I had a lovely Mother's Day today to end what was a bit of a hectic week. It was beautiful and sunny, my boys were good to me, Wil (and Daddy) got me a special surprise that he was SO excited about, some beautiful pink flowers and a card and I got to have a nap in the sun (which led to a sunburn complete with necklace lines and all, ouch!). It was the perfect way to finish off this week.
Now, let's talk about why this week was so hectic...
It started with Wil spiking a random fever on Sunday, that had no other symptoms except the constant 103-104 degree fever... and LOTS of sleeping and lying on the couch. He was so not himself, and there was not much we could do to help him feel better but just let him lie around and sleep on and off all day. Then Monday came, we decided we would let Carson try some peanut butter. He really liked it, ate about half of a piece of toast with PB and then the rest of his breakfast. About half an hour later, I noticed this....
He was rubbing his eye constantly and it was starting to get quite red and swollen. My immediate thought was uh-oh, this is not good. But then I wondered, did he just have something in his eye and it is bugging him, let's be hopeful and think it is that. It was naptime, so I debated what to do, but he was otherwise quite normal and himself so I put him down for his nap, but jacked the volume on his monitor so I could hear him breathing. He didn't sleep for long, maybe 40 minutes, and woke up quite happy. I went up to get him out of bed and he was COVERED in angry looking red hives, his eyes were puffy and he was wheezing... PANIC! I called my Dr's office and while they did not have appointments available they said come in right now, we will see you and let you know if you need to go to urgent care (Thank you so much to Dr. Greeff and Fran the receptionist at Fish Creek Medical Center). So we rushed into the car, poor Wil still battling his fever and feeling miserable, and drove to the Dr. As soon as we got there, the nurses were immediately concerned, got in into a room right away and the Dr came within minutes, he was visibly concerned, listened to breathing, checked oxygen levels, and checked his throat (which was swelling). Carson was definately have a reaction to the peanuts. Our Dr. gave him a giant dose of Benedryl, then asked us to wait half an hour (with nurses checking every 5 minutes) so he could check him again. Of course we did, and while he did not get much better, he did not get worse so we were able to go home, monitor carefully and continue to dose with Benedryl every 4 hours. Both boys went down for naps, and i sat on the couch shaking. Thank goodness he was fine, but he is likely going to have a nut/peanut allergy to deal with for his entire life. We have become super label readers and it is amazing all the things that "may contain nuts" or are "processed in facilities that process nut products". Even our Orange juice! thank goodness we live in a society that is aware of nut allergies and label these things and also that there are so many products and places that are nut free. This was totally unexpected, and I never imagined I would have a child with a nut allergy since Chad and I don't have any allergies, and while it is not the greatest bit of news, it could be worse.
After several doses of Benedryl, still pretty angry looking
"Mommy, I will just wear your sunglasses to cover up my puffy eyes and hives!"
Wil was so worn out after this day and his fever, he got up off the couch at 6:15pm, looked at me and said, "Mommy, I am just going to go right to bed now" walked upstairs and was really quiet. I went up 5 minutes later to check on him and he was fast asleep, with the window wide open, curtain blowing in and noisy people outside. Shocked! Poor guy was wiped.
Fevers and nut allergies aside, we also had some fun this week once we had all recovered.
Wil and I were drawing pictures and he decided he wanted to write his name... so he did! I only helped him with the "m", I had NO idea he even remotely knew how to even try this. I guess drawing letters with Elmo on the iPad has paid off!! Proud mommy!!
Since the weather was so nice, we put together our new sand and water table
So much fun!
2 of my 3 handsome dudes ready for our Mother's Day outing
(the 2 year old dude is so hard to get pictures of these days, he literally runs from the camera if he is not in the mood)
Wil is very much in the "I do it myself" phase and doesn't want help with anything. This week he decided he would try to cut his own nails.
(They just grow up too fast!!)
In addition to my exciting week, one of my BFFs in Toronto got the best Mother's Day present ever... she had her baby girl today! Congrats to Sami and Dean and welcome little Madeline! I am so happy for you all and I can't wait to meet the new little Miss in August!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, my fabulous "mommy" friends that are so helpful and keep me sane, my family members, and all the other moms. Also to my Mother In Law, who takes good care of me (us) since my own mom is so far away, and treats me as one of her own.
Finally, being a mother, I have learned to appreciate my own mother so much more. She really is the best mother in the world, and I could not have been luckier to have her as mine. Happy Mother's Day to my mom, thank you for being there for me all the time, and for being such a good mom and role model.
