Yoga, Sickness, & Recovery!

3 Generations of large
hands: Mom's, mine,
& Ian's.

During Ian's twenty-sixth week of life, my notes sometimes say two completely different things. In the beginning of the week he had tons of energy, was pushing himself to new levels physically, and was so worn out and tired for sleep. And then sickness hit.

But let's start with the befores and then we'll get into the rest.

My mom came for an extended visit because her school was on spring break. We don't often get "girl time," just the two of us, so it was a nice treat to have her here. We cooked together, talked, and together just enjoyed "being." Ian, of course, was the center of attention, but when he'd go down it was nice to have someone around to talk to.

 Ian loved showing his Äma all of the asanas he could do. She'd watch him do a pose and then attempt to do it herself. For a few years now her school has offered yoga and exercise classes to the teachers after school is over and she is really enjoying them.

She kept commenting on how strong he is and how difficult some of his poses were. In particular, the fish pose (mentioned and shown in previous post) is particularly hard. Especially to be able to bring the top of his head almost parallel to the floor. This requires a great deal of neck strength. I tried it and it was way too painful!!

 I have a few pictures of Ian and Äma after he just got up from a nap. With our busy baby, cuddling is best found right after a nap, when he's still a bit groggy.

Jim captured this of the farm across the way.

Ian was really trying to scoot a lot in the beginning of last week. Sometimes he'd have a forward thrust, but most often he'd move backwards or in a circle. It was after these active periods that he was desperate for a nap. One day he even took five naps, when he normally only takes three! During those days it was almost a piece of cake to put him down to sleep. He'd nurse, fall asleep, and be easy to lie in bed.

Or he'd nurse, then easily nod off while I cuddled and rocked him to sleep. I'd then put him down in his crib. I love this new routine, especially since he isn't a real cuddly fellow.

You can see him trying to breathe through his mouth,
instead of his nose.

Thanks Gramee & Grandpa for the classic rings toy
and Aunt Beth for the gear/sun/smiley-face toy!
And to Carol H. for the adorable outfit!!!

On Thursday things started to change a bit for the little guy. He started coughing a lot and his nose became very congested. Jim had the same thing, so we decided to see if it would run its course. We bulb syringed his nose before sleep and Jim checked his lungs often with the stethoscope (Nice perk of having a medical student as a papa!!).

He had difficulty going down to sleep because his nose was runny and babies breathe through their noses, primarily. It made him fussy and irritable. And it really made nursing a difficult task for him, even though breastmilk is the best thing for him for hydration and for fighting disease.

It took a lot of walking and bobbing, bouncing on the shoulder, singing, and eventually rocking (when he allowed me to finally sit down) before he'd fall asleep. Then came the challenge of transferring him to the crib without waking him up!! He's been propped on a pillow, slightly, because has thrown up or had difficulty clearing his wind pipe (Thank goodness for video monitors!).

Jim found that he liked to have his head rubbed!
Haha! I love this little action shot.

Once finally asleep, his sleep was disrupted by coughing fits. Fortunately he seemed to always fall back to sleep, but it was not very restful. Nights were really miserable.

Other than around sleep, though, you hardly noticed that he wasn't feeling well! He'd still laugh, giggle, coo, and play. He wasn't quite as mobile, but his spirits were high! This shocked us, since he wasn't getting quality sleep.

Thanks, Aunt Carla for the monkey and the football! Both popular
items right now. And the hat... Aunt Sherri, is a winner!

Of course it all came on right before the weekend, so the office was closed when we were ready to call in. But after discussing it on Sunday we decided to take him in the next day, just in case something was wrong.

Turns out he had an ear infection in his left ear! He gave us no signs of an ear infection! No rubbing the ear. Nothing. Poor little lad. So, he's on antibiotics now. The cough and congestion will have to run its course, but I picked up an over-the-counter saline.

Last night was much better and saline definitely helped!

Ian's started rocking back and forth a lot while sitting. Sometimes it seems it's because he's excited and other times he's just rockin'. He leans forward much more on his hands when reaching for an object out of his reach.

He's started looking for where the music is coming from, when I first turn it on. And he's enjoyed being danced around the room or watching us make fools of ourselves in front of him by dancing. No pictures of that yet, sorry. May not ever get some of those ;)

Floor time with Papa.

He sure does love his papa. As the beard grows longer and longer, so Ian's fascination also grows. If he's close enough, he normally gets a good handful.

One thing the doctors told me was that you can purchase a vapor bath, bubble bath to help clear his congestion. Who can resist a good, warm bath!! This was Ian's first time in a BIG bathtub, since we don't have one in our apartment. It was also his first time with a BUBBLE bath!!!

Oh, the splashing... the kicking, the fun with the bubbles! How fun it will be to have a real tub at our new place.

Happy 26 weeks, little guy!!!

We sure do hate seeing you sick.

But we're grateful to have caught it when we did.

And now we think you're on the mend!

Right now you are peacefully sleeping after a nice, warm bath. 

That sounds pretty nice.

Rest & recover, sweet baby boy.