Our Baby Size Life!

Archive for the ‘Doctor’ Category

Sorry Mister Lennon and apologies to Oasis, but Sam is the Walrus.  Now don’t take this literally.  He didn’t sprout tusks and gain five hundred and fifty pounds with a mean penchant for fish.  Nah! He hasn’t made any friends in the carpentry business… No! He hasn’t gone all “goo goo g’joob”… Never! Enough references for ya? (I love that song by the way)

It seems our Sam just sounds like a walrus because his previously, seemingly, normal cold with a slight fever has evolved into a case of… Ummm hold on here, checking my spelling… yeah here goes: Laryngotracheobronchitis! I said GOD DAMN! It hurt to type that. That is what the doctors called it however, but from now on, to save this blog from any further blasphemy, I’ll just call it the Croup. That’s what the parents call it. It’s basically the baby version of Larygi… ah! AH! Finger Cramping!!! Well, you know what I mean, and it causes a babies coughing to sound like a walrus.

Yep. I’m serious.

And it’s pretty common too.  We found out all this fun stuff at the hospital, where we spent the good part of Monday morning after a night of hardly sleeping because  Sam’s wheezy breathing was worrying us a little too much.  Finally, by 5 AM, his breathing wasn’t getting any better, so we decided to head out for the hospital.  I gotta say, Melissa and I work like a well oiled machine cause we packed Sam and his stuff and got dressed and out the door in fifteen minutes flat.  We arrived there expecting a long wait, but surprisingly enough, we saw a doctor within twenty minutes and… Hold on… I heard  a thump. I think one our Canadian readers just passed out upon hearing the quick emergency room response time we had… Well, anyways, the doc says it’s the Croup and it’s not a dangerous infection, unless it’s not treated and/or gets worse.  So, any parents out there who’ve read here or elsewhere online that what your kid has is the Croup, get off your asses and get the little squirt to the hospital anyways. Got it? Good.

Treatment is easy enough: oral injections of cortisone twice daily with food and some good ol’ fresh air. The only downside is that the Croup gets worse at night. Meaning, that when Sam’s breathing gets labored, we had to dress him up, and take him out for a walk… In the middle of the night… In freakin’ February.  So, while not sleeping, but laying passively in the sleeping bag on our bedroom floor (I left the bed for Sam and Melissa), I took the little guy out for a midnight stroll around the block.  It was weird, it was cold, but it was quiet.  Me and me boy… bliss.  After the quick ten minute jaunt, Sam’s breathing had returned to an almost normal state, which meant I could get a little worry free sleep.  Melissa took the next stroll at 6 AM that same morning.

As of today, Sam is doing better with no wheezing, but he’s still got a cough.  His energy level is back were it should be and he as vocal as he ever was.  He’s also got four teeth pushing through on the top gum-line.  His cheeks are almost blood red at times and he’s constantly chewing on his fingers.  We give him chew toys, but he pushes them aside and gives his fingers another go.  You see, Sam is a multitasking kind of kid; he likes to get several things done at once… And  I haven’t even mentioned the growth spurts.

I know this post ain’t the follow up to his birthday party prep-time one, but I have not told you yet that Sam deemed us worthy enough to share his cold.  Melissa and I are just recovering from the flu, with myself being hit hardest (fever, vomiting, all that fun stuff you just want me to write about but will not).  Melissa is one tough cookie, let me tell ya. She had two babies to take care of and still managed to get herself to work and back… And I couldn’t even post… But it was a tough virus I tells ya! Vomit on the ceiling! Kleenex’s everywhere! Dog and cats livin’ together! It was chaos!!!

So check in soon for the continuation of Sammy’s First Birthday Party Extravaganza!

That’s it for now, thanks for reading… And stay healthy!

I know this post is long over due, but I figured I’d tell you about our Thanksgiving anyways, because we ended up in the hospital again!  Man, when it rains it pours!  I hadn’t been in a hospital in years, almost decades, and now it happens three times in a two month period!  So, with the American Thanksgiving right around the corner, I figured I’d sneak this post in now, while it’s got some relevance. My bro has some nice pics from that great Thanksgiving day, but I don’t have them with me now. It’s a bummer, but I’ll try and post ‘em later on.  We had some great family fun as my sis and her family made the drive up from Toronto.  My bro was there with his daughter and his new girlfriend and , of course, my parents were there… well we were all in their house.  So, yeah, it makes sense they be there…

Saturday was a busy day, we all had some fun on my Wii (Rock Band and Boom Blox), we played some street hockey in which my nephews once again felt the unforgiving wrath of their Uncle John as he totally and systematically destroyed their defense and piled on the goals without mercy.  I won (again) 53 to 38, and they were two on one! Yeah, I know I’m good, but what can I say… I’m a natural…  What? How old? Why they are 13 and 11… but that doesn’t mean anything! Have you seen kids nowadays?!?  They’re HUGE. My oldest nephew wears bigger sized shoes than I do! And you know what they say about a man with big feet… They wear BIG shoes! Let’s keep it clean folks!

So everything was going typically well, it was around 11 pm when things went south. My sis and brother-in-law were packing up the minivan to head back early the next day while everyone else was playing some cards and winding down after another great meal. Kudos to Mom and Dad who outdid themselves again! Check out some of the yummy food they laid out:

Mmmm... Look at that turkey. It was as good as it looks!	My plate...or I should say, one of my plates!
Apple, Cherry and Pumpkin pies!	Rollie-Pollies, a decadent recipe made of pie crust and brown sugar!

Colby, their dog, was out with my bro-in-law while he packed the car, when suddenly Colby bolts out towards the street after a couple strangers that were out taking a walk.  My bro-in-law reacted and spun to chase after the dog… but didn’t see the traveling bag he had placed on the ground.  He ended up landing hard on his left shoulder.  We walks into the kitchen, clutching his arm saying he can’t feel his fingers and arm, but his shoulder is in intense pain.

Luckily, my bro’s new girlfriend used to be a nurse and checked him out.  She thought we should get to a hospital to make sure everything was OK as she thought that his arm or shoulder could be broken!  So off we go, my Dad, my bro-in-law and me to the local hospital on Thanksgiving night, it being close to midnight.  We arrived at the hospital around 15 past midnight, and after a series of quick examinations followed by a couple hours waiting time, they recommended he get X-rays.  So we had to wait for the X-ray technician.  It was now 3 am. He got his X-rays and hobbled back to his waiting room for the doctor to give his diagnosis on the X-rays taken.  That took another 2 hours.  It was now 5 am.

Finally, the doctor came back and explained the situation to my bro-in-law:  his shoulder was broken… in two places!  No wonder he was in pain!  The doctor then advised him to go home and relax until they got into contact with a surgeon to evaluate how to proceed.  The problem was my bro-in-law had one clean fracture and another fracture that had detached a tendon.  They weren’t sure if the fracture would mend and the tendon would fuse back to the bone properly and needed the surgeons opinion.  My bro-in-law explained that he was leaving for Toronto in one hour and would have to pursue the matter when he got home.

And that’s what he did.  We drove home from the hospital and got back to my parents house around 6:30 am on the Sunday.  What an exhausting night.  My Dad and I were completely pooped out.  My bro-in-law, with his arm in a sling, climbed into his packed car with my sis and their two kids, and they left for Toronto.

Mind you, all this happened about a month ago now, so I can update you on his situation.  He was re-evaluated that Sunday afternoon in a Toronto area hospital and they ruled against surgery.  He was, and still is, under observation on a weekly basis.  Both fractures, and the tendon, seem to be healing OK, which is welcome news.  One thing I haven’t told you about my bro-in-law is that his job requires him to be on the road a large amount of the time.  And , yes folks, the day after they got home from the Thanksgiving trip, my crazy, yet dedicated, bro-in-law went on a road trip for his job!  He didn’t drive of course, but still, the guys got guts right?  Snaps his shoulder in two places and he’s out cutting deals with clients less than 48 hours later!

What a guy!  Hats off to you Mr. Bro-in-Law!  And that was our Thanksgiving 2008!

Thanks for reading.

Today’s post is the finale of my “Sam’s Big Gift” mini series of posts detailing, in hopefully humorous fashion, our adventures of last week’s trip to the hospital.  To get yourself acquainted with the rest of the series, why not read up on Part 1, Part 2 and (while you’re at it) Part 3 before proceeding?  It’ll put you into the context of what happened and how we got to the hospital.

And now for the rest of the story…

After my episode with the needle from Hell, nurse Sandi (not her real name) let me rest up a bit before “The Big Move”.  The nurses now deemed us self sufficient enough to be placed into an observation room, away from the crazy happenings of the triage hallway/cot area.   This was a welcome change, even though it took them 20 minutes of tugging and pushing my stretcher around the tight hallways of the hospital, before settling on a room that could fit both my stretcher and Melissa’s.  They would put me in one ammonia smelling room only to come fetch me three minutes later to park me in a bio-waste smelling room.  Just as Sandi pushed me into that nasty second room, an orderly came by and said that he hadn’t cleaned that room yet hence the smell of the previous occupant lingering in the air. Nice.  Now I had a throat full of bile and a nose full of sh*t.

So off we went for another session of musical chairs, this time landing me in a room with an 80 year old lady.  Sandi apparently thought that this lady, who was two and a half times my age and had a belly button between her boobs, was my wife.  Sigh… Enter nurse Mandi (never saw nurse Sandi again) who whisked me away yet again, away from my geriatric roommate to finally bring me to the last room I would visit in this hospital.  Mandi pushed me into the double sized room and assured me Melissa was on her way and considering how the last 20 minutes went, I hardly believed her.  But then, a noise found itself to my ear.  It was low a first, almost an unpleasant, incomprehensible buzz that quickly grew louder into a jabbering of words being rapidly and enthusiastically exchanged.  Words in the voice of Melissa and her sister chatting away as they approached the room.  Happy to see Melissa for the first time since we left the ambulance a few hours earlier, I greeted her with a blown kiss.  She smiled too, happy to be back together.

Myriam, Melissa’s sister, brought our bags to the door of the room and repeated a routine she must have done a hundred and sixty times that day: throw on a visitor’s gown and put on rubber gloves.  You see, Melissa and I were in “quarantine” due to the unknown nature of our illness.  So Myriam had no choice but to put on and take off, every time she stepped from or into the room, her gown and gloves.  Even back in the triage area, she had to change when she went between our cots. An annoying precaution to be sure, but to this day she hasn’t been sick!  Myriam was a great help to us and we were thankful that she was there as we are not sure what we would’ve done without her.

Read on here!

If you haven’t done it yet, I recommend you read Sam’s Big Gift Part 1 and Part 2 before proceeding.  It’ll put things into context for you and help you avoid brain cramping questions like: “Why is he wearing socks and sandals in a hospital with Jack & Jill ?”.

Moving right along…

The ambulance pulled into the hospital around 11 A.M. and Jill asked me to get out of the ambulance first.  Now this meant I had to cram myself between Melissa’s stretcher and Jill’s prominent bodily presence.  Jill was sitting and I had to bend over because of the low ceiling, which in terrific ice-breaking combination, lined her face up with my sweaty pyjama-pant ass.  Nice.  Talk about getting to know someone in a hurry. I kept thinking “Squeeze the cheeks and don’t fart!”.  If Jill calls us up in a couple days and says that she caught what we had – well folks, THAT was the point of transmission!

So out I went into what I was hoping would be a stretcher of my own.  Too bad for me, cause a wheelchair was all they had waiting.  Great! Another freaking seat! No beds in this damn hospital! They gently lowered Melissa out of the ambulance and wheeled us into the triage area.  I slouched as low as I could go in the wheelchair which put my knees about even with my forehead… Sexy I know, but I needed to get horizontal and the building full of medical experts couldn’t figure that out.  We spent what seemed to be four hours waiting for our turn, but it was probably more like 15 minutes.  Melissa and Jill were still chatting like pledge sisters while Jack and I were quiet.  I wasn’t in the mood to talk and Jack was checking out the nurses PHD’s.  That’s their asses folks, not their diplomas…  PHD means Pretty Heavy Dumper.  It’s finally our turn and we meet a new nurse that we’ll call Bambi.  Why? Just because we had so many nurses attend to us that I couldn’t remember any of their names. So I’ll give them stripper names, cause everybody remembers a stripper’s name. Right? Huh guys? Are ya with me on this?!? Riiiight, so anyways, back to Bambi in the triage.

Keep reading about Bambi and her friends here…

Ok folks, time for the rest of our mini family crisis story! If you’re unaware of what happened or just need a recap, start off by reading Sam’s Big Gift: Part 1 first, then come back here for the rest.

Last time I left off when the paramedics entered the room, so I that’s where I’ll pick it up. Melissa and I are lying in our bed, side by side, both of us in our pyjamas with wet face cloths on our foreheads and a pile of blankets at our feet when they step into the room. The paramedics, we’ll call them Jack and Jill, were immediately smiling at the sight of us and quickly apologized for doing so, explaining that they found us to be too cute not to smile. Assuring them that we weren’t insulted but would appreciate their help as well as their good humor, they took the hint and proceeded to introduce themselves and ask us a series of symptom, medical and family history questions. They then took our vitals while easily chatting with my Dad, who had come to take care of Sam, and Melissa’s sister Myriam, who was going to follow us to the hospital. They explained to us that the big concern is that we were suffering from dehydration and they strongly recommend we see a doctor, preferably a hospital.

I was feeling relatively OK by that point, my last visit to the porcelain throne had been about 90 minutes earlier and, although my body was very weak, my stomach was feeling stronger. So, I pushed for them to take Melissa because she wasn’t doing good, but Jill cut me off like a neutered dog saying that since we both fell ill around the same time, we both had to go. This would ensure we were sick with the same thing, whether it be viral or food poisoning or something more sinister which they only referred to as a “mediacized public health emergency”. That was, of course, bull. We all new they were talking about the MapleLeaf meat virus outbreak thingy that’s been on the news for a couple weeks now: Listeriose.

Keep reading here!

On the 20th of April, Sam turned 2 months old and yesterday it was time for his second visit to his pediatrician, Dr. B. In case you haven’t read my first posting on Sam’s pediatrician, you can check it out here. I recommend you check it out, just for the picture alone! In short, this dude has some serious, professional quality, ear hair. But all kidding aside, he’s very patient and attentive… which must be tough with all that ear hair

So he checks Sam out and barks a bunch of numbers and words out to his assistant who’s busy scribbling away on her clipboard. Everything is going well and he then pulls down Sam’s diaper to check out his twig and berries. But in doing so, he bends down and sticks his nose about 3 inches from Sam’s 3rd leg…and I’m thinking: “Buddy, if Sam lets it rip, there is no way you make it out dry…“. Sam’s little soldier, stirred by the influx of cool air, suddenly stands at attention I’m already thinking of ways to apologize to Dr. B. for Sam’s quick trigger, but all is well as the diaper is put back into place before any damage is done.

After that close call, the rest of the appointment went well, here are Sam’s 2 month old stats:

• 11.8 lbs (up from 10.1 lbs one month ago)
• 23 1/4 inches long (up from 21 1/4 from a month ago)
• 41 cm head diameter (up from 38.5 one month ago) – which means he will be super intelligent and rule the world

To finish up, Sam got his first 2 vaccination shots He did cry a bit as he took a needle in each thigh. But he soon stopped crying as Melissa held him close and whispered sweet nothings to him to calm him down. Way to go Mommy! I told you she was good right?!? Soon after, Sam was sleeping easy in his car seat, heading home with Mom…while Dad went to work thinking about how lucky they are to spend so much time together Can summer vacation get here fast enough?!?!

Seems like Sam has developed eye slight eye infection. This was evident on Sunday morning due the fact that his left eye was full of gunky yellow…well gunk. This had us on the phone with Infosanté, a super helpful, free and parent calming 24 hour telephone line that connects you directly to a registered nurse with infinite patience. After we asked her about 20 questions in one breath, she calmly told us that the problem Sam was having is normal as the tear ducts of infants are not fully developed and can get infected easily due to bacteria getting caught in the under developed tear duct.

She then tells us that we should clean his eye often with sterile gauze and boiled water (that has been cooled…fool me once!…just kidding ) and that we should put little mittens on him to stop him from gouging his own eye out, which babies will do because they are crazy little humans So now Sam looks like a gunky-eyed boxer.

Long story short, Sunday night 11 pm, Sam wakes us up for a bottle and now his eye is not only gunky, but has some nice complementary swelling as well. So off to the 24 hours pharmacy I go! And, of course, the damn thing isn’t next door, its about 20 minutes away. I get there and talk to the pharmacist, who looks as tired as I am to be there, and get the medicine. Then as I walk out I notice that if you’re in a pharmacy late night, you generally fit into one of the two following groups of people:

1. Fathers, out on that emergency run to get that miracle “make baby happy” drug fix while the Moms are at home dealing with the squirt…or
2. Teens, dropping in to pickup a love glove on their way to the siesta barn for a little somethin’ somethin’ that will eventually get them back to the pharmacy but as a member of group number 1

Group number #2 was confirmed by the fact that all the dudes hovering around the rubber aisle inside were evenly matched as to the number of cars outside with a Chiquita sitting in the passenger seat waiting for her chosen one. It was pretty funny.

Getting back home and applying the meds to Sammy’s pirate-eye was a relief as he seemed more comfortable and less inclined to send his parents out shopping for an eye patch and hook. As I write this, its been almost a full 48 hours since the medicine treatments began, his eye is almost back to normal. Woot!

A happy baby once again means life is good until the next late night excursion!

We are happy to report that Sam is perfectly healthy and normal! He now tips the scales at 10.1 lbs (1lb 7oz gain since hospital leave) and he’s grown 1.5 inches up to 21.25 inches long. His head circumference is now 38.5 cm, I don’t know what that means, but the Doc seemed pleased. The Doc also complemented his nice pink complexion and body movement and flexibility. All in all, the whole appointment lasted 15 minutes and we are glad to say that Dr. B is a very nice man. I could tell this guy had good, long experience as a pediatrician…due to his extremely long ear hair!

OK, well its not that long, but it was very noticeable against the office walls’ pure white back drop. I couldn’t help but stare! Its kind of like meeting someone with a large mole on their ear or something. You can’t help staring at it and you just want to flick it off! All kidding aside, he’s seems very nice and attentive and judging from the baby being examined before Sam, he’s also very patient. This chick was asking every question on the planet and yet he answered her with a calm not seen since Hannibal Lector ate that guys face in that movie . So by the time he rolled around to us and asked us if we had any questions, we smiled at him and said: “No, we just heard them all” But seriously that mother needs to read a little…pick up a book honey, help your kid out a little… GEEZ!

I think its time to go to bed for me, but there are a couple pics of Sammy getting ready to go out! Take care all!

Finding a pediatrician here in Quebec can get you madder than a keebler elf demoted to fudge packer. But thanks to a great support network of co-workers that answered a pleading fathers emails, we have found one! This is a big deal because nothing should compromise the health of Sam, and it is a HUGE weight that has been lifted of our shoulders. Knowing that someone will be following him every step of the way is a very comforting thought as a parent. Along with the InfoSanté, 24 hour telephone hot-line, we feel much more confident now and ready to fight through those, some to come, feverish nights and runny nose days.

As my mother-in-law (second from the right, on the bottom row of the blog header image) says: “Un pédiatre c’est rare comme la marde de Pape!“. Gotta Love her eh???

So that’s it for now, got to run and get ready for the appointment which is in 45 minutes! I will update here when we get back to let everyone know that everything is fine with our Sam!

Cheers all!

P.S. I don’t know if anyone listens to CJAD 800 radio station here in Montreal, but Melissa and I won a new baby prize pack given away weekly to new parents. At my mothers urging, we entered the contest, and behold we have won! So thanks Mom for the heads up! Here’s a part of the email we received from the station, so listen in tomorrow to hear Sam’s name on the radio!

Hi,

The couple you’ve submitted have won CJAD’s Special Delivery tomorrow morning at 6:50 AM! It will be announced on the CJAD Morning Show with Dan Laxer.
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Thanks for listening!

Lisa Fuoco
Promotions Director / Host “The New Lifestyles Show” Sundays 2-3 PM
Montreal’s News Talk Leader CJAD 800

Well we’re back from our weekly doctors appointment and….nothing!

That’s right folks, the baby is still snug and warm in that belly. No dilation was seen so we go back again next week.

Our Doctor says all is fine and everything is progressing normally and Melissa even put on the weight she lost last week. She’s back up to 70.1 kg, which is roughly 154 lbs, which means she’s put on a healthy 20 to 22 lbs since the beginning of her pregnancy.

Can’t say I am not a little disappointed, I was hoping for a little movement! We’re both anxious and excited to finally meeting this little person, but its seems it doesn’t want to meet us just yet. The baby wins this round…

Oh well, stay warm little one, we’ll have plenty of time to meet and greet later!