What in the?

Jacob is overly sensitive to things and by things I mean everything. From emotions to meds and everything in between he is just a HIGHLY sensitive boy. A boy that has my heart and soul bless his heart but very high maintenance :)

I've written here several times about his medicinal history and all the issues we have had with that. Yesterday he woke up and his ear was a little red. As the day progressed his ear got bigger,puffier,hot to the touch and yuckier. He had something similar though not nearly as bad a year or more ago and it cleared itself up so I wasn't extremely worried - I was just thinking he had gotten bit by something at some point over the last few days. As the afternoon and early evening came up the ear got bigger and bigger-so much so that it started hanging down a little. When David got home at 930 last night and my mom looked at it they both thought I should go ahead and take him to the doctor so we went. We have a new doctors office around here that is called MD 360 and it is open later than the urgent care until 10 pm and therefore saves you from having to go to the ER at night time if it's nothing incredibly serious.
     I've only heard excellent things about this place - my mom has gone and one of my best friends also - rants and raves about the place!!! Don't get me wrong it's nice - very big and spacious and clean!! Each examination room even had tvs with cable in them to help the time pass. The doctor came in though and my impression changed very quickly. She walked in and initially looked at my child like he was an alien - don't get me wrong it was odd looking but you're a doctor for God's sake - surely you've seen worse things than his ear! Then she went on to tell me she thought he was having an allergic reaction to SOMETHING though she had no clue what it was or where he could have been bitten or even what he had been bitten by. Couldn't find a bite mark even though his ear was definitely pronounced with the swelling and puffiness! Then she proceeded to tell me she wanted to prescribe him some steroids and asked me how much he weighed. Before I could say anything she sat there as if she was guessing out loud - 80 lbs? she said. or 70 lbs? Seriously!!!!!!! I said "HE'S 6 YEARS OLD!!!!" Really? 80 lbs? Uhhhh I think not! He's 55 Thank you very much! Then starts trying to calculate dosages in her head for steroids - and overall just didn't look too confidant in what she was doing as she spits out the prescription and says it didn't like what she wrote. Hmmm wonder if that was because it was WRONG!?! I'll be looking at his ear again when he gets up this morning and then deciding whether I should take him to our doctor when they open up.
    I'll admit first hand I am attached to our doctor! I don't like going to the office and having to see anyone else! She's been with me through thick and thin and she was the first person that laid eyes on Jacob when he broke out with SJS the first time. I trust her with everything and am totally confidant in her! Any doctor I is probably at a disadvantage even walking in the room because I'd much rather be seeing ours but really 6 yrs old and 80 lbs? Come on!!

Now for the ear: Has anyone ever had this happen or seen it before? The pictures hardly do it justice - it just looks horrible!!! Poor boy!

NEVER

I will never EVER ever go to the dentist again! And I don't even mean for myself but I won't ever take anyone to the dentist again. I'm done-I've served my time and it's over.

I had to take Lucas to the dentist this morning to have a crown put on one of his molars. It is still a baby tooth but had a huge cavity in it that they couldn't fill and didn't want to pull it. So I made the appointed and we were there bright and early at 8:00 this morning. I had the two babies with me and had dropped Jacob off at school beforehand. When we got there they went ahead and put the laughing gas on and did the jelly around his gum to numb it. Then the doctor came in to give the shot to further numb all around the tooth. At first that was fine until he got to the inside of the gum towards his tongue and it was obvious that it wasn't completely numb there yet. It killed me to watch him in pain with a shot in his mouth while I couldn't do anything about it but little did I know that the worst was not even there yet.

The doctor came back in after a few minutes and started drilling. He drilled for about 3-4 minutes during which I was up and down with Allie and Caleb while trying to hold Lucas' hand throughout everything. All the sudden while the hygenist and doctor were in his mouth working with the drill Lucas threw everyone off of him and shot straight up out of the chair. He started gagging and stood up with blood dripping out of his mouth. My heart stopped(don't forget I've got two babies by my side)-my nerves went and the panic attacks set in. I about flipped!!! He was horrified obviously! We got him back down while the dentist told him that he couldn't do that and explained why but honestly I think he was so scared he could hardly speak. I really think he left the room and changed his underwear(they had to be soiled after that experience). He said not another word while he worked that he didn't have to. He finished, got up and left. I don't think he'll ever forget today :)

When I think about it my insides still shake-my heart has yet to start beating in a normal rhythm and I've felt like putty all day. I tell you my dentist days are over!!!!

Clean Teeth

Last week before school started Jacob and Lucas both had dentist appointments that had to be taken care of. Jacob had not been to the dentist before and Lucas had not been in a while. I've had problems trying to find dental insurance and finally got everything taken care of so we could get back in the swing of things.

It was an interesting day to say the least. I had all four kids with me at the dentist office and we had meet the teacher night directly after at school for both boys. I knew shortly after we got to the dentist that I had way too much faith in my abilities to take care of all of them at the dentist office.

Lucas and Jacob both had to have several xrays done and Lucas went first so Jacob could see what they were going to do. They both did great jobs and then went in for their cleanings. I was nervous about how Jacob would react to the cleaning since he'd never had it done before..when I was a kid I used to think that was the worst part!!!!!! Neither one of them complained a single time.

Jacob passed with flying colors and had no cavities...dentist said he had a tad bit of crowding on the bottom but that his teeth was perfectly lined and we would watch the bottom for a while.

Lucas did awesome with his exam but had three cavities. For some reason all of his cavities were bunched together and the dentist thought that might be because his teeth are so crowded right now. We are most definitely looking at braces in the future for Lucas on both top and bottom...that's something I'm definitely not looking forward to. We're looking at a consultation at his next cleaning visit in six months...and braces probably around 11 yrs old...I'm not overly excited to see the price tag on those babies! I've also found that insurance is great for xrays and cleanings but when it comes to fillings unless you get a mouthful of silver for kids they don't like to pay crap....3 fillings and 3 sealants will put you out abo0ut $600 these days. We'll have to go back in a couple of weeks to be broke(I mean have those done) :) and I won't be taking all 4 back with me for that "laughing gas" experience.



The waiting room...they loved this!


Caleb looks like he's not happy but really he was having fun. He was looking at the tv when I took this picture so he looks very serious.


My little girl who thinks she's big! She's even walking now...geez...more on that coming later.


Jacob in the xray chair. He got all of them done with the very first try...his hygenist told him he did better than most 10 year olds that came through there :)



Lucas getting his teeth cleaned.


Jacob got to sport the Hollywood glasses because the light kept bothering his eyes...he thought he was incredibly cool!

My Sweet Red Girl

Can we ever catch a break? Allie's been fussy and very tired for the last 4-5 days. She started over the weekend running a fever and throwing up. I took her to the doctor Monday morning and they thought it was probably just a virus so they wanted me to watch her for a couple more days(since of course we don't use antibiotics around our house unless absolutely necessary). Last night she started breaking out in a rash but I thought it was just heat rash since we've been at the ballpark so much and it's been in the 90s everyday here. This morning it had spread so I called the doctor back and took her in. She's got roseola and the doctor said it will probably spread more before it gets better...all this while teething too. Bless her heart...I just wish I could take it away from her because she looks miserable! Apparently roseola is the virus and it starts with a cold/upper respiratory thing then goes to a high fever and then the rash. I hope it disappears soon....we need a break around here(of course I'd take this anyday just to have her in my life)!

Big Girl

Yes I did take my camera to the doctor...I told you guys the other day that my husband gets on me about taking it everywhere but I just can't help it. I absolutely love this picture!!!!

We're back...all four of us and believe it or not we're in one piece and everyones happy..well for the time being that is since it's almost naptime for Caleb and Allie. Of course Allie will only sleep for 30 minutes and then she'll be up and into everything again...life's great!

Allie's healthy and her ears are great. Her doctor said that everything looked good and that we can start on trying to give her some table food gradually..Allie's never really been very excited over baby food so we're hoping that she'll develop a liking to table food alittle better. Caleb was like that...he started 100% on table food at 10 months and would never go back. Allie had a weird breathing incident yesterday that I was alittle worried about and I mentioned that to her doctor but she seems to think it's nothing. I watched her closely yesterday afternoon and night and didn't notice anything else. When I was changing her diaper she went from breathing fine one minute to rapidly the next and making little short almost gruntlike sounds at the same time. She did this for a minute or so and then went back to breathing normally. It was odd and scary to say the least but she was fine the rest of the night. Her doctor told me to watch for cough,runny nose or fever and if it's accompanied by the breathing then we'll check it out further. She thinks maybe she just swallowed alittle too much saliva or something and that was why she was doing it.

Anyhow...today was her 9 month visit even though she's 10 months now. She weighed 24.4 lbs,was 29.75 inches long and her head was 17.72 inches around. She's growing great and is already weighing what Caleb weighs right now Her doctor thinks she's at her chubbiest right now and as she starts moving around more she'll shed the weight quickly. I like her the way she is now though so maybe she'll stay that way for a while :)

Checkup

I've got to take Allie to the doctor this morning for her 9 month checkup. Seriously everytime I have an appointment somewhere I wonder if I had a brain relapse when we had more than one child. I am always in awe of people that have multiple children and never hesitate to go out and about during the day. I only go when I have to by myself with the kids and still try to find every way around it possible in order to avoid having to leave the house. I know as Allie gets older it won't be as complicated but right now Allie and Caleb both need me 100%. Caleb of course is not old enough that I can not watch him every single second and not worry about him...heck what am I saying...Jacob isn't even there yet and he's 5. I won't be surprised if they say that Allie's ears are messed up...she went through a couple of weeks where she was constantly playing with them and not sleeping well. She wasn't running a fever and was teething so I just watched her and she has improved. She still isn't sleeping completely through the night but she has made huge strides in sleeping from a couple of months ago and she isn't fussy anymore. She's had a horrible diaper rash the last couple of days but it's improving also. I'm anxious to see how much she weighs this time..seems like she's packing on the pounds on a daily basis now! So once again we're heading off to the doctor..if I'm lucky I'll come back with the same number of children that I left with and we'll all be in one piece.

Checked Out

I had to take Jacob and Caleb to the doctor yesterday for their wellchecks. Taking them both at the same time was insane. Having Allie there and making sure she was content the entire time was a job in itself since we were there for two hours. Not to mention that they had to get shots...that was a huge obstacle to overcome. Seriously the shots get worse when they get older. Jacob cried so much by the time they actually gave him the shot he had hives. We came home..I gave them both tylenol and they both zonked out for a couple of hours..if only Allie would of decided she wanted to take a long nap too.

Jacob is actually way late for his checkup. His birthday was in Oct and we just now got to the doctor. He weighed 46 pounds and was 3 ft 9 in tall. I am in awe of how fast he is growing. Such a big little boy with a massive attitude right now. I tell ya I think that's the hardest thing is working on his attitude. If he doesn't get what he wants then it's war and it's brutal. It's very frustrating and extremely trying. Hopefully we'll both survive this stage :)

Caleb..oh my I can't believe he's 2. This is my baby that is so skinny the lady at Stride Rite told him that he needed to thin out..remember that? Well he weighs 28 pounds. Seriously..Lucas weighed 26 when he was 1 so Caleb is very small and keep in mind that Allie is 8 months and weighs 21 right now. Anyhow he's growing like a weed...he was 34 1/2 in long.

My babies are growing up!!! and oh how depressing it is! Lucas goes next week and he's almost as tall as me now so I'm sure he'll be off the charts. Seriously whoever decided that kids should grow so fast should go back and rewrite some plans so they can slow down.