Crazy Reece

Reece just keeps us guessing at all times... 

Just a couple months ago we finally got over the 7 week "bowel" issue (still unknown as to what actually caused it.) This time he woke up with puffy/swollen cheeks/lips Sunday morning. They were so puffy, I didn't believe him when he told me he didn't have anything in his mouth. Later that day he said there was a little pain in his jaw area. He had no other symptoms. Baffling.... We gave him Claritin and tried Benedryl, with no change. My thoughts were, if it was an allergic reaction, his eyes and maybe even his airways would swell up too. I was a nervous wreck that first night, praying he would breathe okay during the night.

I took him to the doctor on Monday, worried, because it was so weird and random. There wasn't much evidence to go on...It was more than likely an allergic reaction to something. It could have been from the air (It's been pretty windy up here), it could have been from the pizza we ordered in Saturday night... who knows?

Dr. DeWitt wanted us to continue the Claritin. He also said there was a chance it was an infected gland, but the chances of that happening to both sides of his mouth would be rare, so his money was on the allergy. If a fever were to pop up, then the doctor would know it was an infection and antibiotics would have been prescribed immediately. Thankfully, 3 days later swelling is almost gone.

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Next...Reece is beginning to sleepwalk. It's creepy and I must document this. It is going to be hard for me to write this, because so much happened last night in such a short span of time, but here goes.

Last night, I was just ready to close my eyes and go to sleep...It was an exhausting day and I was beat! Then I hear Reece's door open and he comes walking into our room. He was a little sweaty and just gave me a hug. He acted like something was wrong, but couldn't tell me what. He had tugged at his shirt collar, which is when I had noticed the sweat. I asked him a million questions. Do you feel like you are going to throw up? Does your throat hurt? What's wrong? etc.... His answer was no to everything... he seemed pretty aware of what was happening, then he turned to walk away. Only, he didn't go out our bedroom door. Instead he walked over to one of Jake's drawers and opened it, peeked inside it, and then closed it. That's when he walked out and back to his room.

This is when I realized I wasn't talking to an "awake" Reece, but a "sleeping" Reece.

I freaked out to Jake and could not believe what had just happened! Reece has been "claiming" to sleepwalk for a while now.... I was convinced it was an excuse to end up in Riley's room over night. But now I have no choice but to believe him.

Before I could get over the shock, Reece's door opened again and he was walking back in our room. This time with his school shirt for today. I ask if he is going to get dressed, and he drops the shirt and says, "Yes." Then he came back to hug me. I had him get up in bed with me, when suddenly he kept saying, "There. They need to be there." Pointing to the end of my bed...( I'd be lying if I said I wasn't beginning to think there was a ghost in my room.) Reece was aware that I wasn't understanding what he was doing, and would hug me, almost like he was scared, and then he'd say it again. He hugged me a few times...scared or upset. When I finally pieced together that he was on stage and someone needed to be "there" on the stage, he finally stopped talking about it. He needed me to acknowledge it. When the "there" drama was over, he just laid next to me watching the TV. It was getting late, so I asked if he was awake, and he told me he was. I asked him to close his eyes and he did. He closed his eyes, rolled over, and was pretty still at that point. Jake finally carried him into bed. As of this morning, the only thing Reece remembers about last night was Dad carrying him to bed. Creepy!

Rewind to two nights ago, Reece was in my room... again talking about something not feeling right. Well, he was on an allergy medicine that he had never been on, and my fear was him having a serious reaction to it in the middle of the night. Guess who slept in Jake's spot? Guess who was probably, actually sleepwalking? Yep... Reece. Now we know! This kid will always keep us on our toes with his unusual illnesses and now his sleepwalking. Craziness!