On Friday night we went out for Chinese food and met with Amber and Peter (We went to the same high school) and their 5 month old, Jake, who is absolutely adorable by the way. We had been intending to meet up for weeks and were finally able to coordinate. It's always so nice to go out with other new parents because there is that unspoken bond of understanding.
Alex slept through most of the meal but started kicking up a fuss at the tail end. A little unusual for him but at the same time there's no such thing as predictability and routine at his age. We came home and had somewhat of a fussy evening because he seemed upset and we couldn't figure out why. We put it down to hunger and being overtired.
After irregular patterns of rain all May, the weather finally picked the next day, we took advantage of the clear skies and went to nearby Campbell downtown.
Alex usually loves car journeys and they put him right to sleep. He was quiet as ever on our way to Campbell but about 5 minutes before we parked he totally lost his mind and started screaming and crying. We thought maybe he was just a little too hot so we took him out and put him in his little stroller and went for a stroll. He cried through the entire stroll.
Then we thought maybe he was hungry. Luckily I had brought a bottle with us. The milk calmed him down a bit but after about 5 minutes he started up again. Matt figured Alex needed a burp so we took him out of the stroller and walked around with him upright.
Alex still didn't calm down. Feeling a bit distressed we decided the best thing would be to get back in the car and head home.
He screamed the entire car journey home which is totally unlike him.
When we got home, we concluded it was gas. His tummy felt quite hard. I called the advice nurse and she said to give him some smithecon aka gas drops. They helped kind of but we had fits of inconsolable crying/screaming in 10 minute pockets off and on all evening.
My mother's intuition kicked in and made me think it was something more than just gas. I called the advice nurse again that night but she said I the earliest appointment I could get would be for Tuesday at 9am. If it was urgent I could take him to the ER. But to be honest he didn't seem critical enough for the ER but at the same time not well enough to be comfortable.
On Sunday Alex woke up screaming again. He slept okay at night but all of a sudden would wake up what seemed like a jolt and then it was crying, crying and more crying. He felt slightly warm to me so I took his temperature and it came up as 101.4.
Once again I was on the phone with the advice nurse who said 101 was actually okay and said if it turns to 104 or 105 then I need to be worried. To me that sounded ridiculously high and as a new mom felt quite exasperated but decided the nurse probably knew what she was talking about. We gave Alex the generic Tylenol (since all the infant Tylenol has been on recall) and it seemed to soothe him slightly. He LOVED the taste of it too. I guess if all I had was milk for two and a bit months, I'd greedily want something cherry and delicious too.
It's only been a week but I can't even remember Monday. I know I had plans to meet with a friend but canceled last minute (sorry!) because Alex needed lots and lots of cuddles. He seemed to be at his worse about 5am on Tuesday. I had to take him into our playroom and shut the door because he was super loud and I didn't want to wake everyone up. At least our appointment was only a few hours a way.
Apart from our own wedding, I don't think I have ever wanted to be on time so much for an appointment. I think we even got there a little early. Usually the wait is annoyingly long but this time, thankfully, we were taken care of right away.
Alex was diagnosed with his first ear infection. Poor little guy. That explained all the screaming. He also had somewhat of a runny nose which I had heard off and on all weekend long and it was from a cold. I have no idea where he picked the cold up from. We hadn't seen anyone all week and had barely gone out.
Anyway, we were prescribed amoxycillin (bubble gum flavor...nummy nummy). Alex likes this medication even more than the cherry tylenol. He stopped the screaming fits during the day for the most part but would still wake up with a jolt in the morning and lose his mind. His ears must have really been hurting him. :(
We coincidentally had ordered a co-sleeper that fits in between the two of us directly on our own bed and have let him sleep with us this week. He seemed a lot more comfortable being next to us and I felt like I was able to soothe him considerably more throughout the night.
So yes, that was our crazy week. And our last week before going back to work on the 7th!
Awww....poor Alex...hope he feels better!!
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