And The Bad News Keeps Comin'...

Well folks...after a night of no sleep, abnormal, inconsolable fussiness and a high fever, we took Cooper to the doctor and found out on Tuesday morning that he has influenza A.  Yes.  After all this poor kid has gone through, he has the flu now.  His fever gets up to 103*, he shakes and shivers, his lips turn purple, he can't breathe because he's so congested with thick, yellow mucus (sorry if tmi), and he cries.  All the time.  Probably from aches and feeling generally miserable.  Which, I mean...can you blame him?  I just want to hold and hug him all day.

This morning was very scary for this first time mama.  Like, almost speed to the hospital, scary.  He hadn't slept well over night until I put him on my chest at 4:15 AM.  When I gave him to my Mother in Law at 5:45 AM, he was still sleepy.  I got ready and headed downstairs to feed him before I had to leave for work.  He was shockingly lethargic, his eyes were red, glassy and he couldn't focus on me, his lips were purple, he was shivering and shaking while wrapped in a warm blanket, and his fever got waaaay too high.  For a moment I thought...oh my God, this is the first time where I am terrified that something bad could happen to my son.  TERRIFIED.  My Mother on Law assured me she'd take care of him, so I reluctantly left for work because I have run out of PTO days due to all of our previous illnesses.  I texted her the whole way there, when I arrived, and so on - asking for updates.  Nervous wreck. 

I called the doctor right when they opened and they agreed they needed to see him again this morning.  (Thank you to my bosses for being really cool and understanding about all of this mess.)  Turns out, on top of the flu, Cooper's ear infection is back in action.  Can you believe this kid's luck?  No one has slept in 3 days, and it's been just...awful for him (for us too, but let's focus on baby). 

Doc said his fevers, shivers, all that...normal for the flu.  Just keep up with the consistent Advil routine (we do 3 hour rotations of Advil and Tylenol), and make sure he gets all of the Tamiflu doses in him, and now...he'll be back on Augmentin starting tonight.  He also gets saline drops up his nose frequently.  This. Poor. Child.  6 1/2 months old, and he has yet to live a day of his life totally healthy.  How sad is that?  :( 

If you pray, please say a prayer for our family.  If you don't pray, send your well-wishes, good thoughts, juju - whatever.  We need all the good vibes we can get:  For Cooper to recover and finally be a healthy baby boy.  For Eric and me to be able to fight off this flu, because we've had our fair share of illness as well.  For us to get a little sleep here and there.  And for just sending us a bit of good luck.  I'm sure you've noticed, we've been inundated with bad luck lately...but our love for each other has miraculously gotten us through it.  That's a blessing I won't let all of this bad luck ruin.  I love my boy, and I love my man.  Love is a powerful thing, isn't it? 

Thank you also to our friends and family who have offered us an amazing amount of support.  I don't know what we'd do without each and every person who has helped us through what I hope will be remembered as our "tough phase" that ends very soon.

After we found out he had Influenza A.

After we found out about the ear infection, too.

Trying to fight off the fever with a
cool cloth, and Infant Advil.