Isolation

Last Sunday, after getting Tahnee up from a sleep, we noticed that she had a weird rash. It was splotchy and on her face, mainly near her eyes. We were a little concerned, as it didn't look like heat rash or eczema, but we decided to just keep an eye on her.

That night Tahnee was very unsettled, which is unusual for her. We gave her some panadol and offered some solids as she hadn't eaten that well during the day. Chris eventually got her to sleep. At 3am, we both woke up to Tahnee SCREAMING!! This scream was horrible, it sounded like she was in so much pain! We popped the dummy in, patted her back and she settled down. But within minutes she was screaming again. We picked her up and attempted to hold her, but she was still screaming and arching her back. So I decided to feed her as it often calms her down. This worked and she fell asleep.

However, after ten minutes we again heard her SCREAMING. We gave panadol tried to settle again. She has almost always settled for me when I hold her again me, lying on her side, but even this technique didn't work. So Chris hopped in the shower with her, as these too calm her down. We debated about taking her to the Emergency, and then which hospital we should take her too - the closest one which is 10mins away or PMH where her notes are, but 45mins away. Eventually she calmed down enough and went back to sleep.

As she appeared to be in so much pain, Chris and I wondered if maybe she had re-herniated. I accessed the Internet and asked a friend, whose baby had recently reherniated, what the symptoms were. She told me that her baby had a similar scream when it happened. This was concerning, but again we decided to just keep an eye on her, as another of the symptoms include going off food, which Tahnee hadn't done yet.

The next day when Tahnee woke up I noticed the rash was worse and that Tahnee was still very unsettled. As I was going to see my sister in law that day I decided to ask her. She took a look and said that as it hadn't spread to her armpits, that we shouldn't worry. She also tried to settle her using the same technique I'd tried the night before. thankfully this worked and she had a good sleep.

After Tahnee's afternoon sleep I checked the rash again and it had gotten worse, particularly around the eyes, and it had spread to her armpits. It was mid afternoon and I knew there was little chance I would get into my GP as he has a very long waiting list. I called Chris and together we decided to call the child health nurse and see what she said. Nurse Kate is very down to earth and has seen Tahnee often since her discharge from PMH. She told me it was hard to determine over the phone and could i pop down? I was there a few minutes later (its at the end of the road). She looked her over and said she thought it might be measles!!! I was immediately concerned and was planning to call the Dr's surgery as soon as I could.

As the time was getting later, I called the surgery from the car. I firstly asked if the Dr had any free appointments and was told no. I then asked if I could speak with him, only to be told that he was with patients and quite busy. Fair enough. The receptionist offered to take a message and asked my name. I told her and she put me on hold. No longer than 3 seconds later, my Dr himself answered the phone!! (this has happened before, so maybe the girls know my name and are told to put me through - either way I was thankful).

I spoke with the Dr and told him about the possible measles. He said not to be too concerned as it was just as likely something else. I then told him about the screaming and that I was worried about reherniation. He then told me to take her down straight away and he would squeeze me onto his list.

An hour later we had seen the Dr and got a diagnosis. Tahnee had/has a viral infection and a secondary ear infection, NOT the measles. Still not nice! Tahnee was given a script for medication for her ears and we were told to keep her as isolated as possible for the next few days as she is contagious, especially from other children and babies. We were also told to expect another rough night, and he was right!! Tahnee woke up screaming again and it took around an hour and a half to settle her down :(

Photos don't show the rash clearly - it was much redder than it appears

Today she seems a little better. She had her medication after breakfast, and then played in the bouncer. A while later I found her fast asleep in there, something she hasn't done for a number of months! The rash appears to be going away as well.

So we have had a rough few nights with our little missy. We don't know where she got the viral infection from, but we hope she doesn't get any sicker.

Dear Lucas

Dear Lucas
Today you turn the Big 2!! Time has gone so fast. I think as we get older that time moves faster! Two years ago you took your time making your grand entrance into the world. You were due the day before Dad's birthday, but ended up being born a week after. Finally, after 33.5 hours of contractions, after missing a wedding ceremony and reception, after2 nights, with 24 hours at home and almost 12 in the labour ward, after a shift change and after numerous pop-in visits from our obstetrician, we gave birth to you, our beautiful son via vacuum suction.

Now, 2 years later, you have grown up so much. You can walk, run, talk and yell. You still love to sleep and love your 2-3hour naps each day. You also talk heaps. You talk in the morning, you talk in the afternoon, you talk all evening, and you even talks in your sleep at times :) Your vocabulary has increased so much that we are unable to list the words you can say. You ask questions such as "who, what, where"... but haven’t yet hit the stage of constantly asking "why", which I'm sure when we blog about your next birthday that it will get a mention!

We often get complimented on your manners. You say "please" and "thank you", and are even beginning to say it without prompting. You have just started to say "huh"/hmm" when someone talks to you, but are quickly learning that you should be saying "pardon" instead.

You love to play with anything boy-ey ... cars, puzzles, colouring in, trains and more. He also enjoys watching ABC4Kids and currently your favourite show is "Peppa Pig", followed closely by "Play School", and "Chuggington" and "Thomas” coming in third.

You are obsessed with trains and love it when we see one at the train line crossing. And when the train goes you asked for more and gets upset when there isn’t any more.

You have very good eyesight and can spot a bus anywhere! We'll be driving along and all of a sudden I will hear you say "mummy, big bus".

You love to play outside. Unfortunately your latest thing is eating dog food!! Every time you go outside at home you will eat it! You are also beginning to explore outside and love it when mum and dad come out too.
You are getting better with your sister. At the moment you always want to put her dummy in, or try to feed her like mummy and daddy do!! I have found Tahnee a few times with food all over her, courtesy of you. You also love going into the room when she wakes up, giving her hugs and kisses and making her laugh.

You are starting to develop your imagination and you play with you cars and make noises and tell stories. You also love to receive attention and will often ask us and any visitors to "play" or read. You still love your books, but lately you haven’t gone to them as often.

Your favourite food at the moment is chicken, and it doesn’t matter what kind - drumsticks, nuggets, marinated, snitzel - you love them all. You also love apple sauce and always want a bite of Tahnee's baby food jar. You eat most foods that we eat (unless they contain milk) and are beginning to master the art of food feeding yourself messier foods such as sweet corn, soup, jelly etc.

You have many nicknames at the moment. Chook, dude, bub/bubby, buddy, darling, munchkin, just to name a few. And you respond to all of them. In fact, you once told mummy that Tahnee's name isn’t chookie, that YOU were chookie :)

You have the ability to both drive your mum and dad crazy, and yet also be sweet. You get very concerned when mummy is upset and will always go to her and say, "you right mummy? I make all better" and give hugs and kisses.

You are our firstborn, our first boy, and our guinea pig of sorts. We too are leaning how to be parents, what our boundaries are, what our expectations are, and how to deal with every situation that arises. Yes we can be strict on you, but we do everything out of love (including the smack, or time out). We love YOU and could not imagine our lives without you. love your smiles and laughs. You give the best hugs, kisses and cuddles. We are looking forward to this next year with you, chook.

Lots of love, hugs and kisses
Daddy and Mummy
xoxo

2

On the weekend before Lucas' actual birth day, we held a Thomas themed party for the Thomas mad, soon-to-be 2 year old. We made a Thomas cake, made Thomas invitations, bought Thomas plates, balloons and a banner, blew up ballons, made jelly cups, chocolate crackles and a platter, made playdough for the party bags, made up the party bags and made a special birthday shirt.

Allergy Re-Testing

Back in February last year, a few days before his first birthday, we took Lucas for allergy testing with a paediatric allergist in Leeming, WA. This paed allergist is very well known, and we know many people who have been there for various reasons. We took him for testing because, at 7 months of age, he had had an allergic reaction of hives, difficulty breathing and swelling to cow's milk. At the appointment, Lucas was tested for 26 of the main allergens. The results were that he had 3 allergies: cows milk, raw beef and tomatoes.

Now, a year later we went back for retesting. This time Lucas was only tested for the 3 previous allergens. The paed allergist was pleased to hear that Lucas is starting to tolerate more cheese in his diet, and can now have 6 or so slices when before it was just 1.

Again Lucas was tested via the skin prick method, whereby this allergist draws a grid on his arm, puts a small drop of each allergen (in liquid form) in a grid space. He then pricks the top layer of skin. During this retesting Lucas was not as good as he was the first time. The first time he didn't cry or squirm and was in fact quite fascinated with the whole process. However, this time he is a little older and wiser and cried each time he was pricked :( Thankfully a train stamp helped ease the pain.




Taken 2 minutes after testing. Top red dot was beef, next space was tomato
and third space was cows milk

We then went back into the waiting room to wait for 10 minutes. This gives the allergens time to react properly and gives a better overall picture of the allergies in general. Upon being called back into the office, the allergist drew around each hive that appeared and used sticky tape to record its size. Lucas had two hives appear, for beef and milk. These were then compared to his results from last time.

The beef hive was about the same, and that means that we need to be careful when eating meet. Everything needs to be cooked properly for Lucas, and apparently the place were most Australians eat undercooked meat is at a BBQ, so we need to be more vigilant at those places. Also, no rare or medium cooked steaks for Lucas either! (We learnt at an appointment at PMH that children with an allergy to cows milk have a 10% chance of having a beef allergy too).

The all important comparison of the cows milk hive was what we were most interested in. At the first allergy testing the hive appeared almost immediately. This time around, the hive took around 5minutes to appear and "grow" to the size. Upon comparison with last years' hive, this retest showed that the hive had actually gotten bigger, which translates into worse.

But, the allergist assumed us that this can be normal and not to worry. We developed an action plan whereby during the next year we will introduce cows milk into Lucas's diet. We will begin with it being in baked goods. I need to bake these myself and slowly introduce it. So for example, I may bake something that requires 1cup of milk. I would modify the recipe to include only half a cup of milk and make the rest up with water. We are then to give Lucas only a small bite. The next day we give a bite that is double the size, et cetera. We need to do this until he can tolerate 1 cup of milk in that product.

We were also instructed not to give straight milk products yet, such as yoghurt, cream or ice cream. We need to go for retesting in 1 years' time.

Next we inquired about Tahnee's chance of having allergies. Since she has a touch of excema (like Lucas did), and because both Chris and I have other atopic symptoms (dermatitis, hay fever) and because Lucas has an allergy, her chance is quite high. He then went on to suggest that we start her on solids at 4months, which we have already, and that now we should be introducing small amounts egg, dairy and nuts in the form of peanut butter into her diet. (please do not take this to mean that you should do this for your children. This should only be done on the advice of a qualified, medical practitioner!!).

All in all, an interesting appointment. We thought Lucas had gotten better, but the tests indicate otherwise. And we never would have thought to introduce Tahnee to the most common allergens now, for fear that she would have a reaction. But it makes sense, as we have also been told not to leave their introduction into her diet too late as it can cause an allergy. As I said earlier, please do not consider this post to be advice on what to do with your children. The action plan was developed for OUR children and their specific needs.

(post script: in the past I/We have received a few comments about how bad soy milk is, especially for boys, as it contains a female hormone etc etc. We asked the allergist about this {who had already told us last year to wean Lucas onto soy milk} and he said that what the media reports about the bad qualities of soy milk is all crap {his words!} and not based on science. He said that soy milk is perfectly fine for children to be weaned onto, especially with the presence of a cows milk allergy. So, if you have questions about the use of soy milk please direct them to a GP/Paed/Allergist or other similar medical practitioner}

Photography Challenge Day 2-7

 I know I said that I would post these photos to facebook - which I have - but I thought I would post them here too. Enjoy!

Day Two: Tuesday February 7th 2012
LHS: Lucas's reaction to mummy asking for a kiss
Top RHS: happy to kiss Tahnee
Bottom RHS: Tahnee's reaction to mummy asking for a kiss



Day Three: Wednesday 8th January 2012
My "boys" playing around with stickers!

Day Four: Thursday 9th February 2012
Tahnee loves all attention and happily gives everyone a smile, including Mum
who so often has a big black box in front of her face!

Day Five: Friday 10th February 2012
How to eat apple sauce
Top LHS: close eyes
Bottom LHS: bring spoon to mouth
Top RHS: put spoon in more
Bottom LHS: lick spoon to ensure all apple sauce is off
Centre: poke tongue to show Mum its all gone! :)

Day Six: Saturday 11th February 2012
Measuring cups and a wooden spoon have a different use

Day Seven: Sunday 12th February 2012
Tahnee is able to grab her dummy, turn it around and pop it in her mouth!!

Bird Watching

This afternoon Lucas was playing outside with Chris. At one point he looked up in one of the trees and saw a bird. He got REALLY excited and started yelling out that he could see "Angry Birds, Dad, Angry Birds!!" :) This boy loves playing Angry birds on the computer, our smart phones and on the ipad.

For the next few minutes Lucas and Chris wandered around the yard looking up in the tree for birdies. All I could hear was "Nope, no birdies" then "Look, angry birds!".

After their bird watching, Chris and Lucas headed off an a mini adventure walk to see what they could find. They immediately got distracted by one of the old sheds on the property. While in the shed Lucas wanted to give daddy a kiss. It was very sweet :)
 (This shed was fitted out with shelves and cupboards, but is pretty old and has no door, so we don't actually use it. One day we plan to knock it down).

Photography Challenge

Recently in the "online" world I have seen a few ideas that I wish to replicate (with my own twist so its not plagiarism!). I have a folder on my computer with pictures of various crafty things I would love to make ... one day. While these are part of my ambitions, I plan to start with more reasonable ones ... ones that will contribute to our way of live and maybe even change it for the better (at the very least it will change the way we view our lives).

Idea number 1: 90 Day Photography Journal

After browsing the web I stumbled across this photographers' facebook page and album where she is documenting her family over 90 days through photos.

I would love to take on this idea. It has a joint purpose - it gets me taking photos of the kids and us and also provides photos for miss T's photobook. But, I don't know if I will go to the extent of adding a message to each photo like the other photographer has.

I have a few ideas surrounding this idea - do I do 90 days of the kids, or 90 days of L and then 90 days of T (which would defeat the secondary purpose), or 90 days of all 4 of us, and do I lengthen the 90 days??

I will more than likely share the photography journal through my facebook page. If you aren't a friend and would like to be, then send me a friend request :) But here is the first one.

Now that I have published my idea, lets hope it keeps me accountable!!

Day One: Monday February 6th 2012
Top LHS: Lucas in Tahnee's cot, talking about the animals
on the wallpaper border
Bottom LHS: Tahnee being her usual smiley self
RHS: sibling love
Tahnee 5.5months & Lucas 23.5months