We want to keep the toe doc, and get rid of the Croup!

4/8/09

Gracie Dear,

You are 7 months old today my love. Gosh you are so sweet! You woke up at about 5:30am and I fed you and put you back in your crib. I wanted to keep you in bed with me and cuddle up with you, but there are so many warnings about SIDS, that I wouldn’t want to put you in any danger . . . So back in your own crib you went. You woke up to Clayton and I peering in your crib at 8am. You were all big eyes and smiles.

You were a real trooper in your car seat as we went to Big brother’s Gym class. I got you out and held you in the baby Bjorn carrier for a while - but you are just getting so heavy, so I had to set you back in your car seat. Everyone, both the little children and the adults thought you were so sweet the way you gave them all a big huge smile when they talked to you.

We came back and you ate your sweet potatoes and granola/blueberry baby food so quickly! You are such a big eater! You have such a tiny nose it is hard to get all the food out of your teeny tiny nostrils. You rolled around on the floor and played with toys as I read books to put Clayton down for a nap. Then, I breast fed you and you fell sweetly to sleep in your pretty little purple Easter Bunny outfit. I bought some new bows to put in your fine little hair today. You are just so cute sweetie!

I was thinking of your little toe injury. Mommy substitute taught one day and you went to the church daycare at the church I was teaching in. When I picked you up at the end of the day one of the daycare provider’s children, Madeline, informed me that she took your sock off to look at your cute baby feet and noticed that your toe looked funny. I took you home, somewhat worried, but thinking it was fine. Well, the indention on your little toe got a lot darker and started to bleed. When Daddy got home we took you to Children’s Clinic, and the doctor had to dig into your toe with a scalpel to remove the white thread that had wrapped itself around your little toe. You screamed so loudly and blood splurted out. It was so hard for me to see you so upset. The doctor said that sometimes babies can lose their toes, so we were so thankful that yours healed up just a few days later. You sure did give us a good scare!

Another scare you gave us was when you had trouble breathing. We took you to the doctor and they thought that you had Croup. We went home and became very alarmed during the night when you were struggling and laboring to breathe. We turned on the shower for the hot steam, but that was not bringing much life back into your limp and exhausted little body. You were fully conscious the entire time, but we were so worried. It was the first and last time I can remember that we couldn’t get you to smile when we tried to. We went to Children’s Hospital Emergency room and they gave you a breathing treatment and sent us home with a nebuelizer which we used every four hours on you for the next several days. The breathing mask was made to look like a little dinosaur, which was cute. Usually you cried and struggled to get out from under the mask, once in a while you finally fell asleep.