Norovirus

Tuesday night was rough, y'all. I mean ROUGH.

At 4pm I was feeling perfectly fine and ready to get home from work. But by 5pm, the nausea I was feeling was so overwhelming I could hardly drive. Then by 5:30, I was vomiting every 15 minutes. That is not an exaggeration on my part. I am serious.

I thought it was something bad I had eaten. Or maybe just a little bug. But it kept going. And going. And going. I couldn't keep water down, much less medicine. I started shaking, started crying, started feeling like this was never going to end.

So by this time, we had tried going to bed. Phillip was sound asleep. Elayne was asleep. But I was still having to run to the bathroom every 15 minutes. So I woke Phillip up, we piled into the car with our sleeping baby, and headed to the Emergency Room. I needed fluids and I needed them right then.

Within 20 minutes of an IV of fluids and anti-nausea meds (Hello Zofran, my sweet sweet friend, I missed you so much), I was feeling so much better. I got a dose of antibiotics (for some reason this bug was responding to antibiotics in other patients so I said go for it), and a GI cocktail as well.

Norovirus and Gastroenteritis = the diagnosis. It is running rampant up here in the DFW area. So watch out y'all.

After my meds and some prescriptions to boot, it was off to bed. I felt tons better but was so exhausted. My body had been put through the ringer. I slept from 12am, when we got home, to 10am. I woke up for some water and then literally slept from 11am to 5pm. I picked up Elayne from school, had some soup for dinner, and was back in bed to sleep by 9pm. I needed that sleep.

I think that might have been the worst I have ever felt from being sick. That was truly awful. And in case you were wondering, clogged toilets while you have a stomach bug might be the worst thing ever. So gross.

Plumbing Master

Sometimes I wonder how I've made it through life all these years. I wonder how I managed to get through a bachelors degree - and almost a masters degree - plus keeping a home and having a baby.

I wonder this because at times, I do really stupid things. I mean really stupid.

Like the other night, when I was cleaning the house. I saw a wonderful idea on Pinterest I just had to try. Why? Because Pinterest said I should and some pinner who pinned this pin a million times before me, swore up and down that it was the best cleaning tip since the invention of the vacuum cleaner. You're sold, right? I was too.

Never mind the fact that it sounds ridiculous in hindsight. I mean, hello, did I not think it through? Naturally, this "tip" failed in a big big way.

What was it, you ask? Well. This Pinterest pin said to take one of those fancy Magic Erasers, cut them in half, and put one half in each toilet. Let it sit, it will dissolve, and then you'll have the cleanest toilets this side of the Mississippi!

I told you I wasn't thinking. I told you I have stupid moments. Yes, I tried it. Yes, they clogged both toilets. No we did not have a plunger anywhere in sight (ummm I know I bought one at one point in time but I guess we've moved sixteen thousand times since then). And yes, they clogged at 10pm when we were getting ready for bed.

I dragged Phillip out of bed while I tried to handle the soaking wet floors that were pooling up from the overflow. He drove to the store to get not one but two plungers - I wasn't going to take any chances. He came back. I became a master plumber. And we're still dealing with slow running toilets. Ugh.

I'm stupid.

Not So Fast

The new formula doesn't work.

Yeah. It's been quite the upset for us too.

After Elayne's chiropractic adjustment success, her wheezing, congestion, and coughing went down tremendously. We thought we were finished with it. But low and behold, the adjustment cured the day-to-day allergic reaction, but not the root cause.

Since Saturday, it's been really easy to notice when she does have congestion, coughing, and wheezing. And that time is halfway through a bottle until about 15 minutes after eating. Yep. Textbook food allergy. Her stomach is also not handling the formula well at all like we originally thought.

While the reaction is a million times better than when we started this process a couple weeks ago, we aren't there yet. The pediatrician has giving us one final expensive formula to try. If this one doesn't work, we'll have to resort to even more expensive prescription formula. Even with insurance taking care of half the bill, it's way more expensive than even the fancy over-the-counter special stuff we're using.

I'm thankful our pediatrician has free samples. And I'm thankful that those free samples will also be available once we pinpoint what formula Elayne needs. While inconvenient to drive to pick them up on a weekly basis, the gas is cheaper than the formula.

Prayers would be appreciated that we find the perfect formula to bring Elayne to a stress-free eating routine. And it'd be nice if the over-the-counter stuff works so we can utilize coupons.

Milk/Whey/Seasonal/Everything Allergy

Elayne officially has an allergy to cow's milk.

This saga pretty much began when she was born, although we didn't realize that until we started looking back. She's always had, what we called, "seasonal allergies." She always had a cough, was congested, had some drainage, etc. And sometimes, she had a combination of all three.

Our pediatrician suggested early on that it might be a food allergy, but we wanted to see if it would clear up on its own since Elayne loved the formula she was on. Months went by with no improvement. But then a couple of weeks ago, Elayne got even worse. She couldn't lay down to fall asleep and would wake up coughing every night. It was quite pitiful.

We took her into the pediatrician once again, this time determined to get to the bottom of things. Again, he suggested it might be a food allergy and this time we were ready to hear that. We started with a whey-based formula, which most babies with a food allergy take really well. The way I understand it, milk-based formula is made up of two parts - whey and milk protein. When babies initially show signs of an allergic reaction, it is to the milk protein. Therefore, a 100% whey formula is best.

However, this formula made Elayne even worse. We immediately had to change to another formula that contains neither whey nor milk protein in its natural state. Soy formula won't work either, since most babies who are allergice to milk/whey are also allergic to soy. Hmph.

With the change, we saw marked improvement. Elayne still had some wheezing as a result of drainage. But we pretty much realized that was probably due to seasonal allergies on top of the food allergy. Can't catch a break.

But this weekend we turned a corner. Elayne had her first chiropractic adjustment! I know what you're thinking... how is this crazy woman okay with having a chiropractic intern snapping her wee little baby's neck!? woah there tiger. That's not at all what they do with babies. Nope. With babies it's more like a little massage.

And her wheezing is gone. Just with one appointment. It still happens every once in a while. We go back twice a week for two weeks, then once a week for two weeks, then once a month. And that should solve everything. I am even more of a believer of chiropractic care now!

Sweet pea is on the mend and hopefully that much closer to feeling better.

5 Months Old!

Be ready for a slew of new posts since I have a weekend at home to catch up. ;)

Height: 25.5 inches

Weight: 13.2 pounds 

Rolling over, even though I have yet to see it.

Sleeping without being swaddled.

Eating cereal and about to start new foods.

Trying to get to the bottom of a food allergy.