It started with him…

While other children in the house were sniffling, sneezing, and coughing, Fuller was declaring his tummy hurt, taking an uncharacteristic late nap, and then throwing up in my bed.

Poor baby.

He spent the last night of 2009 in a sick stupor, sleeping on the basement floor (until Daddy carried him to bed) and fighting a slight fever.

It took him almost two days (which included the drive back to Chattanooga) to get over it, but he did.

Apparently, he had to share. Tebow, whose previous symptoms were more like a magic trick where he turned his nose into a snot faucet, suddenly threw up on Monday night. Instead of doing in my bed like his brother, he just decided to throw up on me and the kitchen floor. Oh, and Tebow can throw up through his nose. (GROSS!)

Wednesday morning the gift was passed on to Damon. And instead of waiting around, it was given to me on Thursday.

Fortunately for us, it only lasted 24 hours (or less), so now we are back to normal. If we can figure out what normal is. Probably more laundry and less whining.

So, this has been a rough week, healthwise.

Damon had a painful surgery and has been home recovering/ trying to stay on top of work.

I have had bronchitis. Even though the doctor on Monday told me I didn’t, the doctor I saw today told me I did. After one antibiotic pill, I can tell I’m going to get better.

Tebow has come down with a cold and his nasty nose is running faster than the kleenex in my hand.

Fuller has had a cold and on Wednesday evening he broke out in another round of hives. It is usually a once a year experience, but this year it actually bothered him by causing him to itch all over.

So, we are going to do our best to recover this weekend. We are traveling next week and just wouldn’t want to do it while sick, itching, or in pain. Here’s to vitamin C, antibiotics, and pain pills!

Back in college, I (Damon) was actually quite fast as a cross-country runner. (Basically, if you’re tall, skinny, and stubborn, you’re tailor-made for long-distance running.) Since those days, I’ve gradually gotten older, slower, and fatter (still tall, though). For example, waaaaaaaaaay back in 1992, when running cross country, I was a too-thin 125 lbs., with about 4% body fat. Fast forward 17 years to August of 2009 and I’d risen to 185 lbs. with over 30% of my body composed of fat. Wow! I’d gained 60 pounds in 17 years. At that rate, when I turn 60, I’ll be over 330 lbs!

The reason I mention August, is that when it came time to fit back into that orange-and-blue costume I wear to college football games, I had a little [ahem] trouble keeping the front snaps closed. Bending over to pickup something while seated would cause the Velcro holding my belt closed to pop open. Yikes! So, I began crash dieting.
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This morning, no wait, it was yesterday Tuesday, I noticed Tebow’s nose was a little runny. This has happened before. A bit o’ snot to get through the day. It usually goes away quickly. Like in a few hours.

But last night, oh wait, it was this morning. Because 3:30 a.m. is in the morning, right? Well, at 3:30 this morning, Tebow’s night of good sleep became restless sleep. His eyes were closed, but his body was not still. He slept off and on until about 6:30, when he decided it was time to be up. And then it was clear what was going on…

Tebow has his first cold!

The day brought fussiness and more drool/ snot than I think a 5 1/2 month old can actually hold. Which is why we ditched the burp cloths and started using towels to mop up the mess.

Right now we are trying to get him to sleep in the pack ‘n play, but he prefers my lap. I’m not up for sleeping in the recliner again. I just hope he gets better soon.

Tebow turned 5 months old over a week ago. I still have to make his well baby appointment, so I don’t have official stats, but when we weighed him over the 4th he weighed 19 pounds. I’m sure he’s up to 20 now.

People always comment on his size, usually focusing on the delicious rolls of his thighs. I tend to reply to people, “Well, we keep feeding him.”

And feeding him we are. Until recently he was mostly nursed. We started adding formula to evening feedings and a few weeks ago he started rice cereal.

I’m pretty sure by Tebow’s six month birthday he will be getting more formula, since I’ll be weaning him from nursing. Which then brings up the question- what formula to use? Right now, his evening bottles are made with the free stuff we have stockpiled- Similac and Enfamil. But I know purchasing those brands is expensive.

When Fuller was “on the bottle” he got the Parent’s Choice brand because my SIL told me something amazing about it- when you made it, there were no bubbles in the bottle. I don’t know how it happened, but no bubbles made it a better formula for Fuller. He had a much less upset tummy when he was on Parent’s Choice.

Now I have another reason to choose Parent’s Choice- cost. If you check out this baby formula savings calculator, Parent’s Choice is always cheaper. If we start Tebow on 100% formula feedings from six months until a year old, we would save anywhere from $59.99 and $56.94 a month.

This kind of savings has the attention of Consumer Reports which is recommending Parent’s Choice (and other generic brands) because of their lower cost and still meeting the FDA required nutrition specifications.

So we have my SIL recommendation, our past experience, the Consumer Reports strong suggestion, and significant cost savings… I’m pretty sure, Parent’s Choice will once again be our family’s formula of choice.

Last week I called the pediatrician to see about getting Fuller a hearing test. While we know he is four and routinely practices the hobby of selective listening, we were still a bit worried because he would say things like “Where did the sound go?” or “I can’t hear that.” when watching TV or listening to his CD player. We knew he should have been able to hear them, especially when we could hear them just fine from the next room.

We were able to get into the pediatrician’s office today for the test. This was providential since Fuller woke up with his cough, stirring my fears of the February curse. So not only did Fuller get a hearing test, but he also was evaluated for his cough.

First, the cough wasn’t a big deal. Not in his chest, probably just the wicked weather messing with him. I’m dosing him with vitamin C and plenty of fluids. And by the end of the day, we just ask him to rest his voice, which was still getting raspy. Dr. M wouldn’t have a problem sending a newborn home with a kid like Fuller in the house.

So we were able to focus on Fuller’s ears. First the hearing test. Once Fuller understood that he was supposed to give me a high five for every beep he heard, he passed that test. Then the nurse did the tympanogram, which he failed in both ears. Dr. M did an examination and discovered why- Fuller had so much wax packed into his ears, the tympanometer couldn’t even get to the eardrum. Essentially, Fuller had ear plugs we couldn’t see.

I know I’ve mentioned before how Fuller has two strikes against him in this area- both of his parents have terrible wax problems. This is something we have dealt with in the past, but only caught during well child visits. This time is was so bad, the doctor had the nurse irrigate his ear.

The first time I remember having this done was in 8th grade. Poor Fuller, our four year old who was already freaked out about the possibility of getting a shot (even though both the doctor and I told him he wouldn’t get one), had to endure the flooding of his ear to get out the wax. He cried and yelled, squirmed and jerked, but the nurse was awesome and just went with it, while I held his head and the water basin.

And even after that ordeal, the doctor still had to scrape the ear canal to get it all. This caused some bleeding, which made for an even more tearful and miserable Fuller. The nurse said for his age, he did very well, a bit better than older kids who have to have their ears irrigated.

But the end result is, his hearing is fine and the cough is nothing to worry about right now. So I think our family health is doing well.