Ahhhh.......

No vomit since Friday. Both ears drained and feeling better. House cleaned and disinfected. Sheets changed and new pillow in place for Thomas. An hour at the park this afternoon with smiles and laughter.

I think I can cancel my reservation at the mental institution until the next time he gets sick!

We can always hope

.......maybe today will be the day he doesn't vomit on me.

Back to the doctor

Back to the pediatrician after he vomited again today. Good news - it's just a reaction from his stomach to the "insult" from the virus. She explained that when he eats in the morning it just sits there - the stomach is not working well yet. When he then eats again later - back it comes. She gave us some more Zofran to stop the nausea and vomiting for the next couple of days and said we should see an improvement in the next few days, but it could happen a few more times.

In other fun news, this runny nose and cough that was never ending is now just a yucky cough. We were worried about his ears and today one of his ears had a whole bunch of discharge. They checked them at the doctor and Yep - ear infections again. The good news is that with tubes in his ears he just has to use the antibiotic ear drops we have for five days and the fluid drains right out. The bad news is that one tube is blocked. Hopefully the drops will soften it up and get it out before it causes him any problems and sends us back to the ENT.

I need a vacation.

Still puny

Had to call the pediatrician today - more vomiting. Here's a cruel joke.....kids who ended up in the ER are often having a 2nd round of this stomach virus they picked up there. Hoping for a better day tomorrow!

He's getting so skinny....

Two steps forward, one step back

Thomas had a much better day today. He was able to eat more, he played with some toys and had better energy. He's needing a bunch of sleep (you know he's sick!) and he is still needing lots of cuddles on the couch.

He asked for eggs for dinner and ate about a handful. He threw it up about 30 minutes later.

Tomorrow is another day......

Still sick

Poor sick boy. He is eating more today and has been drinking much more of a water/Pedialyte mixture so we are hopeful! If we can stop these yucky diapers we'll be so thankful.

ER

Well, we were lucky enough to visit the ER again tonight. Poor Thomas just couldn't keep anything down - not water, not Pedialyte, nothing. He started acting very strange in addition to all of that...slurring a little, very lethargic and acting like he does with a fever (but no fever). We called the nurse line and after hearing he had vomited 10-12 times in the last hours they sent us on our way. In the ER we joined the tons of other kids there with the same thing, waited our turn for a room, got some Zofran in him to stop the vomiting....waited 15 minutes and started Gatorade. Then - our little Thomas reappeared. Of course he quickly faded as it was 9:30 pm and he was ready for bed. We zoomed home with a prescription for the magic Zofran, changed him into pajamas and he was out. We are hoping for the best for the rest of the night!

Stomach bug

There is a nasty stomach bug around and it hit Thomas full force last night. Poor thing was even throwing up in his sleep, once he finally got to sleep.

Today he is better....has eaten a couple of pieces of toast and is right now working on getting to sleep for some much needed napping.

I'll leave out the details about the diapers I've changed today.

Once again, this was not in the parenting manual!

Tubes in

Tubes in......fluid out....

Thomas was a champ this morning. He charmed everyone and did a great job. I got to go back with him when they put him to sleep - a weird experience for me. They did the procedure, the doctor came to tell us he did well and when he woke up we went to get him. According to our ENT, there was a whole bunch of fluid in his ear. He said it was like liquid cement in there and that we will definitely be pleased with these results since Thomas should be hearing better today!

On to the next adventure!

Finally a couple more videos

This was a few weeks ago, expressing his design preferences.

This may be my favorite yet. I mean of the almost 28 months. Maybe... but it is awfully good!

SNOW

Tubes

We met with the pediatric ENT on Tuesday this week and went through the history of ear infections, antibiotics, etc. He was really great and spent lots of time answering our questions and talking about our options. We were pretty much on the fence about putting tubes in and he wasn't pushy about it. He did tell us that Thomas would probably have 3 or 4 more ear infections this cold and flu season if we didn't but that those didn't necessarily mean you have to do tubes.

We all decided to do a hearing test, so off we go to another part of the office to meet with the audiologists. They first did a tympanometry which is a device that changes the air pressure in your ear and makes the eardrum move back and forth. A machine records the results on graphs called tympanograms. This showed some fluid in one ear and negative pressure in the other. Then Thomas and I went into the booth and did his hearing test. It was like a game for him and he did a great job. The results showed some mild hearing loss due to the fluid. His "hearing" is fine, it's the fluid that is causing the problems.

So, all that means he's getting tubes. On Monday. We have to be there at 7:30am and the surgery is at 9. It takes about 15 minutes and then he's in recovery for 30-45 minutes. We should be home before lunch and we shouldn't have any more ear infections or crummy hearing. Hopefully.

At the park

A couple of months ago another parent snapped this picture. This is Naomi, Jack and Thomas at our park. These are good friends in our playgroup and in his class. Cuties!