Sunday Snapshot

What a week!

Monday saw Monkey at the doctors to get antibiotics for ear infections but got the all clear for Lion's cough. 

learning to brush his gums from his big brother

Tuesday was playgroup and then in the afternoon I started to come down with something.

gotta rinse after you do all that tooth brushing

Wednesday I was well and truly sick with whatever I have and had lost my voice so the kids took control of the situation... HA!

they love bubbles!

Thursday Dragon, Monkey and I eagerly waited for our groceries to turn  up... with 5.5kg (just over 12lb) of pasta and rice.  Feeding these boys is expensive.  In the afternoon we went to get a few extra things at the shops and have afternoon tea with grannysaurus... until halfway through avo tea Monkey threw up all over me.  His antibiotics are not agreeing with him... I'm not particularly agreeing with them if they cause me to get covered in puke!  Poor little chooky.

we managed to get the mega pack of spag since we used online shopping, it's never on the shelf...

Friday we had a busy morning cleaning out one or two shelves in the pantry to try and better suit it to our growing family.  I hadn't really changed container sizes since it was just Wolf and I.  Now I am buying bigger packs of everything and it wasn't really working.  It was refreshing to clean it all out and throw out old stuff and find things that I should be using up and get it better suited to my cooking and my big boys.

We also tried to remember everything that we didn't get when our shopping trip was cut short the day before so we could pick it up in the afternoon. 

My spaghetti storage container had to change from the one on the right (holding enough for two meals... just) to the one on the left which will fit the whole giant pack of spag.

Saturday Lion had a friends birthday party at the bike park.  I took the two little ones as well and they all had a ball!  Saturday night the big boys and Wolf had a boys night with pizza and a movie and Monkey and I went to a friends house for a girly night.  Even though Monkey wouldn't go to sleep until WAY after he should have it was nice to sit around watching a couple of movies that Wolf wouldn't like, catching up and relaxing.

Sunday was our playgroups chance to take over the kids talk during church and let everyone know what we do each Tuesday and sing a little song.  It's always very cute with 2 & 3 year olds getting up and taking part.  We managed a bit of a nap and then this afternoon, half way through cooking up our sausage sizzle Grannysaurus rang so they came around for our sausage sizzle and stirred up the kids close to bed time... and Grannysaurus found....

A TOOTH

This sweet little boy has been working hard growing a nice shiny new tooth.  I'd love to say it hasn't troubled him but unfortunately he's been so out of sorts with everything else he's had that I have no idea if it's been upsetting him.  He's so sweet, tonight he didn't want to go to sleep so he was trying to distract me from that task and he grabbed my head in his hands and planted a couple of big juicy kisses on my cheek.  leaning back from me after each one to grin at me and wait for my approval... SWEET!

Hopefully this next week will let me get back into things.  Bible study starts again for the term on Wednesday.  I hope I'll get into the doctor early in the week to sort out whatever I have that isn't going away like I wanted it to.  I'm hoping to do some baking and freezing too to re-stock the freezer, weeks of sickness has really emptied it out and I am starting to panic each time I look in there for a last minute dinner option!

Sorry this is a bit of a bleh post.  That's been our week.  We all have those sometimes don't we?  Still, I am trying to get back into posting more regularly so that means you get the bleh weeks where I can't even think of anything humorous that has happened (although not a day goes by where it doesn't, thanks to these kids) and you get the weeks where we are crazy and wild every day.  Actually, even the bleh weeks are crazy and wild every day, just the wrong sort of crazy and wild.  Ahhh, kids... I wouldn't swap them for ANYTHING.

...except maybe a good nights sleep and a dinner time without whinging.

... nah, not really, you'd have to throw in some chocolate too.

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.

*space reserved for intelligent sounding title*

It's been a while.

Over a week, in fact.

Since I've blogged.

Now I do realise that you don't all sit by your computers waiting for me to upload the next post... but for some reason I feel like I must apologise, so I am sorry if you were sitting waiting for an update on my children's cuteness.

They were being cute... I just wasn't capable of stringing sentences together to get the point across.

So, here is a quick rundown on what's been happening around here.  Time to fill in the family, journal our current issues so I can look back and see what we have survived, share our craziness... hold on tight.

Lion has continued to go to school.  We have only had one day where he tried to get clingy.  I showed him the hands of the classroom clock and told him when the little hand is on the 3, I will be waiting outside for him.  That was all he needed and he was off to join his class.  He is having fun tracing-writing and is actually enjoying being forced to do art/craft and even painted me a picture yesterday (that we couldn't take home yet but I CAN'T WAIT).  He took Bruce (his shark puppet) for morning sharing yesterday and did the whole thing without talking.  Bruce talked of course, Lion didn't.  I bet that gave his teacher a great insight into the crazy mind of that kid.  We are looking to buy him a cheap two wheel scooter for the walk to and from school because he is totally worn out by the afternoon and I can get to the classroom in about 5 minutes and it takes 15 or so to walk back to Grannysaurus' house as he drags his feet, moans that he is "SOOOOOO worn out", runs to chase away a bird, whinges that his feet are tired, dances around chatting to a girls from our church that he sees most afternoons, tells me that i need to carry him because he can't take another step... yeah, I reckon he'll be fine on a scooter... if he learns to lift his head up and look where he is going instead of at the front wheel.

He is obviously having some troubles with school though, even if it's just over-tiredness.  He has been having CRAZY nightmares.  Climbing into our bed and so totally freaked out that he cannot be convinced to go back into his own bed.  Last night was the first night for AGES that he didn't have one.  When he was younger he had night terrors, I prayed so often that they would go away.  They were horrible for me, I would hear the sounds, the whimpers, the restlessness before I went to bed and I would know... 2am I would be woken by screaming.  Sure enough, 2am he would be screaming/crying/sobbing/chattering away in a totally freaked out manner/ whatever.  I would cuddle him, sing to him, pray in his ear, whisper that I love him, tell him he's okay and eventually he would stop.  Just like that.  Suddenly.  He'd look at me confused, tell me he's tired and go back to sleep.  He had no idea they happened.  I however would lay awake wondering if tonight would be a night with multiple terrors or if that was the only one this time.  Wondering what was causing them.  Wondering if something was happening that we didn't know about.  Over time we found some great techniques and eventually they got less and less and finally they stopped.  They were replaced with nightmares... that he does remember... that make him afraid to go back to sleep.  Now it's not just me that is missing sleep, it's my baby getting frightened by things that I can't stop, my baby is missing (sometimes hours of) sleep during the night because of these horrible dreams.  We are tired, worn out, OVER IT.  So this morning I woke up and realised that he had made it through the night... I didn't point it out, I don't want to make him think about nightmares if he isn't already.  If the topic comes up at bedtime (which I'm pretty certain it will) I'll let him know he did it and he can do it again. 

Dragon has been kept quite busy but is still finding time to push the limits.  It seems like it's only on the days when he knows that there is no negotiation and we HAVE to go here or there or that he CAN NOT go with Grannysaurus that he decides to throw a spanner in the works and dig in his heels to do whatever he can't do.  Every day that I am flexible, he decides to be flexible too... fun times.  He does however put some sunshine in some everyday activities like going to the toilet.  EVERY time after he does a wee he comes out of the toilet with his shorts still around his ankles and waddles around "I am walkin' like a penguin"... I love the way he says penguin.  Last week he had a meltdown at Playgroup that I have never seen the likes of before and I hope to never see again.  It was horrific.  You know how sometimes someone is obviously having a rubbish day with kids going crazy and you'd love to help but there is really nothing you can do other than be thankful it's not you with the child that is being a total embarrassment?  Yeah, well that was me with that kid last week.  His name was Dragon and he couldn't have the particular bike he thought he was entitled to and so he chucked a stink.  Then he couldn't' get himself out of it and I had nothing else I could do other than put him on one of the benches outside and assume that eventually he would get over it and join in playing again.  His friend J-Mac was sad because Dragon didn't play with him the whole time.  Dragon was too involved in his "little" meltdown to notice.  We had a BIG talk later about how to deal with those situations and discussed how he could have made better decisions and that night I was dumbfounded.  Lion had something he wanted... I saw his hand raised to strike... he started to swing... he dropped his hand in his lap... "Um, Lion, when you have finished, please may I have a turn?"  WHAT THE????  You mean some of this is actually getting through???  Oh boy did we make a big deal about that good decision.

Monkey... he had put on 400grams at his appointment on Monday.  That kept the doctor happy and he was happy for me to just go see Dr Jenny about his weight and not have multiple appointments over the same thing.  That afternoon he did a 399g poop... okay, I didn't actually weigh it but it was huge.  I had him in the bouncer and I was in the kitchen making my lunch.  He started sooking and I talked to him and called out to him and he got worse and was crying and I was just trying to finish my sandwich making and I sang to him and called to him and finished up and went in there.  The poor kid had a poo-explosion and it was oozing and he'd wiped the back of his hand in it and smeared it all over his clothes and his cheek and he was not happy.  Yet another fine parenting moment from Mummy McTavish.  So, sandwich in the fridge, baby in the bath... crisis fixed.  I think we may have weaned him off his medicine too soon because for the last month I have been getting somewhere between 2 and 3 hours sleep a night... and that is broken sleep.  So the night before last I whipped out the Infant Gaviscon.  I mixed it up, poured it into a bottle and prayed like crazy that this might just work.  He didn't take all 30ml but he got a lot into him (mostly from me squeezing the teat to shoot it into his mouth☺) and then when he went to sleep not long after he stayed asleep... for three hours... then he fed and went back to sleep FOR THREE MORE HOURS!  Last night wasn't so successful but it was better than things have been.  I tried some formula in a bottle again and he drank some of it, probably only about 30ml though.  Still, I'm not worried, he looks healthy, he's running the same track that his brothers did, he's on the charts - it's not like he's fallen off the bottom and he's been a lot more settled during the day.  We will be moving on to solids in the next few weeks though... how can my baby be old enough to have solids?????  His current measurements are Weight - 6.4kg (about 10th percentile), Length - 63.5cm (10th), Head circumference - 45cm (95th percentile)... my baby bobblehead.

Sleep deprivation has meant that there are no photos.  NONE.  I must change that.

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.

Poor little Monkey

I am supposed to be taking Monkey for a nasal swab this morning but he was tired and cranky because he isn't getting enough sleep because of his wog so I put him down for a nap thinking it'd be a half hour at most and he just keeps sleeping!

I'm not bothered though.  I haven't done my hair, dressed in presentable clothes, brushed my teeth, I probably should be doing that right now...

I threw some clothes at the kids but it hasn't gone very far.  One is still in his PJ's and the other stripped down to undies and that was as far as he got.

We might make it to the pathologist by lunch time.

I got my H1N1 vaccine and a Whooping cough and Tetanus booster yesterday.  They hurt.  My arms feel like I've been punched.  One had a lump when I woke up this morning like there was a $2 coin under my skin... very weird.  The second one hurt most and by the time I left the doctor my muscles hurt from my shoulder to my elbow.  By the time I got to mums it was past my shoulder blade, by the time I got home it was about 1/4 of my back and down to my wrist and the first side had joined in, by the time I went to bed it was all I could do to just let my arms hang by my sides, it made sleeping a bit tricky last night.  Thankfully Monkey didn't give me that many chances to notice that sleeping was tricky because he's spending large portions of the night awake coughing and snuffling (but he is very happy while he's doing it).  I woke up this morning sore but it's not enough to stop me doing anything.

I have a renewed compassion for my kids when they get needles.  Monkey couldn't get his yesterday because the doctor wanted to see if there was anything sinister behind his cough and snuffle.

I don't think this game of Guess Who is going to get very far... but Dragon had fun showing Monkey how to play.  That's what big brothers are for.

Monkey is getting a lot better dealing with his big brother Dragon.  I had hoped that Dragon would be the one to change and be more gentle and a bit quieter or something but Monkey has started letting Dragon know when enough is enough and isn't freaking out quite so much with the loud noises.

I've been doing the mummy lecture a lot lately about picking up Lego... in the last 12 hours both boys have really hurt themselves standing on Lego... they still haven't learnt their lesson.

I'd best go and get some kids into their clothes and get myself ready to face the world.

Catching up...

It's been a while since I posted... a lot has been happening... a lot hasn't been happening too. It's been like that a bit lately.

Lion hit his head on a concrete chair as he was fishing something out from under it for me. It came up in a big red spot straight away. I looked at it and gave it a kiss and said "that's a good knock you got there". He looked at me with a big pout and tears in his eyes "what's so good about it?". Poor kid, I had to explain then that I wasn't happy that he hit his head.

Lion has also taken to wearing two different shoes when he goes out. Both clogs but two different coloured ones. It started because he accidentally put on two different ones and didn't want to admit he'd done it accidentally when I picked it up. So after his initial shock when he looked down he said "yeah, I wanted it like that" and has insisted on wearing two different clogs for two days now.

We googled "farm machines" the other day and came across this blog entry with pictures of equipment in trouble. Lion saw this harvester in a pickle and starts singing "and another one's down, and another one's down, and another one bites the wheat". He's quick on the draw with things like that, I love it!

(we don't let the boys have softdrink and if we do we try to make sure it's watered down... Dragon thought this was such a special treat at Aunty Em's engagement party)

I've taken to bribing the boys with a square of chocolate for going to sleep straight away since we are going through a rough patch with that again. Today Dragon ate his square of chocolate and got it all smudgy on his right hand, I told him to go wash it off. As he was walking away I thought to add "don't use that hand to turn on the tap, use your other hand" he walks back to me and shows me his left hand questioning "this hand?" Um, yes, little Dragon. There aren't many other options really, are there?

We made rockets at playgroup this morning. They were playing with them later and were driving them around in a car... why do rockets need to go in a car?

(Wolf pulled Dragon's pants up to his armpits and Dragon decided to wave his hands in the air running around squealing "yiiiiiiiiiikes"... that's my family)

My baby Monkey is 12 weeks old now. The time has flown! A friend has a little one only two weeks old... Monkey looks like a giant compared to her. Where have those 12 weeks gone? Actually I can tell you where they have gone... 3 GP appointments, 4 Paediatrician appointments, 1 Chiropractor appointment, 1 Physio appointment, 2 blood tests, 1 urine test, and now lots of physio exercises. That's a lot for 12 short weeks, poor little bubby. Now those who have stayed reading even though I am so darn tired I never manage to comment on any of your blogs are probably going "Chiro, Physio, you haven't told us about that..." Well, that was something I was watching... I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want it to be real because I thought it was going to be a much bigger drama than it really is. His little noggin is misshapen. He is forever turning his head to look over his left shoulder. I was thinking it wasn't too bad until he started being happier sitting up and one day I looked down on his head and noticed quite a difference, his forehead was flatter on one side, the back of his head was flatter on one side, one side of his face was more rounded, all the little things together made me realised I wasn't imagining it, there really was a lot of difference... so I promptly burst into tears and blamed myself for everything and felt like the most horrible mummy on earth. The midwife at the baby clinics had suggested we try chiro for his reflux and said they could help with his head as well. She made it sound like he would just examine his head and recommend a course of action and would do some sort of massage for the reflux. He didn't, he adjusted my little baby. It freaked me out, especially when he started trying to manipulate the plates in his head and used the big punchy thing to "fix" his spine. I'm sorry if you are a chiro but I'm a bit freaked out by the whole thing, we wont be going back. I spoke the Dr J about it and she said that the connection between chiro and reflux is speculation mostly, no one is sure if it's the weeks of chiro that helps them or if it is when they would have naturally grown out of it anyway. She also said that it's his muscles that are causing the head thing so don't treat the symptom, treat the cause and got us in really quick to the paediatric physio at the main hospital here. So, it's not all that bad as far as "flattened head syndrome" goes and from the notes Dr J wrote for the physio and what the physio tested him at he had improved in the week and a half between the two appointments. We have some exercises that he doesn't seem all that fond of because he really doesn't like stretching his muscles but I am noticing he is getting less cranky each time we do them (unless he's tired of course!)

We took a road trip last Thursday with Cousin Wilbie.

Oh, and Aunty Kate and Aunty Rach. We went to Frosty Mango for the morning. 45 minutes north of here is the most brilliant ice cream shop. It's in the middle of nowhere but it's never empty. We had a lovely time together, Monkey enjoyed being spoilt by Aunty Kate and Aunty Rach (Aunty Kate has made it to 24 weeks with her little twins, please keep praying for those little babies that they will be kept safe as we wait patiently for them to arrive)

After we had our icecream we went outside for the kids to run around before the 45minute drive home.

Aunty Rach had some Monkey cuddles in the shade while the 3 boys ran around like crazy finding every patch of sensitive weed and making it close up.

I tried to get a photo of the three big ones together... it didn't work. I took nearly 30 photos. Not one good one in the lot... it wasn't even like two would be looking and one looking away, not even one looking and two looking away... they were all like this...

Three silly rat-bags pulling faces and acting the goose. Gotta love 'em.

Lion and Dragon are playing some family type game in the sandpit and are calling each other "darling" I love it when they do these games.

Precious Pearls

We've got 'em.

Precious pearls indeed!

He's had two doses so far.

I just about cried when I was finally holding this medicine in my hands. Then later, after we gave him his first dose and I was rocking him to sleep I did cry. Not for my baby, not for the relief of finally having what we needed, but I started thinking about all the mothers who know that there is medicine out there that can heal their baby but they just can't get it. For us this wasn't a life and death situation. Monkey would have eventually been fine without the Zoton. For other mums it is life and death, they know that there is medication that can save their baby's life but for whatever reason they can't get it, can't afford it, aren't allowed it. It's unfair but it's every day life for some mums. I hate that. If you don't do it already please think about sponsoring a child through an organisation like Compassion (this is the Australian Website but you can find links from here) or give to one of the many programs that ask you to give just $5 to vaccinate a child or provide that life saving medication. I have linked to Compassion Australia because that is who we sponsor a child in Bolivia through. It costs so little we don't even notice the money is gone but it's enough to give her access to vitamins, doctors, medicines, school, good food, clean water, things I just don't have to worry about for my kids but for her parents it's life changing and possibly life saving.

And I got excited over those little pearls of Zoton.

more stuff

I feel like I'm just updating medical details and stuff but this is the easiest way to keep family informed and I know many other people are praying for us too.

We survived the crankiness (it's still going but not as bad) and it seems some of his tummy cramps are getting solved with the timed feeds but his reflux symptoms are getting more pronounced with actual vomiting following the noises I've been hearing. I spoke to the Dr about it when we were back there today and she said to give the Zoton a go... easier said than done. It's being discontinued so pharmacies aren't restocking it. A replacement will be available IN NOVEMBER!!!! WHAT???? I'll have had a nervous breakdown by then! The guy was really helpful and actually rang 4 or 5 other chemists (not even the from the same chain) to try to find some for me and looked in to what else we could do and called me at home to let me know and is calling the manufacturer tomorrow and will let me know what's going on. How great was that??? He could so easily have told me "it's not available anymore" and left me to go home and cry myself to sleep but he is going out of his way to find a solution. I was soooo thankful to him!

We got the blood taken at the doctors today. she did a heel prick and squeezed out the blood into a vial. Not ideal but it got enough to do the main test she wanted. I had to hold him while she did it though, I just focused on trying to comfort him so that I wouldn't burst into tears. She offered for me to leave the room if I wanted (before she asked me to hold him when he wouldn't cooperate) but I knew I would cope better actually being there with him screaming than hearing him scream from another room. Grandma had the big boys so we didn't need to traumatise them (poor Dragon will probably never get over watching them try to get the blood on Wednesday) and we were able to take Monkey back there for Grandma cuddles to help him feel better.

So we wait and see if we can track down some medication (which would need a new prescription if we can't find any Zoton which means another trip to the doctors) and wait for the blood results to make sure his jaundice is "innocent" and not a sign of anything bigger. I just keep thinking that every day we wait to get this medicine is another day waiting for it to kick in... it takes up to a week to start having it's full effect after he's on it though with Lion we noticed more sleep in 3 days.

Needles are YUCKY.

Dragon's stash from the treasure hunt at J-Mac's birthday party on Saturday. He was pretty pleased with himself. Thankfully neither of the kids noticed that I pulled a heap of the lollies out of their collection and left them at the party!

Monkey did really well until we hit the 24 hour mark... things fell apart and he has had maybe 30 minutes accumulated sleep since 3pm... it's 8:30pm. I don't know what brought on the change. I expected last night to be horrible but I'm pretty sure people were praying for us because it was a breeze. We actually woke up feeling MORE rested that normal. Things then continued to go well until 3 this avo.

Other than his blood test they went well. That was HORRIBLE. It's not over either. The poor girl couldn't get any out and he was hysterical and she had to give up and now he's got to go to the paed tomorrow avo so she can try. I want to cry just thinking about putting him through that again! I'm wondering if he's getting nightmares about the whole thing. I can't figure out what's waking him up every time he drifts off but it's like he wakes up in a panic about something. Don't even get me started on taking the band-aid off... I didn't actually inflict the needle pain on him but taking the band-aid off... that was me doing that. We used baby oil on a cotton ball to get it off as gently as we could because I could see his skin was getting irritated by it but he screamed and it was mummy that was hurting him. This 'mummy' job sucks when you've gotta do things like that.

We did manage to collect a little bit of wee for his urine test and yes, we got the fresh stuff. But because I was so focused on grabbing the jar and catching some I couldn't stop it from spraying wherever it wanted and I had a big old mess to clean up afterwards but it's something I do at least once a day so I'll survive, at least we don't have to stick on a little bag to collect it... you know that I'd be freaking out about removing that stuck to his oh-so-sensitive bits!

So what are my thoughts after 24 hours... Spreading out the feeds and ensuring he's getting more of the fatty milk and not just the sugary milk seems to be helping his tummy cramps and stuff. Getting rid of some of the symptoms has made the refluxy symptoms more pronounced though and he's started to actually spew a little bit on top of it all. We will keep going for another 24 hours before I go get the Zoton prescription filled to see if the reflux symptoms want to abate a little as well.

Like Mum-me said in the comments from the last post her motto was "it wont always be like this" and that is how I've managed the last almost 5 years. ALL the boys have favoured a 2 hourly cycle - day and night. People ask how on earth I cope with it and why don't I make them cry it out (not an option with a reflux baby) or any number of other suggestions. My answer just became standardised... "I plan on living to be pretty old. A couple of years of crazy sleep now is going to end up being a very small part of my life." Sometimes I'd add that it also means I'm guaranteed cuddles every two hours and that's not to be sneezed at... I love baby cuddles!

Anyway, all the comments have been so wonderful and I'd love to respond to everyone properly but I am missing out on 30 minutes of sleep by writing this so I am sure no one will hold it against me that I go and get started on catching up on sleep instead of comments...

Lisa - you'll have to fight my sister's Little Bear. She says very definitely "MY Baby"... check out mums post and see if you want to compete with that!

Heather - Honestly I think second baby is the hardest! You'll do great though and Gia will thrive being a big girl and helping mummy. I saw it with Lion and I'm seeing it again with Dragon!

Julie B - Do you really think it would be a good idea to let the big kids go crazy together... Katie and Lion's imaginations joining forces would probably cause destruction on a level we can only dream of!

As it stands

We have a paediatrician who isn't convinced it's reflux.

We have a gruelling 24 hours ahead of us as we attempt to spread feeds further apart.

We have timed feeds to make sure he’s getting enough of the right sort of milk.

We have to REMEMBER to time feeds and keep them far enough apart even at 2am.

We have a VERY grumpy 3 week old who DOES NOT want his feeds spread further apart.

We may have thrush.

We have a midwife who says yes, we do.

We have a paediatrician who says no, probably not.

We have two big brothers who are pushing the limits... of everything.

We have two grownups who have hit the limit.

We have a 3 week old who needs a blood test tomorrow to make sure his jaundice is nothing to worry about.

We have to collect a urine sample from that same 3 week old and "fresh is best" which means catch it as it’s coming out... failing that we can collect in a littly baggy.

We have a mummy who has a sweat and body odour issue when she is pregnant and breastfeeding... and it’s getting rather warm here in the tropics!

We have a daddy who has to go back to work next week :(

We have two tiny fingers now COMPLETELY HEALED!

We have a prescription for Zoton even though the paediatrician isn’t convinced it's what we need. (she didn’t want us to have to come back if the other things she got us to try didn’t work and she trusts me as his parent and the parent of two other refluxy babies to know my stuff)

We have a paediatrician who is encouraging us to keep breast feeding where others would encourage switching to a specialised formula. (just in case you haven’t noticed I think Dr Jenny is WONDERFUL)

We have Wolf who has kept this house running for the last three weeks (and before that he was doing more than normal too). He’s my superhero who still thinks I’m a hottie even if I do stink a bit and fly off the handle at regular intervals!

We have had enough holidays owing to us that Wolf was able to have our holiday-holiday a few weeks ago and now 4 weeks off to help me.

We have two big boys who in spite of their limit pushing are putting up with a lot from their little brother and their tired parents.

We have wonderful friends at church who are providing us three meals a week for three weeks!

We have family in town which a lot of other people in the same boat don’t.

We have God.

We can do this.

Quick Update...

Sorry, there hasn't been much time for blogging lately so I thought I would give a quick update on that scan I was so freaked out about. Doc was brilliant, I think he saw me in the fastest time ever. There was only once person before me and she was going in as I arrived so by the time I filled out the "we haven't seen you in a while and need to double check all your info" forms he was finished with her and was calling me in. He did the usual checks about vitamins, morning sickness, stress, problems so far, all was fine so in for the scan... He figured out that I was pretty nervous and when I told him why he went straight for the heartbeat which was ticking away happily and then I could just enjoy seeing our little Peach Blossom for the first time.

Peach Blossom did the typical McTavish baby thing and WOULD NOT HOLD STILL! YAY! He waved at me too. I got a "photo" which I then took a photo of with my phone and messaged it to Wolf at work while I was getting a coffee to steel my nerves to get my blood tests done. It was easy to put them off when I saw Doc at his old rooms, but with the women's section of the hospital moving to a different campus he moved his rooms to be closer and now there is a path lab right next door. I don't do well with needles. I'll happily watch anyone else get jabbed, I kinda find it intriguing, just don't bring that needle near me.

Anyway, everything is fine, right on target for size and we have a C-section date for late August.

(Our babies are called "he" right from the start. I did it with the other two and will keep it up this time. I just think it's nicer than "it")

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.

Avoidance techniques...

I should be doing something else... I should be getting out my kit and checking that everything is in order for the new month of parties and deciding what goes and what stays in the kit for tomorrows party and making sure my tablecloth is clean and checking my stash of gifts and... and... and... but I'm not, I'm reading blogs and wasting time following link after link from website to website... On the up side I have done one thing today that I did need to do (other than go to my tupperware meeting) I made a doctors appointment to get my sinus' looked at. I am figureing I cant be taking over the counter sinus+painkiller tablets for much more and since I am not supposed to let infections get too settled so they dont go to my heart I had better do something about it. Trust mum to point that one out to me. Now I need to make a dentist appointment (but no point in that until I get this sinus sorted) and an eye appointment (gotta do that while I'm not pregnant or I waste my bulk-billed eye appointment on dodgy pregnant eyes) and I'll be all sorted out health wise. I have a packet of timtams calling my name... I am resisting, and purposely not putting them in the fridge so that I will think twice before chowing down on the whole packet. When I do open them I will be posting all about Timtams for the education of Emily from Lift Up Your Hearts. I just need to find a willing party to be photographed doing a Timtam-slam... Any takers????

Oh well, off to clean out the tupperware kit while the kids are still asleep...

Splitting Chins?

Lion was close to having to get a stitch or two in his chin for this one… leaving playgroup today I noticed a scratch on his arm and when I loaded him in the car I did the lick the finger and wipe it to see how bad it is thing and it wiped off. Not really sure where the blood came from I went searching and found the back of his pudgy little hand was covered with smeared blood. I asked him where he had hurt himself and he said “look at Lion unda neck mummy” and he had a cut on his chin. I took him home and started to clean him up before I got him out of the car because I thought if I needed to go to the Doc it would be easiest to not get either of them out. I then realised that it was more than I wanted to handle and I had better go to the Doc. I organized to pick up Wolf (I was not going to hold his head still if he needed to get stitched up!) and we went off to the Doc. In the mean time I tried to get out of Lion what he did and the best I could get was “look dere a ole unda Lion neck mummy, dere a ole” yes I assured him there was a hole there. He seemed pretty impressed. I managed to get out of him that he did it on bricks but when exactly and how and which bricks I don’t think I will ever know. I am sad that he can do something like that and not need a mummy cuddle. He said he cried but there were no tear streaks through the grime on his face so I don’t know if he actually did. I asked him why he didn’t tell me when he did it or why he didn’t tell fis friends mummies if he couldn’t find me and he didn’t seem to see why he should have. So the doc pretty much said that he wouldn’t bother even trying to stitch a 2 year olds chin unless it really needed it and got the nurse to recommend what sort of dressing would be best he also said that it was going to scar no matter what he did so we might as well use the minimum to avoid trauma. Now we have a big white dressing that we cant change for 5-7 days on his chin. It will be so disgusting by the time it comes off! The nurse gave me some antibacterial soap to try and keep it a bit clean since it is on his face. Lion was afraid of the treatment room and the nurse though. He has only been in that room and to the nurse to get his immunizations and daddy in all his wisdom had told Lion that he might have to get a needle for his chin so when I tried to put him on the bed he wouldn’t put his bottom down. We eventually figured out the problem and explained that the nurse was only going to put on a new special bandaid like the one mummy had put on and he had said that it tickled when I did that so it would be a nice thing.

CHICKS DIG SCARS!

Post Script - Eventually I found out from asking the other mummies that he hit a pole at full speed, fell over, got back up and kept going at full speed. No one mentioned it to me because they assumed since he barely blinked he hadn't hurt himself. I am at least a little relieved that he didnt do it doing any of the very dangerous things he told me were how he did it, still sad he didnt need my kisses to make it better. -MMcT