life has been chaotic.
while we had a wonderful christmas with the kids, it’s been a rough few weeks, everyone has been sick. well, everyone except for ty, who is freaksishly healthy. taryn brought something nasty home from her trip to louisiana and passed it all around. on christmas eve, our pediatrician called with teagan’s blood wor results from all his brick dust / yellowing of the skin incidents and thankfully, everything came back normal. we still don’t know what is causing it, but his urine tests and blood work looks good. i was glad they called because he was on day 3 of running a fever and we thought they were closed for the holiday. they had us bring him in for a quick check before Christmas and i’m so glad now that we did. he had double ear infections and one was at a high risk of busting his ear drum. another two days and it would have for sure. i felt so bad…we didn’t know. teagan is not a complainer, which sounds like a good thing, but it really isn’t. he’s just not one to complain, didn’t pull on his ears much, we just didn’t know. we put him on antibiotics and they worked wonderfully, he’s doing much better now. add to that his cutting of his first tooth and he was a miserable guy for a few days.
we also hosted christmas this year, and had a full house. it was a lot of fun, lots of visiting, lots of card playing, a little less food than normal since i wasn’t feeling well, but no one really seemed to mind to much. the kids had a blast opening their gifts. both ty and taryn were totally in to it this year and teagan hung in there and did his best to eat bows and stuff. it was fabulous.
then, just like last year, my mom got here the day after christmas…the kids and i took off to the airport to greet her. i was surpised when mr. separation anxiety himself reached out to her right away, score! we have had a wonderful visit and it’s going by too fast.
then….last night at dinner my ear started to bother me a bit. it hurt to chew and just felt like i was in an airplane with a lot of pressure. by the time we got home i was pretty miserable, so i went to bed. at 1 am i woke up in horrible pain. i woke up jase and we dediced to head in to the er because we couldn’t find an urgent care place that was open. i am so glad we did, by the time we got there my ear was much worse, constant popping and cracking on my left side. the er doc took a look, said it didn’t look inflamed or infected, but likely pressure from being sick built up in my inner ear. but as I sat there, it kept getting worse and worse. i was holding on to jase and just crying through the pain. i wouldn’t take anything stronger than tylenol because i’m nursing. the nurse came back in because she could see / hear i was getting worse….and just as she was trying to convince me to do a pump and dump so i could take better meds, my ear drum burst. while it hurt like hell, i instantly felt a release in the built up pressure and my ear started leaking fluid. i was feeling much better. the er doc came back in and said it was obviously infected. obviously.
so, 4:30 am, we head to the pharmacy for some antibiotics, and then head home. thankfully my mom was here to care for the kids and we didn’t have to tear them out of bed and take them with us. i ended up sleeping until about 2 pm today but still woke up in a lot of pain and pressure on both sides. i’m hearing a lot of echo sounds and still have a lot of sensitivity to noise.
photos of christmas and the good times to come….once we’re all back on our feet again.
My heart goes out to you. I’ve had to go to the ER for a double ear infection that took weeks to heal and the pain is almost unimaginable. I hope your whole family is fully recovered soon. Hopefully, the worst is past now! What a trooper for hosting Christmas with all that taking place.
Wow. I’ve been a reader of your blog and avid admirer of your artistic sense for the past few months. My own life with my two little ones and a job outside the home (and a husband whose b-day is on 25 Dec and a son whose b-day is coming up and parents who are staying with us while my dad gets medical care at johns hopkins). So, let me just say that i feel for you having to go through this mess with your ear at this of all times. My son’s eardrum burst when he was only 2 1/2 (while at daycare no less, and I only discovered it at pickup — with fluid running down his cheek and neck). I really appreciated reading your description of this experience because my little guy could not tell us what it all felt like to him. Like Teagan, our little guy had some crazy tolerance for pain or was simply asymptomatic, because we had no idea he even had an ear infection until the eardrum burst. On a positive note though, his ear healed up just fine, as yours will, and there weren’t any apparent long-term effect on his hearing.
I have a passion for photography, though i definitely don’t have enough time to pursue it in the depth that I’d like to. I do take a crazy amount of photos though and then stay up until ridiculous hours on my Photoshop organizer and editor (I’ve got to get more of the shots out of my computer memory and into print though). Thanks for inspiring me!
Can you tell me who made/printed those great foam-backed prints in Taryn’s bedroom for you? Great idea!
Thanks, in advance… and I hope you feel better soon! Happy new year (it will be!). 😉
Best,
Jean
I visit your site now and then to see your wonderful photography but you have no idea who i am 😉 …. but I just had to write a note of sympathy. I have 4 young ones and we’ve all been sick and I know how hard it is. Im so sorry to hear about your ear, that sounds absolutely awful! hope you are all better soon. look forward to the pictures! – Rachel
oh, hon, that sucks. I’ve had that kind of ear pain before and dang that hurts! We’ve all been sick over here, too. What’s the deal?
your ear drum burst? burst?! ouch.
sending ya’ll healing thoughts.
Ouch! You poor thing 🙁 I hope you get feeling better soon!!
OMG Lindsay you poor thing!! so sorry about your ear!! frustrating that the doc didn’t realize it the first time. Glad you had fun with the fam though. And glad to hear Teagan’s test results are good! Hope you are all back to 100% soon.
I hope everyone will be feeling better soon into the new year. And your ears…ouch! Get well wishes for all of ya!
Oh my goodness. I really hope things get better around there! Glad to hear the kids had a good Christmas though…sending good vibes for everyone to get (and stay!) healthy!!
So sorry about all health issues at your house. Sure hope everyone is better soon!
Well geez, that sucks! I hope all this sicky stuff leaves with the passing of 2008!
What a relief that Teagen’s test came back normal. I’m so glad you updated because I’ve been wondering and worrying. Let’s hope he starts packing on some weight now!
Oh, you poor thing. Rest lots and get well!!
Our youngest had the same thing this week…absolutely no ear pulling, no ear rubbing, nothing. Just a high fever and very sick. When we finally took her in, she had a bad double ear infection as well. How are we supposed to know!!? It’s enough to drive a parent crazy.
I can so sympathize. Two years ago i got a fluke ear infection (I hadn’t had one since I was six) and the pain was AWFUL! No wonder babies and toddlers are so cranky when their ears hurt. I was so miserable! I hope you’re feeling better soon!
Oh no! I hope that everyone feels better soon, and that your ear heals quickly 🙂