The past week has been totally crazy around here (to say the very least). I'm writing at the speed of light because the boys are temporarily distracted by tv. Some days I wish they liked tv so that I could leave them for 10 minutes without them getting into something. They learned how to open the baby gates and get in the kitchen. That means they get into lots of drawers and this morning, while I was upstairs getting their clothes, they ate out of the garbage. (sigh) The things that happen in our house are sometimes unbelievable.
I'll start with the appointment to the allergist. It was long. The Dr. stressed how severe Noah's allergy is. He said that he should never be around anything peanut related. He had his blood tested to see if he is allergic to tree nuts as well, but advised us to just stay away from them. Peanuts and tree nuts are usually around each other at some point in their "life" and it's just not worth the risk. He also gave us a prescription for a new type of epipen that just came out. It's an epipen that talks to you through what to do should you have to use it. He promised me that if I ever have to use it I will panic. :) I'm sure he's right! It also makes it easier for someone else who is babysitting him to use. He told us that Noah cannot go into the church nursery. It's too much of a risk. So, sorry to everyone at our church. Ha! He is so loud! The past 2 weeks we walked about with him and just walked around. He also said that Noah would qualify as a kid who has asthma and we may need to treat the asthma regularly and not just when he has an episode. He has some excema on his cheeks as well. Poor kid. At the end he sent us upstairs for blood work. It stunk. They took blood from both arms and still didn't get enough. They decided they could work with what they did get. I left feeling thankful though, and here's why. The allergy and immunology department is on the same floor as oncology ( which is behind closed doors). I could have sat and wept thinking about the parents on the other side of the door. I sat and prayed for them and thanked God that it's not us. Our problems are so manageable.
I also had to take Noah to the eye Dr. on Monday. That was a LONG appointment. We were there for 2 1/2 hours. This Dr. is awesome, but you wait a long time. He only sees kids and kids don't always cooperate. He said Noah's eyes still look good and we can come in a year for a re-check. I mentioned that we were making an appointment for Reese because our pediatrician thinks he has clogged tear ducts. When I explained what was going on he agreed that they probably are clogged. He said he will most likely need a little surgery to fix that. We got an appointment for next month. This morning they called and asked if we could come tomorrow. They had a cancellation and Dr. Khammar wants to see him sooner than a month so we can take care of this. Thankfully my sister-in-law can watch Noah and Aiden so I can take Reese.
Now for some exciting news. We had an ultrasound last Friday. The baby looks great. The tech. said she was 95% sure of the gender, but couldn't get good picture because a foot was in the way. She said she knows what she saw though. So, it's time for some more changes in the Brouwer house. It's a GIRL!! :) Change has certainly become the new normal for us! We are excited to welcome a little girl into this crazy house.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Home sweet home
We were finally able to bring Noah home last night. Monday night was extremely long. By 9:00 Monday morning I just wanted to cry! Nate and I slept about 2 hours total, so we were exhausted. He just happens to be working on a building at the University of Chicago, so he went to work in the morning. They gave Noah his Benadryl and off he went. He ran up and down the halls and they let him play with the toys in the lobby area on his floor. He drank a lot, but didn't really eat so I didn't even have a few minutes of him sitting in order to eat.
The team of doctors came around to do rounds and the attending smiled at me and said, "I remember you!" She was the pediatrician who saw Reese at 5 weeks old when he was in the hospital. That is why we go to Comer. The staff is incredible. She used Noah as a teaching moment because sometimes anaphylaxis looks like an asthma attack. That's exactly what I thought was happening. She also used him as a teaching moment because Benadryl makes him hyper instead of tired. Somehow our boys always ended up being used as a teaching moment for medical students and residents. Glad we can be helpful! They advised us to get rid of anything nut-related in our house and none of us can even have peanut butter again. I was pretty bummed. They said that this would be a lifelong allergy that we will have to learn how to manage. The attending doctor, Dr. Park, came by later to talk to me alone. She said with this severe of an allergy we can't be too careful. Next time it could be much worse. We have to educate everyone he comes into contact with about the severity and the steps that need to be taken in case it does happen. So for now he can't even be in the church nursery. We need to make everyone aware first. She gave us the okay to take him downstairs to their giant play room. He played like crazy for about an hour. He had such a great time. I took him back up and forced him to sit down long enough to sleep after that. We had to wait to hear back from the allergist about what to do next. Finally he called back and said take blood and send him home. We got the blood drawn and at 5:00 we were discharged. We had to go to the pharmacy right away to get his epipen so that we have it in case of emergency. We finally got home a little before 7:00. It took until about 9:00 to get them settled and to sleep. I don't even remember laying down to go to sleep. I just fell into bed with Nate already having fallen asleep. Noah slept great all night. It was really hard to not go in and check on him constantly.
Today my mom came and helped me go through every bit of food in the house. We didn't have to get rid of quite as much as I thought, but there were some surprises. We can no longer buy bread or buns at Aldi because they're manufactured along with snacks that contain nuts. There is a lot of learning to do and a lot of questions to ask. We see an allergist on the 19th to discuss the plan of action and do some allergy testing. The Dr. is from Comer, but we have to see him at La Rabida hospital in Chicago. They also partner with Children's Memorial (now Lurie). It's a specialty hospital, so I'm sure we'll be in the best hands possible. Dr. Wolf is the allergist we are seeing. He is the chief of allergy and immunology at U of C as well. I am so incredibly thankful that we live close to such amazing hospitals. What an unbelievable blessing!
The team of doctors came around to do rounds and the attending smiled at me and said, "I remember you!" She was the pediatrician who saw Reese at 5 weeks old when he was in the hospital. That is why we go to Comer. The staff is incredible. She used Noah as a teaching moment because sometimes anaphylaxis looks like an asthma attack. That's exactly what I thought was happening. She also used him as a teaching moment because Benadryl makes him hyper instead of tired. Somehow our boys always ended up being used as a teaching moment for medical students and residents. Glad we can be helpful! They advised us to get rid of anything nut-related in our house and none of us can even have peanut butter again. I was pretty bummed. They said that this would be a lifelong allergy that we will have to learn how to manage. The attending doctor, Dr. Park, came by later to talk to me alone. She said with this severe of an allergy we can't be too careful. Next time it could be much worse. We have to educate everyone he comes into contact with about the severity and the steps that need to be taken in case it does happen. So for now he can't even be in the church nursery. We need to make everyone aware first. She gave us the okay to take him downstairs to their giant play room. He played like crazy for about an hour. He had such a great time. I took him back up and forced him to sit down long enough to sleep after that. We had to wait to hear back from the allergist about what to do next. Finally he called back and said take blood and send him home. We got the blood drawn and at 5:00 we were discharged. We had to go to the pharmacy right away to get his epipen so that we have it in case of emergency. We finally got home a little before 7:00. It took until about 9:00 to get them settled and to sleep. I don't even remember laying down to go to sleep. I just fell into bed with Nate already having fallen asleep. Noah slept great all night. It was really hard to not go in and check on him constantly.
Today my mom came and helped me go through every bit of food in the house. We didn't have to get rid of quite as much as I thought, but there were some surprises. We can no longer buy bread or buns at Aldi because they're manufactured along with snacks that contain nuts. There is a lot of learning to do and a lot of questions to ask. We see an allergist on the 19th to discuss the plan of action and do some allergy testing. The Dr. is from Comer, but we have to see him at La Rabida hospital in Chicago. They also partner with Children's Memorial (now Lurie). It's a specialty hospital, so I'm sure we'll be in the best hands possible. Dr. Wolf is the allergist we are seeing. He is the chief of allergy and immunology at U of C as well. I am so incredibly thankful that we live close to such amazing hospitals. What an unbelievable blessing!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
A severe allegy = a hospital stay
Yesterday for lunch I decided to try something new with the boys. I gave them peanut butter and jelly. Our pediatician advised us to wait until 18 months because of allergies, so we did. They all seemed to really enjoy it.
About an hour later Noah was coughing almost non-stop. He had been running around a lot so I figured it was just asthma and got out his nebulizer. While giving him his nebulizer he was itching his eyes a lot. A friend from church was over and noticed that they were swelling. We realized it was from the peanut butter. I called the Dr. right away to see if we should go in or give him Benadryl. He said Bendryl, unless he's having trouble breathing. I told him he was coughing and it sounded like asthma. He said to get him the Benadryl right away. So I gave him Benadryl. Unfortunately it didn't make him tired, it made him hyper. It seemed to help. After about 3 hours he started coughing again and his face was puffing up. I called the Dr. again and he said the same thing as before. I always feel like as a parent it is so hard to know what to do. I hate to overreact. So we gave him one more round of Benadryl to see how he would do. He was no better.
We headed straight to the University of Chicago. They took us right in and soon he was getting hives all over. They agreed that it was a tough call, but we made the right decision. They gave him more Benadryl and a shot of epinepherine. It made him crazy! He was like a mad man running around the room. :) It helped though. We got the last room in the hospital so they could observe him. Hopefully after a long, mostly sleepless night he does well all morning and we can go home. He still needs constant Benadryl. He will also go home with an epipen because the allergy is considered severe. We also have to follow up with an allergist.
We've learned a lot already. I didn't realize an allergy could be delayed and continue to get worse. I didn't realize coughing could be a sign of a serious reaction. I feel very uninformed. We have a lot to learn! For now we're just very thankful he is okay.
About an hour later Noah was coughing almost non-stop. He had been running around a lot so I figured it was just asthma and got out his nebulizer. While giving him his nebulizer he was itching his eyes a lot. A friend from church was over and noticed that they were swelling. We realized it was from the peanut butter. I called the Dr. right away to see if we should go in or give him Benadryl. He said Bendryl, unless he's having trouble breathing. I told him he was coughing and it sounded like asthma. He said to get him the Benadryl right away. So I gave him Benadryl. Unfortunately it didn't make him tired, it made him hyper. It seemed to help. After about 3 hours he started coughing again and his face was puffing up. I called the Dr. again and he said the same thing as before. I always feel like as a parent it is so hard to know what to do. I hate to overreact. So we gave him one more round of Benadryl to see how he would do. He was no better.
We headed straight to the University of Chicago. They took us right in and soon he was getting hives all over. They agreed that it was a tough call, but we made the right decision. They gave him more Benadryl and a shot of epinepherine. It made him crazy! He was like a mad man running around the room. :) It helped though. We got the last room in the hospital so they could observe him. Hopefully after a long, mostly sleepless night he does well all morning and we can go home. He still needs constant Benadryl. He will also go home with an epipen because the allergy is considered severe. We also have to follow up with an allergist.
We've learned a lot already. I didn't realize an allergy could be delayed and continue to get worse. I didn't realize coughing could be a sign of a serious reaction. I feel very uninformed. We have a lot to learn! For now we're just very thankful he is okay.
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