The baby is finally not sick and is in care, and mummy is able to take some time to just be. To sit and have quiet time.
The school holidays were crazy. Well, not all crazy, but some of it was just chaotic.
There were some nice moments of sleeping in, not having to be anywhere and staying at home, plus spending some nice time with the kids was good.
There always seemed to be something happening. One kid fighting, one kid hurt or hurting the other and then the arguments. Oh my gosh! As the mum of three kids, it seemed that no matter what was going on it was hard to keep up. I was constantly exhausted.
Do you find this? Trying to entertain kids at all times is difficult. Once you think everyone is happy and playing it then all changes and you are back to sorting out a disaster.
A disaster could just be someone throwing out a drawing or not playing the game they want to play. Simple things but huge dramas to a little kid.
During the holidays the twins flew to Coffs Harbour to see their grandparents. The girls were unaccompanied minors and they got on a plane all by themselves. This was a huge step and a great thing to foster their independence.
This was one of the weeks that I was really looking forward to. While the kids were away I thought that the baby would be in care, and I would get so much done.
Fast forward to the actual week that the twins flew to visit the grandparents and of course Alexander was ill. Yes, this was the week that my little boy was very sick.
No child care, he had to have mummy and now the week that I so desperately was excited about was not great. My time alone was non-existent.
I did feel like it was a horrible conspiracy. No, you can’t have time to yourself….. ever! Yes, I know that the baby did not plan to be sick and these things just happen.
However, why do they happen on the week that the older kids were not going to be home? Why couldn’t this have happened the weeks before the girls flew to visit their grandparents?
How did you fare during the school holidays? Did you have fun? Did you get driven crazy by the kids?
Now that school is finally back I hope that you are having a well-deserved rest.
If you are busy at work you might need to wait for that rest, but I’m sure work is a change from looking after kids during the school holidays.
I’m happy about school going back but I miss sleeping in, and not having to be anywhere important was nice while it lasted.
Doing your own thing was good, and I must say that I’m not really in back to school mode just yet.
How are you doing now that school has gone back?
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Saturday the 15th of July I took the twins to see Frozen on Ice. This was a great treat on the weekend before school went back. It was the night time show and due to this, it would be a late night.
Hubby was looking after Alexander and the girls and I were off to a night out. A night for just the girls, which my kids were very happy about.
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They love their brother but like the fact that they get to spend some one on one time with mummy.
We left super early and it was lucky that we did as later we ended up having issues with traffic and finding the parking station. (more about the parking issue later)
In the car, the kids and I played eye spy. and then a game they created about finding colours of cars. It was all fun until I decided to try and find a purple car. Yes, these are rare and therefore the kids decided it was all too hard and they took a nap. Oh well at least I had some quiet time before the show happened and the madness of parking and trying to find where we were supposed to be.
I got to the venue with an hour to spare but that was soon whittled away to about 20 minutes or less due to roads being closed. Yep there were road closures which meant that I could not get access to P6 parking station and my GPS kept on telling me to go back, but it had no idea that the roads were closed. Due to this stupidy, I ended up getting directed back to the same spot twice.
Yep there were road closures which meant that I could not get access to P6 parking station and my GPS kept on telling me to go back, but it had no idea that the roads were closed. Due to this stupidy, I ended up getting directed back to the same spot twice.
Due to this stupidy, I ended up getting directed back to the same spot twice. You can imagine my annoyance at this and not knowing where to go to get to where I needed to go.
On my second pass at the same place with the road closed I decided to continue straight. I had no idea where I was going other than away from the P6 parking station but just had to keep on going.
I was worried that I would be late and not make the show. Would I ever find this elusive P6 parking station?
I was annoyed that I was 1 hour early and now I might be late and miss things.
There was no way to stop to get directions as there was so much traffic that this was impossible.
My bet paid off and I saw that there was a sign to P6 parking. Phew!
I kept on going and followed the signs and hoped that there were no more road closures.
We managed to get to the venue with enough time for a quick toilet break and to get the twins an Olaf mug with shaved ice.
Julia with her Olaf cup and waiting for the show to start.
Then it was announced that the show will be starting soon and we had to find our seats. Geez…. I was lucky that we did not leave later.
Stupid road closures.
I initially thought that we would be there too early and have heaps of time with nothing to do. How wrong was I.
An announcement was made and we had to make our way to our seats. The show was going to start soon. How exciting and very happy we got there in time.
The lights went off and the show started. The kids were super excited and we all had a fabulous time, and yes we all did sing “Let it Go” and more.
Frozen on Ice was a great family show for kids. You can dance, take photos, sing and have fun. Perfect for little kids and adults too.
The show ended at about 8pm. By the time the kids and I walked to the P6 parking station it was about 8.30pm. We didn’t have dinner and promised kids that on the way home we would eat something but I didn’t think it was going to be so late.
On the way to the show, Julia said the following.
“Mummy, do you think Alexander is still awake?”
Mummy to Julia, “No it is too late for him, he would be asleep by now.”
Then Julia said this….
“Well Mummy if Alexander is awake Daddy has failed!”.
Geez, this is a bit harsh I thought.
But I was so sure that Alexander was fast asleep, and hubby was busy watching a show or doing something on his computer without interruption. You will learn how wrong I was soon.
Anna and Elsa at Frozen on Ice
On the way home I stopped and got dinner for all of us and then we got back in the car for a huge drive home. The kids slept nearly all the way home.
I got home at about 10.30pm or could be later.
I opened the door to reveal Alexander running around and playing. He was excited to see me and said, “Mumma!”
Then Julia looked at me and said, “See, Alexander is awake……”
I then saw hubby in the kitchen looking like a wreck.
He had the baby bath on the counter tops and had just finished giving him a bath and changing his clothes for the millionth time so I was told.
At about 6.20pm Alexander had started throwing up and did not stop. Hubby had not had a chance to sit down or even get himself dinner.
Hubby then gave me a blow by blow description of what went on and how horrible it had been.
I did feel for him and it is horrible when kids are sick, especially babies. However I have been faced with three kids throwing up and also myself at the same time. Yep and being the only one dealing with it all. Not fun at all!
When the twins were little they got sick like Alexander and I had to manage with two babies being sick and then me also getting sick too!
I did sympthaise with him but I told him that he should be grateful it was just one baby this time!
Hubby did a great job and held down the fort in trying times.
So this sickness did not stop until Monday morning. Anything we gave Alexander he threw up.
Monday morning he woke and was just looking limp. He was very floppy and not well.
I tried to get water into him but he guzzled it and then it all came back up. Oh shit….. not good.
I then limited the amount in his sippy cup to try and make sure he kept it down. This worked for a while and then he passed out on my lap. He was snoring and just so tired. Not good at all. So limp still.
A doctor needed to see him to make sure all was okay. I could only get into the local doctors at midday and that for me was not quick enough. I was getting very worried about him.
I got organised and packed a bag and took Alexander and myself to the hospital.
On the drive there he screamed and carried on. He was upset. He was still not well and mummy was taking him somewhere!
I got to the hospital and the lady could not hear me well over his screams and just had to ask for name and date of birth due to him being screaming mess. I waited only a few minutes and then saw the triage nurse. He was lovely and asked about what had happened. I told him what had gone on.
Alexander had his immunisations the Wednesday before, Thursday he was good, Friday he went to daycare and then Saturday night he was sick. I did explain that hubby thought it was related to a bread roll that he fed him as it happened quite quickly after he ate this food. I was not so sure, as the other kids were not sick from the same bread rolls.
The triage nurse took blood for blood sugar levels and then other things. He weighed Alexander but only with me being on the scales with him due to the fact that he was so upset and still screaming (he screamed for at least over 2 hours).
My little boy in hospital. He was not well at all. I am so thankful I took him to get looked at.
His weight on Wednesday the 12th of July was about 11kgs. His weight on Monday 17th of July was 10kgs. He had dropped 1 kg not even in a week. (Note: I had his 18mth health check yesterday (27th July) and his weight was 10.3kgs so not great but at least he is putting the weight back on).
The triage nurse said that his blood sugar levels were very low and could be dangerous. Shit really! Oh no!
He found us a bed in emergency and said that they need to see if Alexander’s levels can be increased while we are there. Patches were also put on the back of Alexander’s hands in case a cannula was needed (this was never used and the patches numb and have a form of anesthesia so that it does not hurt the babies as much).
Alexander was given a lemonade icy pole ice block. He loved it and ate most of it. However he did try and eat the foam cup the nurse made to catch the drips and cried when some of the ice block fell on the floor.
One nurse gave him some diluted apple juice but he did not want this.
Another nurse tried the hydralyte ice blocks but Alexander did not like the flavour.
One nurse Alexander loved. He had a real way with kids and Alexander thought he was funny. After being in emergency for about three hours Alexander had calmed down a bit. He was not great, but had not thrown up.
They did give him a tablet that dissolves in his mouth to help with the nausua. The cool nurse came back and he wanted to see if Alexander’s sugar levels were going up.
I asked the nurse what Alexander’s sugar levels were when we were in triage? I was told that they were 2.2, and this nurse said that is extremely low for a baby or anyone.
After the second test I asked what the levels were? They were 3.3, and this nurse seemed happy that they were going up. He did say that they are still low.
The doctor came to see us again and said that he is happy that he is calmer, and is looking a little better. They did not need to run any further tests and I just had to try his sugar levels up.
The nurse told me the following:
Low blood sugar can cause people to go into a coma
Babies and young kids cannot store the sugar so need a daily amount to keep their levels up.
If things changed to come back immediately.
I left the hospital and it got me thinking. If I had waited till midday to see the regular doctors would he have been even worse? Would he have gone into a coma or maybe had something else happen? I don’t know and it is a scary thought. I am just grateful that I took our little boy to the hospital and got the help we needed.
I do know to give kids food and drink and when they don’t want either it is hard, however I was not thinking about blood sugar at all. This did not even enter my brain that this could be an issue. It makes sense though.
Due to Alexander not eating and drinking his system was really needing sugar.
I got a whole box of lemonade icy poles and he as been eating with honey on bread.
Alex with his big sister Lillian. Lillian was not well and having a day off school. Alex was much better and getting cuddles from his sister.
At the time of writing this post he is much better and back to his usual self. His appetite has come back and he is making up for the lost days when he did not eat.
Now this is frightening and it could have possibly happened to my boy. His levels were 2.2 when we came to the hospital and seeing these numbers, and what can happen sent a chill up spine.
The illness ended up being a terrible episode of gastro, and that I later learnt that Alexander picked up from childcare.
Alexander was much better Tuesday the 18th but the bug hit me too. This past weekend Julia and Lillian have also been sick but with the twins it only lasted 24 hours. The only person that has missed out is hubby.
Blood Sugar levels are super important when ill
I know that you need to eat and drink but if a child refuses to do this the blood sugar drops. My kids are not big people, and also don’t weigh a lot. If they drop any weight they get hit harder I think.
Making sure that your little ones have something to help put the sugars back is ideal. Here are some suggestions:
Store the hydralyte ice blocks in the freezer. They can keep and then you have them handy.
You can buy the hydralyte drink premixed and you can keep in the fridge. This puts back the sugar and electrolytes so great when not well.
If your kids don’t like the flavour of the hydralyte ice blocks you can always use a lemonade icy pole or any flavour that means they will eat it.
Honey toast or adding some honey to drinks.
I don’t like giving kids too much of one thing and I am big believer of moderation in relation to sugar. However if you have not eaten for a while you need it.
I hope this helps create awareness on what could happen.
A HUGE Thanks to the lovely and quick staff at the Blue Mountains Hospital. We are super lucky to have such great health care in Australia and I am very grateful that Alexander got looked after so well. So a big thank you to you all!
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My very tired boy at hospital the other night. He was not very well here and just in pain and exhausted.
Lately there has been one drama after another. Well maybe not a drama but something that is not good.
It all started when Lillian broke her wrist.
Days after Lillian hurt herself my right eye flared up. It was inflamed and looked horrible. Picture a violent red eye that was puffed up and weeping. Yes, I was a picture of glamour.
I woke at 3am on Friday after Lillian hurt her arm and realised my eye was all puffy, weeping and inflamed. In fact, my whole right eye seemed sealed shut. Not good, not good at all!
I took an antihistamine tablet and hoped that it would help my eye go back to normal. Sometimes I have an allergic reaction and my eyeball looks like it is falling out of my face, again not an attractive look.
Unfortunately, it did not work.
Me with my very sore eye. It was horrible and painful. I really just wanted to sleep.
Due to the antihistamine tablet not working I thought I might have conjunctivitis. I went off to the doctor and had all the relevant checks, it was determined that it was bacterial conjunctivitis and I was recommended to get Chlorsig drops to make it all go away.
Now this first doctors visit was on a Friday. I woke up on Saturday my eye was even worse! It was horrible and just a nightmare to say the least.
I tried to go to the local doctors but no one could see me. I ended up at the hospital to get another doctor to check my very sick and sore eye. This doctor decided it was viral conjunctivitis and not bacterial so therefore the Chlorsig drops were not working. The doctor from the hospital recommended some natural tears and other drops from the chemist.
Now armed with my new drops I used them all weekend but come Monday my eye was even worse than the before. Nothing I was doing or was recommended to do use was helping!
Off to yet another doctor I went on Monday morning. This doctor said there was nothing I can do and it will just go away. Geez what a waste of time it was seeing this person! My eye was sore, inflamed, puffy, violently red and constant weeping clear fluid like tears. It was horrible! I was starting to look like someone with a horrible disease.
I then spoke to my sister who told me it sounded like allergic conjunctivitis. I had no idea that you could get allergic conjunctivitis. My sister told me that she took a antihistamine called, “Zaditen” and it solves her issue when it happens to her eyes. I raced out to get some Zaditen drops. I managed to get a pack of the sterile single dose units. The drops were not available due to the manufacturer not having stock available. How annoying I thought, but was thankful that I could get some even though the single dose units were more expensive. I just wanted to fix my very sore eye and at this stage the cost was not the issue, I just hoped that it will fix my eye.
The Zaditen drops helped a bit but my eye still felt very sore and not well. Every time I bent over it throbbed. It also felt like there was something in it although there was nothing.
I decided to use one of my free days without kids to find the underlying cause of my eye problem. I made an appointment to see the local optometrist and they decided that there was something wrong. The optometrist thought it could be blepharitis and this would mean that I would need to see an eye specialist. The specialist is the only person that can prescribe the medicine I would need.
Since I did not have an appointment at the eye specialist that day (Now Tuesday) I just had to sit and wait to get seen. This was very annoying as I had to have my eyes dilated and therefore could not see and it meant that I could not use my laptop or phone for work while I waited. It felt annoying to lose a day without kids waiting at the doctors but I was pleased that I might figure out why my eye was so sick and sore.
Finally, I saw the eye specialist and this is a doctor that I have seen before on other occasions. He took one look at my eye and told me that I had a mild case ofIritis. Oh no notIritis again.
I had a bad case of this when I was studying for my post graduate degree online. I could not see well due to the drops given to me, plus I was in a lot of pain and light made it worse. Reading things online and dealing with horrible headaches and doing work from degree was extremely hard at this time. I was grateful that this time it was a mild case but it did make me angry that all three doctors that I saw could not tell me this. I know that they are not really specialists with eyes and that might be why, although it still annoys me.
My eye specialist told me to take a steroid eye drop and that has helped. I go back for a check-up next week and hope that it is getting better. It feels a little better although I ran out of the drops and had to get more. I ended up having a few days break with the drops so I hope that this does not cause an issue.
During this whole issue with my right eye I ended up getting something in my left eye… yes more annoying. It apparently was something that stems from a virus only kids get and therefore I got it too! Delightful!
As I write this the left eye is cleared of anything horrible, and the right eye feels better than it has been for a long time.
While Lillian was in pain and suffering with her cast, I was suffering with my eye issues, and the baby has been teething for the last five or so weeks. Alexander has been getting his molars and the last 2-3 weeks have been hell.
My very tired boy at hospital the other night. He was not very well here and just in pain and exhausted.
On closer inspection, I have also realised that Alex is getting more teeth plus the molars, he sounds like he was about to lose his voice and had a terrible cough like he has gunk on the back of his throat. He sounded sick. He really was not well at all. I thought that once his teeth broke through the gum all might settle. However, it never happened, he seemed to be getting worse.
He has been in so much pain that he has been trying to smash is face into the floor and hit himself with his hands or any object that is close by. He was a mess. He was not happy and screaming the place down.
I have been keeping up the pain medicine to help him out but whatever I gave him never seemed enough. I gave him Nurofen and then would give him Panadol to keep him happy. I made sure to keep alternating to ensure that he was as pain free as possible but to overdose him either. Hours after I gave Alexander painkillers he would scream, cry, and start hitting his head on the floor. Oh gosh! What to do???
I tried to cuddle him, he wriggled and wriggled and screamed at me.
I put him on the floor to explore and he just laid there and screamed at me.
One day that he did this I decided he looked so tired that he needed to rest. I got him ready for bed, put him in his cot and soothed him the best I could do. I said good night to him and walked out of the room hoping that soon he would go to sleep. However, he worked himself up and he threw up all over his bed and clothes. I cleaned him up, gave the bed fresh sheets and I also needed new clothes to. I even gave him a bath to make him feel better.
He fell asleep while I was cuddling him, I thought that the best place for him to rest was his bed. I put him in his cot and quietly walked out. About an hour or so later I heard screams and crying. I raced in to see what was up. Alexander had thrown up all over his sheets again!
I then tidied up the bed, the baby, gave him yet another bath and got myself new clothes again too. Gosh not good. My poor little boy was very sick.
I took him to the doctors on Monday the 13th March. The doctor we saw said that there was nothing wrong and it was just teething. This doctor said to just keep him hydrated and give him painkillers and all should be good. I asked about the fact that he sounds horse and will lose his voice? What about the throwing up? How about the coughing? I asked if it was a chest or ear infection? Again, I was told no, and that it was just teething.
Alexander was not eating much but I put this down to his sore mouth and getting new teeth. He was completely off his food on Wednesday the 15th of March and threw up again. He refused water, formula, and food all day! I decided to take him to the hospital for a second opinion.
Not only was no painkiller helping, he was now not eating or drinking and was screaming the place down and trying to smash his face due to the pain. I was at a loss of what to do help him.
The nice doctor and team at the hospital saw to us very quickly. The doctor concluded that he had bronchitis. He did think it was viral but gave him some steroids for the chest and lungs and some antibiotics to see if he responded while we were at emergency. He looked better after the medicine and the paediatric doctor that was not on call suggested that a blood test would confirm if antibiotics were needed for more treatment.
When the doctor came to talk to me about a blood test for our little boy he was asleep.
Alexander has had days and days of not sleeping and just screaming, so I really did not want to wake him. He looked so peaceful and I was happy that he was finally sleeping.
The doctor told me that they would need to put a cannula in his hand to get blood so the doctors could test. This doctor then said that it would be very traumatic for the baby and he would need to be wrapped up and held in order to not have him move when they attempt to get blood. Geez this would be horrible.
I would have loved to get the blood test to confirm if something was indeed wrong or not. However, the doctor and I thought it would upset him too much. At this stage, all his vital tests were coming back normal. The doctor said that he was going to give me a script for antibiotics regardless, so I thought it best not to put Alexander through the stress of trying to get blood out of him.
In the end, I chose to leave the hospital after Alexander woke up. I did not get the blood test due to the torture it would cause my little man. I filled the script for the steroids and antibiotics and our little boy now finally seems to be on the mend.
Yesterday, the 18th of March he finally ate something. Yes, he was refusing to eat or to really drink his formula. He was having some water but not much. He ate some mushed up Weet-Bix with some milk. Today the 19th of March he ate some more Weet-Bix as well.
Alexander’s appetite seems to be back. He is still in a bit of pain but is happier and his cheeky self is back.
As you can imagine having a kid who is in pain due to a broken wrist, you’re in pain due to a very sore eye, a personal health scare (Don’t worry all is fine and more on the blog later), and then a sick baby who is screaming all the time has not been fun at all.
I would just love it all to stop and to have some time where no one is sick, I don’t need to go to the doctors or deal with screaming or upset anyone. It will be nice when Alexander can go back to childcare and then I can have some time again for me.
Can I just go somewhere with room service? Maybe a lovely island resort would do the trick.
I think my eye was sore and got worse due to stress. I have read online that anti-inflammatory foods can help, therefore I have made sure my diet has a lot of these, such as olive oil, nuts like almonds, fruits like strawberries, blueberries and oranges.
I know everything on the whole was okay and would be fine, however it felt horrible. Dealing with it all mostly by myself was annoying, exhausting, stressful and hard. It would have been wonderful to hand the kids or other responsibilities to hubby or someone that could help and I would be able to just have a break.
Have you had a time where everything seems like it is going wrong?
Have you felt like it is never ending? I do and at times it felt like it was never going to get better.
Alexander has been eating more, drank more and seems like he is happy. He is his old self again. It is nice to see and I’m grateful that he is not screaming at me constantly and is getting better.
Screaming baby due to teething and also has a cold.
I go into the baby’s room to settle him and make sure he is okay.
I started the process of giving him his medicine so it will take effect before I give him a bottle.
Normally I add some eucalyptus oil to his singlet, give him some painkillers (the painkillers are also helping the cold as well) for the teeth and change his nappy.
All the things needed for our little boy is placed on top of a chest of draws, this way he cannot grab onto it when I am trying to change him. He is now more mobile and also super quick to pick things up. I don’t want him to be sucking on the Vicks container or say the eucalyptus oil or something else! You can imagine how that would end up… a very unhappy boy to say the least.
I thought I grabbed the eucalyptus oil bottle and proceeded to put one bit on one side of the singlet and then the other. However, after I did it I realised it was very sticky. It also did not smell like eucalyptus oil.
Why was it sticky I thought? What did I put on the babies singlet?????
I ended up putting Panadol on the baby… The bottle was right next to the eucalyptus oil. It was dark, I was tired, plus dealing with a screaming baby. I just wanted to get it all done.
In my haste to have the baby feeling better my actions only made things worse. The baby was all sticky due to the Panadol and had to have an outfit change. If you thought that he was screaming before he put on another great performance due to the new clothes.
Panadol is not eucalyptus oil.
You might think this is just one silly thing that happened last week and you are right it was silly but it is not the only one. My next one is very silly indeed.
I was at the shops and thought I should get some more coffee pods for my machine. I saw that there were some new ones and they were strong coffee. Yes, I think I need that. I popped that in the shopping trolley. I paid for it and put it all away once home. I of course got busy and since I had finished off a box of my other coffee was keen to try out the new strong coffee that I had recently purchased.
The new coffee pods that I was hoping to use. However I never had the chance. They don’t fit my coffee machine. Yes very annoying to say the least!
The new box of coffee was opened and I put the pod in the coffee machine to have it fall straight down. It did not stick or stay where it was supposed to. I tried again and of course the same thing happened. Geez what is the issue here. I then tried in desperation to be really quick with the lever so the pod might stay in the spot it is supposed to be in. However, it was not to be. It just slid down into the bin inside like it was used up and I had already drunk my coffee… but I had not!!!!
I then made the realisation that my new strong coffee pods were not for my machine. No they were much smaller and that is why they slid right out, and would not let me drink its magical coffee. I will never know how good it would have been, it will always remain an unknown.
As you can easily see the new coffee pod is much smaller than my usual one on the right. No wonder it did not fit in my machine. Also it is for a different brand of machine so there would be no way to use them.
How could I have been so stupid and silly to purchase coffee pods for a different machine. Why did I not look at this before I bought them? Why did I not see the difference in size when I first tried to put it in my machine?
All these questions might be answered with I really needed a coffee before I did anything or I really needed to go back to bed and get some much needed sleep.
I should have just purchased more of the same. Yes this is my regular coffee that I purchase. I do like to have a change and thought that I got it, however it was more of a surprise that I cannot use it.
I did tell all this to hubby the other night and then he ended up hysterically laughing on the floor of the kitchen. I must say that I had no idea that it was that funny but maybe he is sleep deprived too, so it seemed funnier than it actually was.
What silly or funny things have you done due to being sleep deprived?
