Germs, Germs, Go Away

So cold #2 is creeping into our house. Everyone seems to have either a runny nose or sore throat (or both). Charlie is just starting to get a runny nose so tonight we gave him a nice warm shower and rubbed some essential oils on his chest. The humidifier is currently running in the bedroom to get the air moist before we tuck him into bed. We'd really like to cut this off at the pass if possible.

We continue the transition from bottle to breastfeeding. However, Charlie's weight gain has slowed significantly in the past week as we've limited his bottles. *sigh* We will keep on tweaking the process as we go, trying to find the right balance of nursing/bottle feeding for our little man.

This week we did catch a crucial issue with our insurance. Our pediatrician submitted paperwork for Charlie to get his RSV shots this winter over a month ago. In fact, the doctor has a letter from our insurance confirming receipt of the request and stating that it was under review. However, shots should start next week and we haven't heard back. When I called Charlie's case manager we realized that the paperwork has gotten lost in the shuffle somewhere. So on Thursday this week our pediatrician resubmitted all the paperwork directly to our case manager. The case manager said she was going to try to expedite the approval so that we don't put Charlie at risk while navigating red tape...

Again - it's all a delicate balance. Trying to avoid germs is next to impossible this time of year - yet, it's vital for Charlie. We need him to continue to gain weight, but would prefer for him to do so without the need of the extra calories in the fortified milk. We need to get shots for him, but need insurance approval first.

Let's hope this all sorts itself out in the next week or so!

PS - our friends delivered a BEAUTIFUL baby girl, Caroline, on Wednesday! Caroline had a cardiac cath with a balloon angioplasty less than 18 hours after her arrival but is doing wonderful and it looks like she has avoided open heart surgery for the moment. God is good! Thanks for the prayers!