Don't mess with an angry mom!

I am writing this blog today more to vent my anger and frustration for what has happen today for my boy. So, let me start by giving a background story. Noah has had a cough for at least three months now. We've been through the ringer trying to determine the cause for this cough. At first we thought it was just a cold and it had to run it's course. After ten days of it not going away Noah's pediatrician had us come in for an appointment. He listened to his chest and lungs and said he sounds clear and it may be a virus that has to run it's course and if it wasn't better by the end of the week to call back. Well, it wasn't better, so he called us in a prescription for an antibiotic, a week later, we tried a different antibiotic. Still no better. Then the doc said possible allergies. It was the end of April, beginning of May so it was allergy season. So when we went for his six month check up last month I begged his pediatrician to refer us to an allergist. They don't typically do allergy testing on babies until they are a year old. I just couldn't imagine waiting waiting that long to get my boy to feel better! I thought maybe he was allergic to our dogs. That would have been terrible, but we wanted to know.

It took three weeks to get in with the allergist and we just saw him last Friday. Dr.Watkins, in Salisbury. GREAT doctor! He's the same doc that stitched up Dave's eye brow last year when Dave passed out, fell off his medical table and slammed his face into the tile floor. (That's a great story if you haven't heard it yet). So, my mom went with me since Dave had to work and I figured this was going to be a great visit. Get Noah tested, find out what he's allergic to, get an allergy medicine for him, and he'd be better before we knew it!

Well, 16 pricks in his back later, no allergries!

                                            Poor baby, he was so good the entire time too.

  I couldn't believe it. So what's wrong with him then? Well Dr. Watkins wanted to do a chest X-Ray. This suprised me as I just didn't understand what he may be looking for. He explained ito me that there were a few things that an x-ray would cancel out right away. One of them being pneumonia. Other things he was looking for were posisble valves that may be squeezing his asophogus to tight causing a restriction in the air flow and causing coughing. If that was the case we would have to do surgery. Also, possble heart issues...none of this sounded good to me. I was so scared! Here we are at an allergy appointment and now we're talking about possible heart, and lung problems!? Not what I was expecting. But, Dr. Watkins reassured me that he truly thinks Noah has a sinus infection that hasn't been treated properly and a good strong antibiotic will most likely do the trick.

Anyone ever had to get a chest x-ray on a baby? Not fun! Let me try to explain it to you. They put noah on the little seat that looks like a bicycle seat where his legs dangle below. Then they take his arms, hold them up over his head, strap a halo around his head so he can't move it, and smush him inbetween two pieces of plexy glass. Not easy to watch! Noah was screaming and was so scared! I know the machine didn't hurt him but he was just so scared, it broke my heart. I am so thankful my mom was with me, because I was unable to hold back the tears. Thank God for Grandmothers!

Well, after a long weekend with no results, I called the doctor's office on Monday, still no results. Called this morning, no results, and finally got a call this afternoon from a nurse. Noah has pneumonia. I can not believe it. My poor boy has had pneumonia for three months now, and who thought to order the chest x-ray? The allergy doctor! I can not tell you how angry I am at his pediatrician I'm sorry, i've tried to be understanding, but this is a big mistake if you ask me. I understand that doctor's are not always going to make the right calls, and of course they're going to make mistakes. They're human. But I can not tell you how many phone calls and check ups I have had with this pediatrician and he has not done enough if you ask me. he always shrugged me off like i was an over-reacting mother scared of a single cough. I couldn't have been more clear to this doctor about his cough. Everytime we saw him or I called his office I told them he still had the cough. I had to beg him to let me take Noah to the allergist to get treated for this...what he thought was allergies! Thank GOD (as always, he is the great doctor!) this allergist didn't shrug this off too. He very easily could have just said, "nope, no allergies! Have a nice day."

I am very greatful that we know what is wrong withNoah now and can treat this and get him better. I know I need to move on and let go of my anger, all I can say is...i'm

                                     Even with pneumonia he has been all smiles.  What a good boy!

Oh how I loathe teething!

When I first suspected that Noah showed his first signs of teething he was only three months old, but he was drooling a lot, and sticking his hands in his mouth.  I asked the Doc about it and he said "The teething process has started, but don't expect any teeth till about six or seven months."  Well, that was just bad advice by the doc!  Noah popped his two bottom front teeth at four months!  And I was completely blind sighted by it!  I had no clue!  My poor sweet boy was waking up several times during the night and I just kept nursing him or giving him a bottle thinking he was hungry!  We had a two week stretch that was pretty bad where Noah was up every night crying.  Dave and I were walking zombies!  It was bad!  And the entire time, I'm researching online about sleep regression, and I'm adding cereal to his night bottle thinking gees this boy is so HUNGRY!  Nope, that wasn't it!  He was teething!  UGH!  Poor little guy!  All he needed was some orajel or some tylenol and he would have been fine!  Duh!?!?!

So I was a little more prepared when he started to cut what appeared to be the other two bottom front teeth.  You could see the gum was getting white and he was drooling like crazy (he lives with a waterproof bib on).  And even at Noah's six month check up his doc said "Yup, it looks like two more bottom teeth are coming through soon."  HA!  Wrong again Doc!  After four weeks of teething and numerous nights awake with my boy so cranky he finally cut two TOP teeth!  Out of no where!  Here I am putting orajel on the bottom and he cuts the top two!  This is ridiculous!

I am still pretty sure that he's working on two more on that bottom row so he's been cutting four teeth at once!  No wonder he's been so cranky!  Poor guy was so bad for a week, he had a low fever and would not let us put him down!  He had to be in our arms or he was not happy.  And it's not easy carrying around a 20 lb baby all the time! 

So my question for all of you experienced mom's and dad's....IS IT LIKE THIS FOR EVERY TOOTH!?!?!?  Please say no!

                "How about I use daddy's expensive remote as a teether?  I'm sure he won't mind!"

                                      There's the bottom two teethers on my chubby munkey!