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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Waiting on the two steps back. ;)We're making progress and so far, it's going pretty smoothly. That's not to say I think it will continue this way. I'm sure for every step forward, we're going to have nights that take giant leaps back. But then, that's why I figured I'd need four or five months to invest into weaning.
First, an update on Emmitt's ears.
Things got ugly over Thanksgiving and we ended up having to have the on-call doc call in a stronger prescription for us. That made for three, yes THREE rounds of antibiotics. Unfortunately, he seemed to end up with an outer ear infection as well, so we had to add drops to the mix. We agreed that I'd take the kids straight into the doc's office on Monday morning to have Emmitt's ear checked out.
As it turns out, the ear that had the ruptured eardrum was doing much better. Unfortunately, the other ear still looked horrible. In fact, the doctor said that eardrum was still at risk of rupturing. That meant we needed to kick it up yet another notch. We ended up doing a direct injection of antibiotics.
(On the plus side, he cried for about 15 seconds and then I had him laughing again. That's much better than twice a day scream sessions as we tried to get a teaspoon of liquid and five ear drops in him.)
We'll go back in on Friday to see if things are clearing up. If not, we'll have to do one more round of injections. If so, then we'll make an appointment with an ear nose and throat specialist. The doctor agreed that an ear infection of this magnitude the first go round was pretty darn rare. He said he's rarely seen it happen and when it does, it's usually because there's an anatomical issue. Rather than have Emmitt suffer through a few more rounds of this, we're going to have him checked out to see if there's a need for tubes. Then we'll start making some decisions.
The good news is that despite all this, his mood has been wonderful the last three days. He's been happy and cheerful and a ball of energy. I guess when you've been "awful sick" being just a "little sick" feels pretty good. ;)
I'd put weaning on hold last week as I saw no need to push things when he was clearly upset and in pain. The last two nights, he'd been pretty happy so I thought we might slowly work our way back into it.
Two nights ago, I got him read for bed and sat and sang him some songs. Then I put him in his crib and left. He was quiet for about fifteen minutes and then started to fuss. He fussed on and off for a few minutes before moving on into full blown crying. I went in, he nursed for about 10 minutes and went straight to sleep.
Amazingly, he slept until 4am when he briefly woke up, nursed and then slept until 8am.
WOOT!
Last night, I tried the same thing. Got him ready for bed, sat and rocked with him and sang a few rounds of songs. Then I put him in bed.
This time, he went to sleep.
I was astounded. In fact, I sat rooted on the couch for two hours convinced that if I moved a muscle, he'd immediately start crying and I'd have to go in and nurse him. (I'm weird like that.)
He slept until 3:30, woke up and nursed for a few minutes and then went back to bed until 7:30 this morning.
Amazing.
Here's hoping it works again tonight. We'll have to wait and see.
Labels: Breastfeeding Advice, Weaning
That's wonderful!
I'm glad he's feeling even a bit better. My kids have taken turns being sick over the last week, and it just isn't any fun for anyone. : (
I'm happy for you, that he went to sleep without nursing, and I wanted to let you know that you aren't the only one who sits, not breathing, for fear of waking the baby.
I'll cross my fingers for you, that you'll have more forward progress than back....
And two steps back...
No such luck with bed tonight. Ended up having to nurse him. Oh well. We'll try again tomorrow. :)
I had a ruptured ear drum when I was younger. It sucked. I remember it vividly. I had actually gone into the doctors just days before complaining of an ear ache and he said my ears look beautiful. Then it ruptured. So either he was wrong the first time, or I don't know what. It made me so dizzy and nauseated. Any noise killed me.
I hope your little one feels better. We're still working on getting my son to sleep in his crib. But I'm stumped as to how to get him to fall asleep there. He still needs me to lay down with him first until he dozes off, then we switch him over.
that is so great about the progress, it always seems to be an ebb and flow sort of thing.
I know so many people whose kids have tubes and they are so glad they got them. Apparently it isn't that big a deal anymore. I think anything like that for your own child seems like a big deal though. From what my friends have said they were far more effected by the ordeal than the kids. Go figure.
try putting some freshly pumped milk in his ears if he'll let you - ear infections can be viral as well as bacterial and if you keep throwing antibiotics at it when it's viral you may be just getting the easy part of the infection while letting the challenging part rage on. Your milk should have antibodies to it... dont' know if I'd put it in the ruptured ear or not myself but definately the not-yet-ruptured one in hopes of calming it down before it ruptures.
i have raging ear infections several times a year, had tubes when i was 4 and it didn't do much good. the only difference i notice when i take antibiotics for the ear infection is that i wind up with a yeast infection so i just let them run their course while watching my nutrition and other immune-boosting activities.
I'm glad moving nursing out of the bedtime routine or back worked so well for you both.
I've also waited anxiously for the baby to wake up, terrified that any noise whatsoever will be rewarded with crying from the nursery.
What's even funnier is when you put the soundly sleeping infant into the bed - only to have him or her stir immediately upon being put down - then drop to your hands and knees and CRAWL out of the room to avoid detection. I've done that more than once, I'm afraid. :)
"He fussed on and off for a few minutes before moving on into full blown crying. I went in, he nursed for about 10 minutes and went straight to sleep."
This sounds like a description of the majority of our night-weaning process. Plus the prerequisite steps back here and there.
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