Final Jeopardy

Answer: October 9th, 2009

Question: What is my new due date??

Yes, after visiting my new doctor on Wednesday, she has agreed and sees no problem with inducing me early. YEAH!! Can I just tell you how relieved I am? I was so nervous to be visiting with this doctor for the first time since changing from my Nurse Practitioner. The Nurse Practitioner that was handling my visits decided, due to family reason and concerns, to go on a medical sabbatical. It was really nice to have someone actually looking out for me during this pregnancy and not just blowing my concerns off as a side effect of pregnancy. It has really made me wonder whether I was having medical problems with LMA's pregnancy or if I really was going crazy (well, we all know I was going crazy, but that's beside the point).

And the top it off, this doctor delivered Little Man A. Hubby and I also know a few other people who have had a great experience with this doctor as well.

So, yes. October 9th is the day. Unless of course he decides on his own to come out early. Watch. He'll come out on his own on October 8th. Damn kids.

Finally, some relief

This week, Little Man will undergo surgery. Minor surgery, but surgery no less.

A week after his last check-up with the Ears, Nose, and Throat doctor in June, he suffered another ear infection. This one was pretty bad. And of course, it came out of no where. We thought he was just sad from my visiting Texas friend needing to leave, but by noon he was spiking a 102 degree fever. By eleven that evening, after several doses of Motrin, which is suppose to last longer than Tylenol, he was still suffering from a major fever.

After ten days worth of medicine (and a canker sore for the first few days which made giving the medicine even worse), the ENT doctor deemed it necessary to have tubes in both ears as well as his adenoids removed. Granted this experience has not been as worse as AmyBow's with poor little AK having double ear infections over and over again all within her first year, it's still something.

I have absolutely no qualms about having him get this procedure done. Whatever needs to be done. I think working in the vet field has prepared me, only slightly, for taking care of children (of course when your child bleeds that's a different story). I'm glad that this will bring him relief and an end to the ear infections. Hopefully, the new kid won't suffer as much with ear infections.

Just relax already

This swine flu overreaction has gotten a little out of control. I agree with AmyBow to just turn off the television and go outside (unless of course you are living in the Northeast and suffer from allergies - damn tree pollen).

But I had to share this. Wouldn't it be nice if we could really blame this virus on this?



Or maybe not because that's just gross.

Have a great weekend.

Pure Torture

The last thing any mother or father wants to do is hurt their child. Add the fact that the child is sick and it makes the situation worse. When we take our children to the doctors, we try to explain to them that doctors are good. They help people feel better.

So how do you explain that to a screaming two year old who doesn't want to take their medicine?

That all you are trying to do is make them feel better.

Mommy is trying to make the "ouchie" or "boo-boo" better.

Little Man A has taken his fair share of medicine in the short 2 years that he has been with us. So far, it's been mainly in the past 6 months. Last week when we found out yet again that he had another ear infection, the doctor prescribed a different type of antibiotic. This is mainly done just to make sure whatever bug is lingering in his little body isn't starting to become resistant to Amoxicillan. She warned me it tasted nasty.

Boy, is that an understatement.

I'm the type of person who if I won't eat it, my child or even my dog wouldn't eat it (even though I'm sure the dog would LOVE it). I was even this way when I worked in the zoo field. No, I didn't try everything I served to the animals in my care. Just the monkey biscuits, grains, and fruits. And maybe some veggies too just for quality control purposes.

So, I tried the new medicine, Ceftin.

It's deceiving. It smells like bubble gum. It even starts to taste like bubble gum. BUT OH MY GOD! IT'S NASTY!

Little Man had really gotten good at taking medicine. We were in the ready position. Milk? Check. Napkin? Check. Syringe with medicine? Check. Extra set of hands? Check. He even would open wide and sometimes say, "Mmmm. Grape." Even if it didn't taste like grape.

But this medicine........................

I feel like I'm torturing... no, I am torturing my child with this medicine.

These last two days have been horrible. He's thrown fits. He's kicked. His hit our faces. He's screamed. He's cried. And every single time, he's crying for Daddy. Which of course makes me feel like Mother of the Year Award should be sitting on my doorstep.

So today, I tried the explanation approach. I read that the "terrible twos" phase is when they are able to communicate with you, but are limited when it comes to feelings. I got down on his level. I told him it was time for medicine. Before he took a swing at me, I told me I understood that it tasted nasty. I asked him if he wanted juice or milk or water to drink after. I told him the medicine is to make his ouchie in his ear go away.

It was still murder. He's gotten to NOT swallowing because he hates this medicine so bad. He'd rather take his nighttime cold and cough medicine rather than this nasty stuff. I had to lay him back to give him his medicine and drop juice into his mouth just to get him to swallow. Which of course with buggers coming out his nose, nasty stuff in his mouth, and screaming at the top of his lungs, all made for a not-so-happy camper. He would rather walk around the house or on our shoulders drooling his medicine out than swallow.

I know tricks to giving cats and dogs medicine, but children who you are suppose to love and nurture and be a good role model for ... I'm at a loss. At this point, I'm done. He's not getting anymore of this medicine. There is just no sugar coating this medicine to be able to get him to take it. And to be honest, it's not worth my child fearing and hating me.

We have an appointment in a few weeks with the Ears, Nose, and Throat doctor. So that's it. I'm done.

I love my child too much to torture all of us like this anymore.

Yet again...

So today makes five months in a row that Little Man has been sick, three months in a row with an ear infection. His jugular lymph nodes have been inflammed the entire time.

I'm exhausted, I'm hungry all the time, and I feel nauseous before and after I eat. I'm not sure I can handle another round of antibiotics. I'm not sure I can handle the whining because he's not feeling good.

I know. I should grin and bear it. Be a big girl myself.

But you know what? I'm tired of taking care of everyone. And I know it's only going to get worse.

Good thing is that the doctor did put in a referral to an Ears, Nose, and Throat Doctor. Like most referrals within the military system though, it could take forever. Let's hope it doesn't. Because all I know, in four weeks exactly, if something isn't done, he's going to get another ear infection.

Oh. And the other good thing. LMA can tell me when his ears hurt. So much better than guessing.

Ouchy!

I know, it's been awhile. I have very good reasons, believe me.

The first being I have had cold/upper-yucky-respiratory-not-quite-an-infection problem for the past almost three weeks now. Heaven forbid I actually get some sleep while I'm sick. Big Daddy and I slept in separate beds for an entire week just so at least one of us could get some sleep. Fortunately, when I went to the doctor almost 2 weeks ago now, she prescribed cough medicine with codeine. No more coughing for me at night! Yippee!

The second reason being these. I enter exhibit A:

My top two wisdom teeth. Yes, I am a freak and asked to keep them. (That's the scientist in me, sorry. When I got my gall bladder out I would have asked for that too, but I know doctors are a little weird about giving back body parts.) Fortunately, I only had my top two wisdom teeth - either the bottom never came in or they never will. I like to think I am part of the evolutionary process of ridding such unnecessary body parts for our future generations to come. Hence the removal of my gallbladder, tonsils, and adenoids. Don't need 'em.

I was absolutely petrified to have my teeth removed. My top left had bothered me in the past by rubbing on the inside of my cheek, but then it would dissipate after a week or so. This time around, I could barely open my mouth wide enough to brush my teeth. Needless to say, I couldn't wait any longer. The dental office had originally given me a treatment plan that would remove one tooth at a time, but after a brief thought decided to get it all over with at once, especially with the holiday/birthday season approaching.

After I waited more than 20 minutes for the novocain to "take effect" (it doesn't take that long), the doctor came back and within 2 minutes the tooth was out! I've removed teeth in cats and dogs before, so I knew the "drill" (hehe no pun intended), but that's exactly what I was afraid would happen. I've heard horror stories where the doctor needed to break the tooth and, according the many people, would have me bed ridden with dry sockets for weeks.

Apparently, the doctor didn't get the message that I wanted BOTH wisdom teeth removed. As he was washing up, I said, "Aren't you going to take out the other one?" He replied, "Huh. You wanted both out today? It's almost 5 o'clock." He thankfully was just a good sport and decided he wanted to make the practice a little extra money that day. He had only applied novocain to the left one, so we needed to wait again for it to set in for the right one. This is when you learn it really only needs 3-5 minutes to take effect. Exactly the same as the first, it took the doctor no more than 2 minutes to pry the tooth out.

What a relief to finally have that over with, but now I needed to worry about post-op care. Being a vet tech and OCPD, I made sure to follow their instructions to the letter. Thankfully, I can report that I had no difficulties at all during recovery. Big Daddy was able to take a couple days off though, just to make sure.

And third, thank you to all you out there sending me new client mojo. I accepted a new client last week. Just in time for the holiday season. Unfortunately, the Vicadin and Tylenol with codeine didn't quite enable me to do much work, but I'll be up and running this week for sure.

Stick around. There's more to come this week from A's Mom.

TTFN!

I hate emergency rooms!

Saturday, Little Man wakes up with what feels like a fever. Unfortunately, we have a piece of crap ear thermometer. I thought it was cool when I purchased it because you could theoretically just point it at something and get an "accurate" temperature. Whatever. Every time I check Little Man's temp it says it's normal, but mother's intuition says otherwise.

We were able to make it through the morning routine miraculously because all Little Man wanted to do was walk around with mom with his head attached to my shoulder. He slept until 3:30pm for his nap, which really isn't all that unusual. When he wakes up though, he's not into eating for himself. I would hand him a yogurt covered pretzel and he would turn around and feed it to dad. Although dad was extremely appreciative, I was concerned that he was only wanting to drink juice or milk.

By this time, he felt even more warm to my touch. I called my mom and asked when I should begin acting worried. I double checked his temperature with a regular digital thermometer under his arm and it registered 101 degrees. I knew I really should be taking a rectal temperature, but I was not into torturing my child at that point. I had already given him 1/2 dose of Tylenol 30 minutes prior, so mom recommended to give him the other half of dose.

When I did, he started choking and eventually threw up ALL of his lunch (5 hours later) and anything else that happened to be in his stomach. I yelled down to hubby to say it was time to go to the emergency room.

Now, I know I'm probably throwing this way out of proportion, but I had this aching feeling something else was going on. First we had the problem with the UFR (Unidentifiable Freaking Rash), which we are still trying to get an referral appointment with a dermatologist. Lately it's been a horribly runny nose which I associated with his first molars emerging. I just felt like this could not wait until Monday morning.

When we get to DeWitt Hospital, I inform them of his symptoms (temperature, vomiting, not eating or drinking since noon - past 6 hours). Apparently, these symptoms were not urgent enough to the triage nurse because it was close to 2 hours later that we finally were called back to get his vitals. When she registered a temperature of 103 degrees, I about hit the roof! So, not only has my child not eaten or drank anything for now 8 hours, he has a fever. Can you say dehydrated??

I paced and paced over the next hour and half. We tried to get him to take some liquid Motrin, but that just upset him even more, so we had to give him a suppository of Tylenol to help break the fever. Thankfully, it worked and by the time we made it back to the emergency room, his temperature registered 100.4 degrees. So three hours after we first arrived, now we have to wait to be seen by a doctor.

I told hubby that I was giving them until 10pm to get a doctor or we were going home. Thankfully, Little Man was totally content to play with daddy's wedding ring, his phone, take tissue out of the box and watch it float to the floor. However, we're now 2 hours past his bedtime and he's starting to get cranky.

10pm comes and I address the nurse's station. "My son's temperature is down. He's no longer a priority to you anymore. Can we just go home?" Thankfully, one of the nurse's asked if he's been able to hold anything down. No one had offered him anything, we forgot his sippy cup at home and didn't have one in his emergency diaper bag in the truck (one will be going there now), and now he's just plain tired.

So they got him some Pedialyte and a popsicle to try and he didn't want anything to do with it. Apparently, now he's an urgent patient (not ingested anything in 10 hours!) and around the corner finally comes a doctor. Wouldn't you know it, one look in his ears and he had an ear infection. (rolling my eyes)

However, the doctor is extremely concerned that he's getting dehydrated (no duh!) so now comes the fun part. He's also concerned about RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and making sure there is no other underlying problem going on. Since he's not eating or drinking on his own, the fun part is an IV in his arm. I'm so sorry buddy.

The rest of the night is kind of a blur, but about midnight I'm about to pass out from lack of nourishment myself. Hubby visited the trusty venting machine and comes back with Cheetos. Little Man's favorite! At first he wasn't interested - said no to daddy when he asked if he wanted a Cheeto and pushed his hand away. But when he got a taste of the cheese, it was all up hill from there.

By the end of the night, he was finally sleeping (until of course they removed his IV and urine bag around his pee-pee (ouch!)) and we were heading home at 1:30am. I never want to do that again! I feel so sorry for parents who have children with repetitive ear infections (as a matter of fact, there was a mother there who knew her child had an ear infection and waited 2 hours without being seen by the triage nurse. She ended up going home and said she would be back tomorrow if it was worse). I feel even worse for parents who have to experience their children being hospitalized for any other reason at all. I consider myself to be a strong person (I listened to my child scream when they checked his temp rectally, tried to give him medicine orally when he couldn't breathe through any other opening than his mouth, and give him an IV and pump his arm to get one last drop of blood for a CBC), but I don't think I could handle my child being hospitalized for a serious illness.

Long story not short, he's doing better today. Although I'm trying to figure out how to not torture my child while giving his medicine (he didn't fall for it in his milk - in fact that made him even more upset last night). I'm going to try putting the grape flavored antibiotics since it's only 2ml in some yogurt. If he needs Motrin or Tylenol (5ml), I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Up until now, he had always just opened his mouth and seemed to like the taste of it. Not anymore.

On a good note: Stay tuned for tomorrow. We finished our bathroom project! Until then, tootles!

Just a thought

Not that I really want to start a rival with anyone out there, but I was just thinking while I was trying to run errands at 9:30 at night, load the dish washer, tidy up the house so we have a fresh start in the morning, finish the laundry, and make sure Little Man and hubby have at least clean underwear tomorrow (oh, wait Little Man doesn't wear underwear yet-Whew). That's a lot to do while thinking.


Why is it when a woman gets sick they are still able to cook, clean, take care of the house, do the errands, and if you are like me, still able to take care of a child?


When a man gets sick.... he's totally debilitated?


Granted in my circumstance, hubby also gets migraines to go along with everything else either not functioning properly or has an enormous about of mucous running out of his nose while Little Man is desperately trying to get daddy to "Up!" Poor guy.


This also leads to another thought.


I am totally screwed if he ever gets deployed. I'm sure I may be able to put on a good I-can-do-everything-by-myself show, but I really can't. I'd probably have a nervous break down after about a week or two and just have to move back in with my parents (all the way out in CA now). Not to mention, I'm sure I would inadvertently make his life a living hell (not that living in Iraq wouldn't be considered hell already) while separated overseas because he'd be so damn worried about me and Little Man. Or I would just make him miserable for going to active duty. Details smetails.


Anyways, just a thought.

UFR - Unidentifiable Freakin Rash

It's been a long time (okay, just a week) since I have blogged and I really should be working on my current scrapbook project for my next client, but I really need to post this. In hopes, if anything, that someone out there may recognize this UFR and let me know what it is.

About 3 weeks ago now, Little Man A popped up with this rash on his legs. It was weird. One minute, he looked normal, the next he had a red, non-raised rash all over his legs. And it didn't seem to bother him. That day, we had gone to the park after it finally stopped raining here for 3 days straight and he played in the sand. He had come up with bug bites before, but this was completely different.

When it hadn't gone away, actually it had gotten worse - now it was on his arms! I called my mother in a panic wondering what chicken pox looked like. I had chicken pox when I was a child (I even have the scars from a few on my forehead and knee to prove it), but we weren't sure if hubby had been vaccinated against it (he didn't have it as a child).

The following day, no improvement and I really couldn't tell if it was bothering him so I called the medical center to see if we should come in. They agreed since it wasn't bothering him (I think he was just having a bad morning), they weren't pustules or bleeding, he didn't have a fever, that we should just monitor it for now. Throughout the day, the small spots turned into blotches, then some of them would disappear while more showed up. This was weird. That night we tried baking soda in the bath water just for shits and giggles.

By Friday of that week, it hadn't gone away and like I said they were getting bigger and covering his legs and thighs. I took him to the doctor after a nurse deemed it important to actually see the doctor (thanks) and he is what she said:

"A possible symptomatic reaction to a viral infection"

Which means, that is her million-dollar-I-went-to-school-for-8 years-but-I-have-no-idea-what-it-is answer.

I even canceled a Cinco de Mayo party I planned for our old neighborhood friends. And my appointment to have Mother's Day photos taken. And wouldn't you know Sunday, except for one little spot, it's gone.... or so we thought.

Needless to say, since then the spots have come and gone. Some days they are 3-6mm (about 1cm) in diameter, other's they are large 2-3cm blotches that have a defined edge, but aren't complete circles. They aren't raised, they don't cover his abdomen or torso, sometimes, they pop up on his face, and they don't itch or bother him. I've thought of endless possibilities (tick bite, chicken pox, heat rash, allergies, ringworm, etc.) but nothing seems to really fit.

So, if you're not grossed out... which I've seen worse, let me know if you've seen this before. If not, from what I've read (and of course this is from possibly a non-reliable source from the internet) it should be around for 7-60 days total. Not sure I can sit around that long, but I guess I have no other choice.

What a day A had...

I feel like Dr. Seuss writing that title. For those of you who are not familiar, here's a taste:

A is sad.
A has had a bad day.
What a day A had.

Have you ever had one of those days that were so horrible that it completely drained out all of your energy...including the energy you thought you had in reserve? That's the type of day that A has had so far today. Fortunately, he is rejuvenating himself right now with a long nap.

Today was A's 15 month check-up. As some of you mother's out there know, this includes vaccinations. Great. Hubby wasn't able to get the day off because well, he just had a week off. So, A and I drove him to the train station this morning and proceeded to his doctor's appointment. Fortunately, there were TONS of buses and trucks out this morning to keep A entertained in the back seat.

When we get to the doctor's office, 10 minutes early like they request, we proceed to wait 30 minutes before we are called back to get his weigh in. He was not very excited about this at all. In the past, he's been fairly cooperative, but this time he didn't want anything to do with the nurse. Even if she was handing him something that looked cool to play with like her stethoscope. He's continued to grow, by the way, in the 95 percentile for height (34 inches) and about 60 percentile for weight (26 pounds).

Then we had to wait another 20 minutes for the doctor in the room. This was a 9am appointment and there were hardly any other patients in the waiting room when we arrived?!! A finally starts to get comfortable again (eating Cheerios and Goldfish and sipping juice will do that to you apparently) and then the doctor comes in. He obviously didn't want anything to do with her either, but atleast her part is short and sweet.

We head out to the waiting area to be called once again for his vaccines. 45 minutes later, A is getting extremely impatient. Not only did he miss his morning nap, he can't really run around the waiting area even though it is big, but it's crowded by now. My only saving grace is that he loves to look at airplanes now (thanks to his trip to the airport to pick us up) and there are tons of military magazines in the waiting area. I start to get antsy as well and ask a nurse how much longer. Apparently, this sends some sort of red flag off in the back and actually gets the nurses back to work because 5 minutes later we're called.

Now, it's time for vaccines. The nurse proceeds to tell me that 2 of the 3 vaccines are going to be sub-Q or inserted just below the skin. Really?? Then why when she inserted all 3 vaccines did she target every single blood vessel in A's tiny thigh???

Fortunately, these little guys bounce back fast and by the time we are home, he's all right. May be a little sore, but he'll live for right now. As we are walking up to the door, he trips a falls on his knees and hands. Because of the thin pair of pants that he is wearing he scraps both knees. I get him inside, change his diaper and we calm down by watching a little tv (hence why I'm starting to fear that this child will be ADD). I didn't think he would want to sit still for another 20 minutes, but we find something that catches his eye.

Like my mother has found out while watching him, things can change in a split second. One second he's crawling around on the bed to another location, the other he's toppling over the side of the bed. I reach to catch his leg, but it literally slips through my fingers.

Now, not only does A have sore thighs, scrapped knees, and he's exhausted... now he has a bump on his head. It could have been worse... he could have hit his head on the side table when he went over the side backwards.

So, I'm really sorry I didn't share any pics from our marvelous vacation, but I'm just too exhausted myself. Needless to say, we're ordering dinner tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

I have a disease...

And I think I gave it to my son.


It's not a serious or even life threatening disease. You may have heard of it:


Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD.


Okay, so it's a disorder not a disease.... whatever.

My husband kids me about this ALL the time. Well, I think I may have given it to my son so I'm certain that if scientists were trying to figure out if it was geneticly linked... I can give that answer with a "That's affirmative, good buddy!"

Similar to AmyBow, she has a disease where she cannot procrastinate. Even if it means leaving the teeniest, tiniest task for her husband to do. Mine, I have to have things cleaned all the time. It definitely makes for an easier night once Little Man A goes to bed, but sometimes it can get just downright tiresome.

Well, yesterday I tried another "fun" activity from the Toddler Busy Book.... letting your child pull tissue out of the box. Yes, it can get messy, you will be wasting an entire box of tissue, but it's suppose to bring hours (okay, maybe 20 minutes) worth of fun for your child. I had just finished with a box of tissue, so instead of using another new one, I decided to put pieces of toilet paper in there (Little Man A wanted to help pull it off the roll anyway).

I gave him the box, full of about 20 small squares of toilet paper and waited. I showed him the first piece and was expecting him to just rip out every single piece. Instead, he just looked at it. When I showed him there was more inside.....


He proceeded to put the pieces back in the box!!

Lately, it seems as though he's been extremely helpful around the house. Every single day, after we are done eating at the dinette table, I push all the chairs in. The other day, he helped me push them in!

When I told him it was time for splish-splash time, he proceeded to put his blocks away in the correct box!

Not that I'm complaining. I'm sure this is just a phase. But I have to admit, I really like it! Maybe all my little habits are actually wearing off on my child.

Now, if I could just work on my hubby. (hehehe)

Seriously??

I wasn't quite sure how to title this one, so I went with that. No it's nothing too exciting. Just the normal, "You've got to be kidding stuff" that happens with us mothers on a daily basis.

I made an appointment last week for Little Man A's flu shot booster. I was not looking forward to it today. Apparently, he sensed it and woke up at 5:45am. And to top if off, I went in there to hear him sniffing a nose full of snot. He and I have been dealing with a cold. I've been leaving the humidifier on for him during the night. The last two days I haven't seen any runny nose, so I thought it was gone. Not.

So I give him the pacifier and tell him to go back to sleep. Apparently, I've - actually we have - created a monster with this little routine. But anything to get him to sleep until atleast 7am or somewhere in that vicinity is our goal. Ok, more my goal. I can't function previous to 7am. But regardless of what time we put him to bed, he's been waking up lately between 5:45 Am and 6:30 AM. So I may have to deal with an earlier start to the day.

He goes back to sleep for 15 minutes (or maybe he just lays there) and wakes up crying again. I go back in again, lay him down, shove the pacifier back in his mouth and jump in the shower. By the time I'm out of the shower and dressed he's already crying again. So we go and start the day. I give him Tylenol with his morning milk and atleast feed him his oatmeal before we head out the door.

We get to the doctor's office, check in, let him nibble on some Cheerios and wait. And wait. And wait. Hello?? This is just suppose to be a shot. A quick hello - good-bye appointment. 25 minutes later, I walk up to the counter and ask if there is a problem since we have been waiting for 25 minutes. She checks and says I'll make sure they get on it. The nurse comes out, call's A's name, and she says "You're early."

Me: What? My appointment was for 7:30 AM.

Nurse: No, you're suppose to wait alteast one month before his booster.

Me: What? The nurse and the doctor last time we were here said 3 weeks. Why didn't the person when I made the appointment say anything? Why have we waited 25 minutes for someone to tell us we don't need to be here?

Nurse: I'm sorry.

So now we head back home with a sleepy child who isn't feeling well with a runny nose and a full dose of Tylenol in his system for no reason. Great! And to top it off, I get to deal with my child alone ALL DAY LONG since hubby has to go to his cult meeting tonight. Guh!

On a lighter note, I have toothy pictures! I have been dying not being able to get a picture of A's mouth since his first tooth popped through. I just wanted to open his mouth and snap a picture, but obviously he wouldn't think that it was fun.
So, here it is... a nice close up of his bottom front teeth. When he really smiles, you can see all four teeth.

I was really hoping it wasn't going to rain today so we could go for a walk, but I guess I'll be breaking out some of the new Busy Toddler books I got for Christmas. Maybe we'll color. Maybe not. He'll just want to chew on the crayons and then get upset when I say no. Oh well. Wish me luck.

Tootles.