Live. Love. Oliver.: Sniffles, snot, and coughs

This past week has been among the most trying weeks for me as a mother. My baby got sick for the first time and I'd like to take a pass on ever dealing with that again- I can dream, right!?-- It all started Sunday night. We spent a very quick weekend in VA for my sister's baby shower. We had a nice time but it was such a short trip it was hard on all of us. We used to pick up and leave for a weekend trip all the time before Oliver came. Now, it's just not possible. Anyway, we got back to Knoxville around 9:30pm Sunday night and Oliver was up through the night with a stuffy nose. I truly thought he was teething Monday and expected to see his first pearly white at any moment. By Tuesday a cough started and I tried to stay calm when I started to get sick as well. By Wednesday he had a much worse cough and I knew I had to call his doctor. They fit him in that afternoon and luckily Kurt was able to duck out of work about 30 minutes early to come with me to the appointment. We ended up getting a Nebulizer and 2 prescriptions for the babe. One for Zyrtec and the other for breathing meds.

Wednesday night was the second most difficult night of my life as a new mother. My baby was sick for the first time, I was now sick as well. We were both exhausted and feeling rather miserable. I really felt like Oliver needed his second dose of breathing meds but Kurt left them at the pharmacy because of their outrageous cost of $117 for an 8 DAY supply. I know that's a crazy price, but I don't care if I eat ramen for the next month, if my baby needs expensive meds I'll do whatever I can to get them for him. Not to get into all the down and dirty details, but Kurt and I fought hard about going and getting the meds for him. We ended up waiting and I calledThursday morning, at 8 o'clock on the dot, to try to get his Rx changed to a cheaper drug with a generic. This whole process took 3 calls to the pediatrician office throughout the day, and still ended up costing us $67 and he didn't get to have his first breathing treatment until 4pm Thursday afternoon.

You all know about my supply issues and have probably read about my nursing journey. Breastfeeding my baby is as important to me as a natural birth was. When Oliver was sick and all he wanted to do was nurse and he couldn't because of his clogged up nose, it was heartbreaking. He would turn his head and root, he'd latch on, then have to come off for air after a few pitiful sucks. You also know my philosophy on mothering and how I try my best to meet his needs immediately... and I guess you can imagine what this week was like for me when I couldn't meet his needs. I couldn't let him nurse. I couldn't give him the meds he needed. All I could do was cuddle him and give him a bottle and pump my heart out in hopes that my small milk supply would hold out through this sickness.

Things really turned around when he got his first breathing treatment at home Thursday afternoon. He could breathe, he has nursed for every meal since then. He has slept through the night again and is able to nurse while we sleep like usual again. Yesterday he played SO HARD all day that he wouldn't take a nap because he was too excited to be playing again. His knees last night were as red as a lobster from crawling all day. This week I missed my baby's smiles. I'm used to him smiling at me just about every time I look at him, talk to him, go to get him up from a nap, etc. He and I are on the mend and I'm so thankful for that.

Despite his sickness he's met two milestones this week. Thursday after his breathing treatment and a good nursing session he crawled for the first time. He's fast with his army crawl but he crawled on his hands and knees for about 2-3 steps before lunging back onto his belly and taking off again! We were thrilled. Then yesterday he was playing at my feet and pulled himself up onto his knees, then straight up onto his feet! He stood up! I was in total shock and still kind of am. He is such an incredible blessing to me and has met milestones even while fighting off his first illness. His temperament is so content and loving that even when he was not feeling well he was mostly pleasant. Here are a few shots from this week.