Family Archives - Page 110 of 113

Jul 11, 2007

Today, By The Numbers

6 – Hours spent at the Children’s Hospital emergency room

24 – Number of examining rooms, most filled with screaming children at some point

3 – Doctors that examined Mira

2 – Band-aids covering two punctures

1,000,000 – Germs that were probably floating through that place, making me keep a blanket over Mira while in the hallway

9 – Number of times I retold Mira’s list of symptoms to some medical professional walking into the room

5 – Number of times I told someone, “It’s a girl – don’t let the blue blanket fool you”

1 – Crazy volunteer woman who came in to keep me company, telling me why French men make great lovers and how unfair it is that the Mexicans aren’t forced to learn English when all the other immigrants were in the past

1 – IV port, urinary catheter, and lumbar puncture on Mira

The results? She has a cold.

It seems Mira has picked up the respiratory infection that Cordy is recovering from. I noticed yesterday that she was a little congested, so I took her to the doctor today when she seemed to have a low fever. Turns out she did have a fever, but since she is under two months old, the pediatrician insisted we go to the hospital for a sepsis workup to make sure everything was OK. It’s routine for any baby under two months.

I grudgingly agreed and took her to the hospital, where they put an IV port into her little hand to take blood and then give her fluids. After that, they inserted a catheter to get a urine sample. And finally they did a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to check for meningitis. I protested the lumbar puncture, and so they brought in another doctor to convince me it was necessary. I probably wouldn’t have been so worried had I not heard the attending doctor instructing the resident on how to do a lumbar puncture. Nothing like being the first, right?

Poor Mira did amazingly well through all of it. She fought the lumbar puncture with all the strength she had, and cried a lot for the other procedures. But once they were done, she drifted back to sleep. The doctors kept saying what a good baby she was – I told them that’s how I knew she was sick. If it’s daytime and she’s not crying, there’s clearly something wrong.

In the end, it was ruled a simple viral respiratory infection. Infant Tylenol, rest, and lots of breastmilk and she should be fine. I was pretty sure that’s what it was to begin with, but they insisted on all of these tests to make sure. And being a mom, I was worried about her and so I went along with all of it. Seeing your child choking and gagging from post-nasal drip is scary.

Now I just hope this tiny, angry baby will forgive us for putting her through all of that to diagnose a common cold. And I hope she’ll get well soon.

Filed Under: Mira · Tagged: sick child

Jul 9, 2007

She’s So Emo (and not even three yet)

By Christina ·

I always knew I had a weird child. Cordy has never gone with the flow, but the weekend confirmed that she’s an odd one.

First, on Saturday, she was playing near an old fan, and somehow managed to cut three of her fingers. Nothing too deep, but they did bleed a lot. Was she bothered by this? No. Did she try to finger paint with her new source of red paint? Yes. There was blood everywhere. The thing that upset her the most was when Aaron’s parents tried to clean off her fingers and take away her source of fun.

Later in the evening, I caught her trying to pick off the scabs to bring back the fun blood paint. Forget the fact that it clearly hurt. Sigh.

Then yesterday we went to Toys R Us. We needed to buy something for Mira, but agreed to let Cordy pick out a toy, too. She got cranky near the end of the shopping trip, but she did decide on a toy. You know how some parents say that their kid tires of a toy the second they buy it? As soon as our stroller passed through the electronic doors to the parking lot, Cordy freaked out and shoved the toy at me, no longer wanting it, and threw the World’s Greatest Tantrum. Threw herself down on the pavement, fought getting into the carseat, and threw the toy when we tried to give it back to her. She screamed the entire way home.

I can see throwing a tantrum over a toy you didn’t get, but having a fit over a toy you got? Come on! What kid is upset because she has the toy she wants?

If this is her as a toddler, I’m terrified of when she becomes a sullen teenager.

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I’m sorry I haven’t been as vocal at all of your blogs. Please know I’m still reading, even if I’m not commenting. I only get a tiny part of the day when my (non-napping) infant lets me put her down to have access to the keyboard. But I can reach the mouse and click through Bloglines while I feed her, which means I read more than I comment.

Also, be sure to check out my post at Family.com. Do you have mommy superpowers?

Filed Under: Cordy · Tagged: toddler battles

Jul 2, 2007

Sick Day Post

By Christina ·

It’s been a downright poop-tastic few days here. We’re trying the diapers many of you recommended, and I can tell you that none of them can hold up to a massive stomach bug. At first I thought it was the result of too much fun (read about our weekend at Cirque du Mommy), but with the addition of a high fever this afternoon, I’m thinking it’s more likely the result of being around other kids and her new found love of licking her hands.

So instead of one coherent post, you get a post of me rambling about a few little things. Like my sick child, and my hope that she doesn’t pass it on to Mira. I will say, though, that even when she’s sick, she’s still polite. As I handed her a sippy cup of Pedialyte while she was laying (lying?) on the couch, she looked up at me with half opened eyes and said, “Thank you, mommy.” Awwww…

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For those of you with little ones, FlipFlop Mamma turned me on to this contest. You can win a Moby wrap from SuperMomz. I’m a big fan of baby carriers right now, since I have the World’s Most Unhappy Baby who insists on never being put down. If you want to enter the contest as well, be sure to click here for details.

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Speaking of cranky babies – it seems The New Girl is having her own problems with her fussy baby, and is encouraging others to show off their babies in the height of a screaming session. We know all about fussy here. Sadly I have no advice because none of the tricks work regularly for us, so we must wait until she grows out of it. And it’s tough. Just last week we had a moment where everyone in the house was crying at the same time.

Getting a pic of Mira screaming is easier than getting a pic of her looking peaceful. Here’s just a few from today:

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Another contest to tell you about! Have you seen all the crazy prizes that 5 Minutes For Mom is giving away? Go there and enter before July 4 for a chance to win an ice cream maker, mommy business cards, a baby wrap, t-shirts, a fabulous vacation, and more!

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We have our BlogHer reservations in place, but I’m wondering: is anyone else staying at the Chicago City Centre? I wanted to stay at the W, but missed getting my reservation there by one stupid procrastinating day. I’m just curious if everyone will be at the W, or if there might be a few folks with us at the City Centre? Will we be cut off from the cool crowd?

Filed Under: Cordy, Mira · Tagged: sick child

Jun 29, 2007

My Toddler and Her Diapers

By Christina ·

Thank you all for your advice on my last post. I’ve got several new brands to try now, and hopefully one will work.

Some of you asked why Cordy is not potty trained yet, or why we aren’t actively trying to potty train her if she’s wetting through diapers. I can’t tell you how many times I get variations of those questions from friends, family, and complete strangers based on her age and her size. (Let’s forget for a moment that I have a newborn, making it nearly impossible to give her the attention she needs for potty training.)

I jokingly tell people she’s just stubborn, or that she likes having servants clean up after her. She’s a real go-getter who doesn’t have time to stop for a potty break. She hopes to be an astronaut and wear those astronaut diapers all the time.

But the real truth is she simply isn’t physically ready yet. Yes, she’ll be three years old in September, and everyone I talk to has a story of how their kids were potty trained by two. Even I was potty trained by two. However, most experts say you won’t have any luck with potty training if the kid isn’t physically ready. Meaning they have to be aware of the pressure in their bladder, understand this means they need to go, and then have the physical control over the nerves and muscles needed to hold and then release urine. They should ideally be able to stay dry for three hours, and sometimes overnight. Plus a child must also be able to undress and sit on the potty.

Cordy meets very few of those physical readiness signs. She is never dry for three hours, and has never been dry overnight. She doesn’t realize when she’s peeing or pooping, and having a full diaper doesn’t bother her. I don’t think she realizes when she needs to go, either. A pediatrician once told me that kids who are big for their age (and she’s certainly tall and big) sometimes take longer to reach these physical milestones, simply because they are so big.

It’s not that we haven’t tried to get her interested in the potty. She is interested – to a point. I received a DVD called Go Potty Go to review, and it is now a favorite of hers. She watches us use the bathroom and we explain to her what is happening. (In fact, after watching Go Potty Go she now likes to walk in on me in the bathroom and remind me “wipe your bottom” – like I’d forget.) She has a potty chair and she is comfortable with it, although she likes to pull it out of the bathroom and watch TV while sitting on it. Oh, and she won’t sit on it bare-bottomed, either.

So while she has some interest, the physical readiness is not there, and that has made any tries at potty training complete failures. A few times before her bath, I’ve stripped her naked while I ran the water, and she peed while walking around, completely unaware of what she was doing. I’m still keeping an eye on her for any signs that she’s ready, and once she reaches those physical signs I’ll be ready to try again.

For now, we’ll stick to the diapers and only having juice and mashed up cheerios in our carpets. I’m not worried about her potty training by a certain age. She won’t leave for college with a stash of Huggies, I promise.

Filed Under: Cordy, growing up ·

Jun 25, 2007

This Wasn’t Exactly What I Was Asking For

By Christina ·

When Cordy was a newborn, she was a royal pain. She cried all the time from colic and reflux. She slept poorly. She didn’t seem to like being held unless in the sling. She refused to breastfeed, forcing us to give up and go to formula exclusively.

As we got to know her personality, we realized that Cordy was an independent soul. She liked being left alone, and loved her bouncy seat as long as we kept the entertainment going (music, lights, vibration). She hated co-sleeping – in fact, the first night we put her in her crib, she slept most of the night without waking. It was the longest she had ever slept. Apparently we were bothering her sleep by being in bed with her.

I firmly believe she was such an unhappy baby because she was pissed that she couldn’t do what she wanted. As a newborn, she couldn’t control her head or limbs, and that pissed her off. When she learned to hold her head up, she was little happier. Then when she could sit up on her own, she was again a little more pleasant to be around. Once she learned to crawl, her disposition improved greatly, second only to when she learned to walk. As a toddler, a new child emerged, and she went about doing things her own way. It’s like infancy was one big frustration to her: she knew she had to get through it, but she didn’t have to show any appreciation for our efforts.

When I became pregnant with Mira, I remember wishing that I wouldn’t have another child like Cordy. I love Cordy very much, independence and all, but I hoped for a child who would be a little less rushed to get away from us; a little more calm about her current developmental state, and hopefully a little more willing to try breastfeeding.

Clearly you need to be more specific when asking the universe for these things.

Mira is perhaps the neediest baby I’ve ever come across. While she doesn’t have reflux, she does have colic, combined with a frantic desire to be held at any given moment. I don’t think I can fully describe the frustration of rocking, bouncing, dancing and nursing a baby for over an hour to get her to finally drift off into a deep sleep, then slowly, gently, carefully setting her down in her bouncy seat (vibration already on), only to have her eyes pop open and the screaming start as soon as you turn your back.

She’s certainly not independent. We have to trick her into the bouncy seat by putting her there asleep, then dealing with the angry baby when she figures out what we did. The swing is a total no-go. Cordy hated co-sleeping, but Mira will settle for nothing less. If she isn’t spending her nights pressed up against me in bed with a nipple in her mouth, she won’t sleep. Now that I think of it, she isn’t happy while awake unless there is a nipple in her mouth, either.

And forget bottles, pacifiers, or any other substitute for a warm breast. She’s totally a pro-breast girl, and is offended if we offer her anything else. It’s made it impossible for me to pump and store milk because she always wants to be on the boob. I have no idea what we’ll do on the first day I have to be away from her for more than 2 hours. Which is coming up soon – I have a summer class with a four hour lab starting this week.

So I’ve gone from an independent fussy baby to a dependent fussy baby. Woo-hoo. And yet, even though I’m so weary from constantly holding her, sleeping in one position all night for her, and going deaf from her screaming, I can’t fault her for simply wanting to be close to someone. I’m sure it’s hard when you’ve gone from a warm, dark, safe environment, surrounded entirely by mama, to a bright, harsh, unpredictable world where your immature digestive system is constantly producing painful gas as it tries to adjust.

As the weeks go on, I hope Mira will want to explore more of her world, and perhaps enjoy a little time on her own. (Oh please, oh please, oh please…) Until then, I’ll keep doing what I can to keep her happy, while also seeking out ways to find a little down time for myself as well. For example, we learned last night that the sound of running water helps to relax her, often to the point of sleep. It’s because of this new trick that I was able to get the 30 min. needed to blog today: