A short month but with ups and downs - February 2012

Despite being the shortest month, February is a slow month here in Michigan.  By February, you are so sick of winter you could puke but are forever expectant of the nice weather that is surely on its way.  This year, we really haven't had much of a winter.  There has been virtually no accumulation of snow at all, and, in fact, we've had more nice days than not.  The kicker is that we've had some really nice days which has made us long even more for warm weather and all that comes with it. 

Feburary 1st, 2012

On the first day of the month, we found ourselves a little, well - bored - after dinner.  We had eaten, cleaned up and still had a couple of hours before we had to put Hugo to bed.  We didn't have anywhere we had to be, no shopping to do and the weather was too cold to go for a walk.  So what did we come up with?  Ice cream!!!  Luckily, Ypsi has a Diary Queen that is open year-round and has indoor seating. 

February 4th, 2012
Shannon and Tim's second baby, baby girl Colette, is due in a few weeks.  While they already have many of the baby essentials, they were in need of some girly stuff.  To celebrate Colette's impending arrival, we had a girls luncheon (a Baby "Sprinkle") at Sava's restaurant in Ann Arbor.  Colette got some adorable girly-girl new clothes and we all got to have a nice girls lunch. 

February 5th, 2012
Today was the Super Bowl.  While we weren't really that excited for it because none of our teams were playing (it was between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots), we couldn't really do nothing since Jaime is such a huge football fan in general.  So, the Dunns and the Edwards/Atkins came over to watch the game and have pizza for dinner.  Hugo got some play time in with Connor and we all got to snuggle with Vinnie.

Hugo wasn't happy about sharing his truck with Connor...we'll have to work on that.

February 6th, 2012
Another swimming class.  Hugo seemed unusually fussy during the Super Bowl last night, so we were eager to get him to swimming class as it really seems that "putting them on water" is usually a good remedy for a crabby kid.  I could tell that he was definitely getting more comfortable in the water (maybe even more so than Jaime is!), but it was obvious that he wasn't feeling 100%.  In the picture of him with the beach ball, you can see how tired he looks.... 

February 7th, 2012
After a rough night with Hugo (really fussy, super tired, not letting us put him down), Jaime took him to see Dr. Baker today and it turns out he has a double ear infection.  No wonder he's been feeling so crappy!  So, he got prescribed a round of Ammoxicillin and we headed home to snuggle.  I tried to give him a push-up but he wasn't in to it, he just wanted to cuddle.

February 9-11th
The last few days were rough.  Despite getting the antibiotics on Tuesday for his ear infection, it didn't seem that Hugo was feeling any better.  On Wednesday morning (2/8/12), he wouldn't let me put him down in the morning while getting ready so I called into work and we spent the entire morning snuggling in the rocking chair while he slept.  He was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open.  Furthermore, he seemed to be running a pretty high, consistent fever.  Even though we kept regularly dosing him with Tylenol and Motrin, it didn't seem to come down much.  We decided to wait it out for another day.  On Thursday (2/9/12) Jaime and I both HAD to go to work and Hugo still wasn't in shape for day care so we used the UM Kids Kare at Home service.  The visiting provider said that - again - Hugo spent the entire day sleeping in the rocking chair.  With our trip to Gulf Shores quickly approaching, we decided to take another trip to see Dr. Baker to follow-up and determine if Hugo would be OK to travel.

At Dr. Baker's office on Thursday, Hugo was not doing well.  He was incredibly fussy and tired.  His breathing had become quite labored and Dr. Baker decided to order a chest X-ray to see what was going on.  Watching Hugo get his chest X-ray taken was awful --- while I knew that they weren't actually hurting him, it broke my heart to see his little body, strapped in at the ankles, wrists and forehead to this chair high up on a platform.  He did OK while I was standing right by, but when we all had to get out of the room to let them take the X-ray, he started crying.  Standing behind that window, watching my baby crying, looking at me...broke my heart.  I don't know how parents with sick kids do it. 

We headed back to Dr. Baker's office and waited while they had time to read the X-ray.  During that time, they decided to check Hugo's blood oxygenation and it wasn't good --- in the high 70's, low 80's (when its supposed to be around 100%).  They gave him a few Albuterol treatments and checked it again and it was no better.  Dr. Baker came back in and said that there was an area on his chest X-ray that was concerning for pneumonia so they were going to try to give him an injection of antibiotics and steroids and check the blood ox again ---- no better.  After being there for over 2 hours, and Dr. Baker assuring us that he had done all he could in the office, he suggested that we head to the ER with Hugo due to his extremely low blood oxygenation.  I wasn't worried until a) Dr. Baker offered to call an ambulance for us and b) he advised us to go straight there without any stops. 

Once at the ER, we got in right away to a room.  The first 30 minutes we got great service --- a nurse attended to him right away and the on call Doc made a stop down quickly.  They decided to try more Albuterol and more Tylenol for the fever, but from there on out it was an awful waiting game.  They promtly told us that Hugo was going to have to be admitted for the night and that they had put a bed request in, so since it seemed we were going nowhere fast, I ran up to my office to shut down my computer, grab a few things, and call my parents (unfortunately, telling them we weren't going to make it out to Gulf Shores on Saturday as we'd planned).  Then I headed back to the ER and suggested Jaime go home to get some sleep since it was already past 9 and he had to work in the morning. 

Our night in the ER was awful --- we were in this tiny little room in the ER with a stretcher that I was afraid Hugo was going to fall off of, horribly uncomfortable chairs, and literally NOTHING to do.  Hugo slept for quite awhile, but I was bored out of my mind and sick with worry.  There was no TV in the room, I didn't have anything to read, and I didn't get cell service.  Our nurse was awful and rarely checked on us.  During her visit around 4 AM she asked if she could get us anything and I kinda lost it, snapping at her "Yes, some information".  I told her that we had been in the ER for nearly 12 hours with them promising to move us to a room and that we were getting restless.  Instead of apologizing, she snapped that we wouldn't do anything differnet in the room.  Anyways, long story short - we quickly got moved to a room early in the morning.  That morning was spent in a cycle of Hugo sleeping, me sleeping, waking, doctors coming in.  We didn't do much.  Hugo had to be on constant intra-nasal oxygen (at a relatively high dose) and constant monitoring, but other than that it was just a waiting game.  Every once in awhile, his oxygenation would dip below the magic number of 80% and the alarm would go off, sending one of the nurses in.  They would reset the machine, and then we'd spend more time staring at the screen, watching that ever-important number bounce up and down. 

Jaime came in after work and sat with Hugo so I could go home and get a shower and some clean clothes.  By the time I got back late Friday afternoon, Hugo seemed to be doing much better in spirit at least.  He was doing well enough that the nurses were comfortable with us taking him off O2 for a few minutes to get him a tubby.

Afterwards, he even enjoyed some time running around the room, even though he was tethered to the oxygen monitoring machine.  It didn't matter, though, I was just so happy to see my baby boy smiling again.  One of the best experiences there was with Keith from the janitorial staff --- while coming in to clean our room, he realized that we didn't have any toys for Hugo.  Not only did he let us know that we could get some loaner toys on the floor, he took the initative to go and get them for us! 

On Friday, the doctor's were happy with Hugo's increased energy and affect and gave the OK to reduce his O2 flow and then, ultimately to go onto room air only to see what happens.  Luckily, nothing happened --- without being on the intra-nasal O2, Hugo was maintaining his blood oxygenation levels!  This was great news and they suggested that if he kept it up, we'd be able to be discharged on Saturday. 

By Saturday, Hugo was a totally different kid --- you couldn't contain him.  He was climbing all over and into everything --- back to our normal Hugo!  As we'd hoped, we were discharged Saturday morning and headed home finally!

February 15th-21st
After getting a squeaky clean bill of health from Dr. Baker and after much negotiating with the airlines to change our tickets without paying a ridiculously large fee, we finally were bound for Gulf Shores!  We were so looking forward to some sunhine and time with my parents.  I think they were really excited to see us, too, and to see Hugo and know that he was all OK.

Our first full day in Gulf Shores was supposed to be a little rainy (although it turned out to be beautiful) so we decided to head to the awesome outlet mall where we scored (and lost) some major deals last year.  This year was no different (except that we made sure NOT to lose our bags this time!).  We got awesome deals, especially at Gap and Children's Place....I think Hugo got something like 11 new pairs of PJs!  Hugo was a totally awesome shopper and enjoyed going on a carousel ride after lunch. 

Hugo was so cute on the trip - he was totally fascinated by everything new.  When he saw the inside of the condo - "Wow!"; when he saw the pool - "Wow!"; and, of course, when he saw the beach - "WOW!"  He was so cute on the beach - lots of "wows".  I think I've got a beach baby - a kid after my own heart.  He stopped a lot to check everything out along the way and even picked out his very first seashell.  We walked for a long time - and he walked himself - until finally we could tell he was getting tired so Jaime carried him back to the condo for nap time. 

The next day did end up being kinda cold and rainy, so we ran some errands in town and did a little shopping.  My mom had promised us lunch at a mexican restaurant in town that was supposed to be really good, so we decided to check it out.  Hugo was a very good, smiley boy while we waited for our food.  We discovered a new favoite food for Hugo ---- tomatoes!  Jaime had some diced tomatoes on his taco and he gave a few to Hugo to try and he loved them!  All of the food was great!

After lunch we stopped for dessert on the way back.  Hugo was belly-laughing with Grandma!

Mardi Gras is BIG on the Gulf, and while our flight back to Michigan was scheduled for Tuesday, it turns out that they celebrate every day for a few weeks around Mardi Gras.  Lucky us, that meant that we could check out one of the many parades while we were in town.  One of the neighbors at the condo told us that the Orange Beach (the town just next to Gulf Shores) was having their parade on Sunday and that, with an adorable little boy, we should check it out.  Apparently, cute kids make out with a ton of loot.  We had no idea!  We ended up with TONS of beads, several stuffed animals and many varieties of moon pies.

My mom --- not only got the chocolate moon pie she wanted to badly but also a flamingo beanie baby!  What a lucky day!

Finally --- our last day in Gulf Shores ended up to be a beautiful day --- sunny, clear sky and warm!  We had been itching for a great day to walk the beach and it finally arrived!  Hugo spent his morning at the front door, waiting for us all to get ready to head out. 

Once getting organized and packed up, my mom, Hugo and I headed out.  Our plan was to walk all the way on the beach down to the pier, where we would call Jaime to be picked up.  We did this same walk last year (when Hugo was just a few months old) and it was wonderful.  I started the walk with Hugo on my back in our new back carrier, but he quickly fell asleep and couldn't get into a comfortable position, so I switched and put him on my front.  There's something about the ocean breeze, the sound of the waves, and the warm sun that puts that kid to sleep.  I don't blame him! 

We walked until Hugo woke up and then decided to stop for a 'berry break'.  Hugo been on a kick for blueberries and strawberries this trip --- we've bought several cartons of each while here, and he eats then like crazy. 

Our walk ended up being much more lengthy than we had planned because we were having such a great time.  On the way to the pier, we decided to stop at the Pink Lady for lunch --- they are known for their amazing (large) nachos.  Of course, if nachos are involved, Jaime's there, so we called him and had him meet us there.  We had a fun, silly lunch with too much food and several margaritas (they even let us take one to go)!

From the Pink Lady, we walked down to the pier and Jaime met us there in the car.  We were still feeling great, so decided to take the stroller on the way back and walked from the pier back to the Pink Lady where we finally took a ride home so we could make it back in time for happy hour!

We had a GREAT time in Gulf Shores.  Unfortunatley, we didn't have awesome weather while we were there, but it was so wonderful to have time with my mom and dad and for Hugo to get to travel and spend time with them.  I hope they keep inviting us so we can make this an annual event!

February 29th, 2012
Leap day!  Hugo being cute in his new booster seat!