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Returning to Normal??

We were so glad to get home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, instead of Ethan getting better at home he chose to eat and drink even less last night, which had us really worried. Fortunately, he must have just needed a good night of rest - and he slept in his own bed for almost the whole night! When he woke up this morning around 7:30am I was hoping we'd see a return of our little guy and for the most part today was much better! Jeff stayed home with us today, as he is now sick - which probably only means I'll be next! URG - I hate when families share, germs that is..

Overall, Ethan is acting more like his usual self - definitely not back to 100% but better than he has been. We are continuing to struggle with getting him to drink. He is almost always refusing the bottle and since we have tried every sippy cup and straw cup that I can find - I have a whole huge basket on the top of the fridge as proof - and our Speech Language Pathologist, who we love, hasn't been able to get him to accept one yet either... getting his formula is a chore. Especially since Ethan doesn't have a "normal" 17 month old diet we rely on his formula to help bridge the gap (it is sorta like a soy-based Pedisure) to make sure he is getting proper, balanced nutrition.

I had a few deja vu moments today as I started to write down and journal all of Ethan's intake and output - we did this almost everyday for the first year of his life! When were getting ready to leave the hospital yesterday we asked the pediatrician on the floor how much fluid Ethan should be getting a day - he said that the minimum Ethan should be getting is 30 oz. a day to keep him properly hydrated and that 40 oz. a day would be even better. Remember this isn't all fluid intake, because we all get fluid from the foods we eat. So since right now Ethan isn't taking hardly any of his formula and won't take any other fluids, he really needs to eat a LOT of applesauce or other high fluid foods.

So, what did we get down our little man today?
  • 5 oz. of formula by bottle.
  • 16 oz. of applesauce.
  • 2 oz. of soy-based yogurt
  • 4 oz. of baby food
So, we aren't at 30 oz. of fluid, but at least we are getting something in him. In order to get all of that in we are back on every 2 hours schedule throughout the day, but that is fine. I am praying that if he feels even better tomorrow that his appetite and thirst will start returning. Poor kiddo still has an awful cough.

Prayer Requests
  • Please continue to pray for Ethan's recovery and that following this we'll be illness free for the rest of the winter.
  • Please also pray for all little ones everyone that can't fight off these typical childhood illness as easily as others.
  • Please pray for a little baby named Bella. I went to high school with Bella's dad. Bella is in the hospital in St. Louis and is just a couple of weeks old. She is fighting hard and the doctors aren't sure why Bella is sick. Jeff and I know how Bella's mom and dad feel - as we were in their shoes after Ethan was born. Please pray for Bella, her family and for the doctors who are treating her.
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