@ Week of 10/15

[katespade]

What's up?

[luv2rn4fun]

I have two sick kids 😢

Apparently C vomited in his crib last night and didn’t tell me when I went to check on him. Both are snotty, coughing, more cuddly than normal and L might be having retractions (I can see his ribs when he breathes when I take his shirt off but he isn’t breathing fast...).

We needed to do a lot of grocery shopping but now are just taking it easy.

[katespade]

Third tri on Thursday! This feels like a huge milestone for some reason.

I also have a growth scan on Thursday, and my 1 hr GD test on Friday. I'm kind of freaking out about the GD test, and I'm afraid that I'm going to end up having a panic attack in the waiting room while I'm there. I'm so anxious about how my stomach is going to react to the drink, and if I'm going to be able to drink it all within the time limit, and what if it sends me into a flare up, and, and, and.... Ugh. I really wish that I could just opt out, but I know that I can't because it's a really important test. In the grand scheme of things that I'm going to have to go through in the next few months, this shouldn't be a big deal... but for some reason, in this moment, it feels like it is.

[katespade]

luv2rn4fun - Oh no! I'm sorry that both kiddos are sick. Does C tend to throw up when he has respiratory issues, or do you think he might have a stomach bug?

[luv2rn4fun]

Oct 15, 2018 11:54:18 GMT -5 katespade said:

luv2rn4fun - Oh no! I'm sorry that both kiddos are sick. Does C tend to throw up when he has respiratory issues, or do you think he might have a stomach bug?

I am assuming it’s from all the mucus...but he rarely throws up so who knows. Both kids are behaving like it’s a cold and no fevers that I have noticed.

Just gave L a breathing treatment...hoping we can avoid a trip to the pediatrician...I am definitely a ball of nerves though because he can turn so fast. Just hoping he is much better this year after being on his control med (he wasn’t on it when he was hospitalized and it’s supposed to prevent him from getting so sick).

[luv2rn4fun]

((Hugs)) katespade. I hope your GD rest goes much better than you anticipate. To me, the drink tastes like orange soda. I used to have to do glucose tolerance tests for grad school so I was pretty used to it when pregnant.

[katespade]

luv2rn4fun - Do you know how many ounces it is and/or how quickly you're typically expected to drink it? Neither of those pieces of information are included on the instructions sheet they gave me. I asked about the ounces at my doctor's office, but they weren't sure of the answer because it's done at the lab.

[luv2rn4fun]

Oct 15, 2018 12:13:49 GMT -5 katespade said:

luv2rn4fun - Do you know how many ounces it is and/or how quickly you're typically expected to drink it? Neither of those pieces of information are included on the instructions sheet they gave me. I asked about the ounces at my doctor's office, but they weren't sure of the answer because it's done at the lab.

Maybe 8oz? I think you have 10 minutes. Personally, I would try to chug it. It will make it a lot easier.

[estrellita]

katespade I agree, I think it's 8oz maybe? And I want to say it was 15 min. There are varying rules about drinking water during the test.. I know you're not supposed to eat but the first time they only let me have a sip of water (because I was feeling really sick from it) and the second time someone else was drinking water while sitting for hers, so who knows lol. And to me it tasted like the orange Hi-C or thick Gatorade (ETA: I've had 3 flavors between my 2 one hours and 2 three hours, orange, lemon lime, and fruit punch). It wasn't something I'd drink again, but not completely horrible.

That said, I've heard of some doctors doing different things like eating jellybeans or just testing glucose for a week or something. Not sure if that's something your doctor would consider? Either way, I hope it goes well! FX you pass the first one so you don't have to deal with the 3 hour!

[pooh8402]

Oct 15, 2018 12:13:49 GMT -5 katespade said:

luv2rn4fun - Do you know how many ounces it is and/or how quickly you're typically expected to drink it? Neither of those pieces of information are included on the instructions sheet they gave me. I asked about the ounces at my doctor's office, but they weren't sure of the answer because it's done at the lab.

I think it's 6-8 oz. I recommend drinking it as cold and as fast as possible. I agree, the orange flavor tastes like flat orange Fanta. I've heard the lemon and fruit punch flavors aren't as good.

Expect to feel shaky after about an hour. Eat some protein after your test.

[ewall]

katespade Third tri, wow! I didn't have to drink much of the orange stuff, just a few ounces. Good luck!

luv2rn4fun Hope your boys feel better quickly!

C is rolling over! We transitioned out of the swaddle and RNP to just being flat in the PNP. She still STTN. Win!

She's also dairy intolerant at this point. So I'm on a sad, dairy free diet.

[luv2rn4fun]

Oct 15, 2018 19:17:17 GMT -5 ewall said:

katespade Third tri, wow! I didn't have to drink much of the orange stuff, just a few ounces. Good luck!

luv2rn4fun Hope your boys feel better quickly!

C is rolling over! We transitioned out of the swaddle and RNP to just being flat in the PNP. She still STTN. Win!

She's also dairy intolerant at this point. So I'm on a sad, dairy free diet.

Yay for rolling over and STTN! Major boo to the non dairy diet 🙁. I had to do that (along with nuts, wheat, and soy) with C and it was horrible. Hang in there mama- you’ve got this!

[suzv]

J's 2nd bday party is this weekend. Due to numerous issues with my MIL, we changed the location from a kid friendly play place to my house. I'm excited to not spend the money for the play place, but my house isn't exactly party ready right now and I need to pick up some party supplies and plan the food.

J's daycare teacher, who I absolutely love, is starting to make me feel terrible though. I pick him up around 4 every day, which is right before she leaves, and before most parents pick up their kids. The past few weeks she keeps telling me how he is having rough days, crying a lot, melting down. He's getting his top two molars, so I'm assuming that's why he is having a rough time, but it still makes me feel like shit to know he's having hard days while I'm at work. She said since she sees me more than the other parents she can update me more. I just hate getting bombarded with bad news the second I walk in the door to pick him up.


katespade, I agree that the orange flavor wasn't too bad at all. My practice gives us the drink to take home and then instructs us to drink it 45 minutes before our appointment time. I had to finish it in 10 minutes. I felt fine for that first hour or so and then had a headache the rest of the day.

[bk1]

luv2rn4fun Poor boys! I hope they feel better soon.



C's birthday party is a month away and I have done nothing except book a place. I really need to spend some time planning things. 

[Blue Moon]

luv2rn4fun, so sorry both kids are sick. I hate the sit and wait game so much. Hope they take a turn for the better today!

katespade, I was really worried about the drink too. It wasn't a lot, I guess 8-10oz and I think I had 5 minutes. I received a cold drink during my second GTT and that was much easier to tolerate than my first room temp one. I made it out in my head to be much worse than it actually was. My advice would be to have something with protein to eat immediately after you're finished. I think I had a cheese stick or peanut butter sandwich that I ate the second they told me I could. I was worried about driving home feeling shaky and eating helped a lot.

ewall, ugh, the dairy free diet! It stinks so bad, but there's a lot of products I found that made my time on it a little less terrible. Let me know if you're interested and I'll share some of my favorites.

[Blue Moon]

B has her first field trip to the pumpkin patch this week. I feel terrible because she told me she was sad that all the other kids' parents are coming on the trip and neither H nor I can make it. I know not all the parents are going but some are and I feel awful that I can't be there. If it was later in the year I'd take a personal day, but I have to save all of my days for kid sickness and I feel like I can't do anything fun. Her teacher promised lots of pics though so I'm looking forward to seeing them.

G had an allergic reaction to shrimp the other day. He's had it a bunch before, but this time for whatever reason he immediately broke out in a rash around his mouth and his lips swelled up a lot. His pedi said we need to do allergy testing. I tried to get an appt, but it apparently takes 3 hours and they only have availability in the middle of the day. I wish there was a way to make the life of a working parent easier.

[luv2rn4fun]

Thank you bk1 Blue Moon! C is still sleeping (unheard of for him) and L is up and seems no worse than yesterday. Will see how they do today. I need to give L his breathing treamybut waiting for C to wake up since it’s loud. They were both up a lot last night and I slept on the couch so I could hear both of them. Currently on my second cup of coffee!

We need groceries pretty badly. It’s nice today so if they feel up for hanging out in the stroller we will walk down to get necessities to get us by.

Blue Moon- ((Hugs)). Sorry you can’t go to the field trip and you and B are sad about that. Also, we had the same experience with allergy testing and I never followed through on having it done (mainly because taking both boys would be a huge disaster for that length of time). I need to bring this up again though because it hasn’t been mentioned lately.

[estrellita]

Apparently H had to carry E into DC this morning kicking and screaming because he wanted to bring his water bottle in. The new owners stopped allowing water bottles to be brought in. Even one of the teachers rolled their eyes when H told her why E was flipping out. They will give kids a cup of water and there's a drinking fountain outside but sometimes E prefers his water bottle.. the fountain can get messy.

We also got a bitchy letter about the music class they used to do. I generally agree with the letter because the class was limited and costs extra, so it excludes some kids that may want to participate. But the letter was written as if the old director was purposely being discriminatory by having this class. Major eye roll. Just say, hey, we're going to incorporate more music into the daily curriculum and discontinue the additional class and move on. We're on the waiting list at another center so.. we'll see what happens when and if an opening happens. It's just all these dumb things adding up that prove to me that the owners only care about money and don't really care about the kids. I'd rather go somewhere where I don't feel like we're constantly afraid of what other crap the owners are going to pull.

[estrellita]

A had another allergic reaction, this time at daycare. I have no idea what to! They said she had chicken nuggets, cheesy potatoes, and corn. All of these things she has had before. They're going to give me an ingredient list and I'm going to send it all over to the allergist to see what else they can test for. I'll ask her too if we should use benadryl every time this happens or just watch her for any breathing symptoms (which she didn't have). I'm just so confused. Wtf is she allergic to??

[luv2rn4fun]

((Hugs)) estrellita. Both the daycare issues and A’s reactions are a lot. Hope you guys get solutions to both soon!

I wasn’t planning on doing anything today but C wanted to go to costco and we went. We were gone for an hour total (takes 15 min, needed gas, groceries, and got them lunch at the food court). They definitely aren’t feeling well but they did great while we were out...so much better than at home.

Poor L keeps coughing when he goes to cry and really worked himself up before nap. He had just had a breathing treatment too. They are both napping, so hopefully they start turning a corner soon. I doubt C will be going to preschool tomorrow (unless he has a big improvement...he hasn’t had a fever but he just doesn’t have the energy and isn’t himself so I won’t send him unless he seems like he’s up for a lot of playing).

I just signed C up for tball too...such a different, more competitive feel than soccer (which isn’t great at this age). Hoping he still likes it!

[luv2rn4fun]

Broken record...

Boys are still sick and I am exhausted. I have slept on the couch the last two nights so I can hear both of them (I always have the monitor on L...a few nights ago I had heard C and went in but didn’t realize he had thrown up til I got him in the morning...he told me he was ok and went back to sleep 🙁).

Anyways, C was up coughing at 12:45, L at 3:45 where he was coughing and screaming so I held him and wiped his nose. He seemed ok enough to put back to sleep without a treatment (try to do these only if necessary MOTN so he gets some sleep) so I put him down but stayed up to monitor him. Finally decide to sleep an hour later and C starts coughing so I went in to give him water and tuck him back in.

Curious how they will be when they wake up...might be dragging them both to the pediatrician, which I hate to do because I don’t think there’s much more they can do for L (besides maybe oral steroids, which I am not a huge fan of since he already gets a daily steroid...). I do need to talk to their pediatrician about C...he gets like this when he’s sick too and I think he might have asthma. Not enough for a daily med but enough that he needs breathing treatments when sick. I did one yesterday and then he kept asking for one...I think it helped him but I don’t want to just give him meds without his doctor ok...plus, he needs his own prescription so I don’t run out of L’s.

[estrellita]

luv2rn4fun ugh I hope your poor kiddos feel better soon!

[luv2rn4fun]

Oct 17, 2018 10:32:37 GMT -5 estrellita said:

luv2rn4fun ugh I hope your poor kiddos feel better soon!

Thank you! C slept two hours later than normal (plus he had taken a 2.5 hour nap yesterday)...he’s definitely not feeling well and his cough is not good but he seems in good spirits so far...

Just did a breathing treatment on L and will see how he does. He’s snotty and coughing but also running around a lot, which is good and bad.

I think we will go for a walk and pick up DH’s party supplies. It’s so nice outside and I think we could all use some fresh air (and they will just be sitting/resting/eating in the stroller). This will be good for my sanity...I am starting to get annoyed with being inside the past 5 days now (we have left for a total of 5 hours) and could use some steps too.

ETA: L is coughing a lot during nap so I called his pediatrician and am waiting for him to call back.

[estrellita]

I posted on FB too but apparently A has a milk allergy. Wtf? We were all shocked because she's had dairy quite a few times without a reaction, but it must be a milder allergy. She hasn't had issues with my milk either though she does have eczema so it's possible that's why. I'm going to cut back on dairy too, at least until I stop pumping, and then we'll have to look into other milks (we'll probably try ripple).

Who else here has a kid with a milk allergy? Blue Moon or melsamoony maybe? I can't remember!

[luv2rn4fun]

Oct 18, 2018 10:46:43 GMT -5 estrellita said:

I posted on FB too but apparently A has a milk allergy. Wtf? We were all shocked because she's had dairy quite a few times without a reaction, but it must be a milder allergy. She hasn't had issues with my milk either though she does have eczema so it's possible that's why. I'm going to cut back on dairy too, at least until I stop pumping, and then we'll have to look into other milks (we'll probably try ripple).

Who else here has a kid with a milk allergy? Blue Moon or melsamoony maybe? I can't remember!

[b

C’s first pediatrician thought he was allergic to dairy, soy, wheat, and nuts. He wasn’t ever tested and I have my doubts...but if he reacted to any of them, it was definitely more with dairy. This was really early on...0-5 months old. I basically eliminated everything from my diet and slowly re-introduced foods. He has never been a huge milk drinker but can have all forms of dairy now no issues (milk, eggs, cheese).

[melsamoony]

Oct 18, 2018 10:46:43 GMT -5 estrellita said:

I posted on FB too but apparently A has a milk allergy. Wtf? We were all shocked because she's had dairy quite a few times without a reaction, but it must be a milder allergy. She hasn't had issues with my milk either though she does have eczema so it's possible that's why. I'm going to cut back on dairy too, at least until I stop pumping, and then we'll have to look into other milks (we'll probably try ripple).

Who else here has a kid with a milk allergy? Blue Moon or melsamoony maybe? I can't remember!

I am a nurse and part of what I do is pediatric food allergy treatment, testing, and education. One of the best resources for food allergies is the FARE website. They have information on how to read labels and what to avoid as you have to avoid more than just plain milk as there are other derivatives that have enough milk protein (casein) to cause an allergic reaction in those who have allergies. Do know that past reactions are not a predictor of future reactions so a mild reaction in the past does not mean future reactions will be mild. Regardless of the severity of the reaction a patient had in the past we always recommend all food allergies be treated as if they could be anaphylactic.

It is very possible A could outgrow this allergy. We do food challenges to patients we suspect have outgrown an allergy to a food they were previously allergic to. Usually for milk allergies we start with baked milk as the combination of milk and flour when baked for a period of time at high heat allows the casein to be broken down enough to sometimes be tolerated by patients before they are able to tolerate unheated milk/dairy in other forms.

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

*Not medical advice*

[estrellita]

Thank you melsamoony, that's all super helpful! Good point about past experiences not being an indicator of future ones. We should be getting an EpiPen (or a version of it, the small dose one, can't remember the name) so we'll keep one at daycare and with us/wherever A is. I'll look into that website. I have zero experience with food allergies other than a reaction I had to Sunny D when I was a kid so H and I are totally lost on this!

[Blue Moon]

estrellita my son had a milk allergy diagnosed at 1 month old. He had severe GI reactions to even the most minute amount of dairy (through breastmilk alone) so I strictly eliminated it in all forms for just about a year. Around 9 months I accidentally had a piece of a vegetable that had been cooked in butter and it really messed him up. But just two months later, my husband actually fed 11 month old G directly with a pouch that had dairy mixed in. And G was completely fine to my shock. We then slowly reintroduced dairy to my diet and then directly to his and he was fine. I couldn’t believe it because his allergy was so severe I thought he’d never outgrow it.

I know it’s scary and frustrating navigating the world of food allergies. Hopefully A’s allergy is very mild and she will outgrow it soon!

[Blue Moon]

luv2rn4fun how are C and L today?

[estrellita]

Thanks Blue Moon! Glad to hear he's grown out of it, that gives me hope! Her pedi thought she might have had a slight sensitivity at one point because of her skin but since that was the only symptom, we never really thought more about it. Plus she's had cheese, yogurt, etc with no issues so I really didn't think this is what it was going to be. I'm hopeful though that as she gets older we can start adding it back in. Poor girl had crackers, puffs and Cheerios for dinner tonight because H made chili and before I texted him this morning, he cooked the onions in butter before putting them in the crockpot. Otherwise she could have had it. I didn't know what else to give her, lol. I'll have to come up with some stuff to make for her because when I went through the pantry everything said it contained milk! Ugh.