How the time flies! Monkey has now turned 6 as of 1:04am on January 29, 2009. He went into school with his macaroons to share for the class, but was convinced that he didn't turn 6 until Jan 30 for some reason. The only thing we can think of is that he knew his party was the following day and that there was some connection there.
On Friday, I dropped Kanga off at daycare and Monkey and I played some Wii. He got a second controller for his birthday, so now we can play together. Around 11:30 we went to the bank, and then to Wal-Mart to get some goodie bag stuff. By the time we left Wal-Mart, goodie bags, a new spring coat for Kanga, and some new indoor shoes for Monkey in tow, it was 12:20. The movie we were going to see started at 12:30 and we hadn't had lunch yet! We raced to the car, got to the theatre, got our tickets and grabbed some pizza from one of the stands. I got Monkey some root beer, and apparently there's artificial colour in there so he can't have Barq's anymore. Anyway, after searching the theatre for seats, we ended up in the front row, the very front row, but hadnt' missed the start. It was still in previews. Monkey picked Hotel for Dogs and it was okay. I wouldn't have picked it if there had been another option, but Monkey liked it.
After the movie we went to get Kanga, and get the goodie bags ready for his party. We rested for about an hour and then headed off to Fleetway for his glo-golf party! It went really well. Kanga was a backpack baby for the golf, and all the kids did really well. My group finished way ahead of the other group, so we played I-spy with the mural. That really worked to keep them occupied for about 15min! Then we had a potty break, I paid and the other group came out. Dinner was served and then cake. While cake was eaten, Monkey opened his presents because we were running out of time, but he got to finishe once the presents were opened. He loved his day and felt so special! Thank you everyone who came and celebrated with us!
Monkey has been having trouble socially at school from the beginning. Last February we considered taking him to team with his teacher, the principle, the learning support teacher, and the school psychologist to see what we could do to help him. This fall we started a communication book where he gets check marks if he's good, and x-es if he's bad. He only has to work toward two: listen, and play. He's been getting the listen check marks quite consistently, but the play are fairly spaced out.
Long story short, I've been thinkin of having him assessed for ADHD for a while. I've always sort of suspected that he may have ADHD as I see a lot of my own behaviours in him. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with him, or that he is going to have a hard time in school. His teacher has said that he is very bright and that she has no concerns at all with his academics. He just has to touch. He needs to learn how to control his impulses to touch his friends. He's starting to get a reputation at school, and this makes me so sad!
Last year he hated school, but so far this year he likes it. I think it makes a huge difference that he's getting to spend more time with me too though. Last year we were out the door by 6:45am and I didn't see him until 12:30 at which point I drove him home, took him to the washroom and walked him to school. Then it was 6:00pm or later before I saw him again. While it was a great part-time job, it took me away from my child. By 7:00pm we were getting ready for bed, and the poor kid never got to see me. This year, I can walk him to school, hang out with him after lunch, and just get to know my kid again!
The assessment did show that Monkey has ADHD, so we're going to be eating the Feingold Diet. Dr. Feingold designed the diet in the 1970s to help kids with Autism, Asburgers, ADD, ADHD, bedwetting, and a variety of other issues. Basically we go back to eating like we would have 100 years ago when these disorders were unheard of. Stage one is no artificial flavours, no artificial colours, no BHA/BHT/TBHQ (preservtives), artificial sweeteners, salicylates. Stage two is
Calcium Propionate (CP), Corn Syrup (CS), Sulfite (SF), Sodium Benzoate (SB), Monosodium Glutamate (MSG/HVP), Nitrites/Nitrates (N), and Natural Smoke Flavor (SM).
Now I just have to figure out how to implement the program and we're off to the races!
So after the last post I was put on a medicine that is a definite no-no for breastfeeding and babies. Read will cause developmental delays. Why was I on medicine again you may ask? Well, following the bladder infection, I got colstridium difficile colitis. The main symptom of this fun infection is diarrhea. Every half hour to an hour. No fun, and after two weeks of this I called my doctor. His booking secretary said that I didn't need to make an appointment and that I must have the flu even though I feel fine and the above is my only symptom. Right.
I insisted on an appointment which was snowed out. I booked one for a Dec 13. So It has now been nearly 3 weeks of this fun business, and I'm sent home with test kits to take into the lab. I diligently fill them, and take them to the lab to wait a phone call so I can be cured.
Friday, I get a call that I have colstridium difficile colitis (aka c. dif). My doctor calls and tells me that the public health unit has informed him that one of his patients aka me has a reportable communicable disease. C. dif has been going crazy of late and can be communicable if you don't wash your hands or the toilet well enough. As no one else in my family or friend circle got sick, I'm pretty sure I washed adequately!
Anyhow, I am put on this new med and my prescription is faxed in to the pharmacy I use. I call them a hour later and they haven't seen it. I call them two hours later and they haven't seen it. I then call my doctor's office to find out that they don't close at 5:00, but at 4:00 on Fridays. Great. I don't want to go through another weekend of this! I was so excited to get it out of my system! I listen to their message machine and try the on call Dr. that has been left. Thankfully they're open until 5:00 so I get them to fax my prescription in. It goes, I pick it up, and get to start the potion in the morning. Matt and I decided that so Kanga would get a good night's sleep before we start her on formula. Yeah, we get to try this again.
On that note, I told my doctor that she had reacted to every formula we had tried. He pretty much said good luck and that there wasn't an option.
So, next day...
I had 9oz of milk in the freezer to send to daycare with Kanga. I gradually got her to drink the formula and thankfully she didn't get any diarrhea. Really, what would we have done if she couldn't though! Over the 16 days (10 of meds, and 6 to clear my system) one of my friends nursed Kanga a few times to get her some antibodies yet and THANK YOU to her. Another friend tried, but Kanga just wouldn't go to her. She'll cuddle and hug her, but didn't want her milk. Don't feel bad though! Thank you so much again for offering it to her!
Meds over the holidays was okay, it just meant that I had to give Kanga a bottle and then pump to keep up my supply. This was further complicated by the fact that when I tried to rent an electric pump from Cheeky Monkey I was given a run around.
That story starts fair enough. I went into the Oxford store and they were going to bring a pump from the Wellington store for me on Monday morning. Monday morning I get a call that they're not allowed to do that due to pumps being assigned to specific stores. Fine, I can run to the other store, but when I get there I'm not allowed to take it because it is only allowed to be charged to a credit card which I don't carry, especially during holidays! I avoid spending if I can! I said I'd call in my number and pay debit for now. Not allowed. I felt quite hassled.
Long story short, I had to buy an electric so that I could pump faster and efficiently enough so I didn't get a blocked duct again. I did twice in the first week, but mum ultrasounded it and I haven't had it block since! Holy cow I am so thankful!
My c. dif cleared up though. Now I just have to watch my dairy. I have a bit of an irritable bowel yet, but I always did. It's just more sensitive than usual as it's rehabilitating!
If any of you have tried to get a breastfed baby to drink formula then you know how difficult it can be. Babies like what they are used to and don't much like change. I first gave Kanga some soy formula in her cereal about 3 weeks ago. A while later she was projectile vomiting! Having given her soy formula in a bottle for her to try some and get her used to it in case I didn't have enough milk ready for her daycare days, I thought the can had likely gone bad and felt awful to giving a spoiled formula to her!
Well, on Friday I officially found out that I have a bladder infection and am now taking medicine for it. The write up from the pharmacist said that it passes into breastmilk, so I called the pharmacist and asked what it could do, if it's safe for her, and such. He asked if my Dr. knew I'm nursing and I said yes (he's her Dr too). Then he said that most mom's give their babies formula when they're on this medicine, but that they also prescribe it to babies if they're sick. So what's the answer? Is it safe or not?
I decided I'd try to get Kanga to take formula while I'm on the medicine just in case (and hope that it was only for the 10 days and I didn't need an extra round!). I mixed some of the powdered soy formula I'd picked up (after all she hadn't reacted when I'd been testing formulas before!) and gave her a bit in her cereal so she could get a taste for it. That night (it was in her supper) we had vomiting again. She had a 3rd of an ounce in her cereal and of that ate 2 or 3 bites. She barely even got any of the soy and she reacted like that!
Okay, she can't have soy. I guess I'll try some milk based formula. I hadn't wanted to do this as Monkey had a raw dairy intolerance. I wanted to wait until she was about 2 before she had any dairy. As it turned out, I was right to wish so. Kanga drank a 3rd of an ounce last night and had diarrhea this morning. I hadn't put the two together so I mixed her cereal with the milk based formula to give her a taste for it. She ate about 3 bites again and has had diarrhea all day.
On top of this, Kanga has a horrible cold right now that she picked up from one of her teachers at daycare. When I saw her teacher last week while picking her up I was shocked that she hadn't been sent home. I now have the cold too and I called in to volunteering so not to pass it on! I feel bad enough that Monkey has been in the same room with Kanga and I for the last 4 days with the vaporizer going, coughing, sneezing and all! It's inevitable that he'll get it.
So now I know that my sick baby can't have formula. I can only hope that I can nurse her until she's old enough to sustain life without it! If I ever needed surgery or needed a medicine that she couldn't have through my milk then I hope, I hope, I hope that she'd be old enough that through her meals she'd be okay!
Well, Samhain (Hallowe'en) has come and gone for another year. We've paid tribute to our passed ancestors and celebrated the arrival of our new roots. Another year has come and gone. For some reason I didn't get all festive like I usually do this year. Don't get me wrong, I decorated my home, even got the foresight to put my pumpkin light lanterns on my icicle lights so all I have to do sometime this week is pop off the pumpkins and I'm ready for Yule! I carved the Jack-o-Lanterns, I put up the stickers, and happily hunted for costumes. I just didn't feel like giving out candy and dressing up. Maybe I'm getting jaded, but when I was a kid, you went trick-or-treating at friends, relatives, acquaintances, but not complete strangers (unless you wanted to meet the new neighbour) and I hardly knew any of the kids who appeared out of the wood work. I can count 5 of the 50. What's the fun in seeing a bunch of kids you don't know dressed up. It's way more fun to guess who's under the mask when you stand a chance.
On the other hand, Monkey aka Darth Vadar and Matt went trick-or-treating and met a nice blind lady who lives on the street behind us. She asked who was there, what the costumes were, and how many people. Then she told the two of them to reach in her candy bag and pick what they'd like. Monkey grabbed some for Matt, who felt a little bad for taking her candy, but how can you put it back at that point! She would never know who's at her door except those really close to her for whom she can recognize the voices. I'll have to remember her next year. Those 20 year olds were pretty funny too. "Last year we swear!" I don't really care, they had great costumes! The 12 year old with the mask and street clothes on the other hand, I'm pretty sure he just stole his little brother's mask! Which reminds me, poor Monkey forgot his mask at daycare so he was all dressed up with no mask to wear! At least he had the rest though. Hopefully the mask is intact on Monday. Samhain photos are on Wednesday and I'd hate to try and find a new mask after the date!
Kanga had a little skeleton costume. I have a pic of her but not one of Monkey. I'll get one up when we get his mask back! (It seems I haven't downloaded it yet. I'll have to post it later!)
