Anemia? Really?

We had the little guy's 12 month doctors appointment the day after he turned 13 months old.

Things went well until the needles came out.

Sadly he had to have a kazillion shots and blood work done. A long morning for my little trooper.

This week I got a form letter from the pediatrician saying my son has iron deficiency anemia. WHAT? My kid has a pretty solid diet and I didn't quite understand how he could be anemic. He doesn't act or look anemic. Hmmmm.

I called the doctor's office and asked to speak with someone about the test results. I wanted to understand the severity of the problem. A nurse looked into it for me and called back.

Turns out the "normal" range is 3.95 to 4.96. The little guy's results were 3.94. I was told that if he had eaten banana or drank orange juice that day, it could have thrown his results off. Why yes, in fact, my son had consumed a WHOLE banana the morning of his blood work.

I was told I did NOT have to put him on the "Polyvisol with iron" medication that had been recommended in the form letter.

I don't know, but that seems like pretty slack analysis of his blood work. Not much thought could have been put into it when they automatically threw a form letter in the mail and recommended I put my kid on daily iron medicine for the next 3-6 months.

I was not impressed with the allergist's office last week (blood work indicating my son is not allergic to dairy when he CLEARLY IS), and I am not impressed with the pediatrician's office this week. Any other medical professionals feel like messing around with us?

The experience serves as a reminder that I have to be a constant health advocate for my family. No one else is going to ask the important questions but me. No pressure, right?

The Grooming Post

I finally finished my bulk sized mint shampoo and conditioner. Thank heavens. I have moved onto a thick and delicious coconut shampoo and conditioner. I am now in tropical vacation paradise when I occasionally have the chance to wash my hair. I do have to complain that my hair has ridiculous bumps in it that I did not have before I gave birth to the little guy. Since he has come along, I've got these strange ski hill jumps that are close to my hair part. There is also a bunch of growing out fuzz like hair at the top that complicates matters. Anyone have any helpful thoughts on this predicament (it can not involve spending much time doing "things" to my hair)?

I have also been kicking myself to floss every night. I broke down and made a dentist appointment for myself last week. I have until the 19th of February to make it look like I've been flossing daily for the past few years. My last 2 dentist appointments were when I was pregnant with the babe and when I was pregnant with the little guy. I suppose I can look forward to some dental X-Ray fun as well. I'm sure the little guy is going to love being strapped into his stroller for the whole experience!

Moving along, I managed to get the little guy's nails cut today as I was putting him to sleep. It is apparently the only time when I can get near him with nail clippers. I am now responsible for 30 fingernails and 30 toe nails. I have to say that my nails are the ones that get neglected. When it gets bad I just hack them off with clippers and dream of a mani/pedi.

I am also just about to lose it with this whole winter dryness thing. I have 3 humidifiers running upstairs at night but still feel dry and static like. I did so much house work yesterday my hands were splitting open and bleeding in numerous locations as I ate my late dinner. It is just not pretty. There is not enough moisturizer in the world to keep my skin all soft and glowing right now. There is also not enough moisturizer to stop all the increasing number of lines on my face from appearing. I think I'm aging quite rapidly these days.

I will leave you on that note. Thanks for checking in!

Just Another Day at the Office

This morning I spent a lot of time trying to determine if it was an official snow day at the babe's school. After using all my technology (the TV, computer and phone), I confirmed that school was indeed on for the day. Sweet. I had been quite concerned that I was going to be on my own with both of them all day.

I got all 3 of us clothed, fed and washed up. As I was getting our bags, jackets, hats, mittens and foot wear assembled at the door, I heard a bang and the babe cry out in genuine pain (which is very different from her "fake" pain cry). She had been messing around the little guys high chair (like I had just told her not to) and had managed to slip and bash her mouth on our dining room table. I ran over to find her wailing and holding her mouth. The little guy sat in his high chair stunned. I had the babe open her mouth...no blood, but 2 chipped teeth on the top front. Funny thing is, she managed to chip the other side of the tooth she had chipped falling on a coffee table about 1.5 years ago. I called the dentist and they managed to set us up with an appointment for 1pm.

My excitement over the fact that it wasn't an official snow day was gone as I knew I was going to have to pick the babe up early from school, screw up the little guys precious nap and have both of them unrested and kooky for the whole afternoon.

Now that I've made it through the very long day, I am counting my blessings. The dentist confirmed that things looked OK in the babe's mouth. Dr. D shaved down the babe's vampire looking front tooth and told me to watch out for any colour changes in the tooth or gum. I'm also supposed to watch out for any movement of the tooth itself.

When accidents happen, it's good to try and keep it in perspective. Hopefully the babe has learnt that hanging off tables and playing around the high chair is not such a hot idea. But I wouldn't bet my life on it.

The Soy Down Low

Sorry to keep you hanging.

Things are looking good on the soy milk front for the little guy.

On Friday I gave him 10ml in a syringe. After 5 minutes, no reaction. 10 minutes, no reaction. 15 minutes, no reaction. You see where I'm going with this.

So every day I've given him a little dose and have been watching him like a hawk. I think he's going to be OK with this and after the 7 day mark, I will start giving him soy milk in larger doses.

The allergist hasn't been much of a help on this and I am beginning to think the whole allergy medicine field is a quack science. I just don't understand how a skin test and a blood test can come back completely negative but the actual food/beverage can cause an allergic reaction.

I suppose it's a lesson learnt and I will continue to be hyper vigilant about what goes into my kids mouths. This has become our way of life. But at least I've been through it once before.

Not In the Clear

At the beginning of November, I fed the little guy a bit of formula with dairy. He broke out in a rash and got some hives on his face. I assumed he was allergic to dairy like his sister, despite the fact the skin test last summer had indicated he was not.

I made an appointment with the allergist for January. When we got back from the Holidays a few weeks ago, the little guy went in and had some blood testing done. The results came in last Friday.

Negative:
-Dairy
-Soy
-Peanuts
-Eggs

I was elated. A child without food allergies. What a joy!

I was instructed to go ahead and give the little guy some cow's milk (keep in mind I have been waiting to wean him until I knew what the test results were).

This morning I gave him 10 ml of milk (in a syringe to make sure he actually got some). He drank it back fine.

Within a few minutes his face turned red, swollen looking and a lot of little hives sprung up all around his mouth. My heart sunk.

Apparently blood tests aren't as accurate as I had thought.

I gave the little guy some Benadryl and he cleared up in half an hour. I spoke with a nurse at the allergist and will chat with the doc tomorrow.

Next step is soy milk, I suppose. But now I'm nervous that may not work. I suppose I will just take it step by step. Perhaps both my kids were destined for soy.

More to come...

It's my Mouth, Mama!

Last week the little guy was up screaming for a few hours every night. He just wouldn't let up, and even after my husband would check on him, and ensure he had a pacifier and wasn't full of poop, the little guy would continue to cry off and on for what felt like an eternity. It just wasn't a pretty scene.

I was sad the little guy was so upset, frustrated, angry that he wouldn't just go to sleep, desperate, worried and really exhausted. I was really hoping it wasn't a new nighttime sleep trend. Because that is not a trend I can live with.

After 3 nights, it seemed to pass and he went back to his "normal" routine of getting up once a night to eat (and yes, I know he is a spoilt brat but I figure he deserves a snack after a 9 or 10 hour slumber and I'm too much of a wimp to cut him off).

Yesterday I happened to have a glance in the little guy's mouth. To my surprise, I saw a new tooth which had obviously broken through on the bottom quite recently (a lateral incisor). There is another one making it's way out now. According to the experts, these little teeth come in at about 13 months old, and guess who will be 13 months old this Sunday?

Perhaps this sleep craziness and the new teeth are all related. And perhaps the little guy needed some Tylenol. Perhaps next time I should worry about more than poop and pacifiers. Alas....we can never be perfect at this parenting thing. There are just too many bases to cover.

One More Entry

OK, I honestly thought that about 99% of the people who actually read my blog are my friends and family. People who I wish I spoke to more, but never manage to actually speak with on a regular basis. My blog is just a way to keep my peeps in the know.

So, after turning my blog pink (on a most likely temporary basis), I scanned down the page and saw that I had 11 "followers." What the %$^&#*#!##$??

That is SO COOL! I don't know who all these people are, but they actually took the time to become a "follower" and I am so excited by that!

As I've mentioned in the past, I blog in my head all day, every day. It's just that I have trouble getting the "head blogging" to translate to "on the computer blogging." And not to offend my friends and family, but I figure they understand my long silences and if they want to chat or catch up they'll shoot me an email or give me a call.

But the fact that there are people I don't know following my motherhood rambles makes me feel warm and fuzzy. It also makes me feel like I owe it to everyone to actually write more.

If I sound like a conceited lunatic, let me know, but really I just want to say thanks. Thanks for reading.

The little guy is awake...nap time over and back to reality.