Paxton Makes Everything Better

Susanne and Paxton didn't arrive at the house until 11:30pm last night. It took her over an hour and a half to get settled back in. Luckily, Scott helped out with it all, which made it go a lot quicker. She was pretty much non-functional by this point. Packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking, coming, going, going, coming....it was starting to wear on her.

Paxton woke up in the middle of the night and Susanne decided to wake up Scott to take care of him. She didn't have any energy reserved especially since she only had three hours of sleep the night before. She needed all of the sleep she could get because she had to be at work at 7:45am for a meeting instead of 9:00am. Susanne knew it would be tough, but she was used to sleep deprivation by now. She was technically a pro on functioning on a little sleep.

Scott got up with Paxton first thing and hung out with the little guy. Once it was time for him to get ready for the class he was teaching, he set Paxton up in his carseat to watch Sesame Street. Within minutes of being upright, he pooped everywhere. It looked like a volcano had erupted. Paxton was known to do this in the past. His carseat had always been a place that helped to clean out his bowels. What a messy boy!

After operation clean-up occurred, Paxton was set out to dry. He was free as a bird for a short time. There were definitely no complaints on his end.

Poppy took over Paxton's care once Scott left. He felt like Paxton was laughing a lot more today than in the past. It was neat that he was getting to see Paxton grow.

During lunchtime, Scott and Susanne came home. They had to get right to work with calling insurance companies to figure out what was the best plan for Paxton. Since Scott lost his job, Paxton no longer had primary insurance. This was devastating and not something he could go without. They had been on the hunt to find a replacement from the second they got the bad news. Unfortunately, no option was looking too great. The simple fact that Paxton had chronic medical conditions, including a cardiac defect, put him in the top tier for cost. His monthly premiums alone were averaging around $700 per month. This was way more than what they could afford at this time. They would just have to keep searching and hope for the best. No matter what, a decision would have to be made soon. They just didn't know which way to go.

To take their minds off of the health insurance dilemma, they spent some quality time with Paxton. Scott was fascinated with offering him a small portion of whatever he was eating, especially any kind of candy coated treat. Paxton always seemed hesitant at first, but then he would come around. He would usually smile once he got a full taste of whatever was sitting on his lips. He would even lick his lips at times that supported the idea that he liked the flavor of sweets.

Since they were working so much in and around his mouth, they just happened to notice that his right front tooth was coming in. Even though this was his fifth tooth they had seen, he hadn't really shown many signs of teething which was a relief for all. They guessed when someone had gone through what he had gone through, cutting a tooth didn't seem so bad.

The diaper rash was still an on again, off again battle. No treatment seemed to be working. Susanne was convinced there was more to the story. She decided that she wasn't going to switch Paxton's formula quite yet. She wanted to wait until after she had stopped giving him breastmilk all together to throw that out as a possible cause even though it was unlikely. Susanne still stood firm that the diaper rash started once she DECREASED the amount of breastmilk that he was given. Needless to say, the goal she wanted to reach was to continue pumping until Paxton received his last Synagis vaccine. After that was out of the way, the nutritionist, pediatrician, and lactatation consultant felt like Paxton could be on just formula. It would be interesting to see what the diaper rash would do at that point.

Scott and Susanne were loving the fact that the sun was out longer during the day. Even though Susanne got home after 6:00pm, she still got to enjoy the fresh air. Scott, Susanne, and Paxton decided to walk the dogs to savor every morsel of the beautiful weather. This always helped to clear their minds. Paxton looked so good in his big boy stroller. He didn't depend on the carseat anymore to be wheeled around. He was exhausted by the time they got back. Gigi played with Paxton while Susanne prepared his bed. The second she laid him down, he was out.

They ended the night with yummy burgers and fries while watching "The Bachelor". It was perfect!