Life with Bug.

It has been an extremely eventful seven and a half weeks.  As I highlighted in an earlier post, Bug's arrival was a bit earlier than expected, with a couple of minor complications.

Those aside, things were really settling down well.  Kinder Major adapted to life as a big sister with ease.  I attribute that to the up close and personal level of involvement she's had in my niece's life.  Instead of "Woe is me, I'm no longer the center of attention" type feelings, it was definitely more "Whee, when does he start playing with us?"

He's had some gastric concerns - projectile vomiting, failure to gain past his birthweight, but those were relatively minor, since he was at least maintaining at his birthweight.

Fast forward to 14 December.  He was scheduled to have an upper GI study done to try and figure out what was up, since the ultrasound for HPS came back without abnormality.  Long story short, due to some coughing, I postponed his upper GI and scheduled an appointment with his pediatrician for the next day.

Tuesday morning brought severe coughing paroxysms.  Instead of waiting for his appointment at 4 PM, I phoned the office at 8 AM when they opened.  By then, the coughing fits were causing him to become dusky.

By the end of the day, we were safely ensconced within the walls of Shands at UF.  His oxygen saturation was dropping into the 80's with each coughing fit, despite nebulization treatments and chest physiotherapy.  A chest x-ray done earlier in the day showed a small infiltrate which may have been pneumonia, may have been a small collapse.

We were discharged on 17 December without a firm diagnosis, but theories ranged from pertussis to cystic fibrosis.

At the follow up appointment on 18 December with his pediatrician, after seeing that the paroxysms were no longer leaving him dusky around the mouth but all over, she really felt that it was pertussis and treated accordingly.  Within 48 hours we saw a marked improvement overall.

Bug was nearly symptom free by Christmas!  Hooray!

Since then, we've had a few follow up visits, and gotten his upper GI study done.  (Incidentally, everything showed normal function.)

The amount of vomiting he does has decreased from every feeding to once or twice a day and he's actually gained a full two pounds, bringing him up to 11 lbs 8 oz.

As of right now, we're holding off on the sweat test for Cystic Fibrosis, keeping him at an increased caloric intake (22 kcals on Nestle Good Start formula combined with the little bit of nursing he does,) and watching to see how things unfold over the next four weeks.

Thanks for tuning in, and thank you deeply for your support.  Keep an eye out for more product reviews, a tutorial, cloth diaper ratings and rantings, and more updates on life as an Accidental Mommy!

Review: Burt's Bees Baby Bee Diaper Ointment

You know, I don't think I have anything negative to say about this stuff.  I first discovered it almost five years ago when Kinder Major was newly hatched, and fell in love with it from day one.

Let's start with the basics, shall we?

Ingredients:  Being that it is a zinc oxide formulation, it's thick and creamy.  It's paraben, petrolatum and mineral oil free.  It contains sweet almond oil, beeswax, vitamin E, calendula, chamomile, jojoba, lavender, rosemary, canola, and soy oil.  All of these wonderfully healing and soothing ingredients blend together perfectly.  (No, really.  Consult any herbal, all of these extracts compliment eachother.  They're not just tossed in willy nilly like you'll get with some products.)

Scent:  Has a very soothing, fresh scent.  Not terribly overpowering.

Feel on the skin:  Oh wow.  A lot of zinc oxide based ointments can become gritty, but this stays smooth and creamy.

Does it stain, you ask?  Not that I've encountered thus far.  It's also safe for cloth diapers.

Most importantly, does it work?  Abso-freakin-lutely.  I use this on EVERYTHING, from scratches to bruises to bugbites.  I even use it on actual diaper rash!

This product gets ten starts on a one to five scale, with five being the best.**

One word of caution:  Upon first opening the tube, some of the oils can rise to the top and separate a bit.  It's best to massage the tube well before each use.

**I am NOT being paid to endorse this product.  I reallty do just love it that much.