RSV = Really Stinky Virus

A week ago we noticed Bennett had a bad cough and a little runny nose. We thought he just had another nasty little cold and since his 9 month wellness check was just a few days away we thought we'd just wait it out and mention it to Dr. Delaney then. At his well check he sounded clear and the doctor said we could give him a small dose of Benadryl for his runny nose. So we left the doctor's office and went and bought some Benadryl to help clear Bennett up. A week passed and he still had the runny nose and his cough wasn't getting any better. A red flag went up when Mrs. Bertha commented about his cough and how she thought it needed to be looked at. I took Bennett home and noticed he was wheezing really bad. So we called the on call nurse and she suggested we do some nebulizer treatments since we still had some left over from when he had bronchitis. We did 2 Friday night and one Saturday morning and called his doctor for an appointment. They were extremely helpful and got us an appointment quick.  We saw Dr. Guyton and after he checked him over- he looked ok- no fever and his %O2 was good.  He decided to test him for RSV. Within 2 minutes he came back to tell us it was positive.  Since we had done a few breathing treatments, he thought it would be best to give him some oral steroids because he did have some pretty bad wheezing.

Well, those oral steroids were the worst thing ever!!!  We gave him 2 doses Saturday and he literally could not go to sleep Saturday night.  You could tell he was so exhausted and wanted to go to sleep but those steroids were preventing him from being able to fall asleep.  He was wired.  Around 10:00 I thought taking him for a car ride would help because that usually soothes him and puts him to sleep.  He was asleep before we got out of our neighborhood!  Poor little fella was so tired.  We rode around for a good 30 minutes but once we got him out of his seat he was awake and mad that he was woken up.  Luckily my mom was over to help out and Jason and I got some sleep while she stayed up with him.  I woke up at 1 am and he was still awake like it was 8:00 in the morning!!  At 2:00 I decided we needed to go for another car ride and, sure enough, he was out within 1 minute of driving.  We drove around the neighborhood for about 10 minutes and then we camped out in the car for about an hour.  Yes, we slept in the car in front of our house while my sweet baby boy could get some much needed sleep.  He started to stir so I carefully got him out of his car seat and took him inside.  Luckily, he stayed asleep so I just rocked him and let him sleep in my arms.  He woke up around 5:00 so he got about 3 hours of sleep and I fed him and he went back to sleep for another 3 hours.  Whew!!  Talk about a rough night!

Sunday went pretty well.  We gave him a dose of oral steroids in the morning and 2 nebulizer treatments.  We skipped the oral steroids at night because we didn't want another occurrence of Saturday night.  I couldn't take another night like that.  Not only was it tiring, but it was scary to see Bennett act the way he was acting.  He was wired but exhausted at the same time.  He took a good nap Sunday morning and a couple catnaps in the afternoon and was down for bed at 8:00.  Poor little guy was so tired from the night before. 

I just pray that his wheezing gets better.  I'm home with him tomorrow so he can get some good rest and some breathing treatments during the day.  He goes back to the doctor on Friday so they can check his breathing again.  I'm praying he will not have to stay on those steroids.  I think he is getting better but it's just going to take a few days for it to clear up completely.

Just a couple pictures to leave you with....

His beautiful blues and some crazy hair!!

I think he gets that look from Mommy!

Sweet boy playing in his saucer

I'm gonna miss that gummy smile!!

So last night I noticed Bennett's first tooth that broke through!!  I kept wondering when he'd get his teeth and I had just told Jason how I was kinda glad he didn't have any yet because I loved his cute gummy smile.  Well, now he's got his first tooth!!!  I was so excited when I saw it but it kinda makes me sad too.  Just another sign of him growing up.  Soon he'll have a whole mouth full!  :)  And let's hope he's not a biter too- I don't want to have to deal with a biter.  We tried to take a picture, but everytime we'd pull his lip down to get a good view of it, Bennett would stick his tongue out.  :)  I'll try again tonight and if we are successful I'll post it. 

Bennett's 9 month check up went well too.  He's on the bigger side of his percentiles, which doesn't surprise me. What did surprise me was the fact that he only weighed 22 pounds.  It feels like a sack of potatoes when you carry that boy- I just knew he'd weigh more than that!  :)  And he's 28.5 inches long, which means he's grown 8.5 inches since birth.  That amazes me! 

Just a quick look back....

Birth

The day we brought him home

1 month

2 months

9 months Already!!

Yesterday Bennett turned 9 months.  I can't believe he's now the same age for as long as I carried him!!  I know I say this every month, but time is just flying by!  Last night I kept thinking back to the day I went into labor.  I will never forget that night and early morning.  I was blessed to have a good labor that ended with our little blessing!!  He truly is the most beautiful being I have ever seen.  I love him to pieces and so does his Daddy!  Here are a few things he is now doing at 9 months:

He's starting to pull up on things.  He has to first get on his knees and get used to that before getting on his feet. He loves to pull up on his Incrediblock and play with that. 

He loves to explore everything!  He scoots around really good and since our living room is pretty much wide open, we let him go.  Of course we are there watching him making sure he doesn't get into anything he's not supposed to, but he loves to get around now!  He does the cutest thing when he's on his stomach.  He'll sway from side to side like he's dancing.  Even the ladies at Mrs. Bertha tell us they get a kick out of that!  It's so cute!!

He's still very observant.  I've had a few people comment on how he really watches things, not just looks but really studies what he's looking at.  You can tell the wheels are turning with every new things he sees.

He's very much a people person.  He'll go to just about anyone without fussing.  We went to a birthday party last week and he was passed around from person to person and he was ok with that.  Of course I had my eye on him the whole time!

He's still a very good eater and is not picky at all.  I don't think I've every put anything in his mouth he doesn't like.  He even eats prunes!!  :)  We've got him on a pretty good schedule now.  It took a while to really figure out what was best for him but I think we finally found one.  He usually has a bottle at Mrs. Bertha's around 4:00 so I'll give him more milk at 7:00.  Then at around 8:30 we'll give him some cereal mixed with oatmeal.  He gobbles that right up!  We'll end the night with a nice warm bath, which he loves and then give him as much milk as he wants right before bed.  He's usually down for the night between 9:30 and 10:00.

I'm still nursing.  There have been a couple times when I thought I wanted to quit but I can't seem to give that up yet.  I love nursing him.  I worked so hard to actually get to the point where nursing was easy, and now I don't want to give it up.  I am so glad nursing Bennett was a success because I think he will definitely benefit from it.

He's still not sleeping through the night yet.  He usually gets up twice.  Here lately he's been waking up around midnight and I'll soothe him back to sleep without any trouble.  Not sure what that's about but hopefully it's just a phase.  I'm truly not going to know what to do when the day comes when he sleeps all night.  By that time he'll have a little brother or sister and I'll have to start all over again.  ;)  I can honestly say the 9 month growth spurt has been the worst so far.  It lasted for at least 3 weeks.  He was getting up every hour and a half at night!!  Talk about wearing a mommy out!!  He was also extra fussy at night and just did not want to sleep.  Glad we made it though that one though!!  It was pretty rough!

He loves his snacks.  We bought him some puffs and some peach yogurt melts.  They are kinda small so he hasn't quite figured out how to get them in his mouth when he's got his whole hand around them. He also likes bread.  We've given him a couple of people food and bread seems to be his favorite.  He ate some cornbread tonight and loved it!  It's so fun to watch him try new things!!

No teeth yet!  :)  I was 9 months before I got any teeth so I guess he's taking after me in that department.  But he's getting more and more hair.  I think he's going to have thick hair like his Dad.  :)

Monday we have his 9 month check up with Dr. Delaney.  Can't wait to see how much he weighs and how long he is now.  He's gotten so big!  Jason guesses he weighs 25 pounds.  I know he weighs at least that, if not more.  I'll update the blog after his appointment on Monday.  And now I'll leave with you a few pictures.  It's getting harder and harder to take these chair pictures.  :)

Snow in January!

Bennett is 8 and a half months old and he got to see his first snowfall today.  It was absolutely beautiful!  We got about 4 inches of snow which means no work today!  So glad to be home with my family in the warmth enjoying the beautiful snowfall outside.  It started around midnight- after I fed him at midnight I peeked outside to see if the weatherman was right.  And sure enough, there was a light dusting on the ground but I didn't expect much at that point.  When my supervisor texted me right before 6:00 am telling me the office was closed, I jumped up and saw the ground covered in snow!  It was beautiful!!  And the snow was still falling!  Once it let up, around lunchtime, we bundled up and took Bennett outside to check it all out.  We didn't stay out there long because it was COLD but we let him touch it.  Enjoy our pictures!!

Our little house covered in snow!

Daddy showing Bennett the snow for the first time

Touching the cold snow

Daddy sure does love Bennett!

My handsome little guy!

So we've been snowed in all day just hanging out keeping this little fella entertained.  We might be staying home tomorrow too- depends on how the weather continues during the night.  They are calling for ice and bad weather once the temps drop low tonight. 

The other night we finally put Bennett in his big boy bath.  Yes, he is almost 9 months old and was still taking baths in his baby bath.  It was just easier that way and didn't hurt my back as much.  But he really was too big for that thing and we had bought him a little duckie bath months ago so we decided to try it out. At first, Bennett wasn't too sure about it- it was big and bright yellow.  But we put him in there with some of his toys and he started playing and having fun.  It's a little more tricky washing his hair.  Of course we took pictures to commemorate the event. 

This face is just priceless!

Just hanging out!

And here are just some random pictures we've taken so far in January.  In about a week we'll be taking Bennett's 9 month chair pictures!  9 months already- wow!!!