What the.....?

Yesterday AM, I was changing Bret's diaper and into some clothes when I noticed red, splotchy areas on his arm pits. When I rolled him over to check his back, I freaked out! His entire back and up his neck was red and rashy looking. So, I called the DR office to make an appointment. The doctor took a 1 minute look at him (no joke) and said it is a heat rash or viral infection. Either way, we really can't do anything about it. She told me to give him 1/4 teaspoon of Benadryl if it worsens. That sort of bugs me because Benadryl is an anti-histamine. What would he be allergic to?

Anyway, last night was hell on earth. He really didn't eat very much because of a stuffed up nose (and he was doing so well!!) and he DEFINITELY didn't sleep. I was up with him every 1.5 to 2 hours. Hopefully today will be a better day!!

Oh, and of course, Jason is out of town.

Before & After

Aw, look how cute Bret's new outfit is!!!

Now look at him 5 minutes later!!! This diaper is absolutely the WORST so far. It was all the way up his right arm pit and very difficult to get the onesie off without getting in his hair. ROFLOL

Owwwwie

I am disappointed with Bret's DR's office. I was anxious to begin with and it didn't get any better.

Before I go on my LONG rant about the nurse - Bret weighs 16 pounds 8 ounces and is 25-1/2" long.

Diana (D): This is our first time with shots, can you please explain to us what to expect?
Nurse (N): He hasn't had any shots yet? He's 4 months old. What do you mean, he's going to get shots?
D: Are the vaccines in single-dose syringes or do they come from a multi-dose vial?
N: *Really short* A single-dose syringe.
D: OK, for his Hib shot, we want him to get the Pedvax vaccine.
N: We don't use Pedvax, we use ActHib and this office won't special order it for you either.
D: I was hoping not to give him ActHib because of some concerns.
N: *This is where everything goes downhill, on a 90 degree slope* What are you so concerned about, Thimerosal?
D: No, neither brands contain thimerosal. I'm concerned about the amount of formaldehyde and gluteraldehyde.
N: If you're concerned then you can take him to the county health department to get vaccinated and I'll let his pediatrician know.
D: No, we're here to get him vaccinated and he'll get the shots today. However, I'm really disappointed that Pedvax is listed as a vaccine on the billing sheet and you don't use it. Why is it on the sheet?
N: You can take him to the county.
D: *Really wanting to kick this woman's ass* No, give him the two shots.

I was so mad at this point that I didn't even ask for the lot numbers and package inserts for the two shots. Jason wasn't any help either, but I'm not about to bash him.

Bret did as well as can be expected. He cried for about a minute and I nursed him to calm him down. Afterwards he was his old self again; laughing and "talking".

I'm disappointed because I feel like the office gave me false information when I talked to the nurses while I was still pregnant. They told me that I can choose the brand of vaccine AND if they didn't have it, then the office would order it as long as our insurance would cover it. Our insurance covers all vaccines approved by the FDA. Anyway, I feel like I was lied to by them. Now I have to find out if they'll have Daptacel for the DTaP vaccine. If not, then Bret may not get that one. I don't like Tripedia and Infanix.

On a lighter note - CONGRATS to Alanna and Jocko!!

My baby is getting big - 4 months old!

Today Bret turns 4 months old and he is getting HUGE!! I don't know exactly what he weighs, but I put him on the scale with me and he's roughly 18 pounds and he's about 24" long. He fits into 6 month clothes pretty well and is in size 3 diapers. He's got the cutest, chunkiest legs! LOL

Not too much to update.

Bret gets his first round of shots on Tuesday :( He's getting the Hib and polio shots at 4, 6, 8 and 17 months; DTaP and pneumococcal shots at 5, 7, 9 and 18 months I still can't find separate shots for measles, mumps & rubella. Chickenpox and Hep B will be right before school. I'm thinking about either getting an exemption or waiting until right before he goes to school to give him the MMR shot. The scare in Las Vegas doesn't help my anxiety. If you didn't hear about it, then read this: http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/15429363/detail.html

Are these people F'in stupid?? With HIV / AIDS why and how the hell did this happen? I'm glad the government is investigating and will probably shut down the clinic. The Today Show had a segment about this and said that this type of thing happens more often than we think it does. All of the shots that Bret will get come out of a multi-dose vial instead of a single-dose syringe. Some advocacy groups tried to have multi-dose vials banned back in 1996 for this very reason. It failed, of course. Shameful.

I guess all you can do is hope and pray that you are dealing with competent and careful healthcare providers. My biggest fear is dealing with a nurse that's having a bad day. I know, I know - I'm overly anxious and can't protect Bret from everything. I admit that I'm a worrywart.

He's still getting up at night and I'm fine with it. He's only 4 months old. I've decided that I'll deal with it more seriously if he's still getting up when he's 6 months old. I'm not going to post any pics since I already did a few days ago.

I'd like to make a reservation for the insane asylum, please

Bret, why won't you sleep at night anymore? Your schedule has not changed, you sleep in the same bed every night and your food is the same, boring milk every day. You're not sick, you're not congested. You spoiled Mommy by getting up once a night for the past 3 or 4 weeks. Now Mommy is used to sleeping again. So, what gives? Mommy figures you're ready for cereal to keep you fuller at night. She feeds you cereal and nurses you before bed. Why do you still get up 2 hours later? Mommy loves you but you're new sleeping schedule is going to send her far, far away. When Mommy is grumpy, she takes it out on Daddy. Poor Daddy.

I honestly have no clue why Bret is being a brat......When he had a cold the nurse told me that when he recovers, he'll nurse a lot to kind of make up for being sick. Ok, well that's 2 weeks ago. Now what's the reason?! Any advice???? Because I'm seriously going to go insane. He woke up at 12:30am then again at 3:30am then again at 6am. I feel like we have a newborn in the house again.

1. Sick of shady government; 2. Bret - of course :)

You know, I really don't like it when Jeopardy! is interrupted. I especially don't like it when I have to listen to how government officials are liars, cheaters and no-good-pieces-of-crap. Detroit's mayor is no different. I always said he is a thug in a nice suit. Check this out: http://www.clickondetroit.com/scandal/index.html

Bret is doing well with the cereal. He started off with a few spoonfuls then cried. He takes a few more with every try. I give it to him around 9am then again at 5pm with a short nurse afterwards. Plus, I've incorporated a nap schedule too. I put him in his crib after the 9am and 1pm feedings whether he's asleep or not. Even if he sleeps for 1/2 hour only, it's better than nothing. After he gets used to the cereal, I'm going to thicken it up a bit more because he still woke up twice last night. He may be going through a growth spurt.....It's been 5 days already!!

We're meeting up with some family tonight to discuss/plan our NYC trip. I can't wait!! More about that later. No plans for this weekend. Jason really wants to get back to finishing the basement. He's almost done framing - kind of got slowed down because we decided to put a 1/2 bath down there. I give him a lot of credit - it's a lot of work to do by himself. I kind of think that it's a stress reliever for him.

Here are some more pics of Bret. He'll be 4 months old on Saturday. "Thank you Auntie Karen for the hat. I love it!!" I don't know what got him so excited, we were just going grocery shopping. LOL

Mr. Sandman - Metallica version

Ever since I got pregnant, I've had the craziest, strangest dreams. Some of them have been so bad that I've woke up crying. Last night was a bad one.

I dreamed that Bret was getting long, random hairs growing out of his head (like in patches). His pediatrician said that that was a symptom of skin cancer. The DR tested him and me and I had skin cancer and was passing the disease to Bret through my breastmilk. Later in my dream, I found out that a guy I worked with was lacing my coffee with a carcinogenic white powder.

How f'ed up is that???