This Is Not The Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

I was going to tell you all about our Mardi Gras adventures last weekend but we have something else to discuss. Quickly. And then it’s back to my boys.

Stephen is sick. We have no clue what it is, either allergies or just a general cold. He has a sore throat, a cough, a bit of a fever, and lots of mucus. His head is pounding and he just feels like crap. I feel bad for him because being sick is awful, but I don’t feel too bad for him. Why? Because he is a grown up. He can voice his issues and take the appropriate medicine.

Jansen is another story.

On day one of his life, I started calling him my little booger. I have no idea why, it just seemed to fit. He has taken that nickname and made it true. He is currently a booger. One giant, snotty booger.

He started getting fussy on Sunday. He didn’t sleep well Saturday night and was moody all day. Sometimes he’d be giggly, but then he’d randomly start fussing. We all just figured he was teething since he was chewing on EVERYTHING. On Monday he was still moody, but leaned more on the upset side. He didn’t want to be left alone, he didn’t want to play, he just wanted to cuddle and eat. Still, we assumed it was teething. In fact, we are 99% sure we feel another tooth breaking through on his top gum.

Monday night he was a mess. Crying and wiggling and pouty. He woke up SCREAMING at 3:30. Not fussy, but screaming. So I went to his room and that’s when I heard all the junk. Snotty congestion. The poor kid couldn’t breathe! So I picked him up and brought him back to bed with me. He slept on my chest for the rest of the night. I was told that teething can cause snotty colds, so I didn’t worry too much.

But Tuesday night I started to worry. He was a mess. Boogers everywhere! He cried for hours on end and there was nothing we could do to calm him down except feed him. (For some reason, menfolk forget all of their problems when food is around. Funny how that works.) I was finally able to get him to sleep and I put him in his crib. About thirty minutes later, he was hysterical.

(It’s at this point that I realize I am writing the most boring post in the entire known blogosphere.)

I went to his nursery to picked him up. We rocked and rocked until he calmed down and fell asleep. The crying had only made his congestion worse and he was gasping for air. I brought him back to bed with me and cuddled him against me and gave him about 72 kisses on the forehead. That made him feel a bit better and he fell asleep.

When I dropped him off at my mom’s house yesterday, I started thinking that maybe we were dealing with a bigger issue here. He started having tears (or clear juices?) come out of his eyes. I was pretty sure that teething had nothing to do with that. Plus, Jansen isn’t a rookie to this teething thing. He already has a tooth and he took it like a champ. A few fusses here and there but nothing drastic. My kid isn’t a wimp. He’s tough. He doesn’t lose sleep over a measly tooth. (I realize that I’m going to be putting my foot in my mouth here in a coupld weeks when Jansen is a crying mess because of new teeth… But let’s just ignore that for the sake of storytelling.)

I went to work and did the first thing I could think of: I asked my Twitter moms what to do. Most thought the same as me… humidifier, maybe some Tylenol, etc. But then people started mentioning the possibility of an earache if there is a lot of drainage in his eyes and nose. So I got worried and called the doctor.

Then I got a text from my mom. Jansen woke up with so much yellow eye junk that his eyes were stuck shut. She was putting warm rags on them but we now knew that this wasn’t just a measly cold.

Sure enough, the doctor told us he has an upper respiratory infection and pink eye. in. both. eyes. Poor baby! No wonder he was a screaming mess. No wonder he couldn’t sleep. No wonder he didn’t want to play. He looks awful. I took a picture with my cell phone but it doesn’t relly show the severity of the puffiness and green puss.

So we have antibiotics to knock these out. I’m hoping they work quickly because we all know that a sick baby means a worn out non-sleeping mama!