Wednesday, July 9, 2014
My little performer
Reflux and Zantac
My littlest daughter has been having many signs of reflux so the doctors tried Zantac for a week. I didn't think it was helping she still was having trouble sleeping and would wake up screaming in pain. She would arch her back and lay all over us. Her voice was also hoarse and she was hardly eating food.
When we went back for the recheck she prescribed a higher dose of Zantac. I was sure that this would not help and we would need to see a gastroenterologist. I have been pleasantly surprised. The first day on the new dose she was asleep by 6pm and slept on and off until 8am. This had never happened in her life. She started eating again and while she is still hoarse she has been a much happier baby and sleeping better.
Today was her followup appointment and she had gained almost a pound in a week. She is fifteen months old and still weighed the same as she did at 9 months old. This doctor recommends continuing the Zantac for until her 18 month checkup and then we will reevaluate if she can maybe go down to a lower dose. I hope this means that all my children are on the road toward being healthy. Her sister had been diagnosed at three with GERD and I've been told my dad and nephew have it as well.
When we went back for the recheck she prescribed a higher dose of Zantac. I was sure that this would not help and we would need to see a gastroenterologist. I have been pleasantly surprised. The first day on the new dose she was asleep by 6pm and slept on and off until 8am. This had never happened in her life. She started eating again and while she is still hoarse she has been a much happier baby and sleeping better.
Today was her followup appointment and she had gained almost a pound in a week. She is fifteen months old and still weighed the same as she did at 9 months old. This doctor recommends continuing the Zantac for until her 18 month checkup and then we will reevaluate if she can maybe go down to a lower dose. I hope this means that all my children are on the road toward being healthy. Her sister had been diagnosed at three with GERD and I've been told my dad and nephew have it as well.
Child Fire Safety and Lying
When I was a little child my parents taught my sister and I how to use matches to light fires. My parents philosophy was that we wouldn't be curious and use matches without permission because we already knew how. My mother had read news articles about how little kids hid in their bedrooms lighting matches and caught houses on fire. Her strategy worked and I always liked it.
Fast forward to my own children. I was determined to teach them how to safely use fire for its intended purposes. My son has always showed the most interest and would have great visits to his grandpa Wesley's house who does tree trimming. They would have great big bonfires and he learned how to do all that as little as he could pick up logs.
This year on the 4th of July since he is ten he was allowed to help light some of the little fireworks and it was all fun. Our neighbour whose children were away even let him light some of his fireworks since he was lonely. I thought all was going good until my eldest smelled smoke in her brother's room. She immediately came and told us. He tried to say that the smell was just from some bottle rockets that he had kept after they had been lit and the smell was still on them. There was no way this was the truth the smell was too strong.
Eventually the truth came out that he had taken our new box of matches and was lighting them since he liked the smell and was putting them into a lemon juice bottle after he blew them out. Yay at least he had done it safely but I'm glad his sister had alerted us before something tragic happened.
We were so sad that he had lied to us. He used to be the child that prided himself on always telling the truth. He was so remorseful and cried to the point of hyperventilating. His dad had him give us anything fire related in his room and he said he had. He then cried and cried and seemed to totally freak out. I had him practice deep breathing with me to try to calm him down. He always seems to be so much harder on himself than anyone else is. He just kept freaking out until he reached into his toy box and pulled out the box of matches that his sister had told us he had. At this point he started crying that he was going to die. Since me hugging him wasn't calming him down enough his dad had him stand in the corner and told him to count to 1000 by the time he got to about 150 he was calm enough to talk to us about it.
We explained again to him what the issues are if you play with fire. Today I showed him videos on fire safety and what could happen. He wrote 150 word essay on lying and fire safety and he is grounded from fire related things for a month.
It was quite a bit unnerving to see him freak out so much over being found out. I didn't know if he was really that upset or if he was just trying to get out of trouble. I guess I'm suspicious because I remember being a little girl and crying really hard whenever I accidentally broke one of my mom's china in the hopes that she wouldn't be angry at me. I pray so much for my kids that they will grow up to be good people.
Fast forward to my own children. I was determined to teach them how to safely use fire for its intended purposes. My son has always showed the most interest and would have great visits to his grandpa Wesley's house who does tree trimming. They would have great big bonfires and he learned how to do all that as little as he could pick up logs.
This year on the 4th of July since he is ten he was allowed to help light some of the little fireworks and it was all fun. Our neighbour whose children were away even let him light some of his fireworks since he was lonely. I thought all was going good until my eldest smelled smoke in her brother's room. She immediately came and told us. He tried to say that the smell was just from some bottle rockets that he had kept after they had been lit and the smell was still on them. There was no way this was the truth the smell was too strong.
Eventually the truth came out that he had taken our new box of matches and was lighting them since he liked the smell and was putting them into a lemon juice bottle after he blew them out. Yay at least he had done it safely but I'm glad his sister had alerted us before something tragic happened.
We were so sad that he had lied to us. He used to be the child that prided himself on always telling the truth. He was so remorseful and cried to the point of hyperventilating. His dad had him give us anything fire related in his room and he said he had. He then cried and cried and seemed to totally freak out. I had him practice deep breathing with me to try to calm him down. He always seems to be so much harder on himself than anyone else is. He just kept freaking out until he reached into his toy box and pulled out the box of matches that his sister had told us he had. At this point he started crying that he was going to die. Since me hugging him wasn't calming him down enough his dad had him stand in the corner and told him to count to 1000 by the time he got to about 150 he was calm enough to talk to us about it.
We explained again to him what the issues are if you play with fire. Today I showed him videos on fire safety and what could happen. He wrote 150 word essay on lying and fire safety and he is grounded from fire related things for a month.
It was quite a bit unnerving to see him freak out so much over being found out. I didn't know if he was really that upset or if he was just trying to get out of trouble. I guess I'm suspicious because I remember being a little girl and crying really hard whenever I accidentally broke one of my mom's china in the hopes that she wouldn't be angry at me. I pray so much for my kids that they will grow up to be good people.
Trip to the Child Psychiatrist
My two oldest children had been having some behavioural concerns that I felt should be evaluated. My daughter had an obsession with boys and my son seemed to get sad and mad very easily. I wasn't sure if this was normal for their age or if there was more going on. I was waiting in anticipation hoping that this person would understand me and my children and give useful information.
The day of the appointment came. My two oldest children helped me bring in their little sisters and seemed quite happy. My son immediately took his three year old sister to the play area and I held the sleeping baby. They all acted so good. My son sat in the play area reading a book to a younger boy. I was so very proud of him acting so very nice. My eldest daughter sat next to me like a perfect little lady. Her hair was done nicely since she let me do it. My little three year old danced around the room.
We went in the back and I almost felt sad having to relate why we were there since they had all been doing so well. It was nice to see that he had at least read about my daughters issues and she seemed to feel comfortable talking with him. We waited in the waiting room while he talked to her and then he brought us back to explain his initial findings. He told me that while she may be delayed in her learning this is the time to push her because her brain is growing so we want her to learn as much as possible. He recommended some medicine to help her impulse control.
When it was my son's turn I explained to him about my husband's issues with mental health and how much Prozac had improved our lives since he started taking it. I told him I was worried that my son might have some of the sad and angry traits that my husband has and I do not want him to grow up depressed. He wanted to talk to my son so we went back in the waiting room. My three year old did a performance as Elsa singing "Let It Go" from Frozen for the entire waiting room including her ending statement of, "thank-you for watching my show guys." After we went back the psychiatrist recommended that my son get involved in sports like soccer since he has been missing out on friends since we started homeschooling last year. He did not think it seemed like anything major yet.
Sometimes I worry that my oldest two were messed up by us since we did not know when they were little that my husband needed medication to balance him out. He would cycle from normal to hating us about once a month. They had to live through the yelling. While this all seems tame compared to my childhood I do wish that things could have been different. My husband is a kind loving father most of the time who comes home at lunch time and after work. I guess all parents probably worry that they didn't do everything perfect. I just hope that they all grow up well.
The day of the appointment came. My two oldest children helped me bring in their little sisters and seemed quite happy. My son immediately took his three year old sister to the play area and I held the sleeping baby. They all acted so good. My son sat in the play area reading a book to a younger boy. I was so very proud of him acting so very nice. My eldest daughter sat next to me like a perfect little lady. Her hair was done nicely since she let me do it. My little three year old danced around the room.
We went in the back and I almost felt sad having to relate why we were there since they had all been doing so well. It was nice to see that he had at least read about my daughters issues and she seemed to feel comfortable talking with him. We waited in the waiting room while he talked to her and then he brought us back to explain his initial findings. He told me that while she may be delayed in her learning this is the time to push her because her brain is growing so we want her to learn as much as possible. He recommended some medicine to help her impulse control.
When it was my son's turn I explained to him about my husband's issues with mental health and how much Prozac had improved our lives since he started taking it. I told him I was worried that my son might have some of the sad and angry traits that my husband has and I do not want him to grow up depressed. He wanted to talk to my son so we went back in the waiting room. My three year old did a performance as Elsa singing "Let It Go" from Frozen for the entire waiting room including her ending statement of, "thank-you for watching my show guys." After we went back the psychiatrist recommended that my son get involved in sports like soccer since he has been missing out on friends since we started homeschooling last year. He did not think it seemed like anything major yet.
Sometimes I worry that my oldest two were messed up by us since we did not know when they were little that my husband needed medication to balance him out. He would cycle from normal to hating us about once a month. They had to live through the yelling. While this all seems tame compared to my childhood I do wish that things could have been different. My husband is a kind loving father most of the time who comes home at lunch time and after work. I guess all parents probably worry that they didn't do everything perfect. I just hope that they all grow up well.
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