Monkey's Diary.

This is another purely journal post so I can remember this in years to come... feel free to read if you wish or go and eat some chocolate.

Monkey had two doctors appointments this week (that's just how it seems to work out for us lately) and they both agreed... He's not unhealthy but we need to work on his weight.  He has officially dropped below the bottom line on the weight chart (with his head and length still up the very top).  Dr Jenny (on Monday) was very surprised when she weighed him, she said she had been ready to say we didn't need to see her again.  Then she weighed him and got a little concerned that he wasn't as heavy as she thought he should be, then she charted it and got even more concerned that he had dropped off the bottom.  She was encouraging that he looks healthy, he's meeting all his milestones, he's very alert and loves interacting with others and is trying to learn new things.  She was so so so encouraging and very excited that he is sleeping so well now.  Have I told you how much we love Dr Jenny, she get so involved with her patients and not just the kids, she worries about how the kids problems might be affecting the whole family, she's so great!

Back to the topic... She was a little concerned though that usually babies pork up and then when they start crawling it uses up some of that store... Monkey has no store... and is starting to crawl.  We both agreed that although he's not officially crawling he is, and has always been, very active so that possibly accounts for much of his slender frame.  Her suggestion/prescription was to move his diet on a bit.  Because he seems to be handling foods that aren't usually recommended until they are 9 months old she wants us to start filling him up a bit more.  He was having one "meaty" meal a week and she wants me to dice up soft meat into 3 or 4 of his meal each week, cut out "empty" foods like the bready meals he was having and replace them with creamy carbs, introduce 2-300ml of a special formula each day.  I had to hunt down this formula, it's recommended for bubbas with constipation, so I scoured chemists, supermarkets and variety stores until I tracked down a tin.  It seems to be working, we are getting a good amount of formula (still not 2-300ml) into him and no constipation.  Since he's not a fan of drinking the formula (I can get about 100ml into him if I really really try) and we anticipated that, she recommended that I use it in his mashed potatoes, I make porridge with it (or mushy vita brits, etc) I use it in anything I make for him in place of water if it will work.  So, from his diet is changing...

Monkey's old diet...

Breakfast - snacking on crusts from Lion's toast, sitting on Mummy's lap and eating her cornflakes, maybe a little bit of Grandma's porridge if we are there at the right time.
Lunch - teeny tiny sandwiches, or fruit, or crackers, or whatever, he's not usually interested in anything big at lunch time.
Dinner - Chunky mashed veg, usually mixed with pureed pears to keep him regular.  Bits and pieces off our plates that he can handle.  One meal a week with a little bit of meat (I had tried a couple of tins and he didn't like them, only the stuff Mummy makes is deemed edible by Monkey).
Snacks - biscuits, rusks.


Monkey's new diet...

Breakfast - Porridge made up using 1/4 cup of formula, also still stealing bits and pieces where he can.
Lunch - Yoghurt and bits of our lunch.
Dinner - Veg with a little meat mixed through.  I prefer to modify whatever we are eating for him so I'm not zipping around the kitchen trying to be a short order cook.  We had pasta with bolognaise sauce last night so he just had some of the sauce with the mince squished up a little finer.  We had porcupines earlier in the week so I mushed up a piece of one with some of the tomato sauce for him.  He loved bits of diced chicken mixed through his mushed sweet potato.
Snacks - still biscuits and rusks, also a small bottle of formula if I think he's in a good enough mood to allow it (only 1/4 cup at a time).

I am trying to get an extra bottle of formula (1/4 cup) into him before bed each night as well.  Although tonight I made up a 1/2 cup bottle and he drank it all!!!

He's been far more accepting of new foods and textures all along than his brothers ever were (or still are, really).  I remember trying both of them on couscous and the hilarity that ensued as they tried to get these yicky yucky little balls out of their mouth.  I tried tossing some couscous into one of Monkeys meals ages ago and he was a little confused at first but wasn't really bothered by it and he finished it all.  Tonight I made tabouli and threw some of the burghul I had left over in with his sweet potato and he loved it.  Lion and Dragon were both finicky about meat.  It had to be indistinguishable as meat and it had to be chicken or lamb.  So, I started off Monkey with some tinned lamb and veg that I thought would go down okay... NO WAY.  He spat out every single mouthful.  I know they say that you should offer them a food up to 10 times before they might accept it but really, I wouldn't eat tinned lamb so I tried a second time when I wanted something easy one night but when he refused it again that was fine with me.  I went straight to mince and finely diced stuff and he hasn't refused any of it.

He went for his needles on Wednesday and Dr Michelle was in agreement with Dr Jenny that although he is obviously healthy and not having any problems in any other areas we need to keep an eye on his weight.  She pointed out that he is still roughly following the curve and his fluctualtion are within normal range he is just right down off the bottom.  She was happy for us to continue seeing Dr Jenny and would update Monkey's file as she got updates from Dr Jenny.

Poor little Monkey didn't like his needles.  Also, he was 2 days too late to get his last oral rota-virus vaccine because he was sick when he should have gone for his 2 month needles so they were late, then when he should then have gone for his 4 month needles he was sick again so those were later still and then this time when we came to the modified date for his 6 month needles (at 7.5 months) he was sick AGAIN.  They weren't worried because he's had the first two doses so he should be fine.  He was pretty fine for the rest of that day, he had a little bit of a fuss overnight but then the next day... things weren't good.  He was a little cranky pants.  He didn't like having his nappy changed because I think his legs were feeling stiff and sore, he wanted cuddles but didn't want to be held normally, he was just not right.  He had another REALLY rough night and woke up on Friday back to himself.  I'm not looking forward to having them all stuck for their swine flu jabs... Dragon, however, is VERY EXCITED to be getting that needle, he saw a BIG tub of lollipops that they are giving out with each jab.  I'm not so sure he'll be as excited when it actually happens.

Anyway, if you made it through, congratulations.  If you skipped to the end to see if I said anything interesting... sorry, just this.

G'night.

Monkey Medical Madness

What a week!  Thursday to Thursday we had 6 medical appointments... one was for me, the rest were for Monkey.  He was a trooper, he behaved himself (mostly) for all of his appointments and chatted to doctors, nurses, anyone that would listen.  So, here is the catch up post... mostly for my benefit, I can't remember many details from the other two going through this stuff but bits are coming back as we go through it all again.

Last Thursday we had Monkey and I at the GP for our needles, I got mine (and a whopper of a bruise), Monkey got a referral for a nasal swab to check for Whooping Cough.  Friday I took him for the swab.  I took my sweet friend Em with me so she could sit with the big boys in the waiting room while I went in with Spike.  WOW, I have never had or taken anyone for a nasal swab... it's like they are swabbing his brain it goes so far in!  He didn't particularly like it but he got over the repulsion of what had happened to him pretty quickly with some cuddles.

Monday he had a follow up appointment at the Paediatrician to check how his head shape was going and his reflux.  We were given the all-clear to take him off the reflux medicine since we had been weaning him off it with no ill effects and the locum paediatrician, Dr Matt didn't measure his head since the first measurements, taken at about 8 weeks, were inaccurate because he wouldn't cooperate.  He did say that from Dr Jenny's reports compared to what he was seeing things didn't look bad at all, although he couldn't measure improvement.  He offered to write a referral to the guy that does the helmets but I said I would talk to Wolf about it because I didn't think we really felt it was warranted because it is so slight and once he has hair no one will be able to tell at all... it's not like anyone except me notices now anyway.  He did, however, do all his measurements and found that he is between the 5th and 10th percentile for his weight and that worried him, although he's just below the 50th for his length and somewhere up 60-70th for his head.  I explained that all my boys have stayed low on the chart for their weight.  They turn a corner just before 6 months and then pick up even more when they start solids.  He seemed mostly satisfied with it being a genetic thing and wanted a follow up at 6 months to check.  He told me to do what I could to fatten him up but don't stress about it.

Thursday this week in the morning we trooped off to the physio for another check up for Monkey's muscle tone.  She was happy mostly but wants him now to practice putting weight on his whole arms, laying on his chest he needs to be able to bear his weight on his hands until his belly is getting off the ground.  He needs to keep practicing rolling to both sides and when he turns his head to the right he needs to be able to keep it there (he's doing really good, I think it was just his big brothers distracting him that he wouldn't do it for her).  I asked her about his head shape and she said that although he has almost completely lost the flat spot on the back there is about a 3mm difference between his left and right measurements and at 5mm they start to suggest a helmet so she wants us to at least get him looked at by the ortho specialist guy and make our decision after that.  Her reasoning was that she didn't want us, when he's 3 and it's too late, to be saying "we should have...".  I can understand that point and we now have to make an appointment with him... and a follow up physio appointment just before 6 months by which point she would like him to be supporting himself sitting up (or at least trying to because he is happy to flop back to the floor now), be holding himself up on his hands, rolling confidently back to front, front to back and both left and right.

Thursday afternoon we had an appointment with the GP because his swab came back clear so we needed to get those needles!  He said all was fine for the needles but was concerned about his weight.  He then said the 'S' word... "Supplement Feeding".  I'm not against formula, or supplement feeding, but I cant see how a dairy cow like me who never has a shortage of milk should NEED to supplement any feeds.  He is always allowed to eat until he's full, as often as he wants, there's no shortage, how can a supplemental feed help?  The doctor was worried, though, about our routine... it pretty much breaks down to 2 hourly, 24 hours a day.  I know it sounds horrible and yes, I do have chronic sleep deprivation but it's unlikely to change with one extra feed a day.  I am of the opinion that it is very much genetic, combined with him being a VERY active little guy, who is showing no other problems that can be attributed to low weight.  The nurse was lovely and made sure I wasn't stressed or panicky about it, I assured her I was fine.  Dr R gave us two little cartons of formula that should do us 4 nights to see how he takes to it and wanted to see us in a couple of weeks.  Then we went for our needles... or his needles.  He takes the oral medicine really well, but he's been taking his reflux medicine off a spoon for ages.  He did not like his needles.  When the nurse saw the bruise I got from my needles she was so worried that I would think she was too rough that she dashed out of the room before I could say anything and got another nurse to give Monkey his needles.  I assured her that I didn't think that and it's just the way I am.

Last night we tried him on the first bottle of formula, he did not like it.  We tried Wolf giving it to him first, then me, then Wolf again, he got the funniest look on his face like he felt betrayed that we were trying to poison him or something.  I assured him it was good to drink and would make him nice and chubby but sometimes assurance from mummy can't even make it work.  Tonight was the same deal, I tried, Wolf tried, he just wouldn't have a bar of it.  Okay, tomorrow night we try again, and the next night and if it's still not working for His Royal Highness then I we stick with my plan...  Cashews, Avocado, Fenugreek, lots more water and try to get a bit more rest...

So from this week of appointments we have one follow up with the GP, one with the Paed, one with the Physio and a whole new guy to go and see about Monkey's head.  Fun times, fun times.  I have also learnt that you should not go to the doctors or the hospital with a bruise on your arm that looks like it could be from a thumb where someone has grabbed your arm.  I lost count of how many times I was asked what it was from!  Monkey also got MANY comments on the size of his head "oh, he does have a large head, doesn't he".  I do produce little bobble-heads, sit them on the dashboard and watch them go!

Now it's off to put one part of my plan in place... rest.

Spot, spot, lovable spot...

He's soft and cuddly and he smiles a lot...

Okay, I may be exposed to far too much children's programming.

Dragon is lovable, soft, cuddly, smiley.

The spots are not.

They are, however, going away... maybe... for now.

The first wave of spots came last Tuesday and slowly turned into hideous bruises and are almost completely faded, the second wave came on Fridayand are currently doing the bruise thing, the third on Sunday/Monday and seem to be staying a lot smaller (or are just taking longer to fully develop into disgusting welts and swollen lumps and things).

We have an appointment with the GP tomorrow, I have to get another urine sample from him before then. The course of action for now is weekly GP appointments and monthly pediatrician appointments. It may be for just one month or it could keep going for 3 or 4 months.

Do I sound like I have no idea what is going on? All I know is that we are doing everything that we can and we will get onto it straight away if it gets to his kidneys or bowels. I am checking every poo for blood and keeping an eye on his urine, it's so much fun being me!

Sorry I didn't update after our appointment on Friday, I had in my head that I did but obviously my head wasn't up with the times. I was wondering why people were asking how he was going when it was all there for them:) Thank you so much for caring about my little boy you have never met.

So when does your brain come back after having children?

We went to a Christmas party on Sunday afternoon and when we got there I made sure everyone knew that although it looks like meningococcol it is not contagious but one friend wasn't there yet. She's a nurse. She arrived later and took one look at his legs, stopped in her tracks and asked "what's the rash on his legs?" I put her at ease quick smart.

We had a lovely afternoon. Dragon wouldn't get in the pool but Lion and I swam while it was still super hot and then when it cooled down we got out and had some afternoon tea and Mr Grinch Wolf stayed at home in the air conditioning by himself.

I didn't take any photos there and you don't want to see Dragon's little legs, they look like he was bitten up by a super nasty mozzie and then beaten up by a garden gnome that couldnt reach beyond his thighs.

Pink spots, purple spots, green spots, yellow spots, red spots....

Okay, okay there are no green or yellow spots... YET. But we have the rest of them covered.

Arent you all so lovely for your comments. I checked for comments this morning as we were about to head out to our path appointment hoping that there might be one encouraging word for me (because I felt like bursting into tears and throwing up and crashing in a heap all at once) and there were stacks of lovely comments. Thank you for praying.

For the few questions that were there... No, it doesnt itch. No, it's not scarlet fever (we had a case at Lion's kindy a few weeks back so I was a little concerned about that). They didnt tell me how to use the collection bag for his urine sample. He hated it so I tried putting him in the bath tub, giving him a HUGE drink and splashing him with water alternating warm then cool to try and get anything out of him straight into the cup. That didnt work. In the end he did wee while we were doing the blood test but the bag had come away so it had all of 2 drops in it. They showed me how to get it on properly the next time and we left the path lab with a fresh one in place, picked up Lion and we were able to drive straight back and give them the filled bag (sealed up in a container).

They wrapped him for the blood test and he had 3 of us holding him down "because he has quite a kick on him" as the pathologist said. Next time I'll take the legs, looking into his eyes was horrible. Telling him I know how it feels but not doing anything about it was horrible for both of us.

He is also getting some tests for what might cause his "drinking problem". It may just be an OCD type thing or it may be something more sinister but he DRINKS. We often have to take his drink off him at dinner because he will not eat and just keep asking for more to drink. He will drink 2L or more of water a day which is quite a bit and has been doing this for a while so we figured it's time to get this checked out.

Thank you again, I'll be sure to post teh results when we know them. Our next apointment is 10am tomorrow with the wonderful Dr J.

Spots before my eyes...

Put a spot over here........

And a spot over there......

And a spot on your ear.........

And a spot on your hair.........

And a lot of little spots in the air everywhere......

It's a spotty kind of.........

NOOOO, NO MORE SPOTS!


My Poor baby Dragon has spots. Lots of spots. Mostly on his legs. He has HENOCH-SCHONLEIN PURPURA. It's an immune reaction to a strep infection (And on doctors orders I have not googled it). My first thought was... This is from a sore throat????

Look at his knee, that is how skinny his little legs usually are, and that right ankle is huge. Yesterday morning he woke up with a pink rash on his legs, not too many spots, they could have been insect bites. Through the day they got bigger and darker and by late afternoon they were looking like mozzie bites, it was slow and steady that far... within 2 hours they had become uneven shapes (obviously not bites) and BRIGHT red. We ducked off to the after hours doctor. By the time was saw the nurse each one had a little welt around it. By the time we saw the doctor each one had a goose egg around it and his right ankle was really swollen. The doctor gave us a diagnosis after consulting with our paediatrician over the phone (well her paediatrician husband since she had gone to bed) and made us a 9am appointment to confirm the diagnosis. After the paed got off the phone he and his wife had a chat and got looking deeper at other options in case it wasnt what they first thought. It wasnt. The first diagnosis was the same as far as immune reaction to an infection but the rash was the sole reaction. The new diagnosis was the Henochblahblahblah thing which can cause arthritis, renal and gastrointestinal problems. "I'll take the first diagnosis please Larry". So we have to collect a urine sample from a kid that wears a nappy (she gave us a nifty little bag or two for that but I'm still not thinking it'll be easy) and tomorrow we have a paediatric pathologist appointment to get some blood out of him. Then we are back to the fabulous Dr J on friday.

He seems to be fine other than the rash which she felt was positive but she gave me her home number in case we notice blood in his nappy contents. Dr J was just wonderful and she asked if her husband could come in and check out the rash (since it's not real common) and told us that she had to pull rank and use the "but he's my patient" line when hubby wanted to see us this morning instead of her. They had a med student at the rooms too so she came and got a bit more of an education. And she bought her camera in specially for photos of Dragon.

He is not at all a chubby bubby and he usually has very definate ankles, these look more like pregnant woman ankles. So we are keeping an eye on him and praying that it all settles down (it can last for 10 days or for months).

Dr J also is so kind, knowing we aren't flushed with funds she has opted to charge full fee for this first visit then only the rebate amount for however many appointments we need after that since it could be quite a few. SHE IS THE MOST BRILLIANT DOCTOR AROUND!

Sorry it's a long post, I wanted to put in all the information for family. I could write more but I cant remember what I wanted to write now because it's really late so this all probably doesnt make sense.