Some people go to Florida for March Break....

....instead we went to the hospital.  Last Sunday, Finn spiked a fever (102.5F/39.2C).  It magically disappeared later in the afternoon.  Well, maybe not magically, I'm sure the Advil helped....it was more magical that the fever didn't come back that day or night.  He woke up Monday morning happy as a clam and his usual self so we didn't think much of it.  Unfortunately the fever came back around lunch time on Monday.  Monday night as I was putting Finn to bed, I noticed he was wheezing.  I was having a minor freak-out but he went to sleep and the wheeze disappeared.  Since it disappeared I decided we were okay for the night - no sense traipsing off to the hospital if the kid is sleeping!  James was on March Break so it was his job to be up with Finn in the night and while I wasn't entirely coherent it felt like Finn was up a fair bit.  Around 5 a.m. I heard Finn crying so I got up to give James a break.  We were snuggling in our chair when I noticed that he was really struggling to breathe.  As in, I could feel his entire chest and stomach lifting off of my chest with all of the effort.  So scary.  Somehow Finn fell back asleep.  I put him in his crib, informed James that I was taking Finn to the hospital and quickly changed.

I'm not sure what I expected when I got to the hospital.  I think I thought that they would check him over and tell me that he was okay but maybe give him some medication.  As soon as the nurse stuck the monitor on his toe in Triage, I knew that wouldn't be the case.  His blood oxygen level was about 93% (98% is good, you need supplemental oxygen once you're down around 90%) and his heart rate was around 150 beats per minute.  It wasn't long before we were in a room and a nurse was bringing him an inhalation treatment to help open up his lungs.  A doctor quickly saw us and told us that Finn would need a chest x-ray and that it would be horrible.  He was right.  They stick your baby in this contraption that holds their hands over their head:

Obviously this is not Finn...he was nowhere near this happy!

I understand the why, but the reality is that your kid is absolutely SCREAMING and then, because I am pregnant, I have to leave the room.  I have to leave the room and listen to my baby boy screaming as they take pictures of his chest.  How absolutely horrible.  I think this was the most traumatizing experience of our entire stay...for me, anyway.  The doctor quickly got the results of the chest x-ray and told me it was abnormal.  This means that Finn is automatically put on antibiotics and as well, he will be admitted so that they can continue to give him inhalation treatments and keep an eye on him.  Wow.  So now we're actually going to be staying at the hospital.  This is something I never could have predicted.  Out in the hall I can hear nurses talking about RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), which ends up being Finn's diagnosis.  A nurse comes and does a professional booger suction - disgusting and seems like it would hurt, but very effective.  Another nurse comes and takes blood.  Of course, Finn has fallen asleep in between each procedure - sleep, chest x-ray, sleep, booger suction, sleep, blood work, sleep.  Poor little man!

Getting an inhalation treatment in his room...sometimes he was okay with it, sometimes not-so-much.

Eventually we make our way up to the Pediatric Unit where James joined us.  Because RSV is so contagious, Finn was in isolation.  During his brighter moments, Finn would point at the door of the room as if to say, "Get me out of this place!"  Who could blame him?!

When can we go home???

They brought us a high chair - super thoughtful.  While Finn didn't eat much during his stay, it was another place for him to sit and play.

He was there for two days and two nights.  Inhalation treatments and vitals every four hours.  Steroid injections and antibiotics every 12 hours.  Blood work every morning, and twice on Wednesday because his blood samples clotted.  I have no idea how parents endure weeks and months of hospital stays because it is incredibly hard.  I also have no idea how single parents do it.  I am incredibly thankful and lucky to have an amazing husband!

We were happy to bring Finn home on Thursday even if he still was a really sick little boy.  It was kind of like having a newborn again since he basically wanted to drink milk, sleep and snuggle.  Thankfully, on Saturday afternoon he started to perk up and get active again.  He still has some work to do but there are times when we can't feel the rattle in his chest and when his breathing is normal (not fast or loud).  Tomorrow we go see our family doctor for follow-up.  We're hoping that he tells us we don't have to give him his puffer every four hours...especially during the night when he's dead asleep and giving him his puffer wakes him up and keeps him awake for the next two hours!

Oh yes, and for the record, we were supposed to be in Florida this March Break with my parents, niece and nephew.  We had decided that with baby #2 on the way, we should probably stay home.  Thank you baby #2 for saving us from a hospital stay in Florida!

Turning 1

While Finn's birthday was awhile ago...as in three whole months ago, I'm still feeling like I should write a little something about it.  Before James went off to work in the morning we let Finn open his presents.  The hit of the day was his new 'baby'.  All fall, every time we went somewhere with a doll, Finn just had to have it.  He particularly liked the dolls at daycare so we decided to get him one of his very own.  This one came from Scholar's Choice and seemed perfect since the little guy even has a soother - just like our own soother addict!

Happy boy!

Figuring out the baby's soother...

In the afternoon we met up with a bunch of our mom and baby friends at Kidscape.  I remember having the whole day planned out - when he would nap, when we would leave to meet everyone, all details taken care of.  Of course Finn's naps didn't go according to schedule that day....and of course he didn't nap on the way to Kidscape the way I had planned, but it was his birthday and he had fun and that's all that really matters!

"What do you think, Eddie?"

He loved riding the animals!

When we got home it was time for supper and brownies.  Since we were having his birthday party the following weekend, we thought that making and eating two cakes seemed a little excessive.  So instead, the birthday boy had a brownie.  Unlike most one-year-old's, our boy did not dive into his brownie treat.  No big bites for our boy.  Just itsy-bitsy pieces. ;)

The chocolate actually made him giddy to the point of giggles.  So absolutely adorable, not to mention hilarious!  The caffeine bought us an extra 45 minutes or so of awake time with him, so instead of going to bed at 6 p.m. (as per usual) he made it until almost 7....rock on!

Happy birthday, Finnybean!  I can't believe it's been a whole year since you came into our lives.  I'm so glad I could spend the whole day with you, celebrating YOU and all of the wonderful things that have happened over the past year.

Love Mommy

Apparently....

.....being pregnant and a mom to a one-year-old and working full-time are not conducive to me keeping up Finn's blog.  Talk about some HUGE mama guilt!  It's certainly not from a lack of things to post - his first birthday, Christmas (his second, but what kind of felt like his first!), weeks of not sleeping (literally Finn thought that morning started anywhere from 2:30-4:30 a.m.), pulling up on everything and cruising around, babbling up a storm, taking an interest in body parts, officially starting daycare (not just visiting) and having every bug under the sun (that comes along with starting daycare)....there is lots to share!  

For me, being pregnant sucks the life and energy right out of me.  It's actually quite impressive that this time around I am making it through the day without yawning every 5 minutes.  But by the time Finn is in bed (around 6 p.m. no less) I am completely exhausted and find it hard to do anything but sit on the couch and fall asleep.  And the nausea.....ugh.  All I have to say is thank goodness for Diclectin!  Without it I would be a complete mess.  So the reality is this - I don't do much but go to work, eat, sleep and be a mom.  My friends know not to call after 8 p.m. (and even that is pushing it!).  Don't get me wrong - we're incredibly excited about the arrival of this new little one (around July 12, 2011), the growing of little ones just exhausts me!

But enough about me.  Our Finny Mac is sick AGAIN.  This, after spending most of November with the daycare-green runny nose.  After having diarrhea his second week at daycare.  After having a nasty fever for a week over the Christmas holidays at which time he also seriously cut back on his food and drink intake causing him to lose about 2 lbs.   After going to the doctor in early January and getting a prescription for Amoxicillan and getting hives and finding out it really was from Amoxicillan all those months ago.  After today, waking up with goopy, runny eyes....an ear infection.  Sigh.  More antibiotics.  I'm thinking this time he's gonna kick it and kick it good!  Because (a) that's what antibiotics do, and (b) he has to, plain and simple!

The funniest part of my day was giving Finn his first dose of his new antibiotic.  I was a little concerned because I didn't know if he would like the taste.  He had this drug when he was just a wee thing and they were trying to heal his abscess with antibiotics.  He reeeeeeeeeeeally didn't like it that time and it seemed to upset his tummy.  But then again, he was barely 2 months old.  Tonight I squirted the pink stuff into his mouth and was promptly met with the sign for....you guessed it, "more!".  What a guy.

Winding Down

There are only a couple of weeks left of my maternity leave.  Since the end of September it has felt like everything from that point on would be about getting Finn ready for daycare - deciding which daycare he would be going to, trying to wean him (notice I say 'trying'), doing daycare visits.  In the end, it hasn't been as much about getting ready for daycare as I would have thought.  There are actually days when I have to remind myself that it's important for us to get another daycare visit in, rather than going and doing some fun mom and baby thing....or maybe that's the part of me that's in denial!  I think that overall, I will be happy to be back at work.  I love being home with our little munchkin but I don't think I'm cut out to be a stay-at-home mom (so I say now...I reserve the right to change my mind after I'm back at work!).  The daycare visits are as much for me as they are for Finn - something I'm not afraid to admit.  With every visit he gets more comfortable and so do I.  But really and truly, I think he's going to love it there.  Now when we go in, he smiles and crawls off to play right away.  And that's just after a few short visits.  I know there will be an adjustment when he's actually there all day without me, but it's reassuring to know that at this point in his little life it's a place that's associated with fun and happiness.

Halloween

Our little monkey didn't nap well on Halloween (and he currently goes to bed around 6 p.m.) so we only made it out to a couple of houses this year.  But that didn't stop him from being super cute!

crawling around at our Mommy Group Halloween Party

Find Finn!

Finn's Fall Frolic

Last Friday, the weather was absolutely beautiful.  So Finn and I made the spontaneous decision to go out to Springwater Conservation Area for a photo shoot.  It was something I had wanted to do and I figured that the weather really couldn't get much better - warm and sunny with a gentle breeze.

Finn wasn't quite sure to make of the leaves at first....

 but after the initial 'ick' factor he decided he quite liked them! :)

practicing his crawling!

While we were there, we drank in the deliciousness of fall.  That fall smell that is a combination of leaves and cool, crisp air and campfire.  We watched as leaves fluttered to the ground.  Finn kicked around and waved leaves in the air.  I told Finn how this is the best season of all.  Because how can you resist the beauty of the colours and the feel of fresh air on your face?  It's always been my favourite.  And Springwater is probably one of my favourite places to go this time of year.  One of my favourite places with one of my favourite people.  It doesn't get much better than this!