Whirlwind, anyone?

Seriously, this picture above pretty much describes my life right now. Even down to the fangs. ;)

My boys have not been well in months. Benjamin is on the upswing, as far as actual illness is concerned. He still has a few days left to finish up the antibiotic for his first ear infection.

However, the eating/screaming/fluid in his breathing after he drinks has not gotten better, and he has a swallow study scheduled for Monday (2/22). I really hope and pray that this will lend some answers to why he has been having issues. He has an appt w/his regular pediatrician next Thursday (2/25) for a recheck of his ear and to discuss the swallow study results. Then he has an appt w/a GI doctor (his first appt with one) on March 8.

For now, in the land of Benjamin, things are as good as to be expected right now. He is only fussy really during meals, which is far better than all the time, so I'll take it. He is sweet and smiley, and I just love him so, so much. I love to hold him and have him snuggle into me. Granted, he only does that if I'm standing up (b/c if I'm sitting, he tries to squirm away b/c he loves to move), but, again, I'll take it.

We have recently changed his therapies up a little bit. He was receiving PT once a week for an hour and ST twice a month for 30 minutes. But he has gotten so much better with his gross motor skills and has almost regressed on his verbal skills. Plus his fine motor skills (stacking, puzzles, etc) are not very good. So we are now doing PT twice a month for an hour, ST twice a month for an hour (they alternate Wednesday mornings, which is perfect), and we're going to get him evaluated for OT in the near future to work on the fine motor.

That's Benjamin's update.

Andrew's update is slightly more complicated, if that's possible.

Anyone who has read my blog for awhile knows that Andrew is a fussy/picky/slow eater and always has been. In the fall, his doctor and I discussed having his tonsils taken out in the summer b/c he has a small mouth and large tonsils, making it hard for him to eat and swallow.

Well, the situation w/his eating (not to mention his throat has been constantly sore and his tonsils and lymph nodes have been swollen) has only gotten worse.

So in an effort to get as many medical things as possible done before Thomas' arrival in five short weeks, Andrew is getting his tonsils and adenoids removed two weeks from tomorrow, on March 5. That will give him 19 recovery days before his fourth birthday, and 20 recovery days before his second brother is born.

We met with the surgeon, Dr. St. Charles, this week, and he agreed that Andrew's small mouth, farset jaw, and large tonsils, combined with his history of picky/slow eating, make him a perfect candidate to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. (He does not need tubes in his ears, as he's never even had a single ear infection.)

And now, as Benjamin is doing better, Andrew is getting sick.

Again.

Another reason for my compounded stress is the fact that Matthew has been super busy at work, and is out of town 2-3 days a week. When he's not out of town, he's busy preparing for his out-of-town meetings, thus working late. So last night, I was on day two of doing all of the daily routine by myself, without my helpful husband. (Which normally isn't horribly hard, but is increasingly harder when I'm increasingly more pregnant...) We got home from my nephew's 7th birthday party. I had just put Benjamin down to bed (breathing treatment? check. antibiotic? check. humidifier? check.) and was getting Andrew ready for bed. He has been coughing a little more recently, his nose is running more, etc. But as I was getting him ready, I felt his head and his body.

And I knew he had a fever.

Isn't it funny how when someone else (even your husband or your mother) feels your child, he/she can't always tell if he has a fever, but you just know? There's definitely something to be said about a mother's intuition.

So I took his temperature, and he had a 101.4 fever.

Soooooo no preschool today. And that meant I couldn't take Benjamin to the library lapsit program.

Andrew seems to feel slightly worse today and is coughing a lot. And sniffing a lot. He has a couple of sores in his mouth, but I really don't think he has Hand, Foot, Mouth again. I think they're just irritated spot in the corners of his mouth. I'm waiting for a call back from the doctor about getting a prescription for him.

Another big Andrew thing lately is that he hasn't taken a nap in about five or six days. He has tried, and he has at least had a semi-restful time in his room, but no actual sleeping. He doesn't necessarily go to sleep any earlier at night either. Ugh. I know he's almost four, and many kids don't even nap as long as this, but of all the times for him to give up his nap, this is far from ideal.

But such is life. I have had to learn how to deal with the far from ideal. Seems it's a pattern in my life.

It's actually a good thing I didn't go anywhere today because I've had to make a million phone calls today, calling doctors, moving appointments, preregistering Andrew for surgery, asking lab questions, etc. Ugh.

Meanwhile it's still far too cold here. Right now it's 39. The sun is at least shining. But it's bitter cold.

And it's time for my boys to eat lunch.

I need to shower sometime today, but I'm expecting three phone calls from various offices and really don't want to risk missing those calls.

The pantry is almost out of food, and I desperately need to go to the store for groceries.

But through all of this, I am (for the present moment...) staying sane. None of it is impossible (yet), just hard. I can handle hard. And my God can handle the impossible.