Aiden made his first trip to the hospital on November 30th. He’s now been twice more. I’ve also been once for my back. It’s been a busy couple of weeks.
Coffee Bean Up Nose
First, since “Aiden yike coffee”, we often let him smell a coffee bean. Mostly this would be at Moja, but one night, we had a new bag and he wanted a bean at home. Ok. Except, when I wasn’t looking, his gently sniff must have been not-so-gentle, and suddenly Aiden turned to me saying “coffee bean up nose.” Indeed.
Not wanting the coffee bean to get lodged further up his nose or wanting to hurt his nose getting it out, we took Aiden straight to the ER. We checked into the hospital, which was very busy, and were sent to First Aid. As we were being seated, one of the nurses told us a quick way we could try on our own to blow it out. Ianiv blew into Aiden’s mouth hard, covering the unaffected nostril, and out came the bean after a few blows. Easy as that.
Next time we drove by the hospital, Aiden exclaimed: “Hospital, Mommy! Coffee bean out of nose.”
Croupy Goodness
Unfortunately, we were back very soon. Two nights ago, Aiden woke up coughing and barely able to breathe. He was very afraid and shaking from it. I could tell from the rasping and bark-like cough that we had croup on our hands.
Though I was able to calm Aiden down quickly and he very desperately wanted to return to sleep, he was labouring while he was breathing and had difficulty getting into a deep sleep. When his next fit of coughing came on, we bundled him off to the ER yet again. He was a little confused, thinking it was morning, but he was amazing. The cold air calmed down the airways a bit and he was happy watching some videos.
The hospital wasn’t busy this time, so we were very quickly taken to Acute Care and put in an open children’s room, complete with a tv playing cartoons. Aiden was more than happy to be there. We were seen by a nurse within 5 minutes and a doctor not long after that. The case was deemed mild and we gave him one dose of steroids there with 2 more to take home to decrease the swelling in his throat. It worked within about an hour.
Aiden was a little confused after he came home, asking to eat then play, but eventually we got him to settle down and by 4am we were able to finally go to bed. A short and eventful night.
Aiden is still VERY grumpy, essentially making him the most whiny toddler ever, saying no to everything, even things he asks for two seconds before. It’s exhausting. We watch a lot of tv. Hoping he’s ok by Christmas Day!
I put my back out on Saturday night, the second time this pregnancy. The first time my uterus shifted and the baby temporarily sat on a nerve. On Saturday, after organizing our livingroom for the Christmas tree, I unthinkingly bent over ‘one last time’ and didn’t bend my knees. Immediate spasm. Really bad.
I’ve strained my low back before, but never as bad as this. The last time that came close was in high school, and before that my original low back injury at age 11 when I took a bad fall.
I was hoping that I’d feel better after sleeping. No such luck. Somehow I managed to sleep through the night in obscure positions, struggling every few hours to get up and pee (thanks pregnancy). By morning, I was spasming constantly. The mornings have been the worst, after the strain of sleeping on my side or back all night.
That morning, in tears, I decided I needed help. I wasn’t going to make it through the weekend without some pain management. We spent 3 hours in the hospital, me pacing most of that time to avoid sitting, before I was given narcotics. A hard choice to make when pregnant. The dose was small, but it was enough to take the edge off.
I had to take the narcotic twice on Sunday and once on Monday morning and Tuesday morning again, recovering still from all the massage and chiropractic treatments I had on Monday. It was hard not to be able to pick up or sit with my son. To not be able to even put on my own socks.
Today I was able to drive and mostly take care of Aiden, though Ianiv worked at home to help me get Aiden in and out of the car and his crib. I managed my pain with Tylenol and ice only. Hopefully another week and I will feel better.
Aiden didn’t love not being able to play with me or be carried, but he’s had lots of love. And books. Here is how he spent most of his time with grandmas, who had to ditch work to help me:
Today was an intense day of Doctor visits for us. It all started this morning with our first trip to the Emergency Room at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Yesterday, Aiden fell and developed a limp after. I didn’t see the fall, but usually falls are just a normal part of his day. In this case, he did immediately complain about one of his toes hurting, though nothing was touch sensitive. The limp didn’t go away by the end of the day, or by this morning. He couldn’t comfortably wear some of his shoes.
So, off to the hospital we went. I opted for the hospital over the clinic just in case we needed X-Rays, and heard Children’s was better diagnostically speaking. Thankfully it was not busy and we were able to see the doctor right away. Aiden watched tv for about 5 minutes before his first examination – lots of bending and prodding and whatnot. It was a bit difficult to get him to walk around willingly, but he seemed to get into it once I put a video on the iPhone for him to hold.
After two doctors, no skeletal injuries could be found. The best guess was a ligament or muscle injury that should heal on its own. If not, we’re back to the hospital this weekend. For now, we’re just using Advil. At least Mommy has some peace of mind watching her little baby walk around with a limp (ugh, the heartstrings!).
As if a morning of doctors wasn’t enough, it was my turn this afternoon to see the midwife for my 16 week appointment. Everything was quick and Aiden was very happy to hear the baby’s heartbeat. He still wants to “see” the baby, but he’ll have to wait for the ultrasound for that!
