Ty & Wes Time: A Visit to Acadia, Rolling Over, and RSV

Week 18

Last Friday started Week 18 with a bang. First of all, Tyson was supposed to have his 4 month doctor's appointment, but we got another major snow storm. We ended up getting another 12-14 inches! I decided that I would reschedule Ty's appointment, since I didn't want to drive to Concord in the blizzard if I didn't have to. So Ty and I stayed home and I continued my nap trial. Tyson consistently sleeps 2 hours in the afternoon in the swing for my mother. So I decided to give it a go and tried it last Thursday and Friday. I don't know what it is, but he just will not sleep for me! The naps both times were only 30 minutes! I am seriously ready to pull my hair out. One thing I figured out on Friday afternoon was that Tyson likes Guns 'n' Roses. Well, specifically the song, "Don't Cry." He was fussing, as usual, and I started screaming the song in Axel Rose style and he stopped the fussing immediately and gave me huge grins. I continued to do that throughout this week and he will stop every time. I'm telling you, the kid has good taste in music! Anyway, when Heath got home, we headed right out to the Edwards' house for Friday night. We were going to see Shawn, Camille, Camden, and baby Acadia in Bangor last weekend, so I suggested we stay at Heath's parents on Friday night so we would not have as long of a drive on Sabbath. Plus, they were going to baby-sit the dogs while we went up to Bangor. So the drive to the Edwards was slow-going because of the snow. It had pretty much stopped but, of course, there were plenty of losers going about 20 mph! But we made it and had a nice visit before we all hit the hay. Tyson was in rare form and seemed to be wicked excited. I actually made the comment, "Did I take Speed or something today and didn't realize it?" He was wired - standing on Grammy's lap and bouncing up and down with his legs. It was so cute. He actually imitated the lip blowing again and did something new. Adam was across the room from Ty and Adam was lifting his arm up and waving at Tyson. Tyson started lifting his arm (not waving), but lifting his arm up every time that Adam did it. What a good boy! I was worried about Tyson sleeping in the pack 'n' play again, since we hadn't been anywhere since Xmas (very unlike us). But he did fairly well, but cried out in his sleep many times that night. I didn't sleep well, because I heard every movement that he made. I guess it really is better that he is in his own room now!

Funny picture...Ty lying on the bed while I pack for the weekend

I lean in to kiss him and he grabs my hair and doesn't let go!

This is the best pic I could get myself - kind of artsy!

Sabbath brought the big trip to Bangor! I must preface by saying that Heath got really sick with a cold on Thursday night/Friday morning. Heath was feeling really lousy and we were worried about giving it to Acadia, but Camille said that her and Camden were under the weather too, so we should just come up. The trip took 3 hours from the Edwards' house and Ty slept the whole way there! He is such a good rider. We got there at about 1:30 PM for lunch. Camille did a fantastic job at feeding us! I was so impressed! She just had a baby about 2 weeks ago - there is no way that I would have been able to do all that! We had a great time, lounging around and talking. Acadia is just adorable. She sleeps a lot right now, but she definitely had her awake time too. Seeing her just makes me realize how much Tyson has grown! Ty did well most of the day because I was holding him the whole time! We found out Sabbath afternoon that he can roll over! I have no idea how long he has been able to do it! I have been really bad at "tummy time" because he hates it so much. He just screams and screams whenever I put him on his stomach. But I was talking to Camille about it and she was saying how Camden went right to walking and didn't crawl because they didn't do much tummy time either. So I said, "OK, Ty, you have to do it." I put him down on on his stomach on a blanket and he proceeded to roll over onto his back. I was like, "Did he just do that?" And then he did it again to prove that he had the skill! That was exciting! Heath slept most of the afternoon in their chair because he felt so bad, but he did see the rolling over moment! We left around 9:15 PM and went to check into our motel. Heath has points with Marriott, from traveling for his job, so we got to stay at the Fairfield Inn on points. We headed to Walmart to get supplies for the sickie and headed back to the motel. I was so excited! Ty's first night in a motel! By the time he was going to sleep it was 11:00 PM. He slept for 45 minutes and then awoke screaming bloody murder. After some investigating, I figured out that he was too hot (we were having issues with the heat in the motel). I put him in a lighter swaddle and he went right to sleep, but that was about 12:15 AM. He was completely awake at 6:30 AM. Not great sleep at all! So I have become a believer in Camille's theory from a book that she is reading. If you put your child to bed later than they are used to, they will get up earlier. It doesn't make sense, but it is true. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, Tyson went to bed later than his bedtime. And each time, he woke up at 6:30 AM, instead of his usual 7:30 AM time. So I'm trying to be better with his bedtime!

Acadia Belle

Camden Shawn

4 months apart...

A little further apart!

Starting the roll...

He made it!

Lounging on the bed - first night in a motel! He looks pretty pleased with himself!

Sunday we headed back to Shawn & Camille's, had breakfast with them, and hung out talking again. It was so nice to catch up with them - I really miss them! Then we left around 2:30 PM and started the trek home. Tyson again was an angel and slept the whole way in the car. We decided that we were the closest to Portland that we were going to get - so, of course, Heath wanted to go to Cabela's and I wanted to go to the huge new Goodwill. So we both did that - Heath dropped me off and, of course, this ended up being exactly the time Tyson needed to eat. Because of timing (Cabela's was going to close), I ended up feeding Tyson in the bathroom at the Goodwill. That was a first. It worked out way better than I anticipated. I opened up the changing table and nursed him standing up, while keeping him propped up with the table's help. My back was to the door, but the traffic that went through that bathroom was unbelievable! I'm sure I got some weird looks, but at least I didn't have to see them! (= We grabbed take-out Chipotle (one of our favorites) and headed back to the Edwards' to get the puppies. I gave Ty a bit more to eat, we showed them his new rolling-over trick, and then headed home for real! I think Ty was being a bit of a ham and the roll-over was the slowest in history! He just hung out on his side for the longest time - we wanted to push him over - but he finally got there! It made the moment much more exciting, because it seemed like it was never going to happen!

Proud Papa with his daughter - just realized I didn't get any shots of Camille )=

Getting ready to leave Bangor - Ty is depressed that he has to go back into his car seat!

We awoke on Monday morning to bad news. Tyson had caught Heath's cold. I knew it was going to happen. I mean, Heath tried to keep his distance from Ty, but we were definitely not crazed like we were when he was first born. So Ty was coughing up a storm. He went right to coughing and pretty much skipped the runny nose. We laid pretty low, but we did have to meet Heath at lunchtime in Laconia to get Tyson's passport and then make an emergency stop at Walmart for diapers (I didn't realize we were so low). Poppy came over for a visit in the afternoon and also got to see Tyson roll-over. He dragged out the roll-over for Poppy too. Poppy desperately wanted to blow on Tyson to help him roll-over! But he got it done on his own!

Monday, the beginning of the cold

Tuesday, Tyson tried to wake up at 6:30 again. I'm getting worried that this is a habit. But I put his binky back in and he slept until 8:15. I let him sleep as long as possible because he is sick. I did a full cleaning of the house and always feel like I have accomplished quite a feat when I do that! Let's see, Ty was pretty well-behaved, despite his cold, and he managed to have a major blow-out on me right after nursing and got poop all over my pants! What a guy! One thing he did on Tuesday evening was he actually pet Snickers! Ty and Snickers were both sitting on Heath's lap and it was like Ty looked over and noticed Snickers for the first time! Tuesday night, he woke up at 2:30 AM and would not go back to sleep. I can't blame him, he coughs with such gusto that it wakes him right up. But it just had to be the first time in months that he had done that, the night before I had to go to work! I ended up nursing him back to sleep, when nothing else worked.

"Hey Snickers, nice to meet you. I thought we just had Reeses."

Wednesday I worked 9a-9p and it was an OK shift. The entire hospital is completely full - every room is taken. I have never seen it this bad there before. On Wednesday, we had multiple patients that had been waiting for rooms to open up for them on the floors for 20+ hours. I'm anticipating that it could be this bad this weekend, and that is going to make for a LONG weekend. Anyway, I got home at about 10:15 PM and went to check in on Tyson. At first, I was not sure what I was seeing, but poor Tyson was lying in a huge pile of vomit. He had not eaten as much as he usually does for Heath, and he had vomited twice for Heath before he went to bed. I was, at first, upset with Heath, because I thought that he must have been screaming in his bed and vomited and Heath hadn't heard him (Heath is a very heavy sleeper). But Heath assured me that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He was exhausted and probably threw up and went right back to sleep. Poor bugger. Heath cuddled him in bed for awhile until he went back to sleep. I had showered, pumped, and was just ready to go to sleep at 12:30 AM, when Ty started crying. And he proceeded to be awake until 2:30 AM. I had tried everything - changed his diaper, sucked out his nose, changed his swaddle, laid on the floor with him, but nothing worked. I refused to feed him again, because I didn't want to get into that habit and he did not seem hungry - just sick. Finally, I rocked him in the rocking chair in our bedroom and he went to sleep eventually. But that was short-lived and he woke up every 2 hours crying. I keep putting the binky back in and it would work for awhile. Very tiring night. But that was nothing compared to Thursday.

Thursday brought a busy day. First of all, Ty and I took Poppy & Noni to the airport. They are going to Florida to see relatives and to go on a 5-day cruise. Lucky ducks! On the way back from the airport, we headed to Tyson's doctor's appointment. I had been waiting and waiting for that. I had a bunch of questions for her, but I was especially concerned about Tyson's cold. He was sounding horrible and on Thursday he started wheezing pretty bad. Lots of things to report from this visit. First of all, Ty has RSV or Respiratory Syncytial Virus. He has coarse breath sounds, his O2 sat was 93-94% (normal is usually 96-100%), and he is breathing fast (40-50 times per minute). He has a slight amount of intercostal retractions (his ribs sucking in when he breathes) but not too bad. Our doctor prescribed an Albuterol inhaler that we give to him with a spacer and a mask. He didn't like it at first but it has helped his wheezing. We are watching him closely and if his breathing gets any more labored, we will have to take him to the ER. Besides his illness, he is in the 50% percentile for height at 24 3/4", 40% percentile for head circumference at 16 3/8", but poor bugger is in the 3rd percentile for weight at 11 lb 6 oz. He did have a huge poop just before we weighed him, so he might be a bit heavier normally. The doctor is very pleased with his growing, even his weight. He is still on the growth chart (be it the bottom), so she thinks he is doing great. I was hoping that he was a bit heavier, but when I think about it, he has gained 7 pounds from his lowest weight, so that is something! The doctor said not to be surprised if he is a peanut for awhile. He did get his shots (two of them) and an oral vaccine and he did great! Even better than last time! The doctor said that she had given shots all day and that he took the oral vaccine the best out of all the babies she had seen that day! She said that he took it in well and did not push the medicine out of his mouth - and that is just one of the signs that he is ready to take solid food. So she gave me the go ahead to start solids and that makes me so happy! Because Ty still gives me "attitude" with nursing, he will get extra food and now I don't have to stress that he is not getting enough! Heath and I discussed it and we are going to let him recover from the RSV first, though. I don't want him to be coughing, sputtering, and aspirating rice cereal. It didn't stop me from picking up some rice cereal when I went to Walmart, though.

He's not fighting it at all!

So last night was our worst night ever. I think it is the combination of the shots and the sickness. He slept from 10:00 PM to 1:30 AM and then he was up every 30 minutes until about 6:00 AM. He would cough and that would make him wake up and cry. I would give him his binky, but that would only last 30 minutes. I am not exaggerating, because our little giraffe that we use to make the nature sounds only last 45 minutes and then it shuts off - every time I went in there, the "ocean waves" were still rolling! I thought about bringing him in bed with me, but I was afraid Heath would not get any sleep. At 6:00 AM, though, Heath woke up and brought him in bed with me. I think sleeping upright a bit on a pillow helped his breathing and he slept until 8:00 AM. His wheezing is better but now he has a fever of 101.9. I hope it is from the shots and not the RSV getting worse. I gave him Tylenol and now he is back in bed with me, sleeping on a pillow, dead to the world. I hope he can sleep awhile! He needs it!