When Two Cains Become Three... then FOUR!: Sweet Levi

Lots has been going on the realm of sickness this last two weeks. I feel like I haven't left home much. Exactly 2 weeks ago Madilyn came home from church, and took a nap. When she woke up, she had a fever of 102. She was perfectly fine that morning, and it was really sudden. She had that fever until the following Thursday. With the fever came a "cold". I tried SO hard to keep her away from Levi, but it's really hard when you are home along all day with 2 kids. If you keep them separate, one is always neglected. Needless to say, Levi ended up getting the cold. Thankfully he did not get the fever/virus portion. He started coughing maybe the week after Madilyn got sick, so we avoided it for a few days. His cough got progressively worse. Thursday night (2/9) he started to sound like he was wheezing. I didn't know if it was just his little nose whistling from being stuffed up or what, so I put him to bed. That whole day (Thursday) and through that night I was running the humidifier, and it didn't seem to be doing much. Friday morning he woke up and there was definite wheezing. He had a hard time eating, kept having to take breaks to try to breath, etc. It was kinda scary! I called the doctor, and she told me to come in right away. After being there for over an hour, they finally told me he has bronchiolitis. Not sure how a cold developed into that, but in my sweet baby, it's easier for them to get it. Due to this, he has to have "breathing treatments" as they called it every 4 hours, every day, until he's better. That could be another week or more. I am allowed to let him go longer over night, but so far, he's only gone 5 hours at night... ugh! I feel like he's 2 weeks old again! This also means, once he's had bronchiolitis, every time he has a cold, he could develop wheezing, and I will have to do these treatments again. I was able to bring the machine home, we get to keep it. So that's a bit reassuring that we don't have to make a trip to the doctor's office every 4 hours!!! It's a little purple dinosaur with tubes coming out of it! :) It comes in a little case that looks like a castle. HA! They said if this reaction comes every time he has a cold for the next year, they may check for asthma. Hoping that's not the case!
While we were at the doctor, she looked at his skin and notice "full body eczema". She asked me what I have been doing for it. I told her everything from tiny amounts of cortizone to aquaphor to soap free body wash etc. She then proceeds to say she thinks it may be a dairy or soy allergy when it becomes whole body eczema. Never even thought of that! I then thought about how gassy this child has been since he was born, and how much he spits up at times, and that I have to use mylicon just about every time I feed him... SO... she told me to cut all cow's milk products out of my diet (bread, cheese, everything) and all soy products. I quickly agreed, willing to do anything for my sweet pea, and anything to be able to continue to nurse him. (Nursing is so rewarding, as well as inexpensive. I have heard how expensive dairy-free formula is!) I then went home and saw how pretty much everything in our house either has soy or cow's milk in it! AAAH! LOL! It will definitely help my quest to lose this extra weight I've packed on since having Madilyn! I am bound and determined to continue to nurse Levi though, so dairy/soy free it is! Totally worth it. AND, the positive thing is, the very next morning I noticed a difference in his skin. Couldn't believe it! My doctor is awesome! Madilyn had horrible eczema when she was little, and I was just told by her previous doc: cream, cream and more cream. She did eventually outgrow it, but this seems like a more realistic reasoning than just having sensitive skin. Anywho, we're getting better here, just hanging out at the house. Can't wait for this bout of yuckiness to leave our house so we can get out and about again!

~missing the outside world and lots of adult conversation!

Here's some pics: