Alyssa Shares Her 15 Month Checkup

Hey people, it's me Alyssa again.  Time for another update from me.  Seems these only happen when I have to go to that evil doctor lady.  I really don't know why Mommy and Daddy keep bringing me there.  All that woman ever does is tick me off.  But Mom and Dad seem to think it's important and like finding out how much I'm growing.

Speaking of growing, the doctor isn't too pleased with how I'm growing again.  I'm below the 5th %tile, but I was last time too so I'm not too sure what the deal is.  So I'm only 17 pounds 10 ounces and 28 inches tall.  What can I say, I'm petite.  There was some talk of Pediasure, whatever that is.  What I didn't like is they want me drinking less milk.  Seriously, don't these people know how good that stuff is?  It was so good that I had to say enough is enough with Mommy's milk.  Maybe I'll just start demanding everything Daddy eats from now on so I don't have to give up my milk.

Lets see, what else.  Oh yeah so I'm not talking these days.  Mommy told the doctor and now they want me to go to this Birth To Three thing.  I don't know, Mommy seems excited about it.  Something about more eyes watching me grow.  Jokes on them though because all those words they want me to say I can totally say, but it's so much more fun to scream to get my way.  I also have to go see some doctor called an audiologist.  I sure hope this one isn't so touchy feely and pokey pokey with me.  Mommy says I hear just fine though so I guess this is just procedure.

Oh yeah and I have had this rash for like ever.  It comes and goes and Mommy has been trying so hard to keep it at bay.  Finally the doctor took it seriously.  That thing itches and it hurts.  But not as much as what that doctor did to me.  O. M. G. she cut me to take some sort of sample.  Well, the worst was she had all these people that I don't know holding me down.  Did NOT like that at all!  But now I have this new medicine and have to take bleach baths.  There was something about a strep or staph infection.  I guess that's why they took the sample to see just what it is.  All I know is this better get better now.

Things certainly didn't get better with that appointment though.  After they tortured me by pinning me down then they stuck two needles in me.  Seriously, enough is enough already with the needles.  The doctor got a good listen to my lungs though.  She says I sure have a good set of them.

Hey, here are some more pictures of me from when I turned 15 months...

Pucker up!

Pfff, more pictures?

Concentrating hard

Who do I call to make the pictures stop?

So lots going on.  I don't know when I go back to the doctor again.  I vote for never.  Oh and you know I'm having a blast walking everywhere.  This walking stuff is awesome!  I can get so many places.  So much fun.  So until next time this is Alyssa saying so long!

Alyssa's 1 year checkup

Hello blog peeps. Alyssa here and I'm 1 now. Yet again Mommy and Daddy made me go to the doctor today. They really need to stop bringing me there! I DO NOT LIKE IT! I didn't like it from the beginning when the nurse was measuring my head, to the middle when the medical student was touching me with her cold hands, and to the end where I was attacked by those long sharp pointy things! There were 4 things stuck in me today people! Oh and she also forced my mouth open to paint some sealant stuff on my teeth. Did not like that one bit thank you very much. I'm afraid the book I got in the end of it all didn't much make up for it. Although, the bubbles entertained me for about two seconds. Good thing it's a long car ride home and I passed out as soon as we got to moving. I was exhausted!

But you all don't care about my misery I'm sure. You're here to find out how I'm measuring up. I'm still a peanut growing along my own growth curve. I am up to 16 pounds 6 ounces and 27 3/4 inches tall now. I guess the doctor was pleased with my growth as she didn't say anything.

They are going to watch my talking. I've got 3 months to learn 3 words or Birth to Three comes out. Mom says she's not too worried because I babble a lot. Hey a girls gotta move what can I tell you. Who needs to talk with all these big people around doing the talking for me?

I baffled the student doctor with my crawling style. The doctor isn't concerned though because my hips are good and I'm standing and cruising normally. Why would I put both knees flat on the floor? That would hurt. And I get around just fine the way I do it.

The doctor is thrilled that I'm still drinking breast milk. Although, she doesn't like that I do it at night. So that was why the sealant was put on my teeth.

I do have a bit of a diaper rash which Mommy has been battling for a few weeks now. Seems it might have been a little staph infection which is healing and there is also a little yeast. So more cream for the yeast, but the staph is clearing up on its own so unless that changes we'll just wait it out I guess. I'm not really too bothered by it.

All in all I'm a healthy growing girl and looks like I get a reprieve from the doctor until May!

Princess Alyssa has her 9 month checkup

Hello everyone, it's me Alyssa and it's time for another update from me. It is November. If you remember back in August I was not looking forward to November. Well, I didn't remember that. Yesterday Mommy and Daddy took me to the doctor. Where strange people looked at me and made me cry. Then we went into this room and another stranger was touching me. I was stripped down to just my diaper and put on the scale which said I weighed 14 pounds 6 ounces. Oh yeah and I'm 26 1/4 inches tall now.

I got to play with some new toys for a little while and then that doctor lady came in. She seemed to be in a panic about something to do with my weight because Daddy took me out to the scale. This time I was 14 pounds 12 ounces, but that still did not make the doctor happy. I don't know why. They say I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be. Starting to pull to a stand, motoring around, laughing, smiling, babbling, feeding myself, and afraid of strangers. All totally normal for my age. I've been going along this growth curve I guess that the doctor was happy with right up until now. So now I get to eat more. Good thing I love to eat.

Then after the doctor did all this talking with Mom and Dad she started touching me. I was okay with it for the most part because she gave me this cool wood stick. That thing was really interesting and it sure tasted good too. I guess the doctor was okay with everything because she had my mommy get me dressed.

But then I had to get one of those sharp needles stuck in my leg. I heard something about a flu shot. Let me tell you all the bubble blowing and dancing toys in the world cannot make the sting of those needles hurt any less. Lets just say I was happy to get out of there. But there was some talk of me needing to get another flu shot in a month and a weight check. At least that time my big sister gets to get tortured with me though. I think my mommy scheduled us to go in together. I had a hard time sleeping last night though after that shot so I'm not looking forward to feeling like that again in a month. But I get to eat eat eat for the next month. I love that!

So until December...

Alyssa's 6 month checkup

Hello from Princess Alyssa! I'm 6 1/2 months old now and doing great. I am now 14 pounds and 25 3/4 inches tall. My doctor says I should about double my birth weight by now. Even though I'm not quite double the doctor still seems pleased. As I am sitting up and passing things from hand to hand. I babble and roll over in both directions. So all things I'm supposed to be doing by now.

I surprised mommy by handling the exam very well. The doctor was so funny playing peek a boo with me. I love peek a boo. How did she know that? And she had all these neat shiny things hanging off her neck for me to grab at. Loved it! Just when I thought I was in the clear because mommy started putting my clothes back on that doctor came back in with these long sharp things. She started out giving me some drink. I really wasn't too thirsty though and spit some out. Then my world changed and not for the better. They started blowing bubbles and playing these silly dancing toys and then they stuck me in the legs with those sharp things. That hurt! Then the doctor picked me up and started dancing me around and making me pop the bubbles. Just give me my mom. Finally she handed me over to my mom and things were better.

I was so happy to be out of there. I do have a bit of a yeast rash so we had to stop at the pharmacy to pick up some Nystatin. I'm hoping I don't have to go back and do that anytime soon though. I think I heard my mom say something about an appointment in November. I am not looking forward to November.

I guess until then! Bye from Alyssa!

Don't forget to vote for Kaitlyn in the Messiest Eater contest!

Alyssa is the newest 4 month old on the block

Today Alyssa is 4 months old! As you can see I did a little photo shoot of her tonight. I should have done this before her doctor's appointment this afternoon because I wanted to show off her big toothless baby grin. But after getting four vaccines today smiles were not easy to come by and now she's passed out and I wanted to get this up tonight. But I thought I got some really cute shots of her.

Where has the time gone? Four months ago I was in a hospital having contractions and trying not to punch the doctor who was on call the night I went into labor. I think I forgot how great 4 month olds are too. I kind of feel like I was a little robbed of the joy of a 4 month old with CJ with all the problems we ended up having. Here is what Alyssa is up to these days.

She is smiling so big and pretty. I love it. Joe can be holding her from across the room and I can be doing something else and she'll be looking at me with this huge gummy grin. Melts my heart. She is such a sweetie.

She's rolling over occasionally front to back and back to front. She doesn't do it a whole lot and usually gets upset when she does it.

She holds her head up really well though. I don't have to give her much head support except maybe when she is tired.

She giggles for everyone but me. I have of course heard her giggle, I just haven't been able to make those giggles happen. I sure love hearing it though. Even if I'm not the one who can get her to do it.

She has slept 6 hours at night. That's the closest we've gotten to sleeping through the night so far. Although, that only lasted for a few nights. She is now back to her 3 or 4 a.m. feeding. At least she goes right back to sleep after she eats at 3 or 4 in the morning.

She is still exclusively breastfeeding and it's going really well.

Her hair which used to be so dark is now going very light. She still has a lot of it too. It's actually getting really long and almost in her eyes. I might have to get it cut soon.

I guess that's about it for what she's up to. A lot of you probably want to know about her doctor's appointment. More specifically about her weight. I asked my Facebook friends to make a guess as to how much she was going to weigh today. I had guessed 12 pounds. And I'm happy to say I was wrong. She's 12 pounds 7 ounces. Natalie's guess was the closest at 12 pounds 5 ounces. She's doing great though. She is 25 inches long which is in the 70th %tile. I can't remember what %tile her weight was in though. The doctor is super pleased with her head control. All looks great health wise. She seems to be right on target and maybe even a little advanced. The doctor was disappointed to have her already not happy to be examined. Already a little stranger anxiety. Well, she is only ever with me though. So it kind of makes sense I suppose. I was told I can start giving her baby foods. I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet though. We'll see what happens.

I discussed what we can use in the sun this summer with her. I don't want to have to always be finding shade this summer when we're outside to keep her delicate skin safe so the doctor said there's a baby sunblock by Neutrogena that she recommends. So we'll be giving that a try with her. I don't think the doctor really wants us to use sunblock, but she also knows that with 3 older children it's really going to be hard to avoid the outdoors.

So all is looking great with Alyssa. She's been such a joy these past four months and I'm cherishing every single moment with her. She's such a beautiful, sweet, funny little girl already. Next doctor's appointment is her 6 month check up.

Update on CJ

So after CJ's possible concussion/minor head injury from yesterday here's how he is doing...

Last night I woke him up at about 4. He wasn't easy to wake, but nothing I wouldn't expect out of him at 4 in the morning. He did roll around and move with my attempts to wake him and he sat up at one point. I asked him how his head was and he mumbled something and laid back down. Okay, seemed about on course with when I've tried to wake him up any other time so I tucked him back in.

Then Joe was up around 7 this morning to go to work. He went and woke CJ up no problem. He brought him into our room and put him in bed with me and Alyssa. He fell back to sleep. I got up around 8 because I had a headache and I needed to call Natalie out of school. Everyone stayed home because it ended up being a late night of worrying for everyone.

Shortly after I had gotten up CJ was up and calling for me. He wanted something to drink. So I got him a drink and started feeding Alyssa. CJ then wanted something for breakfast so I told him to go wake up his sisters to help him. So he did. They got him something to eat and before he sat down to eat it he threw up. However, he then got up at the table and ate his breakfast.

I called Kaitlyn out of school and then CJ and asked the nurse to call me back to discuss CJ. Then I called the doctor's office. I told them about CJ throwing up and they said okay but other than that how is he? He was fine. Playing with his sisters and talking and walking normally. They said okay well if anything changes call us, but we don't need to see him. Okay, sounds like a plan.

So we laid low all day today. CJ played with his sisters. He did take a nap for nearly 2 hours, but he had gone to bed 4 hours later than usual last night and still got up kind of early. He didn't really eat dinner again tonight, but he had eaten the rest of his meals today fine. He has for the most part been back to his mischievous self though. Seems to be doing better. He still has a good size black and blue egg on his head, but other than that he's good.

The school nurse never did call me back. Guess she wasn't too interested in what was going on with CJ. Oh well, I'll talk to his teachers on Monday to let them know what had happened so they can watch him a little more closely. Glad things seem to be getting back to normal with him and hopefully he continues to improve.

Concussion or minor head injury

Either way, it just gave mommy and daddy a few more gray hairs. CJ fell at school today and bumped his head. It literally happened right after I dropped him off because as soon as I pulled in my driveway and was about to get Alyssa out of the car my phone rang. The nurse said she'd like ice to be kept on it for a while because where he bumped was right by the temple and she thought he needed to go home. Okay, no problem. So back in the car I went. This is the I don't know how many times CJ has fallen at school and bumped his head, but this was the first time the nurse thought it warranted going home. However, she didn't seem to think he needed to see the doctor.

So I got to the school and he was sitting in his class holding ice on his head. I looked and he had a good size egg just around his left eyebrow. I asked him what happened he said he fell. His teacher showed me what he hit his head on. We got his stuff and came home in a quiet car. CJ requested no music. I gave him another ice pack when we got home and he sat and watched TV for the rest of the morning. I gave him some lunch and he fell asleep at the table. Not entirely unusual for him though. He played in his room and was acting fine. We went to pick Joe up from work later in the day and then went to do some shopping and he seemed fine. Then we came home and were making dinner and he said he didn't feel well. He didn't want to eat and he was just very irritable. After not eating his dinner he was saying he wanted to go to bed. Not like him at all. It was only 7:00 and he wants to go to bed.

I called the doctor and she said well if he's not vomiting or stumbling around then just let him sleep. He probably has a concussion, but sleep is what he needs. No TV or video games just put him to bed and check on him before we go to bed at night. So we went to put him to bed and he started vomiting everywhere. So I called the doctor back. It took a while this time to hear back from her, but she told us to go to the Children's Medical Center. She would call ahead and let them know we were coming.

So off we went to the hospital. We got triaged right away and then they made us sit and wait. We got admitted and we sat and waited again. And we waited and we waited. Finally nearly 2 hours after we got there we were in a room and being seen. The doctor talked to CJ and asked us questions about his behavior and said I don't think it's too serious. He has normal neurological function so he'll get some Tylenol for the pain and you can bring him home, but wake him every 3 hours or so. If he is harder to wake up or doesn't know who he is call the doctor. If when he's awake he walking around like he's drunk call the doctor. So we left with a diagnosis of a minor head injury.

Didn't get out of there until 11:30. Home at midnight. Now it's time to go to bed so when Ms. Alyssa wakes up to eat again I can go wake Mr. Man up. Fun fun fun. Never experienced anything like this with the girls. This boy is giving us a run for our money. Usually I'm like oh, just another bump on his head no big deal, but this time definitely something more was going on. Glad he got checked out and hoping for no more symptoms and no lasting effects from this.

Sick boy causes canceled birthday party

It all began at 5 a.m. this morning. CJ cried, Joe went to check on him, got him to lay back down, and not one minute later he was screaming. Joe went back in and CJ began vomiting everywhere. I was feeding Alyssa so wasn't much help as if I had stopped we would have had two screaming children. So Joe took over like a champ and washed up CJ and got the sheets off the bed and in the wash. When I finished feeding Alyssa I went to check on my poor little boy. He wasn't warm or anything and was acting just fine so we were hopeful that that was that. Joe was awake at this point and so was CJ so they stayed on the couch while I went back to bed with Alyssa.

An hour later CJ was throwing up again and then another hour after that and an hour after that. Joe handled it while I slept or fed Alyssa. When I got up Joe and I discussed what we should do about Natalie's birthday party tonight. Natalie was still asleep and oblivious to the fact that her brother had been throwing up every hour for the past 3 hours. So I told Joe that he could take the girls over to the bowling alley while I stayed home with Alyssa and our poor sick little boy. So we went in and talked about it with Natalie.

Natalie was understandably disappointed and also wanted me at her birthday party so she wasn't sure she wanted to go bowling without me. So we discussed doing it a different day, but realized we had plans for the next two weekends and Natalie didn't want to wait so long to have her party either. So we told her to think about it.

Meanwhile CJ continued the trend of throwing up every hour. I gave more thought to what we could do and said hey, why does it have to be a Saturday night? So I told Natalie how about Friday night or the Friday after. Well, Natalie DID NOT want Friday the 13th. I guess she doesn't want to jinx anything with her birthday party anymore. As it is her sleepover has become a non sleepover. Only one friend could come and she couldn't spend the night. So we decided we'd try for Friday the 6th. I called Natalie's friend and left a message in hopes that Friday would work okay for them.

Joe took Natalie fishing. CJ threw up again and then fell asleep. He woke up wanting something to drink. It had finally been more than an hour since he threw up so we tried. It didn't work though. It came back up. Natalie and Joe had come home from fishing at this point. Natalie's friend's mother called and said Friday would be fine, but it will have to be a little later. I said that was fine. So we're trying again for Friday night.

CJ threw up again and went to sleep again. He got up all excited saying he felt better and wanting something to drink. So being that it had been a while since he threw up I got him something to drink. Things were looking good. He kept it down for nearly an hour and now he's throwing up again. So it's a good thing we canceled the party. I don't know what is going on with my boy, but I hope he starts keeping something down soon. Natalie is disappointed about her party and I feel bad for her too. Hopefully she can still have a good time on Friday and nothing else happens to mess this up for her. And most importantly lets hope no one else gets this stomach thing that CJ has.

I think he has some sinus thing...

That's what CJ's teacher was saying to me last week. Actually, she has said it to me before. CJ's nose pretty much runs from about mid fall until about mid spring every year. It goes back and forth from being just completely gross looking to not so bad, but he's just the booger kid. Being child number 3 for me if he's not acting sick I don't usually bring him to the doctor. So he has been eating, sleeping, and playing as usual just with the occasional stop because he's got to blow his nose. We are in the home stretch. This should be clearing up soon with him once the nice warm weather gets here to stay. However, since his teacher commented about it twice to me last week I figured all right I'll call the doctor. Get a medical professional to say he's just fine. I'm guessing most of the kids in CJ's class are first child and every sniffle the parents rush them to the doctor so with CJ the teacher probably isn't used to this. If I had to keep him out of school for every runny nose though he would have missed most of the year.

But Monday I brought him into the doctor. I explained that I wasn't too worried about it, but the school is. And the doctor shook her head and was telling me how a runny nose is the sign of a healthy immune system and chances are it's nothing. Just as I expected. But the doctor, like me, wanted to humor the school. So she checked him out. His sinuses are fine, but his ear is not. Go figure. He has ear infection number 3 since December. Not a complaint either which the doctor was surprised about. So we go through the normal drill, if he's not better in a few days bring him back in and blah blah blah. I said okay so if his nose doesn't look a little better in a few days I should bring him in? After all that's really the only "symptom" he had. So the doctor kind of laughed and said yes, but she also told me we could do an ear recheck at Alyssa's next checkup in June. So I squeezed CJ in with Alyssa's next appointment for an ear recheck. Good thing the cold weather is going away. Summer can't get here fast enough that's for sure.

But generally speaking a runny nose is the sign of a healthy immune system apparently. So unless you've got a kid who's oblivious to pain like apparently I do then you probably don't need to bring him to the doctor for every single runny nose.

Alyssa's 2 month Checkup

As hard as it is to believe it Alyssa is 2 months old. Has been since Saturday. Today we went to the doctor for her 2 month check up. She really is doing very well. Meeting her milestones so far as expected. She smiles, giggles, coos, reaches for things, holds your hand, and holds her head up for long periods of time.

She now weighs 9 pounds 14 ounces which is 2 pounds 4 ounces more than at birth. I don't know how long she is or what her head circumference is. However, I do know that her weight, height, and head circumference are all in the 50th %tile. So she's perfectly proportional and just the right size for her age. So see, perfect!

Well, I guess nothing is perfect. We did have some areas of concern. One being that she hasn't pooped in 9 days. The doctor said to me a gastro doctor would just say so to that. Did she have a soft stool the last time she pooped? Yes? Then, so? Okay, but my pediatrician isn't so sure that it should be just a so? So she is now going to get 2 ounces of prune juice or pear juice diluted with water twice a day. This will be her first experience with a bottle. I hope she handles it well.

Now the second issue we are having is more my issue I guess. Breastfeeding hasn't been a complete dream. I have been experiencing some bloody/cracked nipples. So for that we have to work on position and the latch. I was given the name and number of a lactation consultant that hopefully will accept my insurance and can help me as well. I'm hopeful that we can get this figured out and I can become more comfortable with breastfeeding.

She might have acid reflux, but the doctor doesn't see a need to medicate. As long as she continues to grow and not pull away at every feed it's okay to have some acid reflux. There apparently is a theory that acid reflux medications could be causing the more frequent food allergies we are seeing these days. So I think I can deal with a little acid reflux.

She got four vaccines today. 3 shots in her leg and one by mouth for roto-virus. The doctor actually commented while giving her shots that she is feisty. Yup, that's my girl. She is pretty feisty. Don't get her mad, that's for sure.

The doctor says she's perfect though. Very alert and doing great. And one of the vaccines side effects is diarrhea so that in itself might solve our pooping problem. Unfortunately, so far we are dealing with a crabby baby tonight from all of these vaccines. I feel so bad for her. As long as all continues to go well though we won't be back at the doctor for 2 months.

CJ's physical

For the past month it has felt like I have been at the pediatricians office every week. Maybe that's because I pretty much have been. 3 physicals in a month plus an asthma action plan for Kaitlyn and I have spent a lot of time at the doctor's office. Probably preparing me for 2 months from now when I'm there for frequent well baby checks.

So anyways, today was CJ's turn at the doctor. The doctor gets such a kick out of him. He weighs 29 pounds and is 35 1/2 inches tall. He's still in the 10th %tile for weight, but that's staying pretty consistent. So since he's moving along the same growth curve the doctor is pleased. Huge relief there to see him finally doing so well with the weight gain.

The doctor asked him how old he was and he told her 40 which the doctor found hysterical. I told her since his birthday that is what he has been telling EVERYONE. She asked him what his name was and he told her Awesome. Yup, guess we're going to have to have his name legally changed. He knows his name, but he kind of has this attitude like well if you don't know it then I'm just not going to tell you. The doctor just kept getting such a kick out of him though. She seems pleased for the most part with his development. We do still need to work on his gross motor skills I'm sure, but that's really been improving. She doesn't seem too concerned. He got a shot which he took like a champ. Apparently there is some law in CT about all preschool and daycare children being required to get a flu vaccine. I always opt out and so far I have this year because I have heard nothing from his school that he must be vaccinated. I have to look into it, but it appears the law only applies to private preschools and daycares which CJ is not a part of. I guess I'll be double checking with his teacher though just to be sure.

I'm glad to have the physicals over. Hopefully we're good to go until next year. It would be nice to not have to see the doctor for these three anyways for the next year. The chances of that happening I know are slim, but it sure would be nice.

11 year old Well Check

Natalie finally had her 11 year old well check yesterday. Over 7 months after she turned 11, but what can you do? She's healthy. We do need to watch her weight and make sure she's making the right food choices. She has to get some blood work done. She got two shots yesterday and she's being a big baby about it, lol. Just kidding. There's something about shots I think they actually do hurt more the older you get. Or maybe one of them was put in the muscle. She did awful on her eye exam so we definitely need to have her eyes checked and get new glasses for her. I am holding off on making that appointment though because things are just crazy around here this time of year. The doctor talked to Natalie again about what to expect as her body changes. She has it down pretty good I think. She did not give any real indication of when she thinks she'll begin her first period, but she seems to think she's beginning late. I was 13 when I got mine, so I'll happily wait 2 years for that to start :). There really wasn't too much to say about her. Just stay active and eat right. No more french fries with her school lunch, lol. That's two physicals down though and one to go next week. I'm anticipating I will hear you need to fatten this one up, hahahaha. Actually, I think CJ is doing really well so I'm thinking we'll have a good all around visit for him. Assuming we don't end up at the doctor's office sooner for him because he's got a terrible cough and thick yucky snot coming out of his nose. No fever and his temperament is still good though so I'm figuring just a virus.

Asthma and Allergies

So last week when we had Kaitlyn's physical we weren't anticipating anything big with her. Just routine stuff. However, after doing a breathing survey which they asked me to do the doctor said I think she has asthma. So she starts going into this whirl wind of information for me completely unexpected and asking okay so steroid inhaler, or once daily non steroid pill. I must have had this deer caught in the headlights look on my face because the doctor says to me would you like to go home and research this and discuss it with your husband. Ummm, yes please.

So what she did in the meantime was order an albuterol treatment for her to try at night to see if it helped her coughing at night. Told us to get some blood work done so we could try to find her triggers and come back in a week. So we left with a plan to come back in a week.

Well, the week is up. I used my time wisely and researched everything. Even had gotten the results of her blood test which showed she's allergic to dust, mold, and several different kinds of trees all of which are very common around here. Okay, allergies, good I can handle that because that's what I assumed was her problem all along. So I decided we'll start by trying the Singulair once daily non steroid pill as our course of treatment for Kaitlyn. I mean after all it's an allergy medicine that's supposed to help with all of these allergies Kaitlyn apparently has so it will be the perfect choice for her. Joe was in agreement. I am prepared though that if this does not help her that we might have to go to the steroid, but I want to at least give this a try.

So we went back today to discuss the plan with the doctor. She asked how she was coughing at night and I told her it's getting much better. She even has told me that she's sleeping better. Good to hear. She listened to her breathing and she does hear a slight wheeze. So looks like it's definitely asthma. Now it also turns out that she's not just kind of allergic to dust, but she's very allergic to dust. Can't totally eliminate dust of course, but she told me what we need to do to help her especially with sleeping at night. First of all her bedding (including her pillow if we can) must be washed every week or two in hot hot water. We should get mattress and pillow covers to repel the dust. And her stuffed animals will either need to be stuck in the freezer or washed in hot hot water frequently. Especially the ones she sleeps with. Okay, I can deal with that. We're actually pretty fortunate I think to not have carpeting here so I don't have to worry about dealing with dust in the carpet.

Now, our asthma plan. We will use the Singulair once a day at night before bed. The Albuterol treatment will now be used whenever she's going to be doing any strenuous physical activity. So the doctor has written a prescription for a 2nd pump and spacer to be used at school. We will mark her coughing on the calendar to see if she has improvement and this is helping. We will go back in a month to say how everything is going and figure out if the Singulair is working for her or we need to go to the steroid inhaler. I have all sorts of paperwork for the school so they can administer all of this to her. She will have to do it 30 minutes before gym or recess while at school.

So the next few weeks will be interesting. This is a whole new journey for me. Just when I think I've got all the kids on the right track. Next month I will be spending lots of time at the doctor's office actually with two more physicals to go. Lots of doctor's appointments coming up. I will likely be going to my own doctor much more frequently very soon too so gotta keep all of these dates in line.

8 Year Well Child Visit

Only 7 months after Kaitlyn turned 8 I was able to get her in for her well child visit. I had to pick her up early from school today to go. I was anticipating the only issue we would really have to discuss about her were her possible broken fingers. That turned out to be much more minor though.

You see when I got there they asked me to do this breathing study for her. I figured okay no big deal not much could come of this. I gave it back to them and they looked it over and the doctor said I think she has asthma. Uhhh, what? Asthma? That wasn't what I was expecting. She coughs a lot at night, but I thought it was dry air or allergies or something because it has always been a dry cough. She does it often enough at night and occasionally during the day enough that it has them thinking a mild case of asthma.

So now I have to make a choice. Does she get an inhaled steroid to treat this or a chewable pill? Both have side effects. Both have side effects that are very rare. Sounds like the doctor thinks generally the steroids work better. It's such a small amount of actual steroid she would get too.

I have to take her for some lab work tomorrow to check out how everything else is working in her and find out if she has any allergies. And then next week we go back with my decision on steroids or not and we make our plan of action for her.

In the mean time the doctor wants to see if a nebulizer type treatment helps her to sleep better at night. Looks like even though I usually say no to the flu shot for my kids I will have to get one for Kaitlyn though.

If Kaitlyn's fingers aren't better in a few days (when we go back for her appointment next week) then the doctor will send us to a hand doctor. Her fingers look better to me though. And we have permission to buddy tape her fingers too so she's not completely immobile.

Other than all that she's doing well. She weighs 79 pounds and was 52 inches tall. She got her Hep A shot. Her ear test went well. I do need to take her to the eye doctor though. She'll probably need glasses. This was when Natalie got glasses. The doctor was happy to hear she's getting the help that she needs in school for her reading finally too. Also happy to hear how much she loves math :). She said she always likes to hear when girls like math. Future doctor maybe?

Now I'm off to research. Steroid inhaler or Singulair to treat asthma.

Broken? Hairline Fracture? Contusion? Who Knows?

While we all enjoyed our day of play yesterday it was not without some drama. There was a point in time where Kaitlyn was running, she dropped to the ground, and her fingers were stepped on. She was in a lot of pain initially, but I didn't think too much of it. While it swelled up pretty quickly she was able to move it. So we continued our day and she even continued to play and roll down the hill. I noticed though that she was holding her hand kind of funny and she was still in a lot of discomfort as the day wore on. She had a hard time eating dinner and holding her fork even. So I decided to take a closer look at it. It was still very swollen and bruised and she was still in a little of discomfort when it was touched or moved. So Joe ended up taking her to the ER last night. She was all excited to have xrays and had to call me when they were done. Sounds like the doctor didn't do too much hands on exam of her though. Just looked at the xray and said he didn't see a break, but there could be a hairline fracture and the radiologist would look at it in the morning and call if there's a problem. In the meantime they were going to splint it and if after a few days it wasn't any better come back for more xrays. So Joe had called me and told me this and I was thinking the two effected fingers would have a splint and tape on them. When she walked in the door her entire hand and half of her arm was wrapped up like this...
The official hospital paperwork says it's a contusion, but we should check with her doctor. She just happens to have her physical scheduled for tomorrow though so it kind of works out. We are to ice 4 times a day though and keep it elevated. We did take the splint off for a little while today and she says it feels a little better. It still looks very swollen to me, but Joe thinks it's better than it was last night. So we still aren't entirely sure if there's any break there. It's on her right hand and she's right handed so she'll get out of writing in school tomorrow I guess. And I'm hoping the doctor will have more answers for us tomorrow. She's being a trooper though. Refused pain meds at the hospital. She's a tough kid. Hoping for a quick recovery here.

Monica's Musings #3

It has been a while since you've heard my musings on life. So here you go. I hope you enjoy.

*The past 3 weeks of my life has been spent planning parties or celebrating birthdays. I always forget what kind of toll this takes on me. If I don't see another piece of cake for the next year I will definitely not mind. 3 batches of cupcakes and 3 cakes to bake and decorate is exhausting. I suppose I wouldn't have it any other way. Making memories for my kids that will last a life time.

*Yesterday I had to go to my doctor because of a bump that was painful and getting large on the top of my stomach. My doctor sent me to a surgeon. Surgeons sure like to make you wait too. I ended up having to see a different one than who my doctor referred me to and I didn't like him much. I'm sorry, but the lame jokes while you are cutting and draining the abscess on my stomach are really not needed. And no I did not find you funny or amusing in the least. Maybe if I had met you under different circumstances the little quips would have been fun, but this is serious stuff here.

*I am going to have to go back to the surgeon to have some more draining done. Until then I am packed with gauze and on pain meds and antibiotics. I'm scheduled again with the surgeon who was supposed to see me yesterday and am hoping he'll not skip out on me again because I don't think I can handle that other doctor again.

*Kaitlyn's first soccer game was canceled due to rain on Sunday. Rescheduled for today, but it has been raining off and on since Sunday. So wondering how muddy that field is going to be come this afternoon.

*Trying to juggle all of the kids activities sometimes can be exhausting to think about. But then you throw in there mom in pain and it's just plain terrifying. Just got a phone call from the doctor that they actually want me to come in to do a dressing change on me but the only times they have available are 3:15 and 4:15. Between Natalie having math league today and Kaitlyn having soccer I just can't figure out how to swing that. Going to try for the 3:15, but that would mean bring a 2 year old and 8 year old with me and if I'm there for over 2 hours like yesterday I'll never be able to pick Natalie up from Math League or get Kaitlyn to soccer. They are trying to squeeze me in during lunch time so I don't have to stress.

*I am not usually one to take pain meds. Didn't take too many after my c-section. For some reason right now though I am really grateful for my hydrocodone though. Now if only it could help me find a comfortable way to sleep at night so I don't end up with this neck and back pain when I wake up we'd be all good. I'm a sleep on my stomach kind of girl and that's not something I can currently do.

*I am surprised that it's almost 9 a.m. and CJ is still sleeping. Especially with all the noise the girls made this morning getting ready. Between their arguing and music playing I don't know how he could possibly still be asleep.

*I had recently talked to the principal about having an internet safety night sponsored by the PTA for the parents and children. Seems like an important topic but I don't feel just the parents need to hear it. Somehow I have lost complete control over this evening and everything I have envisioned it to be has gone out the window. It's seriously frustrating me that this has happened, but it's all booked as just a talk for the parents with childcare for those who need it and they want to do light refreshments instead of dinner. I wanted it to be for parents and children and offer dinner to try to reach as many people as possible. My opinion as a parent and the PTA president apparently mean nothing. Perhaps the FRC and principal would like to fund the entire thing themselves.

*Fundraisers have finally all been picked up. Not without their drama either. I really hate the excuses of I had no idea it was in. The information sheet that goes home with the fundraiser gives a date of when it would be in so people can plan accordingly. We purposely have it during parent/teacher conferences because parents are there in the school hopefully. We send out fliers before they were in and this last one was particularly frustrating because I probably called her a dozen times since there was a problem with her order. Something didn't come in and she now tried to order something else, but we can't get that price anymore because they took too long to get back to me.

So that's what has been going on in my head recently.

Paranoid Parent or is There Really Something Going On?

I hate not knowing when to call the doctor about things. I mean strep throat, ear infections, and bladder infections become pretty easy to diagnose after a while. At least in a child that can actually tell you what's hurting. It does get a little hairy before say 2 or 3 years old.

But what do you do when there's not constantly something going on? You've got a few things that make you go hmmm, but nothing that you're sure warrants a doctor's visit.

So this is what I'm facing with Kaitlyn. She doesn't tend to be a very sickly child. Not a whole lot of sick visits. Maybe once a year or so. This winter seems to have been particularly tough on her. The bladder infection and then a month later strep. A few stomach viruses thrown in there too. But it's the things that have been going on with her for a while. She gets stomach aches what seems like a lot. I don't know at least once a week she tells me she's been to the nurses office. It's all different times of the day. I used to think it was to get out of reading, but she's gone during math even which is her favorite subject. I've talked to the nurse about her visits. He doesn't seem to think they are a lot. I mean I suppose there are kids who are probably there more with nothing really going on but are just trying to get out of doing something. I guess Kaitlyn doesn't seem to be one of those kids. But gee, the nurse will see me in the halls occasionally and ask me how Kaitlyn is. I don't even know if he realizes I have another child in the school. And he's new this year too. He seems to really know Kaitlyn though. And then she gets these stomach pains with me too and at Grandma and Grandpas. Maybe it's just a nervous stomach. Nothing ever seems to really bother her. Not much complaining going on with her. Things seem to roll off her back pretty easily. But maybe she's internalizing everything.

This morning she said her stomach hurt before I sent her to school. I tend to blow it off as oh you just ate too fast, or you're hungry (if she hasn't eaten yet). But should I be concerned about these stomach pains? Could there be something more going on? Is it just a side effect from her antibiotic she's on right now? Well, that can't be it, because she hadn't even had her medicine when she complained of the stomach pain and then why would it happen so frequently. Gosh, what if it's worse? What if it's Cancer? Okay, now I'm just being silly, it can't be something like that. But wait, she just fell asleep sitting up on the couch today. It wasn't a particularly rough day for her or anything. It was a half day at school. We went out to lunch just the two of us. Came home and did homework. She went to bed at a decent time last night. Okay, Kaitlyn how are you sleeping? Are you sleeping good at night? No, I'm waking up. Well, why what's making you wake up? I don't know I'm just waking up. Hmmm, well what does that mean? Do I call the doctor? Is this and her stomach problems related? Am I just a paranoid mom? Do I call the doctor? What do I do? I just don't know. Will the doctor think I'm crazy? Can I even get into the doctor? They book up so quickly. She can't even explain what the pains feel like in her stomach. Wait, she's looking a little pale today. Joe, does she look a little pale to you? No? Huh, so I'm seeing things. Grrr, am I just a paranoid parent or is there really something to worry about...

Best Laid Plans

So a few days ago I posted about My Upcoming Week. I thought for sure there would be no time for a blog post. And yet here I am Monday morning writing a blog post. How could it be? Well, as they say best laid plans. CJ got very sick yesterday.




Doesn't he look awful? He couldn't keep anything down yesterday. Just laid on the couch much like that. If he wasn't sleeping or whimpering he was throwing up. Poor guy.

I am happy to report that he is MUCH better today. He's not really eating, but he's keeping his drinks down and what little he does eat. However, I decided that bringing him to the school to work the book fair for 4 hours just was not fair to him, to me, or to the children at the school. Plus, truth be told I am exhausted. I ended up with a lot of extra laundry from yesterday too. So I was sure that the book fair was well manned for the day and felt secure in staying home. Okay, well I did stop in this morning to give the cash box and change and a few instructions.

So today CJ and I are just hanging out at home. Well, that is until 1 when I have to pick his sisters up. It's actually a nice break from what I thought was going to be one super crazy week. I will still be going tonight though. Joe will be home from work to stay with the kids so I can go to the book fair and hand out the fundraiser. So as they say best laid plans...

Sometimes life throws you curve balls and we have to make the best of it so that's just what I'm doing. Can't say I am too upset about staying home. I'm glad that I have trustworthy parent helpers there to fill in for me though. That helps a lot with my guilt ;).

Hoping the Sickies are Winding Down

Well, a little over a month ago we made a trip to the doctor's office to confirm my mommy diagnosis of Kaitlyn having a bladder infection. Rapid test said no, but she had all of the symptoms so she was put on antibiotics. And a few days later after the lab results came back we got a confirmed diagnosis of bladder infection and a new antibiotic to tackle it. And she quickly got all better.

Now, here we are again. Kaitlyn needing another trip to the doctor to confirm another mommy diagnosis this time of strep. And yet again mommy was right. Hey, I'm 2 for 2 with Kaitlyn this year.

CJ on the other hand I keep jumping the gun with. CJ has had a couple of colds the past few months. He's got one now. While we were at the doctor today for Kaitlyn I thought I better have the doctor give him a once over. Just to help put mommy's worries at ease. I figured it was probably just a cold, but his boogers and snot has been kind of yellow/green. And very thick. Nothing else going on with him really. So I asked the doctor to look. She gave him the all clear. It's just a cold. Of course it could develop into something more. It's rare for a child his age to get strep, but with someone in the house with it it is possible. Hard to tell with a 2 year old though what hurts so that's why mommy has a harder time diagnosing.

So Kaitlyn is home from school for another day tomorrow. Hopefully Thursday she feels well enough to go back. I think she will. She wanted to go to school today, but I didn't like the looks of her throat. So she stayed home today. I am hoping this will be the last of the sickies in our house for a good long time too. We've had our fare share I think this year. It would be nice to not be on the monthly visiting of the doctor schedule.

Something I've been wondering

Okay, so it's been a week since I brought CJ to the doctor to have his iron levels rechecked. Back in November his hemoglobin was 10.9 which was a little low. Not alarmingly low, but still a little low. His lead levels were over 5 then too. I had done some research on lead and found out that high levels of lead can cause anemia, slow growth, and other delays which we have experienced with CJ. So I was getting worried and we ended up deciding to move. Now mind you according to the CT lead program they don't start getting concerned until it's at a 10. They wouldn't step in with our landlord based on our children's lead levels. I mean ideally there would be no lead, but this wasn't bad in their minds.

Here are my thoughts about the mark of 10 in lead in a child's blood. At one point in time they thought 30 was an acceptable number. Come to find out that's very dangerous. So perhaps lead in a child's system can start effecting people at much lower numbers than they are saying. And perhaps this can be proven by CJ's blood results.

Last week when we went to have his iron rechecked he did remarkably well. It was up higher than I think it has ever been. He was at 13.8. Then I had them test his lead. That is down to less than 3. Just a month and a half of living in a new environment and my son's lead levels are much lower, but his iron levels are much higher. Now let me be clear about something with his iron. We were not on an iron supplement for him. When he tested at 10.9 in November he was still drinking pediasure. The doctor took him off of that. A huge source of iron he was no longer getting. To top things off last week when he was tested he had been sick for almost a week and hadn't been eating well at all. I honestly didn't really change his diet. A little more whole wheat bread and some raisins, but there's no way that iron could possibly have been more than what was in his Pediasure. So how in 3 months did his iron go up so much given all of these things if there is no corralation between iron levels and lead levels?

So this leads me to think that even at levels that are considered low for lead in a child's system that they were in fact dangerously high for my son. I begin to wonder about other things too. Like Kaitlyn's difficulty in reading. Like my lost pregnancy last year. Could we have been all breathing in way too much lead in our old apartment for way too many years? Would things be different for us if we had never lived in that house?

But we can't live in what ifs and would a could a should a's. We are out of that environment. CJ is thriving. Not only is his hemoglobin up almost 3 points, but he also gained nearly 2 pounds. Can you imagine what all of these numbers would have been if he hadn't been under the weather and not really eating for so long? Now I just keep waiting and hoping that the reading will finally click with Kaitlyn. Wouldn't that be something with her? It sure will be interesting to find out in the future if they lower the lead in a child's blood from 10 to say 5 for action taken by the lead program. I'm glad we were in a position to move out of that environment, but I'm sure there are many other people who wouldn't be able to move. Sure would be nice for those people to have the backing of the government to help resolve the problem and make a landlord do the work that needs to be done, or to help a family financially fix the problem.