The "Baker" Ears and Tubes for Caroline

Jason and I have fun talking about which side of the family our kids got their traits from....is their red hair from his side or mine? Did Caroline get her outgoing personality from her Aunt Angela?? Is that Ella's laugh or Cal's smile??? Who knows! The one thing that we do know, though, is that they both inherited the Baker Ears. Small Eustachian Tubes are a Baker trait! I had tubes several times as a young girl and to this day, when I see a doctor, I still hear comments about the amount of scar tissue in my ears.

Caden had three ear infections before he was seven months old. Caroline had two before she was six month old. Then, we had months of no ear problems. That abruptly changed for Caroline. She had her three double ear infections over the last month or so. She just couldn't fully recover and it became obvious that she needed tubes.

We scheduled the appointment just as soon as we possibly could. The whole family has been sick with a stomach virus for the last week. This virus prevented Caroline from being able to take her antibiotics. We needed the surgery to clear up this ear infection since Caroline's stomach just couldn't handle the medicine. :(

Our whole goal this week was keeping Caroline hydrated enough so she wouldn't need an IV and could have her surgery. This was easier said than done but thankfully, we can check that goal off the list.

This last Thursday, we woke Caroline up at 5:45 am so we could arrive at the surgery center by 6:00. As you can see, Caroline was not ready to be woken up.
Grammie and Poppa tag teamed Caden babysitting duty. Grammie took the early shift and then headed into work for a meeting. Poppa took over until we returned home.

This is what it looked like outside when we arrived.
We waited for an hour before the surgery. That was way to long for a little girl to wait...especially when she couldn't eat or drink anything. Finally, the doctor came and carried Caroline away. Five minutes later, the doctor was out telling us the surgery was complete and everything went very well. We were relieved.

Here is Caroline after the surgery. She was scared, crying, and had the floppy head of a new born. It was very sad seeing her this way and we struggled to comfort her.
Caroline's monitor.
Here is the surgery center after we left. We totally missed the sunrise. I guess we had other stuff on our minds.
When we got home, Grammie and Poppa had a surprise waiting for Caroline. You can see, Caroline was not yet back to her normal toy loving self.
But after a well deserved nap, Caroline decided to give the new car a try.
This time, she liked it. :)
We hope Caden's ears hold up so he wont need to get tubes like big sis Caroline.

A Gross Sick Kid Story

As I mentioned before, there was a diarrhea story. Warning, this one is a little gross.

I was at work and Amy was home with two sick kids. After I been away for a couple hours, I get a call from Amy saying I needed to come home right away and help out. I could hear to screaming kids and the "I've had enough" tone of Amy's voice.

When I got home, Amy told me about the straw that broke the camel's back. Amy had already changed close to ten dirty diapers and was no longer putting clothes back on the kids. They were just crawling around in diapers. Amy was in the middle of changing Caroline on the changing table when Caden came crawling in crying. Amy looked down and noticed Caden needed another diaper change and to make matters worse, half his diaper had come off and there was a lot of liquid poo!

Caden looked at his diaper, looked at Amy, and then back to his diaper. He proceeded to stick his hand deep into his diaper and pulled out a completely dirty hand. With Caroline on the table and also covered in poo, the only thing Amy could do was say, "no, no, no, Caden, no...do not put your hand in your mouth, no, Caden, no, no, no". Thankfully, Caden listened. He was content just looking at his disgusting hand.

Amy cleaned up the kids and immediately called me.

Can you guess what I'm thankful for? Maybe I should save this for Thanksgiving but I'm thankful all this happened while I was at work. :) I would not have dealt with it as well as Amy.

Sick Kids and Scary Looking Caroline

Our kids have been sick a lot over the last few weeks. Pretty much since we got back from Seattle, we have been dealing with sick kids. There have been multiple ear infections, reactions to flu shots, diarrhea (more on this later), viruses, and rashes. This last week was the first week in a long time the kids were completely healthy and were back to their old happy selves.

As you can see here, Caroline had a fairly alarming looking rash.
Thankfully, when the rash appeared, Amy's good friend from Nashville was visiting us who happens to be a pediatric nurse. She knew what the rash was and said it might look bad but it would soon go away. She was right. Caroline's rash completely disappeared after a couple days with no sign she ever had a rash. Caden got a similar looking rash a couple days later but he was no where near as bad.

We actually took Caroline to the Hula Hut sporting her rash. I'm sure most of the people there saw her and were scared of some sort of outbreak. :)

Ear Infections and Doctor Visit

Last Friday, Amy decided to take Caroline to the doctor after Caroline (and mommy) barely slept the night before. Caroline was also diagnosed with ear infection. :( Thankfully, by the time I'm posting this, both kids seem to have already gotten over them. They are both still on this thick pink medicine. Caden seems to like it while Caroline does not. Most of Caroline's medicine ends up on her bib.

We learned a couple things at the doctor.

First, the doctor told us our kids are too old to be swaddled at night. The longer we wait to stop swaddling them, the harder it will be to eventually break them of the habit. Amy and I were worried the kids would not sleep well outside their swaddles and even considered waiting until next week when Grandma visits so she could help at night. :) Thankfully, leaving the swaddles was not a big deal. It is a little harder to put them down at night but they sleep pretty well. I think Caden might actually sleep better because he can calm himself down at night by shoving his hands in his mouth.

Second, the doctor was very impressed with Caden's motor boat sound. There is a video of it in the previous post from about a month ago. Caden is much better (aka: louder and longer) at the sound now. The doctor told Amy that most babies are unable to make that sound until they are around seven months. She even called a nurse in to come see him making the sound. Caden has been doing it since he was three months old. He is our advanced little communicator. :)

Also, the doctor thinks the twins are teething because of all the drooling and how they love sticking their hands in their mouth. We check every night but have yet to find a tooth.

Caden's First Ear Infection

Amy and I knew Caden and Caroline have not felt great the last few days. They have both been congested and would wake up in the middle of the night because of it. Caroline has stayed about the same but Caden has gotten a little worse. Today, Amy decided to take Caden to the doctor. (I'm so thankful we have good health insurance.)

After the doctor scraped all the wax out of Caden's ears, she saw our little guy had an ear infection. She decided to check Caroline's ears and thankfully they were fine. The doctor prescribed some medicine for Caden that should take care of his ears. Also, both kids have minor eye infections. We have a goopy gel to put on their eyes to help clear them up.

Both kids were weighed at the doctor visit. Caroline weighed in at 14 lbs 12 ounces (wearing a very heavy/wet diaper) which was up from 13 lbs 6 ounces a month ago. Caden weighed in 13 lbs 7 ounces (with a dry diaper) which was up from 12 lbs 11 ounces. Caden had been catching up but it looks like Caroline is starting to pull away again.

Despite having an ear infection, Caden was a delight tonight. He jumped in his jumperoo for a good 45 minutes while we made and ate dinner. I should have videoed our sick child having all that fun. With the whining coming from Caroline, you would have thought she was the sick one.

Better Night at the Cases

Caden did great last night. He slept all night and was in a good mood. Caroline got up a little early but not really a big deal. Oh, Caroline did spit up all over me again this morning. I sure hope she is not getting back to that habit...though she does seem to think its funny when she spits up.

Rough Night at the Case House

Caden had a tough night last night. It was by far the worst night he has had in a long time. He woke up several times screaming and would not calm down. Normally, plugging his mouth with a pacifier or holding him calms him down immediately. Neither of these worked last night. We are not sure if he is feeling sick or what but he sure did limit our sleep last night...especially mommy's who spent a lot of the time just holding him. (Both daddy and Caden are appreciative of mommy for this.)

After our rough night, I decided to help Amy out a little by feeding Caroline before heading into work. As I was feeding her, I was telling her how proud I was of her for sleeping through the night and not making our night any more difficult. As those words came out, Caroline had a case of projectile vomit and soaked me. Thankfully, I was not yet dressed for work. Caroline rarely does this anymore so it was definitely a special moment for the two of us.

Hopefully, tonight (and tomorrow morning) will be better. :)

Two Healthy Babies

Both kids are over their fevers and seem to be feeling better!

Caden's temperature finally broke last night and it has been normal all day. He is still a little sleepy and doesn't talk quite as much as normal, but he is doing well.

Caroline has never been happier. She smiles and laughs more than she ever has before. She has been a big flirt the last few days.

Both of them still have a cough and will have it for a few more weeks. Caden's is quite a bit worse than Caroline's. Now, Amy and I would be happy if their coughing didn't wake them up at night.

Tomorrow, we plan to send both kids to pre-pre-school for the first time. They have enjoyed it individually so hopefully they will like it ever more together.

Another Sick Baby Update

Well, Caroline got over her cold and did not have any more problems during her follow up checkup on Thursday. However, on Friday our little man got sick. :( Amy felt better taking him to the doctor to make sure his ears were doing okay. Just like big sis, Caden tested positive for RSV and his ears looked good. Well, they looked good after the doctor cleaned out all the wax so she could see in. It looks like Caden might have inherited the ears from Amy's side of the family.

Thankfully, my mom has been in town helping take care of the kids. She has spent most of the time holding Caden this weekend. Caden took being sick much better than his wimpy older sister. He definitely wasn't happy but he didn't cry anywhere near as much. He loved being held but didn't insist on being soothed non-stop. He ever slept most of the night in his own bed. He felt much better today and his fever has started to drop.

Monday is pre-pre-school and once again, we are only going to send one kid. Caroline is going to attend without Caden. My mom is going to stay one more day and remain home with our sick little boy. We think he will be able to go on Tuesday.

Caroline Update

Caroline is doing better but it is obvious she still doesn't feel well. Most of the time, she just seems out of it. But a few times during the day, we have made her smile and she has shown her personality. Those times have not lasted long. I stayed home with her Monday and Tuesday and plan to do so again tomorrow. Her temperature is consistently in the low 99s without Tylenol and she sleeps most of the day.

Caroline insists on being held most of the day. She has been held all day other than about thirty minutes. She wont even go in her swing (which she normally loves). The only place outside our arms she will stay for a short time is on the couch where I sit. I sit her up pretty much exactly how I sit and she is content for a few minutes.

Thankfully, Caden is doing well. Hopefully, he will not get sick.

Our First Sick Baby

Our sweet little Caroline is sick. :( This is the first sick baby we have had. I know it will be the first of many but we still feel really sad for her.

A couple days ago, we noticed Caroline had a stuffy nose. We cleaned it out with saline and that bulb thing. Yesterday, she started to get worse. Caroline did not have much of an appetite, she was coughing, it was hard for her to breath, and we could tell the mucus had moved into her chest. We also measured her temperature as high has 102 degrees. Amy was up most of the night holding Caroline. Holding her is just about the only way to prevent her from screaming.

Today was suppose to be Amy's first day back at Dell and the twins first day in pre-pre-school (Amy doesn't like calling it daycare). Instead, today is Caden's first day of pre-pre-school. Amy didn't have enough time to get upset about dropping him off because she needed to come home so we could take Caroline to the doctor.

After dropping Caden off, we took Caroline to the doctor where she tested positive for RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). This is pretty much a cold and there is not much the doctor can do. Thankfully, she is not wheezing (the doctor doesn't think she will), her lungs sound okay, and her ears are clear (ear infections are common in the Baker family and often go hand in hand with RSV).

Sadly, Caroline will likely have a cough for four to six weeks. :( Her fever should die down in a few days. We have a follow up doctor visit for later in the week. We are worried about Caden getting sick as well. The doctor said he would almost assuredly get sick but at the moment, he is doing great and has been very pleasant.

I guess Caroline wont make it to child care this week. We are not sure if we will have Caden go without her. Since Amy really does need to work some this week, I'm going to stay home with our sick little lady and work when I can. Thankfully, my mom was already planning to come into town Wednesday night of this week. We'll be glad to get some help trying to comfort our sweet little Caroline.