Monday Alex was feeling a little warm to the touch but didn't show any signs of illness. He acted completely normal. When Jim got home, he noticed the possible fever, too. I took Alex's temperature and it was around 101F. As the evening progressed, he appeared to be feeling kind of bad, so we gave him some Tylenol. Bedtime was normal but after about an hour, the crying started. I got maybe an hour of sleep that night. Neither boy wanted to be in his crib and they wouldn't go to sleep. The crying would only stop if one of us went in and held them.
Tuesday we had a playdate at our house. I emailed the other mom's ahead of time to warn them about the fever, but we were pretty sure it was from teething. Those second teeth were on the verge of popping through. We had fun with the other moms and kids, although Alex wouldn't leave my lap. He was still warm (101.5-101.7F) and on Tylenol every 4hrs. He also didn't really want to play much, but still loved eating both lunch and dinner.
The previous night's crying was actually night 3 of me (and them) getting virtually no sleep. We were at a crossroads of sorts. On one hand, it seemed like me sleeping with them during the day was becoming the forbidden fruit they couldn't have at night. Both boys are also in the midst of separation anxiety where they freak out and cry if they can't see me or Jim. Even getting a drink from the kitchen can result in two very upset babies. They have a strong affection for us but haven't gotten to the point of realizing we still exist if they can't see us. So to them, every time we disappear, it's like we've abandoned them. I would cry, too, in that situation.
On top of that was Alex's fever and this whole teething thing, plus one crisis after another happening at Jim's work. Even if the boys were sleeping, the phone would ring, waking us both up. We all needed to sleep. So, Jim and I decided to give CIO a break and revert back to the boys sleeping with me if they wouldn't stay down. Normal CIO would resume in a week.
Wednesday morning Alex woke up with a temperature of 102.8F. I called the pediatrician when they opened and they saw us right away (although it wasn't our normal doctor). After three days with a fever, it couldn't be teething anymore but he wasn't showing any other signs of illness. They took a blood sample from a heel prick and test results showed a high white blood count. His body was fighting off something. They did a catheter and got a urine sample, but analysis showed he didn't have a bladder infection. They were going to try to draw some blood but they couldn't find a vein (he didn't get stuck any with a needle). We could either go to a lab and get the blood drawn, or take him home and watch him for signs he was feeling worse. By this point his fever was way down and he was acting normal again.
We decided to take him home and see how he did the rest of the day. His fever mysteriously went away for most of the day, only to come back that evening at 101.5F. He was feeling icky, so we gave him some more Tylenol.
Thursday morning he had a follow-up appointment with the doctor. It was our normal doctor and as he was looking over the previous visit's records, he noticed that besides the high white blood count, Alex's hemoglobin was really low. Alex got another heel prick and they ran more tests. The white blood count was close to normal but the hemoglobin was still really low. They tested Zach and his was also really low. It appeared that the boys were significantly anemic.
The doctor started them on iron supplements. Building their hemoglobin back up to normal levels will take about a month, and getting their reserves in place will take a couple more months beyond that. They showed no symptoms of being so anemic, like not eating, not wanting to play, and being fussy. We're about to increase their solid food amount because they're woofing down what we give them. Both of them spend lots of time jumping and playing everyday. They flap and kick while screaming with glee most days. The fussiness stopped when the teeth poked through. According to the doctor, the transition to this point was so gradual that their bodies were used to it.
When we got home, I did some research into what went wrong. I mean, if they aren't getting enough iron, it's a diet issue and I'm in charge of that. I felt pretty bad that I let them down and they were sick because of me. I knew that low birthweight babies had a higher risk of anemia, but I didn't realize that they meant any baby born under 6.5lb. They just don't have the iron stores from birth to make it to 6 months. If I had known, I would have had the doctor do blood tests at their 6 month check-up.
Also, while we don't eat a ton of iron-fortified cereals, they do eat a lot of foods naturally hight in iron, like avocado and peas. They almost always follow them with high vitamin C, like apples and mango, which helps with absorption. Even avocado alone has a decent vitamin C in it and they've been eating that for lunch for the last month. It also appears that some babies just need supplements, and we probably fall into that category. It makes me feel a little better, but it's still scary to find out that your babies are sick and no one had any idea. Long-term anemia can affect their brain development and ability to learn new things.
While at the doctor's they weighed the boys. Alex was 18lb 13oz and Zach was 18lb 14oz.
It hasn't been all doom and gloom around here, though. Like I mentioned earlier, both boys have a second tooth poked through, while their first tooth is making good progress. Here's some pictures of their new pearly whites.
Alex
Zach
I started brushing their teeth and gums with baby toothbrushes and they really like it.
I think I mentioned last week about how Zach likes to scrunch up his nose and make a funny face now. Here it is.
Zach being ferocious
What you can't tell is that he also breathes really heavy through his nose when he does this, like a baby Darth Vader. hehe
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