These 3 little boys never cease to amaze me. Lately they have been talking up a storm. Unfortunately that means they have gotten quite bossy as well. There is a lot of "Hey! No, no!" and "Stop it!" going around, to each other and to Lue. Poor dog used to have such a peaceful life. On the up side they are communicating their needs more and more. Noah recently learned to say, "thirsties". For some reason he makes everything plural...perhaps because he's a multiple. :) A favorite of mine is "Peek-boo!" and "See you!" Most things are still just one word: cup, mama (usually yelled), daddy, Lue, doggy, and so many other words. They are starting to say each other's names more too. Aiden is still the name they struggle with. It's so much fun to watch them learning so much, so fast. I remember preparing myself for the fact that they would probably be behind in certain things. They most certainly are not. They actually talk a lot for their age. Our pediatrician has always been so amazed by them. I only wish learning things didn't also include them poking my eyes and saying "eye" or jabbing my belly and saying "baby". They haven't quite mastered the art of being gentle. They also seem to think that belly buttons are babies. :) We've been working on abc's and counting lately and they are really starting pick that up as well. They sing a little bit of their abc's and say 2 and 3 and occasionally another number.

This week is the last quiet week around here for a while. In the next 3 or 4 weeks I have my glucose tolerance test (a test to determine whether or not you have gestational diabetes), at least 1 dr. appt. for myself, Noah's allergist, Reese's pre-sugery physical, Reese's surgery and his follow-up appt. It will be busy for sure. I had to schedule an appointment with Noah's allergist because his asthma has been bad the last couple of weeks. They put him on a lose dose of medicine that we have to use in his nebulizer twice a day. He didn't mind the first couple of days, but hasn't been so thrilled to do it the past couple of days. I'm sure he'll get used to it being a part of his life.

Other than that we've just been not so patiently waiting for warmer weather. 3 little boys (and 1 mom) have bad cabin fever! They pull their little chairs up to the window and just look out. Hopefully soon we can actually be outside and not freeze or get wet and muddy. Hopefully...

Reese's eyes and more sick boys

It's been a couple of weeks since I took Reese to the eye dr.  I haven't had a chance to update what happened because 3 little boys have been so crazy and have been sick as well.  Anyways....at the appointment the dr. said that based on what I told him he probably does have clogged tear ducts and they will need to be surgically opened.  (sigh)  We scheduled his surgery for April 8.  It will be a fairly short procedure, but he'll need to be put completely under because of his age.  Please say a  lot of prayers for me as watching him go into surgery will be hard.  It sure brings back a lot of memories.  I know things turned out great the last time, but it's still hard.  During the appointment they also did a routine eye check.  They found out that he is quite far-sighted.  Awesome.  They said that there is discussion around the country going on about whether or not to give glasses at this age.  They asked if we would enroll him in a study for other kids who are far-sighted.  I of course said we would.  They should be calling to enroll him soon.  There is a 50/50 chance he will get glasses for the study.  They will compare the results of the kids who get glasses and the kids who don't over 3 years.  The best part is they will pay us for each visit and if he needs glasses they pay for it. 

Also in the past couple of weeks the boys have had a nasty cough.  Aiden ended up with a fever so the dr. had me bring him in.  The fever ended up being a result of a bad ear infection.  He really wasn't messing with his ear, so I was surprised.  She usually doesn't do anything for ear infections, but she gave him Amoxicillin for it.  He's finally better after about a week and a half.  Noah and Reese just today are starting to feel better after almost 2 weeks.  Poor Noah gets the worst of the coughs because of his asthma.  I will probably call his allergist who mentioned trying to put him on "maintenance medication" for asthma instead of waiting for him to need albuterol as a breathing treatment when the asthma happens.

Finally, if you can all stop and say a prayer for my brother (Andy) I would very much appreciate it.  He had an accident at work this week and seriously injured his eye.  He had emergency surgery on it.  At this point he was only able to see some light in that eye.  We are still praying for a miracle and that more sight will be restored.  We have seen some amazing things happen before and believe it's possible.  He has a long road of recovery ahead and could use a lot of prayers for patience and understanding.  I know many people pray for us all of the time, but this one could use top priority right now.

The allergist, the eye Dr. (x2) and and ultrasound

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.

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! 

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.

A virus and a busy baby

This week started with Reese waking up Monday morning with a runny nose and a little cough.  We really didn't think anything of it.  He was a little crabby and tired so we figured he had a cold.  Tuesday morning he woke up and his eyes were red and he was breathing loud and heavy.  By the afternoon his eyes were even more red and his breathing sounded worse and faster.  I called the Dr. to ask what we should do, if anything, about the breathing.  I was going to leave a message for the nurse but she got the Dr. (our Dr. was off that day, so it the other Dr. in the office).  He asked what was going on and said we needed to come in right away.  So I woke Reese up from his nap and bundled him up.  Of course it had to be ridiculously cold that day!  Thankfully Nate was home so I could go with just Reese.  After looking him over and listening to him breathe for a while he said it could be bronchiolitis or asthma caused by a virus.  Of course we talked about the fact that Noah is on the nebulizer for the same thing and that asthma runs in the family.  So, he suggested using the nebulizer with Reese.  His guess was that Reese has RSV or something similar.  This was what we had them vaccinated against last winter that cost $2,000 a shot before insurance.  It would have been much worse for him to have it last year.  The Dr said that while there is a test to determine that it is RSV it doesn't change the course of treatment.  The fact that he was a preemie means we have to watch him more closely though.  So after the nebulizer he was breathing a little bit better.  Wednesday he was looking a little worse and by yesterday he was looking a little better.  He looks even better today.  I am so thankful that they are bigger and can handle things like this now!  On a funny note...Reese did not enjoy laying on the table for the Dr. to listen to his lungs.  The minute the Dr. pulled the stethoscope away he looked at him and said, "All done?"  :) 

The other excitement is that baby #4 is busy kicking and moving now.  I felt the boys extremely early, so it felt like forever waiting for this one to kick.  Finally about a week and a half ago I did.  Now this baby is kicking and moving like a maniac.  Nate is anxious to be able to feel the baby move once it gets a little bigger.  It's funny how different things are this time.  With the boys at almost 19 weeks (which is what I am now) we had all the nursery furniture picked out, the bedding picked out, they were named.  This time we have nothing done.  We haven't even looked at furniture or bedding, we haven't talked names at all (we will once we know what we're having) and we haven't started to take stuff out of the room to work on it yet.  I think it's partly because we, hopefully, have much more time to prepare this time.  It's just funny to think how different it is to be pregnant with one baby instead of three!

This is our life...

This is a little look into what a "normal" day is like in our house....

Last week (I don't remember what day, it was a long week!) I ran upstairs to grab a few bills that needed to be paid.  By the time I got back downstairs 3 boys had climbed onto chairs and even onto the table to get to a plate of cookies brought by my good friend Donna.  They all had a mouth FULL of cookies.  Aiden even had a mouth full of nuts (I guess now we know he's not allergic).  I did what any mom would do.  I took a picture.

(Note how they smiled, clearly thinking they had done nothing wrong)

 

Another day they knocked over the rocking chair and played on it (they did it this morning too).  I don't put the chair back into place until they take a nap.  They climb on everything in sight!  This includes their kitchen, toys they use to climb onto other things, furniture, and the list goes on.  We had to start stacking our chairs in a corner so that they would stop pushing them to the counter to get things.  Monday Noah pushed a chair to the counter and grabbed cookies that our neighbor brought them.  When I ran over to stop them to all ran in different directions and chowed down on their cookies.  They are too stinking smart.  I couldn't believe they knew to scatter.  They run away from me ALL THE TIME.  If they see me grab a kleenex, diapers, clothes or anything else they don't want to see they run. 

 

Last night was the kicker.  We were getting ready to go to bed and I was turning the heat down.  We have a thermostat for each "level" of our house.  I was turning down the one for the living room/kitchen level and noticed why we had been so warm all night.  Noah turned it up to over 86!!  How do I know it was Noah?  I have caught him MANY times climbing onto the couch and then onto the back of the couch to get things off of the dresser behind it.  He must have turned it up while climbing on the back of the couch.  Thankfully we laugh about these things.  Sure, I get pretty frustrated when these things are happening.  It's hard to get anything done, even make lunch when you know at least one is up to no good.  Believe me they usually work as a team to accomplish things.  I try to see that as a good thing, that at least they're working together.  Most of the time I just want to pull my hair out.  It takes a while before it's funny.