Pump it up

We have had a crazy last few days around here. On Wednesday I noticed that Greyson was feeling a bit warm all day but I honestly didn't think much about it because the child is swaddled half the day and I figured it was just "toastiness" more than feverish...you know? Well, come Wednesday evening I was convinced that he was feeling feverish so I figured I'd take his temperature...it was 101.0. Now, my girls run some crazy temperatures. As in, when they have colds they can run 103 or higher like it's no big deal so I still wasn't too awfully concerned, especially since Avery was just getting over a cold and I felt confident Greyson had likely caught it. After taking his temperature we went upstairs for supper and I started thinking about this chart that they gave us at the hospital that had normal temperature ranges for babies. I got up from the dinner table and came downstairs to look at the chart and it said if a baby is running a temperature over 99.4 to call your doctor. Really?!?!? I decided to call the pediatrician, but mainly just to get the "ok" from them that it would be ok not to do anything but watch him because he likely had caught Avery's cold. Well, despite me telling the triage nurse that his sisters had been sick she acted like we needed to get right in to the ER because babies his age shouldn't be running a temperature like that (cold or not). Well, Tim and I had date night plans...the first since MAY!!!! So we had a hot date at Carolinas Medical Center Pediatric ER.

Long story longer - when babies of Greysons age have a fever three things are recommended if nothing obvious is detected on physical exam:
-bloodwork
-urinalysis
-lp (lumbar puncture aka spinal tap)

The physical exam was uneventful so we did bloodwork and urinalysis and there was an above normal number of white blood cells in his urine so they recommended we do an LP to rule out viral meningitis. I was completely freaked out about doing and LP and honestly I was really just looking for some confirmation that he had a little cold and nothing more, but they were hard core and recommended the LP.Apparently according to benchmark data - anything above 5 white blood cells indicates some type of bacterial process which in infants of his age can become septic (way more serious) and he had 12. The Dr. said if I declined the LP, I would have to sign a decline consent and according to my sister insurance may not cover our ER visit if I didn't do as recommended by the Dr. Our heads were swimming and we were exhausted but after getting a second opinion from my sisters friend who is a doctor - we moved forward at his recommendation. Y'all - three doctors attempted to retrieve spinal fluid from my son (while he screamed and cried the entire time) and not one was able to get the fluid necessary to run the test to rule out meningitis! After the failed LP attempts, they recommended we be admitted into the hospital for monitoring and immediate administration of antibiotics in the event that he had a urinary tract infection. In the meantime his urine and blood would be sent to the laboratory for culture and sensitivity testing and we would have results in 24-48 hours.

A viral panel would be done once we checked in and then we would simply wait for test results while Greyson was monitored and continually administered IV antibiotics to rule out possible infection. The viral panel showed a positive result for rhinotracheitis, aka cold. Despite testing positive for a cold and that being the probable cause of his fever, the doctors wanted us to stay in the hospital until the culture results came back.

We were finally discharged from the hospital yesterday around 5:00 because the cultures were all negative. Moral of the story: we were hospitalized for two days for a common COLD. I am very glad they were precautious with my baby as we have a friend whose 2 week old is currently hospitalized with viral meningitis and all he presented with was a fever! I am super happy that we are back in our normal surroundings and with our girls (thanks to my Mom who rushed to help out and to my sister who was a huge help while we were gone). Here are some pictures of my little man in the hospital:

 These next few pictures crack me up - they have nothing to do with "brothers" hospital stay, but they do give me a reason to smile in spite of our date night turned into hospital stay at the pediatric ER and our current crazy life:

Clearly these girls have been watching Mommy and they think they know just how this breast pump stuff is supposed to work:

I was laughing so hard watching them, I could barely take the pictures!

This sweet little pea makes me laugh more times than I can count in a day. She is such a character - always making funny faces and doing silly things. She's too smart for her own good and as it turns out she may be related to Mr. T.

Lots to be thankful for as we wrap up another week. Hard to believe Greyson turns 7 weeks tomorrow and Avery turns 19 months on Monday.

My kiddos

My little man is almost 7 weeks old. As per the pediatricians recent recommendations, I've been trying to give him more tummy time now that he's crying a bit less and will actually sit content on his own. Here are some pictures of him checking himself out in the mirror. =)

The weather here has been amazing so we are finally getting to spend some more time outside. Now...if the mosquitoes would just GO AWAY it would be perfection outside! In the mornings the temperatures have been cooler and I had to dig out the few fallish type items my girls have with us at Aunt Melissa's. Truthfully, I thought they looked so cute I took the opportunity to take some pictures. They are both looking like such big girls now that there's a baby around.

yummy little jean baby butt ;)

Like I said, we are getting more awake contented times with Greyson and I LOVE it! Now...if he could just start smiling at me - I'm so excited for that. Anyhow - here are some pictures I snapped the other night while he was bright eyed and alert. Sweet boy...

Our Trip to the NC Zoo

We took a trip to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, North Carolina last weekend to celebrate Kennedy's birthday. Originally we had planned to do a birthday at the local animal shelter (there was a program in KY at our local shelter for that) but they don't really do that here so we started looking for other animal-related activities as that was her request and settled on the zoo. Kennedy has been to the zoo once in Pennsylvania, but Avery has never been to the zoo so I was pretty excited for them. We invited all our family and The Vaughans and Walls were able to come along. Honey and Big Jim decided to join us too and Kennedy was so excited about that.

The week prior to our trip the weather was looking amazing, but don't you know the morning of , the Weather Channel was showing a percentage chance of rain?!? When we left Charlotte it was 10% chance of rain in Asheboro and somehow on the way down that percent jumped to 90%! I would definitely have preferred we not be in any rain at all, however, the light drizzle kept the temperature low and we didn't need to worry about sunblock (silver linings my friend!) This zoo is huge and involves LOTS of walking so hot and sunny weather would have been way worse. There were quite a few people at the zoo that day too and the parking lot wasn't even half full so if the weather had been perfect it would have been crowded!

So... here's our clan entering the zoo:

First stop: giraffes - we were lucky enough to see Mom and baby right away. This picture is sweet for lots of reasons, but we always say Kennedy and Catherine are peas in a pod and I found it fitting that in this picture they have matching tops and hair bows too!

Her best friends and most desired party guests - her cousins!

I tried really hard to restrain from taking 2,456 pictures of random animals as is normally the case when I go to the zoo (I just find them so fascinating but then the pictures lie on your camera or computer un-printed for eons and serve no purpose), but this guy was so awesome and so close I couldn't help myself.

Team Wall with some rhinos in the distant right rear background. 

Riding the carosel!

Declan's first ever carosel ride!

This zoo is massive and I'd been forewarned. We stopped in the middle and had a picnic before finishing the 2nd half.

Enjoying miniature pink iced cupcakes from Gigi's - Happy Birthday K!

YUM!

Opening gifts. First up: an as seen on TV Slushy Magic cup...maybe we've been watching too many cartoons because as with the Dream Lite...this was on the top of her request list.  

My girl LOVES some Little Pet Shop stuff, but a great deal of those toys are tiny so Aunt Catina gave her an organizer with some more pet shop items inside. She has played with this thing EVERY DAY since opening it!

The Bobbsey Twins taking their nap after a picnic lunch:

It was a great day at the zoo and Kennedy enjoyed every moment!

New Experiences

Kennedy started gymnastics class at the YMCA last week. The class was a little chaotic and with toting Greyson around in the Moby I opted for a less crowded class time and we began in the new class this morning - it was MUCH more structured (PTL). The great thing about class at the YMCA is that because I have a membership there, Avery can go play with friends in the play place while I am allowed to watch Kennedy without chasing Avery around (now I do have to sway the entire time to keep Greyson content in the wrap but that + chasing Avery would be way worse). Here's my little gymnast in action:

Props to Aunt Melissa for the sweet little leotard - it was her birthday present! Super cute!

We attended a little festival prior to Uncle Steve's last football game and there were rides, food, bounce houses, etc. (a child's dream...if you will). Kennedy was super excited about it all and I'm just in constant amazement about the support that school receives for ALL THINGS - people seriously come out in droves dressed from head to toe in the school colors like it's a college tailgate.

My brave girl even wanted to attempt the rock climbing wall! At first they weren't going to let her because it was a 46 lb. minimum, but she looked so downtrodden after waiting in line only to be told that she couldn't do it, that they let her. She could basically let go and she wouldn't move because she wasn't heavy enough for the bungee to gently lower her back to the ground. They had a rope tied to her harness so they could pull her down once she was done: ha! She didn't make it to the top to ring the bell, but she did REALLY well for how little bitty she is. That's my girl!  

Poor Avery wanted to do something so bad, but everything was over run with "big kids". Luckily the bounce house guy allowed smaller kids like Avery and older siblings only in for a turn and Avery just cackled and cackled - she LOVED it! Here they are having a sweet moment while waiting in line.

Mom and son proudly supporting their Country Day school colors! Go Bucs!

I started  my involvement in local BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) and MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) groups last week as well. Some people would call me crazy getting out so soon in a new area with a baby, but I've got to GET OUT - it's just my personality. I'm social and my kids are social and we're an active family so I'm thrilled that Lord willing we'll have new friends with kiddos in no time! The groups are very different - BSF is going to challenge me to be in the Word like NEVER before and I'm so excited to grow in my walk with the Lord and just really dig in  with some fellow Mommies/believers. MOPS has already been a blessing and encouragement to me as a mother - several of those ladies brought me food after I had Greyson and just made me feel welcomed and loved. Now...getting out of the house for said groups can present it's own set of challenges and I end up having to get rather creative with the kiddos to keep them entertained and or get them motivated. Here is an example of one such situation. I never let Kennedy rummage through my cabinets or pour out the contents of baggies, baskets, boxes. Truthfully, I was too OCD to allow her to make up a mess I'd ultimately have to clean up. Maybe that's an admission that sounds silly but it's true. Well...enter kid three and I don't even care whats on the floor as long as it gives me some peace and quiet to get some things done. Believe it or not these bottles of nail polish sat on the floor like this for half of the day before I had time to clean them up. Oh well!

Last Saturday we went with Melissa and Steve to the local Greek Festival. There were vendor tents, kids activities and music, but ultimately people go for the food. They ordered pitas but yours truly...ordered a hot dog (ha!). I'm so picky, though much LESS picky than I used to be. Regardless, everything was onion laden and the onion must be mostly cooked beyond recognition for me to tolerate eating it...so, I ordered a hot dog and some Greek fries (yum!). It was super sunny and hot and crowded so we basically ate and ran but it was still a fun experience:

Poor Greyson - I have a feeling all of his pictures will look about like this until he's like one: ha! Survival, right?!?