Feb 08 Mamas - June is the bringer of light - Page 7

[Dea]

We're going to need an octuplets DDC! (where all of the feb 08 mamas can come and play too!)

slgt, awww thanks, that is so true. I know what will be will be, but I stress. I shouldn't, 'cause I bet that it won't help anything. I feel a little slighted I guess. But then I'm being selfish.

Okay croup is whooping cough?
Also I am kinda pissed at my ped, but only 'cause I should really be mad at myself. He doesn't push me to vax, but he is rather persistant, but he will let me go on my own schedule, and we seem to have settled on one shot her well baby visit. So Trixie's had 3 dtaps and 2 Hibs.... her last dtap (and it will be her last one) was on May 27, and she got a fever and still has a GIANT lump in her arm from it. GRRRR! She had one before and he confirmed that it's not normal, not bad, but not normal. But it's still there, and there's still a shadow of an ugly bruise. I just don't want to do any more. I argue and argue with DH about this. I want her to get natural immunities, but he thinks vaxes are safer, blah blah blah. Luckily I take her to the peds, if he did, he would catch her up on everything all at once. (then I would kick his ass!) I am so worried about a serious reaction (oddly though I don't believe there is a link to autisim, I don't want to argue, it's just the result of me doing a lot of reading) So here we are, done with the 2 sets I've started and now I know he'll want more, and hearing that people have caught stuff just from people who've vaxed just seems wrong. sigh.

Okay I know I just opened a can of worms... sorry all!

[Dea]

oh yeah in terms of words, Trixie has like 4... but she signs and grunts. The book I've been using to sign was written by someone in New Zealand and I bought it here, but there are a lot of conflicting signs compared to other books. Good thing that the babies don't really talk about pigs and chickens in the playground with their signs!

[LCBMAX]

Originally Posted by Mommy2Austin

I know that Flu vaccines don't cause Anti-biotic resistant bacteria. I was talking about it causing more serious strains of Flu because people aren't gaining any real lasting immunity to the flu. So the strains get worse and they keep coming out with vaccines that don't work quite often. And people gain no natural immunity to it.

I can see where it may have gotten confusing in my post what I meant though

Hmmm - I'm still confused by what you mean. As I read your above post, I can't agree. Your description does not explain the 1918 flu pandemic, which occurred before flu vaccines were invented. There is no "lasting immunity" to a virus that naturally mutates/ experiences genetic drift. Influenza does not "get worse" or mutate in response to vaccines, it mutates because that is the most effective way to gain more hosts, whether or not they are vaccinated. The flu vax is one that least influences the future of the critter it targets, in terms of genetic drift, getting "worse", or mutating.

The reason the flu vax is often ineffective is because the manufacturer has to guess which way the genetic drift will go, and there are many many possibilities. They make as educated a guess as they can (after all, they want to sell as many doses as they can!) but it really is just a guess.

Since I personally have no other conditions that would make flu more dangerous for me, I have in general (at least before motherhood!) avoided the flu vax for myself, preferring to interact with the environment and treat the illness itself as a kind of cleanse. I have never had a flu shot.

I have no dogma as to who should or shouldn't be vaccinated with what, and in our family we're making choices on a case by case basis.

Rynna - when your baby had measles, how high did the fever go? That's the thing that really spooks me about measles. I worry a lot about how very high (>103) fevers might affect my boy's brain chemistry.

[Dea]

RRL tea....
how much should I drink now? (I"ll ask my DDC too, but I know you'll know!)

I bought a pound of it, heh. And Nettles, clover, oatstraw, alfalfa and mint and lemon. (I should have bought a bail of hay, it would have been cheaper! HA!)

so far I take a wee pinch of them all, with some flavour, mint or lemon and then brew and drink. But how much now? Also I can stomach this and not water right now, so it's mostly what I drink.

[Mommy2Austin]

Originally Posted by eilonwy

Actually, this is false too. The truth is that diseases which require relatively healthy vectors (that is, people walking around so that they can breathe on one another) are generally more mild than those which require other routes of transmission; Most flu variants are, thus, fairly mild. Vaccinating against the flu does not cause or encourage stronger flu variants, nor does it generally weaken immunity in the population. It's complicated and really really fascinating, the way these things work.

Interesting to know. Still won't get the shot LOL

[Mommy2Austin]

Originally Posted by LCBMAX

Hmmm - I'm still confused by what you mean. As I read your above post, I can't agree. Your description does not explain the 1918 flu pandemic, which occurred before flu vaccines were invented. There is no "lasting immunity" to a virus that naturally mutates/ experiences genetic drift. Influenza does not "get worse" or mutate in response to vaccines, it mutates because that is the most effective way to gain more hosts, whether or not they are vaccinated. The flu vax is one that least influences the future of the critter it targets, in terms of genetic drift, getting "worse", or mutating.

The reason the flu vax is often ineffective is because the manufacturer has to guess which way the genetic drift will go, and there are many many possibilities. They make as educated a guess as they can (after all, they want to sell as many doses as they can!) but it really is just a guess.

Since I personally have no other conditions that would make flu more dangerous for me, I have in general (at least before motherhood!) avoided the flu vax for myself, preferring to interact with the environment and treat the illness itself as a kind of cleanse. I have never had a flu shot.

I have no dogma as to who should or shouldn't be vaccinated with what, and in our family we're making choices on a case by case basis.

Rynna - when your baby had measles, how high did the fever go? That's the thing that really spooks me about measles. I worry a lot about how very high (>103) fevers might affect my boy's brain chemistry.

That makes sense. I did state it was my opinion which is really not based on anything other than personal feelings. I've watched my grandparents get a flu shot year after year and year after year they get horribly sick after it. Que Serra Serra and such

[flapjack]

FIL gets flu shots- it's better than the other alternative.

Dea, croup and whooping cough aren't the same, no. I haven't seen a proper case of whooping cough in years, but croup hits hard and fast, and whooping cough is a slow burn- first the cough, then it doesn't get better, then the whoop- and the process can take six weeks And fwiw, you know that DTaP is the one I'm not sure about, right? Isaac's reaction was to the DTP and we're doing DTaP last- at the moment Skye and River have their MMRs and their pneumococcals.

eta; I'm not feeling sick any more! Thankyou for settling my stomach, ladies

[ema-adama]

I have been MIA for a while....
and so much is going on.

Teeny, I hope Nara is feeling better. Hillel had croup a while ago. It was very scary and difficult to see him struggling to breath like that. We did take him in for the ped to check him over - and he prescribe steroids which had me a little curious. I have to admit I am not a fan of giving kids such strong medication unless they really need it. Hillel's croup was mild enough that I did not see his nostrils flaring or serious signs of lack of air getting into his lungs (retractions between his ribs or at the base of his neck between the collar bones, blue lips). He just made an awful noise breathing and it was worse if he was upset - so keeping him calm and happy was essential. Which meant I needed to be calm.
Anyway, I decided not to give the steroids as soon as I read Sears who says that the 2nd and 3rd night are always the worst. I wanted to see if he would get better without any drugs, always alert to how much he was struggling to breath should we need to go to the ER.
So, in our case, it was pretty much over after the 3rd night and was all about gone after a week. When it was really acute it helped to have a steamy bath and then go out for a walk in a sling. He just wanted to be suggled and loved and the cool night air seemed to help in contrast to the warm steamy air in the bath.

There is no vax for croup. It is a viral infection, leading some pedi's to recommend the flu vax as a preventative measure, but I remember not being convinced that this would indeed do anything. I can't remember finding any studies to back this up, with it rather being a pet theory of some doctors.... It is not in any way connected to whooping cough, even though some doctors do get them confused. Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria and the cause of the whoop is a toxin that aggravates the bronchi released by the bacteria. There are antibiotics available for whooping cough if you catch it in time, to treat the bacteria. But once the toxins are released/you are coughing, the antibiotics won't help. I have read that high doses of vit C can make whooping cough less severe... although I am still not sure how I will treat it when Hillel comes down with it.

Oh, I've said this before here I think, but I don't medicate Hillel's fever (to date he has only had one high one of about 39.5 - 40 celcius - it too stressful measuring it, but he was hot.) he settled on my breast so I was happy not giving anything. If he had been really uncomfortable I would have medicated him to sooth him, but I am not a fan of medicating fevers down - they are doing a job and there is no evidence that medicating fevers prevents febrile seizures, which is a concern when fevers suddenly spike.

Otherwise - we are well. Enjoying the summer here. I am chugging away at becoming a LLL leader and Adi is looking for a new job.... we might find ourselves in the UK, or even the US : We'll see though. For now things are actually good here. The family are all under control and Adi is being a star keeping his mother in check

Oh, and I am getting into making chicken soup stocks and am even trying my hand at kefir..... getting probiotics and minerals into my system has become a priority. And I am jumping back inot the no sugar thing. South Africa ruined my no sugar rule with far too many tempting and delicous treats - and hence a subsequent weight gain.... Rynna, how is your atkins going?

Dea -

Hmmmmm, I think I've said enough for today

[lovetobemama]

The baby slept till 7 a.m. all by her big-girl self:::

(too bad big brother got up at 5:45 a.m.)

[applecore]

Teeny, I hope Nara is feeling better. That sounds terrifying!

Originally Posted by Dea

RRL tea....
how much should I drink now? (I"ll ask my DDC too, but I know you'll know!)

As much as you want! As much as tastes good to you. Have you heard about infusions in the Susun Weed style? She suggests an ounce of dried herb in a quart jar, topped with boiling water and allowed to steep overnight. It extracts all the good stuff that doesn't come out while just making a cuppa.

Originally Posted by ema-adama

Oh, I've said this before here I think, but I don't medicate Hillel's fever (to date he has only had one high one of about 39.5 - 40 celcius - it too stressful measuring it, but he was hot.) he settled on my breast so I was happy not giving anything. If he had been really uncomfortable I would have medicated him to sooth him, but I am not a fan of medicating fevers down - they are doing a job and there is no evidence that medicating fevers prevents febrile seizures, which is a concern when fevers suddenly spike.

Otherwise - we are well. Enjoying the summer here. I am chugging away at becoming a LLL leader and Adi is looking for a new job.... we might find ourselves in the UK, or even the US : We'll see though. For now things are actually good here. The family are all under control and Adi is being a star keeping his mother in check

Oh, and I am getting into making chicken soup stocks and am even trying my hand at kefir..... getting probiotics and minerals into my system has become a priority. And I am jumping back inot the no sugar thing. South Africa ruined my no sugar rule with far too many tempting and delicous treats - and hence a subsequent weight gain.... Rynna, how is your atkins going?

I am right there with you on your thoughts about fevers. All of my kids seem to have a very healthy fever reaction to illness. The fever seems to do its job quite well. I don't really take temps most of the time, either. I have btdt enough to know what feels like too hot, and I'm sure it's a lot hotter than most people are comfortable with. I have given tylenol once, when one had a fever that started creeping over 104, and was too uncomfortable to be able to sleep at all. But mostly I just let them sleep in my bed and keep a hand on them to gauge the temp.

Good for you on going for your LLL Leadership! I'm a Leader. And I make chicken stock on a regular basis, which I looooove. I'll drink it in a mug with salt.

I seem to be really lucky, or have super healthy kids. I have never taken any of them to the ER, and only once did I take Ronan to a doctor for a skin issue. Marley and Twyla have never been. They do get colds and the flu, but never to the point that I felt like I needed to take them in. We've been pretty accident free, too. No cuts or breaks. Maybe the universe feels like it needs to take care of us since we don't have insurance.

Twyla also doesn't have a whole lot of words. She seems to be less verbally advanced than the older two, but then she also sat/crawled/walked a lot earlier than they did. Not that it matters, but it's interesting to watch the differences in development.

Ah, time to change a poopy diaper. It's nice coming back here.

[smokeylo]

Teeny, how terrifying! I remember how scared we were taking Robin to the ER for pneumonia at 13 months. I felt so confused about vax, too, since we did get her the Pc vaccine and yet here we were with pneumonia (I know pneumonia is caused by lots of stuff). There's just no way we can protect our kids from every bug out there, whether we vax completely or partially or not at all.

FWIW I vax on a delayed/selective schedule and increasingly feel like that's the right thing for our family do. I don't regret any of the vaccines I've had Robin receive, and I still feel pretty strongly that some aren't necessary at this age (STD related ones, and we don't do the flu shot because we tend to get sick from them). Thank goodness we're moving out of the stage where they want you to do 5 shots per visit -- it's much easier to time/space out shots when we aren't dealing with a bunch. Our ped has been nice about it but some friends who also see him say they've been getting flak as of late -- so I wonder what will happen when we go to see him in June. I'm now comfortable enough with what we're doing to say "um, no, we're going to do it my way" without fear.

So far week 8 of this pregnancy has been good to me... I only feel really shitty in the evening, and I take a unisom then and it knocks it out. I'm counting down to the end of the first tri : slowest thing EVER!!! Only one more month...

[eilonwy]

Two or three weeks ago, I gave up on the Atkinsing because Mike wasn't working and it felt like I couldn't afford to do it and maintain much variety in my diet. It was really upsetting to me, but I did it. Last week I started again because I felt like crap eating carbs. Within 24 hours I was happy again. I can't say that I'm losing tons of weight, but I feel SO much better when I'm limiting the carbs so I'll keep at it, even if it means I have to live on tuna salad and eggs.

THRH is absolutely stunningly beautiful this morning as ever. I'm madly in love with him. At this exact moment, I'm wishing that he had a wee bit more body fat so that the idea of leaving the air conditioner on wouldn't make him cold. This is proof positive that it's not entirely NRE with us-- the fact that he's not exactly perfect in every tiny little way.

He's damn close, though.

Hm. When Bean had the measles, his fever topped out around 102.4. I remember that we didn't give him anything because he seemed otherwise well. The rash was something else, but he was mostly fine. He was happy and chatty the whole time, just covered in the rash and he slept more than usual. Oh, he nursed a zillion times a day, but at 10 months he was doing that when he was healthy.

[BabyBump]

I've been lurking, reading, and keeping up, just no time to post!!

SarahLynne Congrats!! I can relate to the inital shock that turns into happiness! I was there and even tough I knew I was pregnant it was all I could do to call and get the results of my test. I wouldn't change it for the world now!! Waking up with a smiling baby face in front of yours is worth it's weight in gold!

Dea I'm thinking about you!! For what it is worth my old ob never got concerned when he couldn't locate a heart beat this early on. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes for you! Eli has been eating he's weight in strawberries too. My mom grows them and they have been going crazy this year. I made strawberry bread yesterday and it is so good. So far no reaction here.

Helen My family seems to think the house is a gigantic garbage can too.... If I pick up another wrapper, hair tie, broken piece of whatever, I'll scream! Seriously there are garbage cans in just about every room of this house, use them. Kendall and I cleaned her room and came out with two bags full of garbage. Broken toys, stuff that needed to be tossed because it wasn't good enough for goodwill....

Eli is changing by leaps and bounds. Becoming more independent each day it seems. His new word is bubble. We've been blowing lots of bubbles lately. Yesterday the grass was still a wet from rain and the bubbles were sticking to it. He would crouch down and sneak up on them like that would stop them from popping when he would try to pick them up. He's also finally sleeping through the night! Well until 5 in the am and then he comes in our bed!

Quinn is thriving. Has a nasty case of baby acne. All over her face and scalp. It feels like it's starting to dry up. Poor thing! She also has had some colic like symptoms for a couple weeks, very gassy, crying for a couple hours each night regardless of what you do for her. Normally I'm not a big chiropractic person, but I decided to give it a shot. The one we went to took xrays before adjusting her, which made me feel better, given how young she is. Her left side appears to be off as well as her 'head isn't on straight'. Her axis is off. She's been adjusted twice and has been doing better. I went to school with the chiro and his wife (she was in my class) and they have five kids under 8 years old of their own. I felt okay going to them.

I've also mastered the Snappi! I never used prefolds with Eli, just pockets. I'm tired of stuffing pocket diapers so using mostly prefolds with Quinn and pockets and night. I was all thumbs with the Snappi.

Also, our golf course lot might be selling!!! As much as we would like to build, I don't want a house payment that doesn't allow me to go do things, so the lot has been for sale for the past couple years. The golf course was bought by someone new this spring and he wants to purchase all lots that don't have homes on them already. Wants to put up stay and play condos. Selling that lot will give us a *nice* downpayment towards a new house. And selling this house would give us even more towards that down payment. We could use another bedroom and a bigger yard. Cross your fingers for us.

[Dea]

I love snappis and prefolds. I love getting them on right and just marveling at how a rectangular chunk of diaper makes the perfect diaper!
(I over think EVERYTHING!)

[Mommy2Austin]

I can't wait to break out my cloth diapers for this one


I gave in and made myself shrimp with whole wheat angel hair pasta in a butter sauce with fresh scallions from the garden and fresh chopped garlic .... *slurp*

Hey a pregnant woman's gotta eat And its better than the 12 popsicles I had yesterday.

[flapjack]

Dea, don't ever try flats, then. I found myself musing on how a motherease onesize is basically a prefold, but a totsbots is a origami-folded flat- and so on. My brain wasn't working well that day :

Heather, I have no idea what you mean by a golf course lot, but I'm glad something exciting is happening for you DH suddenly had the realisation about the rubbish and the mess that I had two weeks ago- so maybe something will happen :

Megan. Good to see you again!

Right. Now, off to google strawberry bread...it sounds like something I need in my life, and I have a punnet of overripe strawberries in my fridge.

[eilonwy]

I just sent my redhead home. I miss him horribly already. I seriously want him to move in with me. It's awful, but there you have it. : I'm so miserable without him. Bleh.

[Dea]

OMG I am so pissy! I want to bite EVERYONE's head off! Adam was working out in the livingroom (wii fit rocks) and his panting and running was driving me mad! AHHHH! I read my normal blogs and it takes all of my effort to not leave scathing messages. GRRRR!
And Dooce made me mad with her post about freebirthing (UC) and impling it's lame. Then in People magazine there was an article about a man who's wife died in childbirth and 25ish woman came forth to breastfeed his baby, and People has this side bar making some point how it can be dangerous to let another woman bf your child. (health issues and all that) GRRR!
I'm helping to plan a babyshower for a friend and every suggestion I make is getting knocked aside. Valid ones like setting up a meal sign up so people can bring her food when she's home with a new baby, and other little things. It's like I'm only a part of it so I can pay for stuff.
Sigh. So that is my rant. Sorry. I don't remember being this totally irritated with the world with Trixie. This has been building for a while! phew!

So Rynna.... your redhead a friend of yours on facebook? Could I have accidentally figured out who he is based on comments?

Oh and Trixie totally isn't irritating me! We went for breakfast today and she ate so much! I was so happy! Also she learned the sign for open today, and loves to dance to "if you're happy and you know it" she especially loves to stomp her feet, which might be the most adorable thing ever.

OH and the final thing irritating me!!! A friend's parents are sleeping at my house 'cause they are visiting her from Europe and her house is too small for them to sleep there and hotels are expensive and we have an extra bedroom. So they haven't been here in like a week, which seems nice. But my in laws wanted to be here this week and we told them no because we had someone in the room, and they're not even using it! And they haven't let us know that they're not coming for X number of days!

I try to be nice! I mean no one else volunteered to have strangers come and stay in their houses!

GRRRR!

okay so sorry. I hope I amused someone a little with my woes!

[ema-adama]

Emily, I meant to : for you over such a glorious long sleep. That is truely awsome.

And Helen, to you - I am glad you are feeling better with this pregnancy. Have I missed pics of your new home? I remember seeing the staircase in youf blog

Rynna - . Having spent the first year of my relationship with Adi in different countries, I know how hard good byes can be and how much your whole entire body can long for the touch of your loved one.... I hope you can find a workable solution.

Prefeolds - I was a wimp and did a sposies at the newborn stage (sometimes ecological, sometimes not). I am not sure what will be next time around - I have the prefolds and snappies - we'll see. Heather I am highly impressed that you are managing two in nappies and doing it with cloth

Hillel got his first bout of daiper rash And at my unfriendly IL's of all places. It is wicked stuff Anyway, I am keeping Hillel daiper free and in Weleda nappy cream at night. It seems to be clearing up...... but poor poor baby. I had been so happy to not deal with that, thinking that the breastfeeding was helping to prevent any rashes.... Anyway, these things happen.

Well, I had best get on with organising and cleaning the kitchen

[flapjack]

No, you haven't missed the pictures, I haven't taken them yet. : We're still not sorted yet. Oh, and we have two in cloth Mostly, anyhow- we're still in sposies after the move because I'm still moving...

Emily, sorry I missed your post. I'm jealous

Dea, breathe and eat chocolate. It'll all be OK.