Not the way we like to spend our weekends....

Friday afternoon, finishing up the day at work, looking forward to a wonderful, relaxing weekend with my husband and son. I get a call from Marilyn saying Aiden has a slight fever... 102.4. I pick him up and get him a doctor's appointment for that evening, because Jeff and I had noticed over the past 2 days that he was playing with his ear. Now with a fever, we automatically start thinking Ear Infection!

Nope... doctor looked him over, said everything looks fine, just that his body is trying to fight something. Said to alternate Tylenol and Motrin every 4 and 6 hours. This seemed to work well for Saturday, keeping his temp around 100.

The next night, after Aiden was in bed, we get him up around 11:30pm for his next dose of Tylenol. His temp was 104.4. We called the doctor on-call and he suggested a sponge bath, and if he wasn't acting like himself, then take him to Children's. Aiden loved his midnight sponge bath and was playing and splashing like normal - smiling, giggling, etc. Nothing out of character. So, we put him back to bed. He wakes up in the morning with a slightly reduced temperature. 103.4. Throughout Sunday we were able to keep his temperature down to around 99-101. This was encouraging! He continued to play and act like normal!

Sunday evening we give him his dinner, his bath, and put him to bed. At 10am we hear him in his crib slightly crying, but not really upset. I go in to check on him. He's burning hot! I take his temp, and it's 103. We decide, that since he still had an hour and a half til his next dose of meds, that we had better take him to Children's. His fever wasn't going to go down in the hour and a half on it's own!

We arrive in the ER, only to find that there is no one there, and they can take us right back! (the woman who took us to our room said about 30 minutes before we arrived they were packed!) The nurse takes his temp (rectally, he loved that.....) and it was 104. They give him some Tylenol. The doctor came in (Dr. Johnson.... I am in love with this woman! She was amazing!) and looked him over and said she wanted to do a flu test (even though he's had his flu shot, some Influenza B can still sneak in) and she wanted to run some bloodwork. So, they shoved a tube up Aiden's nose, a needle in his arm, and another thermometer up his butt.... he was not a happy camper! After all that was done, he slept peacefully while we waited for the results.

The results: No flu (yay!). White blood cell counts: 19.2 (they like them to be 12). The doctor came in and said there's obviously something his body is fighting, so they would give him a couple shots in his legs and we would follow up with our pediatrician for the next 2 days for more shots and that should take care of it. However, before she left the room, she decided to order a chest x-ray.

So, off we went to the imaging center in Children's. It took about 1 minute, and we were back in our room waiting for the results...

The results: Pneumonia. But just the start of it. Praise the Lord for a thorough doctor, and for giving her the thought to do a chest x-ray!

So, the treatment is the same as she had planned before. We will take Aiden for the second round of shots this evening and another round tomorrow. Hopefully this will take care of everything!

Until last night, we had only been to Dayton Children's for scheduled appointments for Aiden's Hypospadias and his flat head. Now, after our experience in the ER, I am convinced that everyone who works there are saints! Each and every person we encountered, from the security guards, to the registration lady, to the nurses, doctors, x-ray techs, everyone.... they were so exceptionally kind, caring, helpful, I could go on and on! We are SO blessed to have such an awesome facility only 25 minutes from our home!

Thank you everyone for all your prayers for him! They are all appreciated!

A case of Croup

I feel as though Jeff and I have officially been inducted into the true life of parenthood! I had an Upper Respiratory Infection and Bronchitis, at the same time, so did Jeff. And at the same time we both had that, Aiden had Croup. Oh... my... goodness!!!! Can life get any more difficult than to have everyone in your house be so ill, all at the same time, all feeling completely helpless (especially the ill 9 month old!)

But, we are survivors! Jeff and I are completely mended and Aiden is well on his way there. He is on Albuterol and Omnicef and getting better each day!

Now I pray that we don't have another test of strength like that for a VERY long time!

A Christmas Story

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house... Aiden was puking! No, that's not how the story is SUPPOSED to go, but that is definitely the way it went this year! Our poor Little Man spent his first Christmas sick :( it all started on Thursday morning. Daddy had the day off an was so excited to spend the day with his Little Man! The day started off with a bang! Literally! Aiden gave daddy quite the surprise in his diaper (and out of his diaper, all over his back, stomach, legs, etc.)! I think you get the picture.... this happened 4 more times over the course of the next 2 days. And then the puking began. After every meal it all came up. We felt so bad for Aiden... but he didn't seem to mind! Once he was done throwing up, the intense look of horror would escape his face and he was back his normal, happy, babbling baby self!

Sadly, this continued through Christmas day and into the evening. The next morning, Sunday, we got him in to the doctor. Aparently it's just an intenstinal virus that will work it's way out in no time at all. Doctor's orders are to keep fluids in and meals small and bland. Aiden was not pleased that his dinner consisted of 1oz. of oatmeal.... and nothing else! We tried to explain doctor's orders to him, but he didn't seem to understand... someday he will. We hope.

So now it has been a day and a half since Aiden has shared the contents of his stomach with us (which we are happy about and appreciative of). We are hoping we are on the upside of this nasty virus and sooner than later life will be back to normal in the Freeman house!

On a much more pleasant note, Christmas was fantastic! We were able to spend Christmas Eve with Jeff's parent's, his sister, and her boyfriend, Adam. We all got very nice gifts, and Santa even came to see us all!!!

Christmas day - we spent the morning opening gifts at home with Aiden. He decided it was naptime halfway through, so Jeff and I took the time to clean things up and pack up to head to my parent's house! We spent the rest of the morning and all afternoon with them. My Aunt Julie, Uncle Stan, and Grandma Mimi came over as well and we all had a great time opening gifts and eating!

A highlight of this Christmas - My mom had sent my dad to Macy's to get a gift card for my Grandma Mimi. When my mom went to wrap it, she looked at the gift card and said, "Happy Birthday??? DAVE!!!! YOU BOUGHT A HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIFT CARD FOR MOM!!!" As we all stood there cracking up laughing, my mom wrote on the card, "Jesus" after the, "Happy Birthday". So when Mimi opened her gift, she said, "ooh! A Macy's card! Thanks!" We explained to her what happened and we laughed about it all over again. Maybe you had to be there for it to be funny, but I am still laughing about it!

The rest of our weekend was filled with the Freeman Family Christmas up in Findlay! Lots of food, laughs, gifts, and fun were had.

Aiden got so many nice things from all of our family! We haven't quite figured out where to put it all yet... our living room still looks like Christmas threw up in it, but we'll get it all put back together sooner than later (trust me... i can't live in this clutter for long!) All the more reason why we need a bigger house... Aiden's toys are taking over!!!!!!!

Anyway...

To sum it all up, Aiden's 1st Christmas was one that will always be remembered and treasured. Despite his virus, he was a happy little boy and loved playing with all his new toys! Even though he wasn't quite sure what we going on, he was obviously excited about it all. A child's smile never gets old.

Oh no! He's on the go!

It all started a few weeks ago. Aiden would be sitting upright, happily playing with his blocks, or whatever toy is the choice of the day, when suddenly he would lunge forward to get on his hands and knees. He would stay there, on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth, waiting for something miraculous to happen! It was Friday of last week when he discovered the Army crawl. He started using one arm to pull his whole body forward. Then on Saturday he realized that with a little effort, his knees can move forward too! And then Sunday came... it was like everything just seemed to click! All of a sudden his arms and knees were working together to get to wherever he wanted to go! Oh the freedom he must have felt when he realized that the combination of his two extremities working together could get him to wherever he wanted to go! He first made a circle around the youth room at church during our weekly meeting, exploring every inch of the floor that we would allow him to (who knows when it was last cleaned...). Then Monday came and he discovered the ceramic tile in our entry way and the sound it makes when you smack an open hand on it! "smack smack smack" over and over again! The way in which my son is so easily entertained is beyond my comprehension. We spend all this money on fancy toys that sing and dance and light up and you want to do what? Smack the dirty floor??? Oh my son, you have so much to learn... but not too quickly now, I enjoy you being so little and cuddly!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Christmas is by far mine and Jeff's favorite season of the year - the music, smells, lights, sights, giving, etc. - all of it is just beautiful! We plan on spending this first Christmas as a new family enjoying every single moment there is to enjoy! Just picture everything there is... beautiful lights lining the city streets, snow falling and Aiden taking in his first sights of the white flurries falling from the sky, the music in the car playing all the songs we look forward to listening to 1 month out of the year, the tree lighting up the living room with its red and white lights... I could go on... it's all so beautiful! And to see the look on Aiden's face as he notices the new sights, sounds, and smells for the very first time in his life, it just brings a smile to my face each time! He is so inquisitive and everything that is new to him has him so curious and intrigued - it's so neat to watch!

So as we enter into the Christmas season, let us not forget the reason we all look forward to it so much - no it's not the gifts, and it's not even the giving, but it's Jesus! "Jesus is the reason for the season". As cliche as it sounds, it's so true! Without His birth, we would not be where we are today, or who we are today - forgiven children of His!

A Bit Behind, I'd Say!

Sitting here, a little bored on this S-L-O-W Friday at work, I started thinking about this Blog. The blog where I promised to keep everyone updated with our crazy, hectic, lovely life! I realize that for the past 5 months, I have failed you all! I guess it's expected though - I mean, our life IS crazy hectic!

So here's a quick run-down of our life currently -

Aiden is almost 8 months old - WOW!
He is sooo close to crawling - he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth.
He has 2 teeth - front bottom - they're adorable.
He is eating 3 meals of "real" food a day, along with about 4 bottles - he despises his bottle. He only eats from it when he's REALLY hungry!
He speaks his own language right now - "mama" "dada" "baba" "nana" "lala" "gaga" "blahblah" - notice a trend? Yes, every word ends in the "a" sound. My personal favorite is "blah blah".
He continues to be a very peaceful sleeper - yay for mommy and daddy :-)
He is a mostly pleasant baby - he lets you know when he's not happy.
He likes to be with people and have human interaction - I don't blame him... being alone is no fun!
At his 7 month doctor appt. he was about 16 1/2 pounds (I think... my memory isn't what it used to be, so I could be just making that up.)

Jeff continues to do well. He is busy at work and busy with Search for the Christ Child at church. I'm very much looking forward to Wednesday of next week, when all of his obligations for church and Greenon high school will be over and we can finally relax a bit and enjoy this beautiful Holiday season that only comes but once a year!

Aiden's 5 1/2 Month Pictures