Harrison and the never ending sickness!

Harrison has essentially been sick since the beginning of November. He wasn't at Appletree two full weeks when he came down with a cold. He's been sick ever since. In total, he has had four ear infections and been on antibiotics six times (amoxycillin 2x, Omnicef 3x, and a Z-pack once). He finally started to get well the week he was home with Jason over Christmas break. As soon as he went back in January, he came down with another cold. We thought it was getting better but towards the end of January his cough was getting bad again and his nose was just pouring. We assumed it was a cold but then I heard that RSV was going around at Appletree. On Wednesday, 2/8 Harrison would not finish bottles. On Thursday, he wouldn't take more than an ounce or two at a feeding.

They confirmed he had RSV and began monitoring his oxygen intake. We knew that he was really sick and having a hard time breathing when he would take a few drinks and then gasp for air. It was so sad and I felt so helpless. He wheezed just sitting on the floor playing. By Monday he started to eat a little better and his oxygen intake was up to 94%. Today is the first day he took two bottles straight through (7 oz this morning with most of a container of fruit and 6 oz at lunch with a big container of sweet potatoes). He sure acts silly for as bad as he sounds when he's breathing. We hope this means he is turning the corner and recovering finally. I am keeping him home through next week too in the hopes he can fully recover and then once we go to Florida to visit Grandma and Grandpa Adams, he should be doing great. I just feel bad he will be away from school for over three weeks by the time he goes back. I imagine he won't transition very well and it will be tough the first few days.

His six month stats: 20 lbs., 9.5 oz. and 28.5" long (88th percentile for weight, 95th for height!)

We are waiting on vaccines until next week. We're also going to the Ear, Nose, Throat specialist to check on his ears. We also get to take 6 month pictures next Thursday!! So exciting.

Finally, Jason is super busy at work, moreso after this promotion to Assistant Manager of the Quality Assurance Engineering. Thankfully he hasn't had to travel but he has been working a lot of late nights. He really loves his job and I'm so happy that he does.

Happy Six Months, Baby Boy!!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe I haven't blogged since well before Harrison was born! I never even posted his birth story! Which, by the way, was a piece of cake, minus the post-delivery trip to the O.R. The synopsis: Pitocin at 9:30am on August 5, 2011, water broke at 11am, epidural (not until!!) 12:20pm, started pushing at 2pm, and he was born at 3:09pm (8lbs. 10oz. and 20.5" long). It was short, sweet, and relatively painless once I had the epidural. I am so grateful to have had such a great birth experience.
Now onto the fun stuff! Harrison LOVES solids. I was so excited to get to this point with him and it's been so much fun. He has tried avocado, green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, peaches, pears, and most recently mixed apple-banana-strawberry stage 2. He loves it all! There isn't anything he won't eat! He really loves bananas mixed with his cereal. I have been using the Baby Bullet to do his bananas and avocados. I am trying apples this week but those are more work. I am not sure when we'll try the meat dishes, but it will be soon. He just loves to eat. Right now his schedule looks like this:

7:30am Wake up, bottle (7oz), then 3T cereal with a container of fruit
11:30am Bottle (8oz), container of vegetables (at Appletree)

3:30pm Bottle (8oz)

6:30pm 3T cereal and container of fruit and sometimes another container of vegetables!!! This kid can eat!

7:30pm Bath

8:00pm Bottle (6 or 7oz depending on how much he ate for dinner)

8:15pm Bedtime!

We feel so grateful he sleeps through the night but he has since about 8 weeks. We know our routine and schedule (loosely based on Babywise principles) are largely responsible for this.

Harrison has been perpetually sick since November though. He got a cold after a week at Appletree, and he had it through Christmas. Looking back it was probably several colds but they overlapped and there was no start/end points. He finally got better when he was home with his dad over break. Back to school in January, and back to being sick again! He was just starting to get better and it's clear to me that he's got another cold. His nose is super runny, his cough sounds bad, and you can just tell he doesn't feel great. Our unseasonal weather probably accounts for a lot of this--it bounces between 40-50 degrees and 20 degrees. It's been crazy! He is back on Omnicef for his ears once again. I am considering a visit to the ENT before our trip to Florida since I am worried about the pain it may cause him to fly.

He really loves going to school and seeing his friends and teachers. The Infant Room has a lot of great staff that really seem to care about the kids. He loves the Jumperoo, and between him, Rhys, and Nathan, they all want their turns bouncing! They do the cutest art projects and I feel really grateful to have these mementos of this time when he's small. At the dr. last week he weighed 19 lbs., 12.5 oz. I am guessing him to be around 29" long. The 12 month Carter's outfits are getting hard to snap in the crotch. The 12-18 month stuff fits just perfect right now. He's just growing like a weed. It's like having a 1 year old in an almost six month old baby!

I'm already dreaming about his birthday party... but for now I am enjoying every minute with him as we keep seeing more and more of his very funny and laid back personality. Just when I think I couldn't possibly love him more, I do!