. I'm sure the fact that he could hear and smell Mommy and Daddy helped too! Ty only woke up a couple times crying, but Heath would give him the binky, and he went right back to sleep!
So Sabbath brought me having to leave my sick child and go to work. I have to say, that was really scary for me. I think the worst part is that I know too much. See, in my ER, if any child is diagnosed with RSV, they are automatically admitted. Because kids with RSV have a potential to go into respiratory distress easily, and once they go into respiratory distress - it is just a matter of time before they go into respiratory failure. So our ER is very conservative and admit the kids just to be on the safe side. So with that thought in my head, it was so hard to leave him and to not be assessing his status continually myself! I went on YouTube and found videos of infants in respiratory distress and left them up on the computer for Heath. I told Heath, "If he starts looking like this, take him to the ER right away!" But Tyson did fine. His wheezing got better and his fever was gone (it had to be from the shots). But his cough remained (it probably will for weeks, unfortunately) and his appetite was not great. He only took about 3 oz in at a time, when he usually takes 5 oz. Poor bugger. But he had to be feeling a bit better because on Saturday night he slept in his crib all night long, without a peep. But awoke at 5:30 AM on Sunday and would not go back to sleep. I, of course, was heading out the door - sorry Daddy! Early morning for you!
Chillin' in his jumper - he doesn't have the hang of it yet!
Sunday I worked again. Fun, fun. Heath reported that Tyson ate better and had no more wheezing. Yeah! Heath was excited because Tyson imitated him on Sunday afternoon. Heath stuck his tongue out at Ty and Ty did it back to him many times! I was proud of Heath - he stayed home with Ty all weekend long, and did not go ice-fishing! I think that is the first time he has stayed home all weekend long without going to his parents. He got the real feeling of what it is like to be a homebody with Ty. Heath did make a comment that, "You can't do anything when you have Tyson." What can I say? My kid is high maintenance!
He is always on the move - never a dull moment!
Monday, I was home! I thought that Tyson (and myself) felt good enough to get back into real clothes. Daddy, of course, keeps Tyson in his PJ's all day long when he is in charge! Monday brought our grocery day. Ty did fall asleep in the car on the way there (only 3 miles away) and was sleeping during the first half in the grocery store. He woke up, in his car seat, and found himself looking at shelves full of food. His eyes got really wide and panicked - then he started to cry. Ty has been getting scared lately. Especially when he falls asleep and does not know where he is when he wakes up. I just went over and reassured him, and as soon as he saw me, he was fine. It was the cutest thing on Monday night, when Heath got home from work, Tyson gave him the biggest grins ever. It was like after spending the entire weekend with his Daddy, Ty had really missed him! Daddy, of course, loved this! What wasn't the cutest thing on Monday night, was that Tyson woke up every hour crying. What the heck? He had been doing great. I was so frustrated. I could understand if he was waking himself up from coughing, but he wasn't.
Headed to the grocery store!
Grins for Daddy!
So Tuesday, brought me going on the internet to try to do some research on the sleeping thing. One thing that was on my mind was - is he ready to stopped being swaddled? I thought that it was a possibility. I read that during this time, they are very restless/active sleepers. That is why babies move all over their crib sometimes. So the swaddle might be too restrictive and ticking him off. I decided to give it a go during his AM nap time. I don't know if it was because I was sleep deprived and I wasn't thinking straight - but that was a stupid move. Ty has 1 good nap all day and I decided that that was the time to change things around? What an idiot! Anyway, I tried him in his sleep sack, instead of his swaddle. It took him about 15 minutes to fall asleep (as opposed to 5 minutes) but then he was out like a light! I was so excited. I thought, "could this really be it?" Oh no. 45 minutes into his 2 hour nap, he woke up. And he would not go back to sleep. After fighting with him for about 30-45 more minutes, I ended up swaddling him and he went right back to sleep. So now I am just dumbfounded. He is not fighting me when he goes into the swaddle, so maybe that really means he isn't ready to come out of it. I just don't know why he is waking up during the middle of the night crying. It has been better, the rest of this week, (at least not every hour) but still usually one-two times a night. At some point I am going to have to try him in the sleep sack at night, but I am dreading that.
"I think I should just sleep in your arms, Mommy!"
Wednesday I should have been working, but I switched with a co-worker to work on Thursday so that I would have a baby-sitter for Ty! My parents are in Florida, so I needed Shannon to watch Ty and she was working herself on Wednesday. My Wednesday with Ty turned out to be a delight. For some reason, he was "Happy Ty" all day. I hadn't seen "Happy Ty" for this long of a stretch in forever! It was great. He was smiling all day, cooing, and even doing a excited scream (at what else - a lamp!). It was great. He was even self-sufficient for a good portion of the day, so I could work on some home projects. It gave me hope! Wednesday night, we headed down to Concord for Heath's haircut, errands, and the O.G. Tyson was an active bugger, switching between Heath and I throughout the meal, jumping up and down on our legs. He got a bit restless at the end, but not bad at all. At the end of our meal, a lady and her husband sat near us and she talked our ear off about Tyson. It is interesting that random strangers will just talk and talk to you, when you have a baby. We were kind of glad that they sat down at the end of the meal, as opposed to the beginning, or else it would have been a long meal for us!
"Happy Ty"
More Happy Ty! Still excited for his diaper change!
So, as I mentioned before, I had to work yesterday (Thursday). Shannon had Tyson all day by herself for the first time! I told her that it was good practice. Unfortunately, Ty can be a bit challenging, so it probably did not give her the best taste in her mouth. One of the times I called and checked in, Shannon said, "I can't put this kid down! I can't get anything done." Welcome to my world. That is all I have to say. I know he is spoiled and wants to be held all the time. I just don't know what to do about it. But I am so thankful that my mother and sister live so close to me. I seriously do not know what I would do it they didn't. I couldn't leave Tyson with a stranger. There is no way.
My special high-maintenance man!
That is about all for the updates. I bit shorter this week. I like it! And I'm sure you do too! Have a great week!
Trying to see the TV through my blockade!
Showing great interest in his clean diaper!
Watching me cook dinner...
"Who is that handsome guy in the little mirror?"
Rockin' the hoodie!
3 comments:
That's exactly how I felt about Calleigh! I seriously couldn't get anything done because she would just cry or whatever when I'd put her down. Thank goodness that Aubree was much easier. As for the swaddling, obviously everyone has their own opinion but for me, I used it until they broke out of it. If he's a good sleeper at night, which my girls were, I figured why mess with it? When he wants to get out of it, BELIEVE me, he'll find a way.
Well, here's the bad news! When Luke was sick, we were up with him often in the night. THEN, when he was well, he still was up and wanted a bottle, to be nursed whatever. Since he had been sleeping through the night for weeks, I knew that it was just a habit. He was banned to the basement for a week to cry it out, and then back upstairs once he was back to sleeping. And, I agree with Corey swaddle as long as possible! Then they don't startle awake, and they can't roll over on their stomach. I hated it when the kids could roll over, so would go and flip them onto their back, while trying not to wake them. Ah yes, it's me, the paranoid ER Mom!
PS he really is getting more and more adorable!
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