Avoided Dehydration

As I've mentioned before, when Ian gets a runny nose he throws up ALL day long. The vomiting started on Tuesday night and was out of control on Wednesday and Thursday. It was so bad on Thursday that I left messages with his OT (Karen), GI NP (Beth), and Pediatrician. He had already lost more than 1/2 a pound, and on Thursday he went almost 5 hours without wetting his diaper. The Pediatrician suggested spraying his nose with saline and then aspirating his nose 5 minutes before feeding him. They also suggested giving him 1 tsp of Pedialyte every 5 minutes until he resumed wetting his diaper. He still threw up some from the Pedialyte, but he did keep down more of that than he had of what I normally give him. Beth didn't agree with aspirating his nose because she said if that causes him to cry (which it does) that would create more mucus.

I discussed with Karen and Beth how to give him is Prevacid because that was also causing him to vomit, which meant it wasn't actually going down his throat. Karen suggested giving it to him when he first woke up (before he had anything in his belly). Beth suggested immediately squirting some juice in his mouth after the Prevacid to wash it down in the hopes that then he wouldn't gag. We tried that this morning, and it worked! We used Pedialtye this morning, but once that bottle is opened you're supposed to toss it after 48 hours so tomorrow we'll use juice instead. He does like the Grape flavored Pedialyte, which surprised me because Nadia won't drink Pedialyte.

From Monday through Thursday I couldn't get Ian to eat more than 1-2 bites a day of solid food. Considering how well he did on Saturday and Sunday, I was very frustrated, actually to the point of tears. I have been trying to feed Ian by spoon for almost 10 months, and some days it feels like we haven't made any progress in that time. The truth is that we have made some progress in that for the first few months ALL baby food made him gag and now there are quite a few that he can tolerate if we succeed in actually getting the spoon in his mouth. Also, he is now putting some foods in his mouth (albeit to lick them), which is a big change, and he recently made the switch from bottles to sippy cups. The good news is that with my mom's help we've been able to feed him 2 containers of baby food over the past 2 days. I have to say though that sometimes it still feels like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I know in my head that some day he'll be eating, but it feels like it's never going to happen. We have to work so hard to distract him to get him to eat a little bit of baby food.

Friday he didn't throw up as much as he had the previous two days, which was a big relief. This morning didn't start out well. Hopefully the rest of the day will go better - for Ian's sake, my mom's carpet's sake, etc. I am grateful that even though we're away from our home, we still have access to a washing machine. I'm hoping that his weight doesn't drop any farther as it takes so long to get the weight back on him. If he does, he'll probably weigh the same at his 15 month doctor appt that he did on his 12 month appt.

In talking with Beth we got the results of Ian's bloodwork. She said she was really surprised. She thought based on what we had been feeding him plus how many times a day he poops plus how pale his skin is that he would be anemic, etc. His hemoglobin was excellent as was his albumin, Vitamin D, etc. She was expecting him to show up as being malnourished, but she said she was wrong. The only level that was "off" was the one that indicates that he has some allergies (to what we don't know). I'm going to mention this to his Pediatrician in a couple of weeks and see if we can get him tested by an allergist, and I'm hoping that doesn't mean we have to make another trip to Philadelphia. We are planning to go on April 19 for him to see the urologist and then have the upper GI x-ray (which they said takes from 2-6 hours to complete so I'm going to leave Nadia at home with Paul's parents that day).

Green Eggs and Ham

In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, I made green eggs and ham for lunch. I even served Nadia green milk. The food coloring was definitely a hit with Nadia. Nadia will be wearing her full costume this evening at the party at the library. She's excited!

Ian's nose started running again yesterday. I hope that clears up ASAP because he hadn't thrrown up at all Saturday-Monday, and now he's throwing up a lot again. Gymnastics wasn't very fun for Ian or I today because he threw up BIG time in the car on the way there. I thought he was done so I stopped at a gas station to clean him up, and I took off his coat in the process. It turns out he wasn't done. At the gym I took off his clothes and washed them. The poor guy had to wear wet, smelly clothes during her lesson. It wasn't fun holding him that whole time given how awful he smelled. I guess I should keep a spare outfit in the car when he has a runny nose.

Last night Paul and I watched "Waiting for Superman."  Last semester some of my students missed a night of class because they were watching that movie for another class.  I am curious now which professor gave them that assignment. I'm not a huge fan of documentaries, but I will say I was crying at the end as the kids were waiting for the lotteries to be held to see if they got into the various charter schools. I believe that at the K-12 level tenure should be abolished. I never had tenure until 2008, and I never worried about losing my job. My heart breaks for those parents who don't have any option but to send their kids to a failing school.

Ringing Noses

Two funny quotes from Miss Nadia today:
#1 As we left the Post Office this morning on the way to Bible study I said "Spring is coming!" to which Nadia said, "Where? Where?" LOL!

#2 As we were headed to dinner Nadia said "my nose is ringing." I wasn't sure what she meant until she added, "and I need a tissue." Ah, her nose was running. LOL!

45 Goals Check-Up #1

On February 24, 2010 I posted a list of forty-five goals I hoped to accomplish by April 21, 2017.

So far I accomplished seven of the goals: #1 cruise, #16 tried two recipes for pulled pork so far, #18 wills, #33 nursing, #36 hybrid, #43 applesauce, and #45 teaching Sunday School.

I also made progress toward nine of the goals: #3 I've gotten back to what I weighed in 2007, #4 made cookies (many times) with Nadia, #5 made a gingerbread house with Nadia, #10 took the kids to the Philadelphia Zoo, #31 I've begun the process of editing the blog, #32 I'm caught up with the kids' albums, #38 we went to the beach last May, #40 we've been on eight dates thus far, and #41 I've tried thirty-two new recipes thus far. We only went on a couple of dates in 2009. I'd love to go on one a month. We're headed in the right direction! Most years I would say I've tried fewer than 5 new recipes in a year so this was a BIG change to have tried 32 in the past year. Of course some we wish I hadn't made, but some I've made more than once already because we loved them.

The next three I'd like to accomplish would be #28 roast beef, #29 Paul's favorite cookies, and #13 a routine for cleaning the house.

Big Improvements

I am so proud of Ian that he has totally switched to sippy cups. He's using the Mighty Grip Trainer Cup by Munchkin. That kind plus the Nuby ones were the ones that worked for Nadia when she was transitioning to a sippy cup at 12 months. Once she mastered those then I switched her to a harder spout because these leak rather easily if they are turned upside down. He also ate 1.5 containers of baby food today by spoon! We are back to where he was in early January. Now I am anxious to hear from Karen on Tuesday how we can get him to eat thicker foods and more solid foods by spoon or finger. She's going to be amazed at how far he's come in just one week!

The photo above was taken at Target this morning. All Targets held a Dr. Seuss event this morning from 9-11am. I didn't have Nadia wear the full costume because we were also shopping in BonTon, but she had fun wearing the hat. She did really well sitting and listening to the stories they were reading. Ian's attention span wasn't as long as hers so we left when he got fussy. I'm hoping tomorrow that Nadia will tell her teacher the first 5 books of the New Testament. We've been working on that this week! Here's a 6 second video, but unfortunately I stopped it a bit too soon as you can't hear her finish saying the word "Acts."

We went to CVS today to fill Ian's prescription. I realize there are far more expensive drugs out there. I remember how costly the shots were for ivf for example, but still I wasn't expecting to pay $94.04 for 30 tablets of the generic form of Prevacid. Ouch! Paul told me to sell more stuff on eBay, lol. He has to stay on this stuff for at least 3 months, but before I need to refill it I'm going to see if it's possible to get it more inexpensively at another pharmacy. I have no idea how to give it to Ian as he's supposed to have 1/2 a tablet twice a day 1/2-1 hour before a meal. If they didn't specify before a meal then I'd crush half of it into his sippy cup. I am going to call the GI office on Monday and ask them how I'm supposed to get this into his body given he doesn't chew food.

Thanks for the tip on just using a little Pediasure, Regina. I mixed whole milk + oatmeal (with bananas and apples) + Pediasure for all of his sippy cups today, and he didn't throw up at all. Paul was really nervous. He didn't want me to ever give Ian any more Pediasure considering how much Ian threw up 3-4 hours after having some yesterday.

GI appt #1

The kids and I left the house at 8:45 this morning and got home at 5:55 this evening. We spent almost 6 hours in the car, 2 hours in the doctor's office, and the rest was spent at a gas station, Wendy's, and McDonald's. The hardest part of the day was the time in the exam room (about 75 minutes). I didn't think it would take that long so Nadia ran out of things to keep herself busy. It didn't help that this was from 12:45-2:00pm and she usually goes down for her nap at 1:00pm. For about 60 minutes I was asked questions about Ian from his time in the NICU until the present regarding his bowel movements, feeding, vomiting, etc. It was really hard to keep both kids happy in the exam room while answering questions. Last night I almost called Paul's mom to see if she could go with me as one of the routes Mapquest suggested went pretty close to their house at one point in the journey. I figured I could pick her up en route. Paul advised against it because that route involved being on backroads almost the whole way and going through mountains, and there was a chance of us getting a "wintery mix" today. Having another person along would have been SO helpful, and we didn't know that actually the temps would be in the 40's today, but we survived, thanks in part to the dvd player. Paul moved it so it was in between their seats. Ian didn't watch as much as Nadia, but he did watch some, which was a blessing. He slept 45 minutes of the trip this morning, and he slept 60 minutes on the way back home. Nadia slept 45 minutes on the way back home. Ian cried off an on for the last hour of our trip this morning, but he only cried for a few minutes on the way home. Nadia enjoyed the playland at McD's for the first time. In the past she's been intimidated by how high you have to climb to get to the top of the slide. The signs always say for ages 3 and up so it makes sense that she wasn't ready to do these in the past.

The NP was really nice and very thorough. She didn't find anything abnormal during her exam. She was impressed by how Ian didn't cry until the very end when she put her finger up his butt. She was trying to get a specimen. Since she was unable to do so, I have to take some specimens over the next 3 days and then mail it to her. It's an easy assignment since he's still using a diaper (as would almost every 14 month old!). She wants him to have an upper GI x-ray (small bowel to cecum). She particularly wants to know where his ligament of treitz is located. We'll have to make another long journey for that (to King of Prussia). Right now I am not a fan of PSU's student insurance. If we lived in Philadelphia it would be great insurance, but otherwise we have to travel more than 100 miles one way to get to a specialist that is in their network. The bloodwork he had done today included CBC, CMP, GGT, Vitamin D 25-OH, Zinc, TSH, and T4 Free. This was rather traumatizing for Nadia to watch. I was holding Ian in my lap while they were drawing his blood (they had to use both of his arms). She was rather hysterical by the time they were done with his second arm. She was screaming "MOMMY" and was obviously very scared. I couldn't hold her until they were done with Ian. I will take an Rx for Prevacid to CVS tomorrow. I am praying it's not expensive as we'll be paying for all prescription drugs ourselves until Paul gets a job. He's supposed to take 1/2 a tablet by mouth 2 times a day, and she said he needs to be on it at least 12 weeks as it takes that long for the esophagus to heal.

I was pleased with his weight (22lbs) as that meant he gained 2 lbs since January 7. They were concerned about his diet. I felt like they weren't taking into account that I put fruit, vegetables, cereal, etc in all of his bottles. They said he should either be on toddler formula or pediasure (not whole milk or infant formula) until he starts eating more solid food by spoon. She gave us samples of Pediasure (several different flavors of it) and Nutren. I gave Ian some Pediasure at 5pm at Wendy's. Let me tell you that was a mistake. I am doubtful that I'll ever give him any more Pediasure as he threw up SO many times between 7-9pm. Two of the times he threw up while sleeping! The vomiting at 8pm was the worst episode we've had since the first week of January. It took Paul forever to clean up Ian's bedroom, bed, etc. Unfortunately we ran out of mattress pads and sheets. Thankfully we have many pjs as so far he's worn 3 different pairs this evening. It doesn't matter how many calories are in Pediasure if the stuff doesn't stay in his body. I think I'm going to ask the OT if we can start trying to feed Ian by spoon again as that should alleviate their concerns.

When we got home, Ian was sooo hyper. He was literally laughing his head off while crawling around the house. He was sooo happy not to be in his car seat any more! Paul was amazed at how hyper Ian was.

Today's the day

Yesterday I spent a LOT of time calling other GI offices, but the earliest they could see him was April or May.  I never got through to the main hospital clinic (all were CHOP offices) even after being on hold for about 30 minutes. At about 4:30pm  I got a call from the one I had made an appt with on Wednesday. She said someone had just cancelled their 12:30 appt for 2/25 with the NP. I took it even though I'd prefer a doctor since it meant he'd be seen a full month earlier. The only bad part is that Paul can't go with me. His advisor had been away for 6 days, and she came back yesterday. I expected Paul to return to school yesterday, but for some unknown reason he worked from home again yesterday. This means he really must go in today, especially since he's planning to come home early on Monday. I'd greatly appreciate prayers for wisdom for the NP and for as smooth a trip as possible as the kids and I will be in the car for at least 5.5 hours today. Today I had planned to take the kids to activities at two different libraries. That would have been a lot more fun, but this is a lot more important.

Ian has made BIG progress lately. Karen is going to be soooo pleased on Tuesday. Yesterday I put whole milk in a sippy cup instead of formula in a bottle for his first feeding (per her instructions). I expected a battle, but he drank it without any problems! She had said to let him have bottles the rest of the day, but since it went so well I packed the bottles up and he only used sippy cups yesterday. Two weeks ago he screamed and refused a sippy cup, but now it's no big deal. YAY! Yesterday he finished the cup of vanilla pudding he had started on Wednesday, and he also ate a little ice cream by spoon. He hadn't eaten anything by spoon since early January, so this was a big deal!

For the Grandmas who haven't seen her do this in person yet, here are two really short clips of Nadia doing a forward tuck roll by herself. I didn't get one of her best ones, but you can see that she can do it now by herself even on a flat surface!

32 Months Old!

1. I don't think I've mentioned it here before, but for a couple of months Nadia has really enjoyed building towers and such with either her Mega Bloks or Lego Duplo bricks. This really pleases Paul!

2. Lately she's been into calling me "Miss Mommy." Maybe that's because the adults in her life (SS teacher, gymnastics teacher, librarian, etc.) introduce themselves as Miss xyz. I'd personally rather her call adults by Mrs. and their last name rather than Miss and their first name, but that's not how things are done around here!

3. She's also been saying "sir" a lot - even to me although I have tried to explain to her that we say "ma'am" to women and "sir" to men. It cracks Paul up when she says "yes, sir" to him. It reminds me of how I got in trouble in Kindergarten in Alabama because I wasn't saying "yes, ma'am" and "no, ma'am" to my teacher (having recently moved from PA where it's not the norm to say that).

4. She's improved a lot in the last few weeks with her skills for gymanstics. She can now JUMP and do a forward tuck roll by herself (on a wedge mat).

5. Her attention span for listening to me read to her is rather long. One of her favorite books that she likes to have me read to her is a version of Cinderella that, with pictures, is almost 100 pages long. I think I'll be able to start reading chapter books to her in the not so distant future! I've been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss books to her lately in preparation for celebrating his birthday on March 2nd at our library. Paul is planning to attend that event as well since it's at 6pm.

6. She's still rather ambidextrous. She alternates between hands when holding a spoon while eating, using a crayon when coloring, etc.

7. She loves to dress up by wearing high heels, necklaces, bracelets, sunglasses, hats, etc.

8. Her favorite foods include: peach or vanilla yogurt, bananas, raisins, Honey Nut Cheerios, ice cream, fruit snacks, cookies, pizza, peach or blueberry oatmeal, crackers, chips, pretzels, and ham & cheese hot pockets.

9. She loves to play hide and seek. Her favorite place to hide is the coat closet, and she usually will tell you where she's going to hide before she hides. We act like we don't know where she is, lol.

10. She goes to bed at 8pm and gets up sometime between 6:30-7:15am. She doesn't get out of bed until I come in her room.

11. Her nap usually starts around 1pm and lasts 1.5-3.5 hours with 2 hours being the norm. It often takes her about 30 minutes to fall asleep so she's usually in her bed for at least 2 hours.

12. She could watch tv all day long if we let her. She watches two shows a day at the most. In the morning she usually watches an episode of Clifford, Curious George, Dora, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and in the evening she usually watches a VeggieTales dvd. Sometimes in the morning she watches a Hermie & Friends dvd or a 321 Penguins dvd instead of a tv show.

13. Her two favorite stuffed animals are Larry (cucumber) and Sweetpea (rhubarb).

14. She absolutely adores the pillow Paul got her in Poland in August. To temporarily take her pillow away from her is about the worst form of punishment possible in her opinion.

15. When talking to Ian, she always either calls him "buddy" or "baby." When telling me about him she always refers to him as "Ian."

16. She hasn't grasped the concept of sharing with her brother At All. This has caused a lot of frustration lately because he's now at the age where he wants to join in and play with her.

17. She loves to carry around multiple purses that are completely stuffed with random items (pretend food, little people, etc.).

18. She thinks every time she changes clothes she should put on clean underwear. I really don't think it's necessary to change one's underwear twice a day (morning and night). Sometimes I just let her do so as it seems like one of those "pick your battles" type of things.

19. She loves to listen to music, particularly VeggieTales cd's. Her favorite cd right now is the Sweetpea Beauty one. She can sing the lyrics to many different songs.

20. She has gotten a little better with drinking some water, but the vast majority of the time she only drinks skim milk.

21. She can count to 15, and she's getting much better at correctly counting sets of objects (especially those fewer than 10). At times she seems to have moved to the rational stage of counting (versus rote counting).

22. We have lots of tea parties these days!

23. She still loves to be outside - even in the snow!

24. She tells ne many, many times a day, "you're a good mommy." Awwww...

25. She tells me a few times each day. "you're sooo beautiful." Awwww....

26. Several times a day we go back and forth saying "I love you soooo much" and the other person keeps adding another "so." When I'm ready to stop I tell her "that's a LOT of love," and she smiles and gives me a hug.

27. She still gives reallly awesome bear hugs!

28. She doesn't like to try anything new to eat, unless it's a dessert.

29. She's very schedule oriented. I wonder where she got that from, lol!

30. She uses the term "yesterday" to refer to the past (even something that happened several days ago).

31. She's still obsessed with wanting to know who bought everything - every toy, every piece of food, etc.

32. Lately when she prays she thanks God for Abbey and Kohen ( two 4 year olds from church).

Rescheduling

We scheduled Ian's GI appointment in early January. The Pediatrician's office said that the GI clinic in Hershey said they took PSU student insurance. I should have checked it out myself. I am kicking myself for not having done so. I checked this morning online, and when it seemed like they didn't take our insurance I called our insurance to verify. Nope. The irony is that the hospital in Hershey is called the PSU Children's Hospital, and they don't take PSU insurance. Go figure. So we won't be going to Hershey tomorrow after all. Paul's student insurance is fine for primary care doctors (we don't have to switch), but it seems we have to travel to Philadelphia or Allentown to see a specialist (2-2.5 hours one way), and of course we don't have ANY Rx coverage right now. I made an appt in Exton (where we went for Ian's first CHOP urology appt) for March 25. The earliest they had available was March 16, but that was with a NP. I am going to call another CHOP doctor tomorrow to see if we can get a sooner appointment if we go somewhere other than Exton.

The happy news of the day would be that Ian very willingly ate some vanilla pudding by spoon today. That was very exciting! The OT yesterday had suggested we try puddings, ice cream, and yogurt.

Nadia enjoyed wearing this costume today. UPS delivered it today. I paid $1.00 for it (with free shipping). It's size 2-4T so we should get a lot of use out of it in the years to come by both Nadia and eventually Ian. I'm going to have Nadia wear it to Dr. Seuss's birthday party at the library next week. :-) Actually the $1 I spent on the order included some craft supplies as well so the costume actually cost less than $1. What a great bargain!

The snow returns

My university rarely closes because most of the undergrad students live on campus or within walking distance, but today they closed due to the snow. I am surprised how few schools take off for President's Day these days. I am very grateful for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and how they served our country. As a SAHM, snow days aren't as exciting as they were when I was a teacher, principal, or professor. We were supposed to be attending a make-up gymanstics class today, but it was snowed out. We woke up to 8 inches of snow. Paul says it's been at least 6 years since we got that much in one single snowfall. I thought he and Nadia were making a snowman (Ian and I stayed in most of the time as neither of us are keen on being out in the snow), but what I thought was the bottom part of the snowman was actually Bob (the tomato). I still give credit to my niece in Chicago for her snow Allosaurus that she made a few years ago. That was very creative and well done!

We're still having lots of tea parties in our dining room!