Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Ben is going to visit his crush...
Ben booked his ticket to Japan. He is leaving 9/2 and will be back 9/30. I'm going to ask my boss this afternoon if i can work from home for a month... wish me luck... :(
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Chincoteague Vacation
We did it. We had our very first successful FAMILY VACATION!
There's this myth running around that family vacations are inherently fun. Or am i the only one that was operating under that fiction?
After we had Esther we tried and tried every year, sometimes twice in one year to have a family vacation. Pretty much all of them, with the exception of a few moments, turned into stressful, bickering, aggravating pits of hell.
This year? It was FUN. What happened? well, i think it was a culmination of factors. I think the kids are old enough and independent enough finally to have fun and let us have fun too. I think that i have lowered my expectations tremendously and come to the conclusion that my personal moods have a great effect on the over-all mood of the family. If i want them to have fun and be easy going, i have to be. Seems simple enough, but my moods may as well be Andre the Giant for all i seem to be able to tackle them sometimes...
We rented the cutest little house:
We didn't do a lot while on vacation. We hung out in our adorable house during the heat of the day and took the kids to the ocean either early in the morning or late in the evening. We went to the play ground. Ben took Esther crabbing, i wish i had pictures of that. We played a round of mini golf, took walks, went to the toy store, and got Esther a pony ride... Ben and I didn't bicker at all and in fact have been making a point to be extremely sweet to each other. Asa spent the whole time recuperating from his sickness (see previous post) and Esther was just psyched to have a new house to explore (read: destroy), especially one that included a Bonk Bed (bunk bed).
There's this myth running around that family vacations are inherently fun. Or am i the only one that was operating under that fiction?
After we had Esther we tried and tried every year, sometimes twice in one year to have a family vacation. Pretty much all of them, with the exception of a few moments, turned into stressful, bickering, aggravating pits of hell.
This year? It was FUN. What happened? well, i think it was a culmination of factors. I think the kids are old enough and independent enough finally to have fun and let us have fun too. I think that i have lowered my expectations tremendously and come to the conclusion that my personal moods have a great effect on the over-all mood of the family. If i want them to have fun and be easy going, i have to be. Seems simple enough, but my moods may as well be Andre the Giant for all i seem to be able to tackle them sometimes...
We rented the cutest little house:
More on Asa, and other topics...
Did you know they use lasers instead of drills to remove cavities these days? The left side of my face is numb. I just had a cavity removed and filled for the first time in about 15 years... It was high time i guess.
Anyhow, back to Asa issues. Shortly after i wrote the previous post, i took him to urgent care. This was about two Thursdays ago. While he was getting better (fever gone, swelling starting to subside) it was very, very slow. And Thursday as i was trying to pack and cook and he just wanted to be held it occurred to me, "why the heck, not?" so i threw the kids in the car and drove to urgent care (with a brief pull off to the side of the road to call my sister-in-law, hi ceci!, just to make sure i wasn't being silly).
Urgent care was ok. They checked him over and agreed his ear infection was going away and that he didn't have a fever any more. They then, as a sort of after thought decided to do a throat swab to check for strep throat since the swelling in his neck was so severe. I'm glad they did. I almost said no to it too just to save Asa (and me) the pain (with my kids you have to pin them down before they let you do anything to them and it's so painful to watch). But i did let them. The initial swab that they do there in the office came up negative and they sent the other off to the lab. I took him home and we set off on our trip to the Chincoteague. A couple days later, while on vacation, i get a phone call from the urgent care office saying the lab came back and he did indeed have strep. One of those curious strains that does not cause a sore throat. The kind that causes high fevers and rashes and... oh, did you know that strep throat is the same as SCARLET FEVER? yeah. so fun times. They called a prescription in to the only pharmacy on the island and we got Asa started right away. Almost instantly he felt better. Now he's back to his hilarious self and i couldn't be happier.
We've been weaning off wheat the last week or so. I would still like to take him off wheat and see if it makes a difference in his allergies and gaining weight. So far it's pretty hard to tell if it's doing any good because he's just ravenous all around which could be due to his just not being sick anymore. But we're stuffing him full of food. He comes to me all day long and says "Mom, i finished my granola but i'm STILL HUNGRY" then he giggles and mumbles something about how he's the just like the very hungry caterpillar in that book by Eric Carle.
So here's to him feeling better. Here's to that mysterious maternal instinct (which i can be slow to listen to) that tells mother just when professional intervention is needed.
Anyhow, back to Asa issues. Shortly after i wrote the previous post, i took him to urgent care. This was about two Thursdays ago. While he was getting better (fever gone, swelling starting to subside) it was very, very slow. And Thursday as i was trying to pack and cook and he just wanted to be held it occurred to me, "why the heck, not?" so i threw the kids in the car and drove to urgent care (with a brief pull off to the side of the road to call my sister-in-law, hi ceci!, just to make sure i wasn't being silly).
Urgent care was ok. They checked him over and agreed his ear infection was going away and that he didn't have a fever any more. They then, as a sort of after thought decided to do a throat swab to check for strep throat since the swelling in his neck was so severe. I'm glad they did. I almost said no to it too just to save Asa (and me) the pain (with my kids you have to pin them down before they let you do anything to them and it's so painful to watch). But i did let them. The initial swab that they do there in the office came up negative and they sent the other off to the lab. I took him home and we set off on our trip to the Chincoteague. A couple days later, while on vacation, i get a phone call from the urgent care office saying the lab came back and he did indeed have strep. One of those curious strains that does not cause a sore throat. The kind that causes high fevers and rashes and... oh, did you know that strep throat is the same as SCARLET FEVER? yeah. so fun times. They called a prescription in to the only pharmacy on the island and we got Asa started right away. Almost instantly he felt better. Now he's back to his hilarious self and i couldn't be happier.
We've been weaning off wheat the last week or so. I would still like to take him off wheat and see if it makes a difference in his allergies and gaining weight. So far it's pretty hard to tell if it's doing any good because he's just ravenous all around which could be due to his just not being sick anymore. But we're stuffing him full of food. He comes to me all day long and says "Mom, i finished my granola but i'm STILL HUNGRY" then he giggles and mumbles something about how he's the just like the very hungry caterpillar in that book by Eric Carle.
So here's to him feeling better. Here's to that mysterious maternal instinct (which i can be slow to listen to) that tells mother just when professional intervention is needed.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
The Asa Puzzle
So, as you may already know, Asa has a nasty double ear infection. Based on my half-assed attempt to reconstruct the last 12 months in my crappy memory, i think this is either the 2nd or 3rd he's had in the past year. Which, it seems is within the normal limits of most kids his age. However, it does seem like he gets sick a lot. Both kids actually seem to get sick a lot. It all really started with Esther starting school which is completely normal, apparently.
Esther gets sick far less often now. And maybe it's just that Asa is going through a similar seasoning process considering the kinds of germs Esther is probably bringing home from school.
HOWEVER, all this aside. I'm considering it might be time to take Asa to see a naturopathic doc. If you recall, a while back (well over a year ago i think) our old pediatrician diagnosed Asa with Failure to Thrive. Which is just an awful term by the way. They should consider renaming it so it's not so freaking alarming. Though i guess in some cases (parents not feeding their children, children with horrific diseases, etc) it's ok to be alarmed.
Anyhow, Asa is small is basically what it means. He's almost 3.5 years old exactly. He weighs about 25lbs (i think he lost a lb or so being sick). i don't know how many inches he is tall... but he's in about the 2% i think.
So after that diagnosis we changed pediatricians. The new pediatrician recommended an endocrinologist in bmore. we went. i didn't like her either. and frankly, ben was kind of an angry, accusing dad in the first interview so i can see why she was the way she was, but still... i didn't like her and i didn't like ben around her either. Regardless, they did blood tests, urine tests, and a sweat test (for cystic fibrosis, totally scary) which was an awful, awful test in which they stabbed his arms, wrapped him in plastic and then made ben try to get him to run around all while crying. Seriously, the tortures they think up for these kids!! it's outrageous!!!
After the results of the tests (he was a little low in vitamin D, and he does not THANK GOD have cystic fibrosis) the endocrinologist told us to keep him on a high calorie diet (this was a year ago july i think). We've been pushing food ever since and i still make him and Esther drink Amazake shakes fairly frequently and i've been a bit more lax on my cow dairy nay-saying. I've also found that doctor sears makes pediasure-type substitute which are not nearly as scary (though still a little scary) and we buy those from time to time. He was supposed to go for a follow-up last july and due to something i can't remember we cancelled it. After that, i just never rescheduled. I don't have the heart to put him through tests that i firmly believe are not necessary and that he is small because of GENETICS!!! i mean really, i am 31 years old. I'm 5 " tall (which puts me in like the 2%) and i weigh anywhere between 90 and 98 lbs (depending on whether or not i'm doing trapeze regularly or completely stressed out and not eating due to my children's health issues) which isn't even on the chart for adults. SOOOO according to my genetics he's right on the mark. Add ben's into the mix and if it were just a matter of my percentile, plus his percentile then divide by two, Asa would be in the like 10th percentile or something like that. WE ARE NOT BIG PEOPLE!! which would mean he's still not too far of the mark.
ok. so enough with the rant.
His latest ear infection has me thinking. is he sick more often than he should be? is his smallness really due to something else? could the state of his teeth be a symptom as well? could his being prone to seasonal allergies and inexplicable rashes also be a symptom?
Call me crazy, but i guess it could be a subtle wheat/gluten intolerance. i mean people go their whole lives without knowing that they're sensitive to a food substance...
so i got the name of a naturopath in hampden (thanks terri!!!) and i'm thinking that i will at the very least spring for the initial visit and a) see if i like her (i've hated all of our healthcare practioners ever since we switched insurances. i want to go back to Dr. Schlenoff in hereford!) b) see if she thinks his symptoms could be connected or are unreasonable or suspicious for a kid his age...
i think i will continue to write-off the endocrinologist as long as i can get away with it. and i just may go on the hunt for a new pediatrician... again... ugh... though i guess anyone with an MD is likely a firm believer in western medicine and not likely to work well with a naturopathic/holistic approach... :(
it may be time to move to a new country...
Esther gets sick far less often now. And maybe it's just that Asa is going through a similar seasoning process considering the kinds of germs Esther is probably bringing home from school.
HOWEVER, all this aside. I'm considering it might be time to take Asa to see a naturopathic doc. If you recall, a while back (well over a year ago i think) our old pediatrician diagnosed Asa with Failure to Thrive. Which is just an awful term by the way. They should consider renaming it so it's not so freaking alarming. Though i guess in some cases (parents not feeding their children, children with horrific diseases, etc) it's ok to be alarmed.
Anyhow, Asa is small is basically what it means. He's almost 3.5 years old exactly. He weighs about 25lbs (i think he lost a lb or so being sick). i don't know how many inches he is tall... but he's in about the 2% i think.
So after that diagnosis we changed pediatricians. The new pediatrician recommended an endocrinologist in bmore. we went. i didn't like her either. and frankly, ben was kind of an angry, accusing dad in the first interview so i can see why she was the way she was, but still... i didn't like her and i didn't like ben around her either. Regardless, they did blood tests, urine tests, and a sweat test (for cystic fibrosis, totally scary) which was an awful, awful test in which they stabbed his arms, wrapped him in plastic and then made ben try to get him to run around all while crying. Seriously, the tortures they think up for these kids!! it's outrageous!!!
After the results of the tests (he was a little low in vitamin D, and he does not THANK GOD have cystic fibrosis) the endocrinologist told us to keep him on a high calorie diet (this was a year ago july i think). We've been pushing food ever since and i still make him and Esther drink Amazake shakes fairly frequently and i've been a bit more lax on my cow dairy nay-saying. I've also found that doctor sears makes pediasure-type substitute which are not nearly as scary (though still a little scary) and we buy those from time to time. He was supposed to go for a follow-up last july and due to something i can't remember we cancelled it. After that, i just never rescheduled. I don't have the heart to put him through tests that i firmly believe are not necessary and that he is small because of GENETICS!!! i mean really, i am 31 years old. I'm 5 " tall (which puts me in like the 2%) and i weigh anywhere between 90 and 98 lbs (depending on whether or not i'm doing trapeze regularly or completely stressed out and not eating due to my children's health issues) which isn't even on the chart for adults. SOOOO according to my genetics he's right on the mark. Add ben's into the mix and if it were just a matter of my percentile, plus his percentile then divide by two, Asa would be in the like 10th percentile or something like that. WE ARE NOT BIG PEOPLE!! which would mean he's still not too far of the mark.
ok. so enough with the rant.
His latest ear infection has me thinking. is he sick more often than he should be? is his smallness really due to something else? could the state of his teeth be a symptom as well? could his being prone to seasonal allergies and inexplicable rashes also be a symptom?
Call me crazy, but i guess it could be a subtle wheat/gluten intolerance. i mean people go their whole lives without knowing that they're sensitive to a food substance...
so i got the name of a naturopath in hampden (thanks terri!!!) and i'm thinking that i will at the very least spring for the initial visit and a) see if i like her (i've hated all of our healthcare practioners ever since we switched insurances. i want to go back to Dr. Schlenoff in hereford!) b) see if she thinks his symptoms could be connected or are unreasonable or suspicious for a kid his age...
i think i will continue to write-off the endocrinologist as long as i can get away with it. and i just may go on the hunt for a new pediatrician... again... ugh... though i guess anyone with an MD is likely a firm believer in western medicine and not likely to work well with a naturopathic/holistic approach... :(
it may be time to move to a new country...
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