Lil J has his first cold!

So lil J has his first cold.

Considering that I think he's actually doing really well, he's a real trooper.

On Monday he was fine. We went to Bible study Monday night & then on Tuesday he was really fussy--I thought he was teething. Wednesday morning hubby woke me & told me he thought little one had a cold cuz he was coughing a lot. I got up & insisted he didn't cuz I could tell he was only coughing cuz of his "boogies".

On further inspection though, I realized he had boogies worse than ever before & I couldn't even get them out for him, they are way up in there. But you can hear them & he's having a hard time breathing.

So I was putting saline drops in his nose to loosen the boogies. I was giving him diluted grapefruit seed extract & sage tea. I put vicks vaporrub on his chest & feet. He was fussier than usual, wanted to be held a lot. His appetite was not what it usually is. I took him into the steamy bathroom (running hot water in the tub) & sat in there with him as he breathed in the steam.

This morning he was pretty happy when he woke up. He seemed better, but as the day wore on he wore out & was once again tired & cranky. He definitely has a fever today. I gave him some advil earlier for the fever (& body aches that he most likely has but can't verbalize). And I am still giving the grapefruit seed extract & sage & his usual vitamins (B12, B15, & D3). I'm usually like that when I'm sick---I wake up feeling good, but then as the day goes on I find myself sick again.

Yesterday I was telling hubby how shocked I am at how well he takes anything I give him. That grapefruit seed extract does not taste good at all & he just sucks it down like nothing. Hubby commented that perhaps his taste buds aren't developed yet & he doesn't know. But today when I gave him the advil (it's blue raspberry flavor, can't find an unflavored one......) I could tell he REALLY liked it & sucked it down & wanted more. So yeah, he obviously does have taste buds, but I do appreciate how cooperative he is with taking stuff that doesn't taste good. Hopefully that's an indication that he won't be a fussy eater!

I had wondered ahead of time how it would be to care for him when he gets sick. I was worried I wouldn't know what to do. I mean, yeah, I'm a nurse, but sometimes it's very different when it's your own personal family. And I've never specialized as a peds nurse, although I've worked peds several times, but it's literally been YEARS since I've done it at all. But I find myself feeling just like I'm at work & have had no difficulty whatsoever with the situation, aside from being worn out by it. This time my emotions are very involved & I cannot clock out & go home & forget about it.

Right now I got him down for a nap. I am exhausted, been holding him & singing & otherwise trying to keep him entertained all day. He really loves the singing. I can even notice him liking specific parts of songs, he seems to recognize that now in the songs I sing to him often.

I am pretty sure he got his cold at church in the nursery. I do appreciate all that they do in the nursery, but I do wish they were more educated on microbiology (I actually wish EVERYONE had to take microbiology--it should be a high school requirement). I mean, they are better than some places--they do clean all the toys, swings, equipment, etc. But I've also seen them right in front of me lay down his pacifier with the bulb touching the counter. To me it's common sense that there are germs on that counter so you shouldn't do that. And a few weeks ago I was waiting to drop him off at the nursery (you can't drop off until all the kids from the prior service have been picked up & that was running late). It's different people watching the kids each service & the people for our service know little one well & really like him, which is nice. But the people in there for the prior service were having all sorts of problems--wrong pacifiers in wrong kids mouths, wrong bottles, missing bottles, missing pacifiers, I couldn't believe all the issues I was witnessing as I stood there waiting. Seeing that REALLY made me appreciate the group that watches him during our service on Sundays. It's different people on Monday nights also, but they are starting to get to know him now & they shared with us recently that at first he seemed really nervous with them, but each week he has been more & more relaxed with them, which is nice.

On a side note: little one has several stuffed animals now. I have showed him all of them & sat them on the tray of his swing as he swings. I thought for sure he would like the little alligator (it's in several photos) cuz it makes this crinkly noise & he LOVES crinkly noises--his rainforest gym has a leaf that crinkles & he LOVES playing with it & everytime I put him on the changing table his foot goes for the wipes cuz the package they're in makes a crinkly sound--it's REALLY cute. BUT he has never shown much interest in the alligator. When I was in labor hubby brought me flowers & on the vase was a little stuffed dog. I told hubby that would be the baby's first stuffed animal. But it's been on that vase up until very recently. As soon as I washed it & gave it to him you could see that he liked it. He kept touching it & grabbing it. I would leave it nearby him & then I turn around & he has it in his arms. So this morning I put him in the swing when I went to workout & I put the little doggy on the tray in front of him & while I'm working out I hear him "talking" A LOT (on the monitor). When I was done working out & I walked back inside I see him sitting there holding up the doggy staring at it so intently & "talking" to it. He looked like he was really telling it something important (probably how miserable he feels!). It was soooo cute. I tried to video it but missed the best part of it, only got him holding it, not him talking to it.

I gotta run, gotta get some things done before he wakes from his nap & wants attention..........