Double owie

Bummed to share that Cam has a double ear infection. He slept horribly early this week, and on Tuesday we got a call from daycare saying he woke up from his nap with a fever. We got in to see the doc that afternoon and Cam has a double ear infection in the early stages. She has us using his antibiotic ear drops right now and we'll check in w/her early next week to see if we need to use amoxicillin too. Hopefully not!

We're going to keep things low-key this weekend, until we see our kid back to normal.

Have a wonderful Easter :)

Love,
M, K + C

ps
Happy Birthday, Leah!! I miss you!!

Operation "Save the Tube" update

Cam has continued to do really well taking the ear drops, although we've been doing the drops 2x/day, not 3x as the doc prescribed. Logistics! :) We won't know about the tube until we see the ENT after we return from Kauai, but are hoping for the best (of course!). Cam is feeling much, much better and we think he knows something is up because the dogs are gone and there are suitcases everywhere!

Operation "Save the Tube"

Going well so far; turns out Cam likes to have the front of his ear massaged. He giggles because he can hear the antibiotic ear drops squishing around in there. Its only been a couple of days, but we haven't seen anything come out, but it would be easy to miss the tube if it were to fall out. Please think good thoughts for the tube to stay in his ear :) Have a great weekend, everyone!!

ps
finally got a chance to update the blog; there are at least 8 new entries. Sorry for the delay - turns out my new FaceBook addiction is taking time away from blogging about the Ding Dong :)

Visit with ENT

We saw Dr. Malotte this afternoon. He confirmed the tube is blocked but that so far its still in place, although the infection is pushing on Cam's ear drum, so its possible for the tube to come out. We are hoping and praying that doesn't happen because it means another potential surgery for Cam if he starts getting ear infections every few weeks again.

In a small percentage of cases, the hole from the tube doesn't close up (95%+ of the time it does within a few days of the tube popping out), so we wouldn't have to do a surgery until Cam was older, and then we'd have to go in to actually close up the hole. Fun stuff!!

Dr. M prescribed some antibiotic ear drops we need to put in 3x/day - we have to lay Cam on his side, put in the drops and then massage the front of his ear for 60 seconds....we'll see how that goes! :) Cam's been so great about taking his antibiotic (10ml via a spoon dropper, which he willingly sips from, woohoo!!), we've got high hopes he'll do well with this. We'll follow Dr. M's instructions to the letter in the hope that we'll save the tube. (Save the Tube - it sounds like a non-profit group, lol!)

So, that's the update. Cam is feeling better and tonight is 48hrs on the antibiotic, so he should sleep better tonight than he has. That will improve things tremendously - he's never been a kid that has handled being tired well :)

Hope you all are healthy and germ-less!

ps
we're bummed we didn't get to go down and see the Amgen Tour of California bike race - the leg today ended here in Paso. The only cool thing to happen here since we moved here and right as they were coming into town, we were sitting down in Dr. M's office in SLO. We were bummed to miss Lance and Floyd (we saw their buses on our way home), but Cam's health is more important. We'll see it next year, if we're still living in Paso :)

Ear infection post tubes :(

Cam had a rough weekend, sleep-wise. It capped off last night, however - he was up every 45 minutes just inconsolable. He's had a runny nose and cough; we both thought it was the bronchiolitis again, so called the doc first thing Tuesday morning.

When we saw her, after doing a quick lung check, she checked Cam's ears. Turns out that the tube in his left ear is blocked and has caused an ear infection. The right tube is still in place and doing its job. Cam wasn't particularly cooperative while she was trying to check his ears, so she's not sure what is blocking the tube.

She put Cam on the amoxicillin for 10 days and advised us to go see the ENT doc to see what can be done about the blocked tube. We're hoping this doesn't mean any additional surgery but will have to wait to find out until we see the ENT doc on Thursday (we're so happy they are able to squeeze us in!). Luckily this is early in the ear infection and hopefully Cam will feel a lot better in a couple of days when the inflammation goes down.

Dr. Nave doesn't think this is going to impact our trip to Hawaii next weekend, but of course, we want Cam to feel as good as possible for the travelling we're about to do. Fingers crossed the amoxicillin does its job quickly!

More on Thursday…

Update on Sickee

Cam's on the mend; just like the doc said the fever lasted 72 hours before it broke. We've kept Cam on the Mortrin for now and will stop it once he's stayed cool for at least 6 hours. His appetite is off but we're all heading back to normal. Woohoo!!

ps
a few stats from the doc's office on Friday:
30.5lbs
34.5" tall

Sickee sickee sickee

No idea where this came from but Cam woke up at 4am super hot. He tossed and turned for a couple of hours and was up for good at 6am, still hot, so we gave him Tylenol and kept him home with us today. He's been in a good mood, still running a bit warm but overall his typical self.

He and daddy were watching "Its a Big Big World" (we're PBS freaks here, except for our beloved Bunnytown) when Cam actually fell asleep on the couch! He hasn't done this since he was a couple of months old! We let him snooze about 15-20 mins, then tried to wake him up. He was having none of that, so we moved him back to his crib and he's still sleeping. Gave him another does of Tylenol as he was really warm again. His little body is fighting something today. If he's still feverish when he wakes up, we'll call the doc.

That's it, although it has been raining pretty good on and off - about time! More soon...

ps
Mom, glad to hear you are feeling better!!

15 months today!

Cam is 15 months old today - hard to believe! Well, actually not; in the few months since his birthday he's become a very active little boy :)

I've been lax on updates but here is a super quick rundown.

Cam got broncitis but was better by Thanksgiving. Then I got broncitis and lost my voice for more than a week (both K and Cam enjoyed that!). Thanksgiving was great! So nice to have 4 days off :) Holiday shopping is 95% done - phew! Cam is continuing to adjust to the new room at daycare but doing very well overall. Its dark at 5:30pm these days, so he doesn't get to play outside with the dogs as much as he used to but makes up for it on the weekends. We have a fun weekend coming up; K will be in Irvine for his company's holiday party, coming home on Saturday and we'll get our Christmas tree. Then on Sunday we're headed up to the Bay area to visit friends. Hope it doesn't rain so the kids can play outside!! Cam still isn't sleeping through the night but getting closer!

That's the short story - its not very interesting, hence the lack of posts recently. K shot this video this past weekend of Cam on the doggie bed - he's taken over one of Charlie's old beds that just got a new cover put on it...loves jumping on it!

Quick update

Very sorry for the lack of posts: we've had a little rough spot sleeping-wise over here and I'm behind in life in general. Got some great new photos and video; I'll get to it over this holiday weekend :)

Cam has been waking up earlier and earlier the last week or so; since last Thursday he's been waking up at 4am and not going back to sleep. Made daycare tough last week b/c they are migrating him to a new room with older kids and a very set routine - no morning nap and everyone goes down for naps from 12:30 until whenever they wake up. Cam waking up at 4am has made it very hard for him to get to 12:30 and take a decent nap.

On top of that he's had some nasal congestion and a little cough for the last couple of weeks. After this past weekend, I decided to bring Cam to the docter b/c I was sure he had an ear infection (yes, I know he has tubes but all his rolling around and messed up sleeping reminded me so much of them!). Luckily I was wrong, but the doctor did diagnose him with a bronchial/sinus infection and he's on antibiotics for the next 5 days. Hopefully this will help the little guy feel better and sleep more comfortably. Fingers crossed!!

ps
Cam got weighed at the doc's office and tipped the scales at 29.5lbs. No height measurement, but K and I unofficially put a tap measure to him over the weekend and he was 32.5" tall. Photos/videos soon!!

Ear tube surgery postponed

Just a quick note to let everyone know the ear tube surgery has been postponed to September 30. The ENT doc wanted Cam to be healthy and virus-free since this is elective surgery (yeah, right, only if he not in daycare for the next two weeks!!!) We have asked for the surgery to be sooner, as Cam seems to be getting ear infections every 5-7 weeks and that will put him right about getting another one, but they seem pretty firm on 9/30.

Cam is feeling much better than Tuesday and at daycare today for the first time since Monday. Fingers crossed he can get rid of this herpangina virus and get healthy so we can get his ears fixed!

ps
Cam had a GREAT day at daycare today; he slept 2hrs 20 mins total - way more than his usual 1hr 15-30 mins! We did give him a dose of Tylenol in his lunchtime bottle though, b/c of his sore throat....that might be why he slept so well. Eh, so what, he had a good day over there - yay!!

Ding-dong fever update

Cam's fever is finally gone; it WAS a pretty long night. We just got back from Cam's "Well Baby" check (ha!), and Cam has herpangina, a viral throat infection. Doc thinks he's at the beginning of it, and it should run its course within 5-7 days. He's sleeping peacefully right now for his lunchtime nap.

The ENT still wants to do the pre-op tomorrow and decide then on the Friday surgery for the tubes. Because of the fever yesterday, Cam's not allowed back to daycare until he's 24 hrs fever-free, which would be tomorrow. We'll probably keep him home since he sleeps so much better here and daycare is obviously just a damn germ-fest....ANOTHER sickness he has gotten from there (argh!!). If the ENT decides tomorrow to do the surgery Friday, we'll probably keep Cam home from daycare the rest of the week; we think he'll recouperate faster at home.

One Year Stats
27lbs 10oz
32"
19 3/4" head circumference

I'll add the percentages later - we forgot that paperwork at the doc's office.

The Ding-dong has a fever

I got a call from daycare today about 4:15pm, telling me Cam had a fever of 100.6°. Not horrible but he definitely was warm and not himself. He's sleeping comfortably now, due for another dose of Tylenol around 9pm and we're getting ourselves together for a long night.

Ironically tomorrow morning at 10am we have Cam's one year "Well Baby" check up (snort). Not sure he'll end up getting his shots, or if this will affect the tube surgery he's supposed to have on Friday but we'll let you know.

Happy Holiday Weekend!!

We're getting a new camera this weekend (thanks for the rec Sarah!!) and can't wait to try it out; there will be new photos tomorrow.

Cam's cold still isn't totally gone, and his cough got worse, so we went to the doc today and unfortunately he's got another ear infection :( We've got a call into the ENT doc to see when we can get the tubes in. For the time being, Dr. Nave has put Cam back on antibiotics. We're both glad we found out about this before the long holiday weekend but we're both really bummed that its another ear infection.

Cam is napping now, so our goal this weekend is to help him get lots of sleep, lots of food and lots of love, and wait to hear from Dr. Mulotte about a surgery date.

In the immortal words of Jack Sawyer (and Steven King) "All will be well."

Buy stock in Kleenex

We've had a pretty quiet weekend over here; Cam is still in the throes of a yucky summer cold. When he got home from daycare on Thursday his nose was running like the Hoover Dam; that night he debuted a racking cough to go with the congestion :( I should ask our friends over the pond (Moray, Ruth and Calum) just how they taught their son to blow his nose at 8 months; Cam hates seeing a tissue coming at him!

Thursday and Friday nights he was up every 45mins - 1hr coughing, but it subsided a bit last night, and he slept from basically 7pm to 4am. K managed to get him back to sleep but he was up for good at 5:45am. He's been playing just fine during the day (and practicing walking a bit more, as you can see in the video), so except for the super runny nose and cough, he's in good spirits. We are just hoping this doesn't turn into another ear infection (since that means he'll be getting tubes), and are about to start trying a few drops of garlic oil in his ears based on some research we've been doing on homeopathic remedies. Can't hurt!

This cold did cause us to miss James' birthday party (Grant's big brother), which we're bummed about. We figured they wouldn't want our germs :) Can't say we'd blame them!! (Sarah, I'll drop off his gift this week). Hope everyone had a great weekend and it wasn't 104° in your neck of the woods!!

Sorry for the lack of posts

Life has gotten in the way of blogging the last week or so! But we're slowly getting caught back up (although never on laundry, it seems). Everyone is healthy again (K and I got food poisoning the day after Cam got the stomach flu). Cam is sleeping better at night now that he's getting more and more mobile.

Walking is two steps forward and one back - some days he's more confident about walking on his own than others. His level of tiredness definitely plays into it!! We think that he'll be walking more on his own by the time of his First Birthday party on September 6 :)

Big smiles

Cam's stomach flu was slow in going away, but he's on the mend. It was 5 days before he could keep anything other than bread and formula down! But he never gets tired of "walking" around the house...as long as he has some fingers to hold on to :)

Stomach flu

Happy Friday, folks. Cam has been down for the count since about 2pm yesterday with a bout of what we *think* is stomach flu (at least one other kid from daycare, possible three, went home sick the day before - no one told us!). Poor kid was barfing and dry heaving until about 6:30pm, then finally fell asleep for a few hours. We spent from 10pm to 1am trying to get (and keep!) some Pedialyte in him, starting with a teaspoon every 5 mins and working our way up to 2 oz every 15 mins. Cam was thirsty and hungry at 10pm - the teaspoon was NOT working for him.

Around 12:30am he started to act like himself. He slept from 1am - 7am, although we checked on him every couple of hours to make sure he was ok. So far today, he's in good spirits, although very tired. He's been getting a little formula, banana and bagels, and will go down for his lunch nap shortly. Doc say there could be some diarrhea next, so we're keeping an eye out - that will probably be hard to miss!

All I will say is freakin' daycare....

Cam's visit w/ENT specialist

Cam stayed home with us today so he could go down to see the ENT specialist in San Luis Obispo, Dr. Malotte. Dr. Nave referred us to three different doctors, and after a few pointed questions to her, we decided to meet w/Dr. Malotte.

Turns out that was a great decision. Super nice, very informative. Since Cam has had so many ear infections in a short timeframe AND also so many before he turns one, Dr. M does feel that tubes will be the way to go, or we have to keep putting Cam on stronger and stronger antibiotics to clear the ear infections. He didn't push the tube surgery on us but told us to wait and see what happens w/Cam over the next few months and decide then.

Cam did amazingly well with the exam, and a huge boon for Mick (as Dr. Malotte likes to be called) was that Cam took to him almost immediately: the Judge was only in the room for a few minutes before he was laughing w/Dr. M - a great turn of events. Cam's a pretty good judge of character, so we'll stick w/his instincts :)

Right now Cam has fluid with bubbles (meaning air) in his right ear, so that one is draining, and fluid in his left ear but no redness, so no infection - yet. (key word: yet) He slept from about 10:30pm to 6am this morning, which is the best he's done in quite a while, plus he did really well with his naps here at home, so we are hopeful that he'll start to sleep more at daycare. Daycare is the germ factory we've suspected - found out today kids in daycare have a higher rate of ear infections.

Chances are the next time Cam does get an ear infection, we are going to opt to get the tubes put in instead of going back on antibiotics for the 5th (!!!) time this year. I do truly fear Cam building up a resistance to antibiotics. Dr. M said that he's done tubes in infants as young as six months, and been doing this surgery for 20 years, and we hope that Cam will be one of the 90% of kids that the tubes make a big difference for (10% report no difference after the surgery). Since he's so textbook with everything else, we are guessing it will be the same thing w/the tubes. One caveat is that b/c he's getting tubes so young, chances are he'll have to have a repeat surgery when he's 3-4 to get tubes put in again; they only last about a year, and once they are gone and the hole heals, the ear infections will probably come back unless we put the tubes in again.

So that's the dealio :)

Swinger

Cam was never totally into swings until he got to try the outside, sitting upright version at the playground. But last night, when he was winding down for bed after his bath, he saw the swing cousin Chris, her husband Mike and son Tyler got for him last year, and let Kevin know he wanted to get into it. He swang in there for a good 10+ minutes, just chilling out w/George. A bit out of character, as usually at night he's chasing the dogs around the house. We figured he was off b/c of the new ear infection.

Well, tonight he wanted back into the swing! He loves the mirror, and will lay there and stare at himself; loves the toys, loves the music and loves to just hang out and swing. He took his first bottle (we're putting his meds into his first bottle of just a couple ounces) in there - amazing!

Cam is feeling better today, not quite himself totally but on his way. We've decided to spend an extra day at home and head up to house/dog sit on Sunday, to get a few things done around here and give Cam an extra day to recouperate. We might try to get him a haircut tomorrow too - that will depend on how the night goes and if mommy is up for it tomorrow (we'll go to a place here in Paso that specializes w/kids - no bowl haircuts for this kid!) - we'll let you know!

This is the face of a double ear infection :)

Its not so bad, huh? He *just* woke up from a 2.75 hr nap, THAT never happens at daycare! A good side effect from spending the day at home. We're off to get his antibiotics - go DRUGS THAT KILL EAR INFECTIONS!!