Muscles

Who sleeps like this?? 

Sledding at home for the first time

Bennett had a great time sledding at home. He has no fear and wasn't hesitant to go down the hill on his own. Since there wasn't much snow, he was able to slide quite a ways... the only issue was trying to drag him and the sled back up the steep hill. He could spend all day outside, so convincing him to come back in for lunch was less than fun.

Sledding, snowman, and rice park

Each weekend we try to do something fun and out of the ordinary from his usual routine (although now that he isn't in daycare there isn't a usual routine).  Today our morning started out with some sledding. Bennett couldn't get enough of it. 

And we made a snowman too!

Caroline took a nap inside: 

After Bennett's nap we went to Rice Park  for the tree lighting and fireworks. It was super crowded and I asked Bennett if he wanted to sit on my shoulders a few times but he said no. After a while he started tapping the top of my head and trying to straighten his legs as I was holding him. Apparently that is his way of telling me he wants to sit on my shoulders.  We had to wait about 45 minutes and he started to get antsy but when it began Bennett loved it. On the way home he kept making firework sounds. 

Black Friday

Caroline's Thanksgiving

Caroline and Mommy had an uneventful Thanksgiving morning at grandma  and Grandpa's while Daddy and Bennett were in New London. 

Another Adventure

These past few days have been eventful in the Swenson household. Friday went smoothly, with Joel at work and Bennett at his last day of daycare. Throughout the day, Caroline was getting progressively more congested and sneezing often. I remember at one point commented to Joel that Caroline was really hating life because of this cold she was coming down with.

Fast forward to the evening, Bennett was in bed and Caroline was feeling really warm.  We took her temperature around 10 pm and it was 99.5. We took her temperature again at 11:30 pm and it was 100.7. She was wearing a onesie under her footie pjs, so we decided to put her in thinner pjs and see if her temp went down. When we took her temp around midnight, it was at 100.3, so we called at 24 hour nurse hotline. After describing her condition to the nurse, she said that it appears ok to call the pediatrician in 8 hours (at 9:00am). 

By 9:30am, we made it to the pediatrician for a walk-in appointment. She was weighed first and the photo of it is below - yeah... that's 9# 15.5 oz... she has been putting on a lot of weight in the past month. But the bad news followed next. Her temperature was 101.8 F. Later we found out that 100.5 is considered a severe fever for an infant less than 3 months old and requires more testing to be done. The reason being, a fever means there is an infection, and an infection in a newborn with such a poor immune system can escalate quickly. We later learned that for babies, in their first month of life, their immune system is terrible. Month two, it's better and developing, and then month three it isn't too bad. In Caroline's case, being a preemie, instead of having a horrible immune system the first month, she will for the first two (since she should've still been in the womb her first month of life).

At 10:45AM, Dr. Jeff Hubert at Wayzata Pediatrics had met with us. By 10:55, he said, "You're not going to like what I have to say, but she needs to go to Children's." I felt quite the contrary. I was really elated to know we were going to the hospital. For me, the worst thing would've been he told us to take her home, keep an eye on her, and then take her the hospital if her fever goes above a certain temperature. We were already up all night checking her temp, trying to make her comfortable, and Googling the internet to see what life-treating ramifications she could have with a high fever. The last thing I wanted was to be sent home to do all that again. By 11:00AM, he had called Minneapolis Children's, learned there was a 20 person wait, and found there was no wait at St. Paul Children's, so he told us to go to St. Paul Children's. He spoke to the attending ER pediatrician, and told us to mentally prepare ourselves because Caroline was going to have a bunch of tests done, like blood cultures, maybe a spinal tap, and we should just be prepared mentally.

On the way to the hospital, we called Grandpa and Grandma because someone needed to take Bennett. Luckily we caught them as they were leaving home, and they were going to meet us at the hospital. Once at the ER, they took her temperature again and it was only 101.1, but the ER nurse said, "I have a hard time believing it isn't higher, with how warm she feels." We were quickly admitted to the ER and met with the attending physician. He explained the tests that were needed (blood work, IV- in case she needed antibiotics, nasal culture, x-ray, spinal tap, urine sample).

They began with the IV and blood draw. Luckily for Caroline, they were able to squeeze out enough blood from her IV that she didn't need a heel poke to draw blood. I think her heels have finally just healed from her time in the hospital when she was born, so this was some good news for her. After a bit of waiting, the nurses came back to inset the catheter to get a urine sample, and then suctioned her nose to get a mucus sample (this was to test for RSV). None of this made her happy, but it was all done pretty quickly, which was nice. As the physician said to us before the testing began, it was a lot of tests, but at least we were at a children's hospital, so the nurses are used to working with babies... so it's better for Caroline. During most of the procedures we were given sugar syrup to give Caroline. They said giving sugar to infants releases endorphins which is calming to them. It really worked!

Then came the part I was dreading the most: the spinal tap. I heard that they are super painful, so I was worried for Caroline. Would she feel it? How painful would it be? What if something went wrong and they hit a nerve?? Prior to starting the doctor (who performed the procedure) explained that the reason they do the puncture so low on the back is because the spinal cord starts disbursing in the lower part of the back, so there isn't a spinal column to hit. He said he that he has never had a complication with a lumbar puncture, that he numbs her up before he begin, and that most babies get so angry during the procedure because they have to be confined to a certain position and not being able to move frustrates them the most.

The began the lumbar puncture with cleaning off her skin. She cried for this. Then after that, Caroline was totally silent. She didn't cry when they gave her a shot of lidocaine and fell asleep during the entire puncture. What a super star! After the needle was in, we just waited for the fluid to drip out for the doctor to collect. The fluid was coming out clear which the doctor said was very assuring.

Daddy giving Caroline sugar syrup, while the nurse held her in position, and the doctor did his work.

Needle is in. Collecting the spinal fluid.

So teeny in the big bed

The last procedure we needed to do was the x-ray. Caroline was strapped down, and I got to hold her arms in place.

By the time we finished all the procedures, which took about an hour, Caroline was exhausted. She was supposed to eat when the procedures started, but obviously couldn't until they were finished. Every time she'd wake, I'd try to feed but she'd just fall asleep again. After an hour or two of waiting for results, the doctor came in to say the preliminary results were coming back. No RSV, urine was normal, if she was eating well, she could go home and wait for the rest of the results there. I told him she hadn't eaten since we arrived, but that I tried a few times. Because she hadn't eaten in such a long time, the doctor wanted to admit her while we waited for results. I think he said something along the lines of, "Well,  hate to say it but she should be admitted." Again, this is reassuring to me. The hospital is the safest places she can be, because if anything happens, help is right there. I won't be up all night worrying, wondering if things are okay, plus since we met or are close to meeting our deductible when she was born, this stay shouldn't be expensive. But really, paying some money for the peace of mind is worth it to me (especially with all the crap we read about fevers in infants).

Once in her room, we basically sat around and did things as we would at home (meaning, she ate and slept, and we just waited around for her to eat and sleep).

Getting examined by the medical student. She checked up on us every day.

Joel went home Saturday night, and it was just me and Caroline. Around 10pm, she was sleeping in her crib, so I laid down to sleep. She cried off and on for an hour. Every time I'd cry, I'd get up and check on her, and she'd be done crying. Then I'd lay down and she'd cry again. So I'd go to her crib. No crying. I slept maybe 45 minutes (and with minimal sleep Friday night, and no naps all day Saturday) I got up to hold her around 11pm. At this point, I was just hoping she'd sleep on top of me so that we could both get some rest. Luck was not on my side. She'd eat, then cry. I'd try to rock her but she kept crying. Occasionally I'd get her to stop crying so I'd sit down, and she'd start crying again. By 1:30 am, I hadn't slept and was beyond frustrated, so I called Joel crying. After we got off the phone, I sat down with Caroline in the rocking chair and let her fuss for a bit, then somehow both she and I nodded off. At 2 am Joel woke me up, because he had arrived to help out. I'm sure he was wondering what he was doing there, since we were both asleep, but it was so nice to have him there. (And no, his help wasn't really needed because we both kept sleeping.) It was a frustrating night prior to his arrival, to say the least.

The morning after our frustrating night

Sunday Joel stayed with us for a while, and then Grandma came to hang out with us most of the day. It was really uneventful. Joel came back in the evening to have dinner with me. The best thing about this hospital stay is we were super close to Cossetta's, which Joel and I always try to go to, but can never make it to. We rarely make it out to St. Paul and the few times we've tried to eat there, we can't find parking, so we went to Cossetta's A LOT. A LOT. Between the both of us, we went there 5 times in 48 hours. SO GOOD!

Sunday night was going to be just me and Caroline again. This time my game plan was to just hold her as she slept. No trying to get her to sleep in the crib. This time luck was on my side and she and I both got rest.

Monday morning, the medical student stopped by to check on Caroline and told us the doctor would be by early. She was going to be discharged and we could get on our way. We were discharged before 9, and Joel, Bennett and the girls picked us up by 10:30. We stopped at Cossetta's for a few treats and were home by 11.

Alert on Monday morning

Back home!

Bennett was very happy to have both of us back home. We were able to FaceTime him a few times, and he always seemed excited to talk to us. Maybe he thought we spent so many days away from him because he was being naughty, because he fell asleep for his nap on his own. I read him a few books, turned on some music and left. Super easy! Then again at bedtime, he went to bed on his own. Fingers crossed that this is his new sleeping routine, because after next week, I'll be home alone with both kids and don't have an hour to try to put him down for naps.