Side Effects May Occur

Warning: Excitability may occur, especially in children under 2.

Excitability. That is the understatement of the year!!

This week has been a very interesting week due to the side effects of Gavin's medications. One of the medicines is to be given every 6 hours. Around an hour after each dose is given, my child transforms into a completely different child!

He gets so much energy he doesn't know what to do with himself. He also is SILLY!

Every day Gavin brings me book after book to read. He sits and listens for as long as I am willing to read.
On his medicine he brings the book along with a mask or hat for me to wear, turns on his loudest toy, swings his arms and only listens to a few pages before he throws the book and searches for a new one.

The "excitability" of this medicine has taught him to spin in circles, hang and swing from the table, and believe it or not, talk back.

Gavin climbed on top of my hope chest. He has never been interested in climbing on this before.
Mommy: "Gavin sit down."
Gavin: "No"
Mommy: "Yes sir, sit down."
Gavin: "No"
Mommy: "Yes"
Gavin: "No"
He had never even said "No" by itself before that day. What on earth!

It also does something to his tongue. He pinches it, sticks it out all day and even tried to lick my tongue. He also took a textured paci today that he has always spit out. It isn't swollen, so I figure it goes numb or tingles.

All of this I can handle except it makes him hit. There is a 2 hour span after his medicine that he wants to hit everything, including himself. He slaps his face and throws things around. I have kept my patience and gently hold his hands to distract him because I know it is not him, but the medication.

His other medicine has caused diarrhea and a loss of appetite. I am afraid of dehydration and weight loss. He still has 5 days to go.

Gavin's visit with a Gastroenterologist is tomorrow at 2:30. We are praying that he will feel no tests will need to be done that require anesthesia.

Update

We took Gavin to the doctor this afternoon. He has an upper respiratory infection, ear infection and sinus congestion.
I don't know how he manages to keep on playing!

Give me your pain, my love

It is 3:45 a.m. I decided to blog to officially put an end to tonight. Around 2 a.m. Gavin suddenly woke up screaming. He hasn't felt well since Friday and it has slowly gotten worse. This morning he woke up with a matted eye and it turned pink as the day went on. He is gagging on anything that comes anywhere near his mouth, sneezing, coughing, mild fevers, and taking multiple naps.

As I said, Gavin woke up at 2 a.m. screaming. He was inconsolable. This is not something we are used to experiencing. We tried reading his favorite books, singing songs, lots of hugs and love and nothing seemed to work. I FINALLY got him to take a bottle and he fell asleep.

10 minutes later....

He wakes up again screaming. Again we try everything we know to calm him down. Finally I go to YouTube and play his favorite Noggin songs. This works, but he starts coughing and throws up. He smelled like vomit and I thought a bath might distract and cheer him up. I was wrong. He looked simply awful. Oh how my heart cannot stand my love being in any type of pain.

After his bath he throws up again and again. We didn't have time to put jammies on him before he was covered again.. myself and the bedspread included. Fortunately Gavin spotted Leah, a stuffed lamb that plays a lullaby and says a prayer, that he has always found comforting. Neither of us had on much clothing from the mess so we cuddled skin to skin and listened to Leah's songs.

He fell right asleep.

I hope this lasts.

As soon as the doctor's office opens tomorrow I am making an appointment.

Now if I can only get him in jammies without waking him.

My poor boy. At least he is asleep. His eye starting to turn pink from earlier today.
He literally had not been out of the house since last Monday. I don't know how he manages to get sick.

Sick Saturday

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,
Last night I went to bed not feeling so well and this morning I woke up feeling worse. I have a cough, the sneezes, fever, gunky eyes, and lots of sounds coming from my diaper!! I thought it would be a good idea to show you what I do in the morning, but instead I am showing you what I do when I am sick.

Daddy made blueberry muffins and I liked them! Since I am sick, Mommy moved my highchair into the living room and let me watch Mickey Mouse Club House while I ate. Then Mommy felt SO bad for me that she let me eat my yogurt right on the couch! But shhh.. don't tell Daddy! After my yogurt I tried calling 555-GRANDMA but nobody answered! I thought that maybe if you heard my pitiful cough, you'd send me a present! I wasn't feeling well so Mommy gave me some medicine for my fever and I tried eating some fruit. My tummy didn't want any and I threw it up. :( Mommy took off my PJs and cleaned my face. She laid me down on the couch and before she had time to get new clothes, I had fallen asleep. My early morning phone call must have worked because when I got up from my nap I had a surprise! Grandma and Grandpa sent me a present! Mommy read me my new book and said after my bath I could try on my new shirt. It fits! -- See me standing in my car? You wouldn't believe the fuss Daddy and Mommy make over it! I've only fallen twice! Geez! I felt much better after my bath so I decided to be a big help and "organize" everything in the kitchen cabinets. Mommy had just ran out of things to put in the dishwasher so this gave her more to clean! She told me thank you, but there was something fishy about that thanks... I was only trying to help! :)
Mommy was just telling Daddy the other day that she loves the Rainforest Cafe and they should take me there someday. Since you have one in San Antonio maybe we can go to yours! I hope you enjoyed a Saturday morning with me and thank you for my surprise!!

Gavin Facts:

Just some little truths about my favorite 1 year old:

• Gavin turned 12 months with 2 teeth, and 13 months with 5! The 5th tooth was a total surprise. I happened to notice it while brushing his teeth. This would explain the MANY restless nights.

• He has a new animal sound. "What does the cat say? "MEOW" It is super cute and sounds just like a cat! It is my goal this week to get all his animal sounds on video to share.

• Gavin recently got his FIFTH haircut. He received his first when he was 8 months, so he needs one once a month. It grows so fast!! I would have pictures to share but my husband protests each one so I have to do them secretly when he is away. If Levi had his way, Gavin's hair would be past his shoulders! I do it myself because it frightens me to trust anyone else with scissors that close to my baby's face!

• Gavin is eating new foods!!! He will eat bread, (Sara Lee cinnamon bread is his FAVORITE!) sliced cheese, and for the first time today he ate thinly sliced deli meat! I had to hold in my excitement when he took it just fine! This is a HUGE step for him!! He will also eat macaroni and cheese. It has to be small spirals cut in half. Yes that is tiny, but anything bigger he will gag on and throw up. He is also eating yogurt and I allow him to use the spoon himself. He is getting to be such a big boy! My next goal is to have him eat fresh fruits and steamed veggies. Anything with that type of slimy texture makes him throw up, so I have my work cut out for me.

• Gavin has learned to collapse himself when being taken away from a desired object. He has only done this twice and didn't try it again when I picked him back up. Neither time had a whine to go along with it, but it is a sign of what is to come soon enough! -- Or could I be so lucky to skip the terrible twos?? Yeah, I wish!!

• Gavin completely forgets I exist the moment my mom walks through the door. His loves his Nana! She is the only person he will cry for when they leave our house. (he will for me on occasion but usually only when he is tired.) He also recently will not come to me when I go to my mom's to pick him up after an afternoon of fun. It hurts my feelings a little but it is nice knowing he isn't upset when I am gone.
  

Gavin fell asleep on the couch like this last night. I thought it was too cute! Unfortunately he woke up at 3:00 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. I am not sure why. He wasn't fussy at all. He was just awake. Since I hadn't fallen asleep yet we went downstairs and watched tv until 5:30. It was nice to have a little company. I have been falling asleep as the sun is rising recently, then joining Gavin for part of his nap. I am tired of being tired!
And here is the reason I have time to blog today. Levi came home early today and is taking a nap with Gavin. It is nice to have alone time!

Kai Gabriel Kirkpatrick

Tonight we got to visit the brand new son, Kai Gabriel, of Aaron and Lauren Kirkpatrick! 7.7 lbs and 20 1/2 inches. Gavin was the same minus 1 ounce, but Kai still seemed TINY! He is simply beautiful! A few weeks ago we went swimming with Aaron and Lauren and ever since I have been excited to get to hold a newborn before baby #2 arrives. I expected it to make me giddy and excited, but instead it gave me anxiety! I actually had to pause and take a few deep breathes in the hallway! The anxiety wasn't about the baby, but the labor and delivery. Lauren delivered Kai in the same hospital Gavin was born, so a flood of memories came back to us! We are so happy for them and can't wait to see Kai and our littlest one playing together soon!

Daddy wheeling his son to their new room. Gavin helped carry the luggage for them.
We got a glimpse of what Gavin will be like as a big brother tonight. He showed a little bit of jealously when Levi or I held Kai. He wanted to touch the baby sooo badly! Gavin just doesn't look old enough to be a big brother, does he?!?! I know he will be great at it though! Lots to look forward to!

Aaron and Levi with their boys.
Sweet baby Kai!

1st appointment

Gavin had his first appointment with Dr Watson, a children's eating specialist, this morning. First let me say, she was wonderful! I feel so lucky to have found 2 such caring doctors for Gavin.

We went to discuss Gavin's eating habits and his refusal to eat, strong gag reflex and reflux problems. We came up with a plan to slowly thicken the purees to prepare him for table food. She wants us to puree table foods because most babies refuse the bland taste of baby food by 18 months and if that happens with Gavin, we are in a world of trouble. She also suggested we put butter in his veggies for extra calories. I will admit my first thought was, I am not giving my child butter! I am still iffy about it, but I think I will grit my teeth and try it out.
Dr Watson is going to check with his peditrition to make sure we can spare the risk of cutting back on eating solids while a new routine is establishshed.

Only 5% of children continue to show signs of GERD past 8-10 months. Well Gavin is one of those 5%. She suspects that Gavin also has Esophagitis, which can be very painful. She gave very good comments on the Gastroenterologist we will be seeing next month. She however said the GI will most likely want to take a small sample of his stomach and esophagus when using the scope. For this Gavin will need to be anestisized. I am not going to lie and say that doesn't make me very nervous. I cannot remember which day next month his appointment is, but I will update you on that. I am not even sure what all will happen the first visit.

Oh and Gavin gained weight! He went from 18.10 lbs to 19.2 lbs in one month! We were hoping for 20 lbs so he could move into a big boy car seat, but any gain is great!!

We go back to Dr Watson September 25 at 8:30 a.m. and hopefully we will have made some progress. Dr Watson even met us at the front desk to assure me that Gavin will be just fine and I should leave all the worring to her. Not many doctors will do that!

*Just as I finished typing this Gavin woke up, so I brought him to the computer chair to lay in my lap for a while. His stomach was against mine. All of the sudden the baby moved all around and it tickled Gavin! He jerked up his head and started laughing! How Cute!!*