Balch Family Blog

On Thursday, Carsten woke up with a high fever. I thought it was probably viral so I played the wait and see game. Then, by the afternoon he was tugging at his ear. I got him an appointment in the after hours clinic. I was expecting a copay and prescription and then home. Well, the doctor did not like the sound of his lungs. He had 2 breathing treatments and his pulse-ox was between 88-91. She was not comfortable sending him home like that, not to mention the 104 temp. She made arrangements for him to be admitted into Gilbert Mercy Hospital. He was to be observed overnight to make sure he didn’t go into respiratory distress.

It was a long night. I really didn’t sleep. Carsten pulse-ox was 90-92 most of the night and would dip down to 87-88. About 8:30 his morning nurse came in and suggested trying to get the stuff out of his nose and see how that works. I cleaned his nose with a warm washcloth, and his numbers shot straight to 97, and stayed there! We were thrilled!

After several long hours we saw the doctor. He was not overly concerned about pneumonia, but did say say he had double ear infections. He also could hear “crackles” in his lung which indicates a little wetness. He ordered an injection of antibiotics and sent him home on Augmentin. We got home shortly after 5:00pm last night.

He seems to be doing well today. He wants his mommy but he is also playing with his brother and around the house.

Was anything but romantic! My sweet hubby did surprise me with tulips, my favorite flower, but this after a night of throwing up. Mark’s hit at 1:30am, and mine hit around 8:30am. Camden wasn’t feeling well either, but nothing like what Mark and I went through. We all spent the day at home. Carsten went to Ms. Angela’s for a few hours so he could play and have some attention. He was sick Monday night, so I guess he got it first.

We are feeling better today, and I hope even better tomorrow!

We are back a day early, but it is ok because we all got the most sleep we have had in a week! We left about 10:30 am on Friday morning. (I took Carsten to the ER Friday morning at 1:30am because I suspected an ear infection, I was right!) Got there about lunch time. I went to a presentation for work that lasted about 90 min.

Then we hit the town to find snow. There wasn’t much but we did find some. I had forgotten the camera, so we just got a couple of pictures on our phones. We went to the Prescott Mall and then to Peter Piper Pizza for dinner. The kids had a blast. Then it was back to the Resort (where Mark and I got married) for a swim. We were all in bed by 9:00pm. Then at 11:45 Camden threw up! Housekeeping came and changed the bed. I checked my temp and it was low at 99.5, but I was still feeling it in my lips. Mark and I talked and decided to try and get as much sleep as we could and head home in the morning. I had heard the flu was bad and expected 2 days of vomiting from Camden.

Well he slept the rest of the night and said he was so hungry the next morning. After breakfast he was feeling good and wanted to go to the snow. We changed our plans and decided to spend the day and then go home in the evening. We went to the Zoo, the Square, and played in the snow some more. Carsten slept through the snow playing this time. Mark made a family of snowmen under the supervision of Camden. Overall, it was a nice trip. We were all glad to be in our own beds last night!

Here is our snowman family!

I would say they are about 10-15 inches tall, but here is a picture with Mark so you can tell what size they are.