El Paso first car trip

We had such a great car trip. Zachary slept through the times he wasn't eating and went right down after his feeding when we got to the hotel. On the way there we decided to split the trip up into two parts to see how it would go. Grandma, Grandma Brown and Aunt Kristi enjoyed the visit. Aunt Debbie, Uncle Bobbie, Maria and Papa Brown enjoyed meeting him and we had a very relaxed visit. Unfortunately Grandma Brown caught a cold and she wasnt able to spend as much time holding him as she would have liked but it didnt keep her from getting him to laugh and smile!!

This week has been a great week for smiles. His first was Feb 3rd but he has been actively grinning ever since! It also seems to be a new period of alertness and overall well being for Zachary. He has had much more time on his own in his infant chair watching what is going on and he still really likes his activity mat.

We had a big surprise yesterday which caused us to rush back to Austin. Mid-afternoon after a feeding at a diaper change I noticed a strand of mucousy blood in his stool. I called the pediatrician and took his temperature with a never before used rectal thermometer. He had been bundled in a thermal sleeper and had just been taken out of my arms and he felt warm to the touch. His temp read 100.7. I freaked and the triage nurse told me to try it again and call back. It was 99.5 once I removed his clothing to a diaper. Then 30 minutes later it read 98.2. The nurse talked to the doctor and because of the temperature they said go to ER. Now if anyone knows what Aaron's family has been through the past year or so with ER's in El Paso, then you know that it was not something we just took at face value. After careful consideration, we decided what was best was getting back to Austin ASAP to see our pediatrician today. We couldnt get in to any local pediatricians in El Paso since it was already 4:00ish and knew that if it ended up being an emergency then we needed a good ER. Zachary was not fussy or looking like he was in any discomfort so we had to make a decision knowing that if a fever came up on the drive there wouldnt be much in the way of a hospital between El Paso and Austin.

Aaron drove until 1:00 am, we slept a few hours in a hotel and then I drove after Zachary's 5:10 am early feeding and we got to Austin by 10:00 am. We saw the doctor at 10:30 and it is either 1) an anal fissure due mostly to the fact that he has bowel movements at every feeding which isnt always the case with BF babies his age, but isnt a cause for concern and will clear up on its own but we can use a glycerine suppository to aid the healing 2) he has more of the bacteria in his body that is present in everyone . he left a sample in his diaper than goes to a lab and we will find out if this is the case. if so, we treat it with probiotics to get more of the good bacteria in his system 3) he has a lactose allergy from my milk. we will rule this out as a last cause by no dairy for me for a week, reintroduce and see if it reappears 4) possible acid reflux..which we didnt think was an issue but was presented as a possible cause. we will come back to this if the other things arent the cause.

We left the doctor feeling that we had done the right thing in coming home, and knowing that it isnt anything serious. Regardless of how it sounds now, I was a complete emotional wreck yesterday and I feel so much better today. Knowing that he has been so happy the past three days I couldnt figure out how anything could be wrong with him, but the suggestion of ER had me completely scared. Thankfully all is well now.

Pictures coming soon!!!!