the nebulizer has arrived!

It was just dropped off and N is going over everything. It's from Inspiration Elite and it came with a handy dandy kids mask made to look like a chicken... a purple chicken. So, hopefully she'll take to the mask a bit more than she did to the mouth piece. She's asleep now, but we'll give her the next dose the next time she wakes up.

Just got back from the Doctor's...

We actually did a treatment in house for her lungs as she's in the beginning stages of Bronchitis. It was on one of those vapor machines that you see on tv when people have smoke inhalation. Basically the same drug we picked up on Friday, but put into this machine so Molly gets the vapors rather than ingesting the liquid. She was supposed to suck on the end (yeah right) and would have nothing to do with it so I tried to keep it as close to under her nose as I could get while fighting both hands so she would at least breathe in the meds. She eventually gave up fighting and slumped up against me while keeping both hands on the inhaler so I wouldn't get any ideas. The whole process took about 10 minutes and at least half of that time was spent fighting me, but I think she got enough meds to make her feel better as she pretty much fell asleep on me and then again in the car. A company is going to be dropping off our own machine later this afternoon so we can continue to give her treatments.

Molly also has a very bad infection and her throat looks like it's on fire. Doc was very surprised to hear she ate most of a yogurt this morning and then 2/3 of a jar of food for lunch as her throat was that bad. Doc said to keep her on soft foods and make sure she drinks as much as she can. She also suggested getting Pediasure and Pedialyte for the extra calories. Molly has never wanted to drink anything but milk or water so I'm not sure how receptive she'll be, but we'll give it a try. I will definitely pick up some Pedialyte popsicles as I think the cold will help soothe her throat.

Molly is pretty contagious and the doc said to keep her away from other children. Her temperature was back to normal, but we're to keep an eye on it as a return of a fever is a bad sign and could mean pneumonia. Doc said she should appear back to normal in two days, but to keep her on the meds until they run their course. I just dropped off the prescription for 4 different things and N will be picking them up from the pharmacy on his way home as I wanted to get Molly in her bed ASAP.

Poor bug. I hope she feels better soon!

ETA - They did an in-house test for RSV that was negative. So that's one good thing.

Poor bug...

Down to 99.3, cuddly as ever.

Still headed to the doctor, but she's at least feeling better.

fever update

Last temp was 101.2 and that was taken a few hours ago. She's been sleeping since about 4 (in her crib) after a couple failed attempts at naps earlier in the day. She kept waking up about a half an hour into them very upset. She didn't eat much lunch, but she did eat something. She goes from not wanting any water to gulping it down, but at least she's getting some fluids. Talked to the nurse practitioner and at Molly's age and weight the danger zone is 105.0 (!). I am going to call the doc as soon as they open in the morning and take her in. In the meantime just going to monitor her temp, make sure she drinks plenty, keep her cool, and hope she gets lots of sleep. Poor little bug. I hope she kicks this soon!

fighting a fever

Molly bug has had a rough couple of days. Her fever spiked up to 102.2 last night, but it's back down to 101.2 this morning. She had been fighting a cold on and off for most of December. Would be fine for several days and then be a bit snotty for a day or two. The Friday before Christmas I decided to take her into the doctor's office to make sure it wasn't anything more than a simple cold since she had been coughing quite a bit. Her lungs were clear, but I got a prescription for Albuterol just in case since we were heading into the weekend and a holiday week. Christmas night she woke up from coughing so hard and I was up with her for a few hours. She just wanted to sleep sitting up and did not want to be put back down in her crib. Friday morning she seemed fine and went down for her morning nap without any issues (although it wasn't very long). Then we headed out to lunch and she just wanted to be held so we knew something was up. We got the prescription filled and put her down for a second nap since she was rubbing her eyes non-stop. That didn't last very long. N ended up sitting back with her in her room for over two hours since she could sleep passed out on him, but started screaming (the very bad scream we don't hear very often) whenever he tried to get her to lie down. Two hours later his shirt was soaked with snot and sweat, but Molly seemed a little more energetic. Perhaps a little too wired. We had read that her prescription can basically turn some kids into crack monkeys so we were a little concerned she was going to go off her rocker and her head would spin around several times. Molly was a tad manic, but no major meltdowns and she slept through the night.

On Saturday we noticed a fever. It was just over 100 so we knew we needed to keep an eye on it. N was also taking a rectal temp (poor Molly bug) as that was surprisingly the one place she wouldn't squirm from. However, we've read it can be a full degree higher and we've also read it can be accurate so we weren't sure when to panic. We've given her a few luke warm baths to cool her down and get her comfortable and she has continued to want to be held upright while sleeping. I was able to get her down for a second nap yesterday laying flat in her crib, but yesterday morning was all about being held. She is still drinking her water, taking her bottle, and eating... although her appetite has definitely waned. Then last night she woke up a few times and was super hot. Temp spiked at 102.2 around midnight and was already coming down when she woke up again around 3.

Today we're just going to lay low and keep an eye on her and monitor her temp. Hopefully it continues to go down and she can just sleep it off. However, if she still has a temp tomorrow I'll be taking her into her doctor's to make sure there isn't something else going on.

ETA - Spoke too soon... she woke up and her temp is now 102.4... on hold with the nurse practitioner...

pics 12/12 to 12/24/2008

Merry Christmas!

This was one of my favorite pictures from the Christmas card photo session we did with Molly at Santana Row. She definitely looks ready to take on the new year!

I hope everyone has a chance to relax and enjoy themselves today.... and eat lots!

Merry Christmas... Happy Hanukkah... Happy Holidays...

Love,
The Hicksons

world traveler

Molly's passport arrived. You can see she was a little upset with the whole picture taking thing by her red eyes, but I still think the picture is adorable. The passport is also super snazzy with pictures on pretty much every page. First stamp will be next month when we tag along on N's "work" trip to the Dominican Republic. I know, rough life.

2009 calendar

I made a 2009 calendar of Molly pics from her first year. January are pics of her first month... February are pics from her second month... you get the idea. Turned out great. I did the calendar at Shutterfly and it was super easy. The hardest part was narrowing down the pics to use.

Click here to check out the calendar.