Finally, an update... and it's a biggy

So, Wiggles turned ONE on Sunday the 19th of March. We had the family over for lunch to celebrate the occasion. Wiggles was spoiled rotten once again, he really is a lucky boy.



On Sunday morning, as we were getting ready for everyone to arrive, Angotull went out to get the last few things we needed. When he arrived home he called me to come and look at the little dog that had arrived on our property. She wouldn't leave, so we took her to the back where she could be with our other dog. We had been considering getting Wiggles a puppy for his birthday, but thought it might be best to wait until he is older. It seemed fate had decided for us, and we agreed that if her owner didn't claim her we would keep her.



The family all arrived on time, thankfully, as I had some very important things I needed to do before they arrived. Angotull's parents were amazed at how much Wiggles had grown since the last time they saw him. The rest of the day was just spent visiting with the family. After lunch we sang "Happy Birthday" to Wiggles, and he had a piece of his cake. Shortly after that it was time for everyone to start heading home.

In the week after his birthday all hell broke loose for us.

On the Tuesday he developed a runny tummy, and started throwing up. We treated him with lots of tea and kept him comfortable. He had a slight fever too, which we dosed wit paracetemol. By 10pm that night his fever was unacceptably high, so we rushed him to the hospital Emergency Room. They issues us with a script for meds and told us that all will be fine. We had to travel to Kempton to collect the meds at the only 24 hour pharmacy in the area.

Wednesday he looked OK, not great, but not too bad. He still had a very runny tummy though. Thrursday morning he wasn't looking too good, so we took him to our usual doctor. He prescribed new meds and said he disagreed witht he original diagnosis. So off we went to dose our baby with even more medications.

Friday morning Wiggles couldn't even really wake up properly. He'd open his eyes, and just drop right off back to sleep again. When we tried to give him his medication, he threw it all up. At this point he couldn't even keep liquid down. Highly concerned we took him back to our regular doctor (he was away, but had a stand in), only to hea that the stand in doctor would only be in at 10am. We felt we couldn't wait that long. We took Wiggles to the hospital ER (different hospital), and they admitted him with severe dehydration.

The whole of Friday Wiggles just slept. He was on a drip, so slowly his fluids were being replaced while he rested. By Friday night he was a little more alert, and by Saturday he was wide awake again. He remained on the drip until Sunday afternoon, when he basically removed it himself. The doctor decided that it wasn't neccesary to put him back on the drip after that. On Sunday we got the Lab results, saying that he'd contracted E coli, most likely from the stray puppy. Sunday afternoon the puppy ran away, making me believe she is a serial escape artist, and a nomad.

Wiggles remained in hospital until Tuesday afternoon, when he was finally released. The hospital stay really put strain on all of us. I stayed at the hospital day and night, and Angotull was there every minute he could find. I was very glad to sleep in my own bed on Tuesday night.

I am glad to say tha it seems Wiggles is on his way to a full recovery. Since being discharged he eats anything in site, I suppose he has a week of not eating to catch up on.

Sniff Sniff, Shuffle Shuffle

We seem to be having a sickly week this week. Wiggles and I appear to have gotten ourselves a cold. Who knows from where? I tried blaming my mother, but highly doubt it could have happened over the phone as we were only graced with her weekly pressence today. I think I will still blame her though :-) I know she will tell me it's because we don't eat enough vegetables... What is it with mothers always thinking we are incapable of looking after ourselves, even when we are rapidly approaching 30?

On top of having the sniffs, poor Wiggles is cutting his very first molar. The poor baby is in so much pain that he won't even let me rub Teejel on the affected area. I can only imagine how painful it must be for him... I remember cutting my wisdom teeth, and that hurt lik hell! And I have a high pain threshold! Imagine how it must feel to have all this pain, and not be able to say anything about it, AND not to understand why it is happening.

Angotull seems to have aggrevated his gout in a big way. It has been troubling him for close on 3 weeks now, reaching breaking point at 2 this morning when the pain woke him up. He took a little trip to the doctor this morning, and was given an injection and some meds. He says it has improved vastly already, so I hope that by tomorrow he is feeling alot better too.

In other news... I sent out the invitations for Wiggles' birthday this morning. The reality of my little monster growing up is really starting to hit home! I am going to have to learn to let go and start treating him like a little boy! This morning he mastered his own "technique" for climbing down steps. It basically just involves flinging his body over the edge and hoping for the best... my heart just about stops every time he does it. This evening he proudly sports a scratch down the side of his face as a mark of his achievements. Promise I will post pictures soon :-)

An artsy HNT!

I normally try and keep my pics very real, but this week I have decided to be a little different. And so I give you Solarised HNT.....

Find out what it's all about here