Our stay at the hospital

On July 4th about 8:30 pm we took Harrison back to the ER because his lump was really red and he had a temp of 101.2. We took him to TC Thompson's Children's Hospital this time. Upon admisson they immediately took blood and urine samples from our little guy and started an IV. His CBC was 34000 and the doctor told us a normal CBC is 10000. They did a CT scan and x-rays. The ER physician, Dr. Kelly, was great and was very upfront. She gave us the worst case scenario so we knew what we were facing. Basically Harrison had an abcess on his left side on his ribs. They intially thought it might be attached to his spleen and thought his little spleen might need to be removed. Thankfully this was not the case...Dr. Kelly called a surgeon. The surgeon resident thought he saw a small bite on the abcess but wasn't sure. They admitted us to the hospital around 3:30 am on July 5th. Harrison wasn't allowed to eat after 12:30 since he may have needed surgery. They decided to hook him up to IV antibiotics right away. When Dr. Carr, the surgeon saw him on Tuesday morning around 8 am he decided to drain the abcess. They gave Harrison a local anthestic and drained it. It was the most pitiful thing ever. We have never heard him cry like that. Thankfully he was allowed to nurse right after that so he quickly forgot about the pain and was glad to eat after 8 hours. Dr. Carr told us that he would keep an eye on the abcess and it may require surgery. He got a ton of pus out of it. They said we may never know what caused the abcess...maybe a bug bite or maybe where he scratched himself. They sent his blood off to see what kind of bacteria was infecting him. He was monitored all day Tuesday and his temperature went back down to 98.6. On Wednesday morning Dr. Carr looked at his abcess and decided it would need to be surgically debrided/drained so he couldn't eat anymore prior to surgery. They also determined he has a staph infection. I thought that staph infections were caused by being dirty. Evidentally we all have staph bacteria and Harrison's entered inside him or under his skin. Our pediatrician said there is an aggressive strand that causes boils and abcesses so I guess that is what happened. I couldn't hold him at all prior to surgery because he smelled milk and couldn't understand why I wasn't feeding him. He had his surgery at 1:30 pm and it lasted about 30 minutes. When we went to recovery to get him he was pitiful because he was still under anthesia. He looking like a little sleeping angel. He had surgery on his 2 month birthday :( Well his surgery went well and we got to go home about 7pm. He goes back to the surgeon on Friday to has his wound unpacked and then we should be back to normal. The amazing thing about this stay is what a trooper Harrison was. He was so brave and such a good boy. He really didn't cry that much (and he got poked and prodded a lot). I don't know if he could understand any of it but he was such a brave boy. I hate that any of this happened but we are relieved that it was not as serious as it could have been and it brought us closer together as a family. We had a very pleasant experience at the hospital and are thankful for the wonderful doctors and nurses that took such good care of our precious baby. Thank you for all the prayers for our sweet boy.

Scared pt.2

So everyone knows what's going on with my buddy now. It's my time to add my two cents. I'm with Alicia in that this is one of the scariest things I've gone through in my life. There is a very good possibility that we're totally over-reacting, and if we are GOOD. I'd rather over-react to something like this than under-react. All my life Mother has said, "just wait until you have kids of your own, you will understand". I think the fear we have in our hearts now set's that statement more true than ever, I understand! Knowing that something is wrong with Harrison breaks my heart, knowing there is nothing I personally can do to help him hurts even more.

Back last week when he had a little tummy virus, Alicia took his temp rectally, I stood beside him. I put my finger in his hand and he grabbed a hold tightly. When he shed a tear he was looking into my eyes. I just looked back and said "I know buddy, I'm here and everything is going to be OK". Now, even though he doesn't seem to be in any pain, I can't look him in the eyes and say it will be OK. I don't know. I try not to think about it when I'm around him, because I don't want him to get the vibe that something is wrong.

I know Alicia is having just as tough of time with this as I am. We have talked about it several times a day since we discovered it on Friday. How we wished we had reacted sooner, how we wished it weren't a holiday and we could take him to see Dr. Jones today, how we wished there was something we could do. It helps a little to let her know I'm having the same feelings, but it still doesn't set my heart at ease, nothing will until I know he is going to be OK.

I feel badly that we haven't kept up with this blog any better than we have over the past month. Some days just don't seem long enough for such a thing. However last night when Alicia was really having a tough time dealing with this, I said, "why don't you go write Harrison a letter, so when all of this is behind us, and he is old enough to understand, we can let him know how much we loved him even back when he was two months old." Then I checked our e-mail to find out she put it on the blog. I'm glad she did that, now you can see what we are going through, and if we don't seem like ourselves, this is why. I got to work this morning, and I can't stop thinking about him, about that lump, about Alicia and how much pain she is in.

I know blogs aren't suppose to be structured in any way, but I know this one is poorly written and all over the place, but I had to spill my guts for a while, and I'm glad I have this to do such. Hope you could read this, and it's not too scattered.

Love to all,
CHO

Scared....

Well, I don't think either one of us has posted in quite a while. Life has been busy since our sweet bundle of joy arrived. He changes so much everyday...it's just amazing. Harrison is smiling and cooing like crazy. My sister Daresa (that lives in Colorado) arrived to TN on 6/23 with her hubbie and 2 girls. Troy left eary and they are staying until 7/8 or so. We have had fun catching up...it's been 2 years since I have seen them. The girls adore Harrison and make quite nice little helpers. Bailey is the "calmer downer" because she can soothe him and make him stop crying. Camryn is the "diaper changer". She helps wipe him and fasten the diaper tabs. It's really cute. So many things have happened in the past few weeks but I am really only here to post about one thing.
Friday morning I was nursing Harrison on my mom and dad's porch. He was only wearing his diaper because he had peed on his PJ's. I noticed a large bump on the left side of his ribcage. I asked my sister if it looked normal. We compared it to her daughter's ribs and concluded that it is probably just his rib but I should ask Dr. Jones about it. So I really didn't think much about it after that. Well that night when Chris picked him up he noticed it. It grew larger throughout the day. We put him on the changing table to exam it and it looked pretty big. So we call Dr. Deb (my sister is a pediatric nurse for our doctor) and described it to her. She says she will look at it tomorrow and if it isn't causing him pain it probably is okay and to make a dr's appt for Tuesday. As far as the pain thing...he is acting just fine. He kind of squirms when you touch it but he squirms when you touch his ribs in general. Well Saturday he was in a wonderful mood....smiling and cooing more than normal so we figured it was okay. I changed his dr's appt from Thursday to Tuesday morning just so we could have peace of mind. Well later on Saturday when we went to my parents house my 2 nurse sisters looked at it and told us to take him to the ER due to its size. So we take him and they do chest x-rays to rule out a fracture. The doctor there told us after 3 x-rays that he has no idea what it is...his guess is a benign mass. He advises us to follow up with our pediatrician on Tuesday for further evaluation and to come back if it grows or seems to cause him pain. He has done fine today...no more crying than normal and doesn't seem to be in pain. It does not appear to be any larger. For some reason my mind is full of worry tonight though. I keep thinking...can babies get cancer? I honestly have never been so scared in all of my life. I cannot wait for Tuesday morning to get here so we can set our minds at ease.

So anyone that reads this post, please pray for our sweet baby boy.

Alicia's 2nd post

I mainly wanted to post because I am excited about Harrison's weight gain. He gained 7 ounces since last Wednesday. I guess he really did have a growth spurt last week! We had our breastfeeding support group today and went to run errands before going. He slept most of the time. We are also trying something new with him. We were trying to implement the EASY (Eat, Activity, Sleep, You) routine that is taught in the Baby Whisperer book...it was going okay until his growth spurt with the exception of his daytime naps. My sister, Debbie, recommended reading the Baby Wise books. Intially I heard of a girl at work that swears by this book but then I heard some negative feedback on the book so I opted not to read it. A neighborhood mentioned it to me right before I had Harrison so it was back in my mind. I bought Baby Wise and Baby Wise II today. I have almost finished the first one...pretty easy reading. I tend to read a lot while nursing now. We are going to try to implement this routine which is very similar to the EASY routine but slightly more structured. The main difference is that you are told to let the baby cry when you lay him down for a nap for 10-15 minutes before checking on him. Both methods encourage feeding, then activity time...which is usually about 15 minutes for a newborn and then naptime. I think our problem during the day is that we are letting Harrison stay awake for too long and he gets overstimulated and can't fall asleep. By the time we put him down he is so tired and angry that he can't fall asleep. Both methods also stay never to rock a baby to sleep or use other props and that the last waking memory should be of the crib. We have been trying really hard to achieve this but it's really hard to just lay him down sometimes. I tried this with his lastest nap and at bedtime tonight. He cried before his nap and woke up and cried during it but went back to sleep. Tonight he grunted a lot before finally drifting off to dreamland but no tears. I am hoping for a 5 hour stretch of sleep. I tried a similar technique last night and he did pretty well. So hopefully all of this reading/research will pay off and we will have our little one on a good flexible routine that allows him to get his much needed rest..especially during the day. I am looking forward to getting some daytime naps and time to get housework done! Plus I am going back to work in mid July so it will make the transition easier. Well...until next time..I will give an update of Harrison's new schedule.

Memorial Day weekend

The kind folks at WRCB were generous enough to give me Memorial Day off this year, so we made the most of it. In years past I haven't tried too hard to get off Holiday's, because I'd rather have that time and a half. However, with the arrival of my baby boy and knowing Alicia is home alone with him and his "parrot squawk" as we like to call it, I tried my best to give her one more day of help. Those of you wondering what in the heck the "parrot squawk" is, just wait until you meet him. When he gets mad, he doesn't cry, he squawks like a darn parrot. Just a side story that is funny, a few years ago we vacationed in Florida with my parents and they took us to this cool little joint called harpoon Harry's. Well being an outside establishment, and serving drinks, everything came in a plastic take home cup. Being the keeper of all things, as I am, I kept the cup. When we got back home we realized the harpoon Harry cup had a parrot on the side with a "rrrrrrrrrrawk" in a bubble next to his mouth. So when Harrison cries out we say.."OK, harpoon Harry, that's enough". Funny stuff, well at least being the geeks we are, we think so.

Anyway, enough about the stupid cup, here's a little update on our weekend. Saturday was just a cleaning up day. Harrison was really good that day and it was a good thing, we got several things accomplished. Most of the day was spent cleaning and then we just sat around. There was word of a block party with an outside family movie Saturday night, so around 8 we went on a stroll to seek out the fun. Most of the neighbors haven't met Harrison yet, so we thought what better time than at a gathering. Well, after cruising by several houses, and finally talking to our friends Jay and John, we were informed the fun was for Sunday night, not Saturday. Oh well, it was nice to get out and get some fresh air. While talking to J&J they told us the city had installed a new street light in front of their house, and they haven't been home to see if it works, so as we talked we all kept a good eye on that light. It's amazing what we do for fun these day's! The night ended with us rushing home to feed little guy because he was tired of talking and ready to eat!

Sunday was pretty fun, we drove up the Alicia's parents for the day. Since it's such a drive we usually spend an entire day, eat dinner, and drive home late. It was once again time to celebrate some birthday's. This go 'round it was Alicia's, Fay's, Ashley's, and Harold's time to blow out some candles. A slip up on Debbie's part made for some funny pictures as she picked up the 9 instead of the 6 candle at the store. So Faye was 95 years old on Sunday. I think she ages well! :) Everyone got some good gifts, but Harold got to use his fishing gifts right away as he and Ricky took off to the pond to catch some dinner. I tried my best to stay away, but I couldn't stand the thought of fish being caught and me not being a part of it. So I soon headed down. Harrison and Alicia enjoyed the company of Mandy, Faye, and Debbie as they all sat on the porch and talked girl talk. (Soon enough I'll save you Harrison and you can go fishing with the guys.) Harold caught a nice catfish and after weighing him found out he was 3 3/4 pounds and 21 inches long. Pretty good fish for only two years old. Just as Debbie was calling our names for dinner I caught one myself also weighing 3 3/4 pounds, but measuring 22 inches. But Harold say's we measured ours different, so we'll say they were the same size.

Monday proved to be a sleeping around and enjoying each others company, and remember the men and women who died to allow us to do such. We woke pretty early, but Harrison and I took a nap around noon. Around 2 o'clock Alicia said she would like to go get some food and go buy her new shoes I promised her for her birthday. Rock Creek decided it wasn't a good idea to be open yesterday, so we just concentrated on food. Geez, never knew that would be so hard. Nothing was open...so we ended up at Qdoba with veggy burito's. Afterwards we stoped by Aunt Sue's for some Dog food and to talk to our friends (used to be neighbors) Uneva and Charles Shaw. They are sweet people, and we love stopping in the store to chat or just to pick up some food for one of the animals. Their dog Pilgrim loved to stare at Harrison, but being a good mannered dog he didn't even try to go close to him. As usual the trip abruptly ended with Harrison's patented "rrrrrraawk", so we knew it was time to go home. At home I felt as if I hadn't done a thing on the tool shed in day's and since Alicia and Harrison were wrapped up in feeding, I could take the time to work on the door. After trying to raise the door myself I realized I needed the help of my lovely bride and she happily held the door up as I marked the spots for the hinges. Then she and Harrison retreated to the bed for a nap as I got to work. Around 7 she came back out and said it was time for us to go get some dinner, and I showed her the new attic space I had created in the tool shed. That was something she was really happy to see, since most of our "JUNK" will go there and empty out the house. Just the roofing shingles and hanging the door and that building will be usable. Only painting to go after that. We ended the night at Shogan eating our favorite $1 sushi! YUMMY! This was a special treat since Alicia and I tried it just before she got pregnant, and you aren't allowed to eat it "with child", so she has been craving it for some time.

So overall we had a good weekend, and it's time again to get ready for work. I hope everyone else enjoyed their time as much as I did.

Love to all,
Chris

Alicia's First Entry 5/27/05

Well it is 11:42pm on Thursday night and this is the first chance I've had to write in this blog thing Chris created. I am pretty tired so I won't write much. This has been a pretty rough week with the baby. Chris was home for the first week and my mom stayed with us the second week. I am on my own this week. Monday wasn't too bad. We made our first trip together and he was pretty good...slept most of the time. I had to feed him between trips to Babies R Us and Target. He pitched a fit in Target also. Tuesday was really bad. He only slept about 1 hour during the day total. Needless to say when Chris got home from work I was a frazzled mess and desperately needed a break (He's crying now...I think Chris is going to check on him). Tuesday seemed like the longest day on earth. Wednesday he was extremely fussy and stayed awake until we took a car ride to the hospital for the breastfeeding support group. He has gained 8 ounces since he was 1 week old! I could hardly get him to stay awake to eat at the support group...go figure. He slept the whole way home. We had my birthday party with his mom's side of the family that evening and he slept almost the whole night there. Something about car rides and being around people that makes this child sleep. Today has been okay. He has taken a few cat naps. I think he has hit his growth spurt today because he wants to eat every hour which is wearing me out. In fact it's been an hour since his last feeding and duty is about to call. Daddy is holding him off right now. I have a feeling tonight is going to be a LONG rough night. Well, I don't even remember what I was going to write next...I am exhausted and ready for bed but I have to feed the little man first. I have no idea when I'll have time to write again....until next time.

Monday night

Well the worst day of the week is behind me. Today started with Harrison being cranky at 7AM after trying my best to make him happy I handed him over to mommy. Only to be informed that the diaper that I changed at 5AM wasn't even covering his butt. OK OK OK, so I'm not the best diaper changer in the world. However, like some people I haven't been hosed down yet. Is it my keen instinct? Nope, it is probably that the ratio that Alicia changes to the number I change is so much more, it's bound to happen to her more. I know I've set myself up for it a number of times, I just look down and think, "OH NO, please don't start that stuff yet!"

Anyway, I went off to work at my usual time, and the remaining members of the Holbrook family were still sound asleep. My first assignment at work was to stop by a Orchard Knob middle to shoot their 8th grade graduation...why you ask....YOU GOT ME! Well I arrived only to be told it was last Friday...UH O....Somebody goofed. Any way, I worked with Tonisha again, today makes 6 day's in a row. That's fine, I like her, we get along great, and I think we usually work well together and produce good stories. Anyway, if anyone cares, I doubt you do, she and I worked on the closing of two Elementary schools in Chattanooga, and how one had been opened since the 20's and had to be rebuilt after a horrible fire in the 50's. Oh yeah, and the best news from my side of the day is the gift we received from Thom Benson. It's a shirt from Bass Pro Shops that has a big fish on it that say's "my fish", then a little fish that say's "daddy's fish", and below that it say's, "I'm a fast learner". AWESOME! I'm so thankful of the great family and friends we have to give such cool gifts!

Alicia however had a very eventful day with Harrison. After finally being able to drive she was getting cabin fever and they went shopping. The usual Target, Babies-r-us, was on the chore list. Alicia had a horrible ordeal with Target online, so she just decided to cancel her order and buy her breast pump at B.R.U. Good choice since Target online doesn't know when it will ship, and she can buy it off the shelf at BRU. So, when I called at 4PM I heard this HORRIBLE racket in the background, after asking ALI informed me it was the pump. AHH, happiness, now she can get some sleep and I can feed the baby during the night. Other than that, I'm not really sure what those two did all day. (this is where I hope Alicia finds time to enter her stuff, It's all second hand on my part).

Well then tonight was capped off with a visit from our friends Jason and Jennifer, we always enjoy their visits. Tonight J & J brought alicia by a b-day card with a Gift Certificate in it. (always a cool gift!) Then we sat around the kitchen table and talked as Harrison showed everyone how much he enjoy's his kick and play bouncy seat. He didn't as much as whimper after he was fed and put in that thing. It has some flashing lights on it, and the chair itself vibrates...so he's in heaven. During their visit we made the decision to not take him out of the house for a few day's until the hicky he put in his own arm goes away. YES I SAID A HICKY HE PUT ON HIS OWN ARM. The kids nuts when he wants food. Everything is fair game to be sucked. He's tried nursing SEVERAL women, (and men) along with my nose more than once.

Well they are both passed out and waiting on daddy to get everyone in bed...so until next time!

Love to all,
Chris

Alicia's birthday

Well as I sit here on Sunday, we have had a pretty productive weekend. Saturday we had breakfast with our friends and neighbors John & Jay. After that we helped Angel her yard sale, and only made like 10 dollars. WAHOO! Four of it we spent buying a print and a wall hanging for the house. Not bad and the print, after being framed will be really cute in Harrison's room. Then I went to my cousin Nicole's graduation....man, she is the first person I can actually say "WOW, I feel old, I remember when she was born".

Then today we headed to "wally world" for some cookout goodies and then back home to prepare for Alicia's birthday party with some friends at the park down the street. The party was at 2, and we didn't get home until 5:30 or so. We are pooped...and since Harrison slept most of the party, he's ready to go! After we got in the door and the car unloaded, Alicia fed him, and changed his poopy diaper, he was wide awake and ready to have some mommy and daddy interaction. Last check Alicia was talking to him, as I tried to finish setting this up.

I think I'll bring this first edition to a close and go spend some time with my little buddy. I hope in the future to add more of his little antics, so some of you who don't get the chance to see this little booger will get an idea how cool he really is!

Love to all,
Chris