Sick little Jace!

Oh man...has the past week been rough. It seemed like our trip out here was too good to be true. Jace was amazingly quiet on the plane, our flights were on time, our cars were shipped and waiting for us...but then it was Wednesday and our little man started getting sick. First, he got diarrhea (sorry TMI) and then awful diaper rash to go a long with it. We thought maybe it was from all the traveling and change of diet on the flight. Well then Thursday he threw up all over the car convincing us it was more then just the traveling.

We took him to the pediatrician that we saw last year to make sure it was just the stomach bug. But when we got there we instead got a list of illnesses/problems the little guy had. In addition to having the stomach bug, he had an ear infection in his right ear. They gave us a prescription for his ear, higher grade diaper rash cream, an inhaler for a cough he's had for the past month and then sent us to the Children's Hospital. While the doctor was looking at his diaper rash she noticed a bulge in his abdomen and believed he had a self-induced hernia from coughing! She said it is extremely common for babies because sometimes they have weak spots in their abdomen. She also said if it didn't happen now it would have eventually happened...which made me feel somewhat better. So we left that pediatrician and headed to the Children's hospital to meet with a Urologist. He confirmed what our pediatrician told us and explained the surgery. The entire procedure will take 30 minutes, Jace will have to go under, get the opening repaired with internal stitches and he'll be released as soon as he can drink water. Our surgery is scheduled for February 28th. While I want him to get this fixed, the idea of him having surgery scares me so much! At least I have a few weeks to mentally prepare for it. So we left the hospital hoping that our little guy would start feeling better...not the case.

The next day we drove an hour and a half south to Port Charlotte, FL to move into our spring training house. This place is gorgeous...one of the nicest rentals we have ever stayed in. Thankfully we had that going for us. We unpacked and made THE trip to the grocery store. You know, the one where we had to buy everything from ketchup, mayo, salt, pepper, and cooking spray to laundry detergent, cleaning supplies and q-tips! This whole moving multiple times a year gets pretty expensive! But that's for another post! Back to Jace...on our moving day he got a fever, then a runny nose and his cough slowly went from a dry cough to a painful wet cough. I could tell he was getting something else. We waited it out over the weekend and tried to make him more comfortable with some Tylenol and babies cough suppressant but he was a fussy, grumpy mess. Plus, he would wake up from his naps or in the middle of the night screaming....a sign that his ear infection probably wasn't gone. So Monday afternoon we made another appointment with the pediatrician and made the hour and half drive back up to St. Petersburg. Sure enough, Jace now how had not one, but two massive ear infections (his antibiotic clearly wasn't working) and bronchitis. Poor guy!! It's absolutely the worst thing seeing them sick and being repeatedly poked and prodded at the doctors office. So to combat the ear infections he had to get two shots in his butt. And for the bronchitis they sent us home with this respirator machine that turns medicine into gas so that he can breathe it directly in his lungs. Three times a day for the next 10 days we have to sit with him on our lap for 5-7 minutes while he gets his dose. And we have to drive up to St. Pete for the next couple days to make sure his ear infection is gone otherwise he gets more shots!! Miserable right?? I just can't believe it myself writing it all down. So stressful. But hopefully this will be the end of it. And hopefully in a few days we will have our bubbly little boy back. I'm so thankful for the great doctors we have here....but hopefully after tomorrow we will be done seeing them for awhile!!