The best of the bad

To get through the crap I decided to find the best of the bad. With both kids sick last week the state of
harmony in the home was...well lacking.  Both babies wanted to be on me 24/7 and neither wanted the other close by. One morning in particular was especially special because Hayden was up at 4:40 and Alex not too long after. By 7:00am neither were interested in napping so I scooped both of them up and said, "that's it, into the car we go".  It was a Tuesday morning during rush hr and this was my best of the bad.  So in two hrs I drove out to Burlington and back for a little serenity. The silence trumped the bumper to bumper mess and all were happy (until we got home).

Honestly? Seriously? Really?

So....
It's 7:15am and I've been up since 4:40am because Hayden has the croup and Alex has an ear infection.
Both kids go down at the exact same time with two totally different colds, really? what are the chances of that? Same day.....different colds.

The fun part you ask? Well... the fun part is both kids can still (on top of what they already have) can catch the other's cold. yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss

So I told all germs as both kids sat on my lap crying and snotting to back off and go find another kid to infect because if the babies haven't had enough, Marcus and I have.

Good news.. Hayden can fight the croup REALLY well and only needed one doese of steroids. Maybe Alex will dodge this round of croup like he did this winter. (they are holding hands right now exchanging snot as we speak, FAT CHANCE!)

off to go for a drive as this is a |"pray to god they fall asleep in the car" kind of morning.

Diarrhea, constipation and puke...oh my!

Ready? Sing with me....

Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road
follow, follow, follow, follow,  follow the yellow brick road....

If ever oh ever a poop there was the poopers of mine are ones because.

because. because, because because becauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse

cause all of the wonderful poops there was.

We're off to deal with the poopers, the wonderful poopers of oz.

Hayden - Diarrhea running down his leg on to his foot. bight yellow - like the yellow brick road.
Alex - So contipated his head is about to pop off and he keeps throwing up because he's so full and backed up.


But right now... they both sleep.

A new day...

Ok,
First I drove on the spare tire in the snow to the Dr. first thing this morning because as I expected yesterday, Hayden started to wheeze in the night. Now Hayden has brochitis and Alex not only has that but also has an ear infection now.  So some puffers, wrestling with inhalers and a meds later they both seem like they are feeling a little better.  Hayden is still quite wheezy so I'll just keep a close eye on him.

So drop both kids off for a nap (With Claire still helping me) I go off to fix the tire.  When Canadian tire told me yesterday that they didn't have my tire I actually was THAT person and said "Aren't you Canadian TIRE? Is that not the essence of their name? - anyway... that is a whole other rant you already read.

So Honda keeps my car and gives me a free rental because they too now know my sob story and the tears they got on the phone the night before sure helped! lol

I think that is it for the latest and greatest. Now I'm off to down some wine!

Who cries at Canadian Tire?

So there I am standing in Canadian Tire CRYING with five big ginos standing around me in the Auto department conforting me.

But first let us rewind to Sunday morning.

Sunday morning up and recovered from the 24hr flu and on the way to the walk in clinic with Alex.  The Dr. told me that his lungs were clear and to just keep an eye on him.

That evening I wasn't at all comfortable with the way he was breathing so the next day I went straight to Sick Kids Emergency.  Within my first hr there I noticed he started going down hill fast (wanting to sleep, not very responsive, developing fever etc.  So again, I bring it to the nurses attention who basically just don't want to hear it because there are 500 kids throwing up left right and centre.

So once again, I have to rage out on the emerg staff before they realize that I'm right and bump poor Alex to the top of the priority list.

24hs later afer a few fits, meds, oxygen and steroids Alex is showing signs of improvement and was digonosed with bronchitis.  I learned that 80% of kids will have some form of bronchitis before their second birthday and that most likely the virus that caused Haydens pneumonia, caused this (surprise surprise).

So they send me home.  Keep in mind now that I haven't slept since Thursday and was so tired at this point I was seeing things and stumbling around like I had a few (but without the party).

Anyway, get home hug Hayden and within moments notice that his cough which seemed harmless 24hrs prior is now making him gag.  Alight, I thought.... I'm not comfortable with how both kids are acting so first thing in the morning I will take them both now to get checked over so I can sleep at night. (Sorry, so I can hope to sleep at night).

That's when we discover we have a flat tire and the snow begins to fall.  Marcus is up to his eye balls in work and with Frank can Claire helping us out (THANK GOD) I was able to hop in the car and run it up to the Canadian Tire.

So tonight.. I'm at Canadian Tire explaining to them the urgency in getting this tire fixed when they tell me they don't have the tire I need in stock, nor does any location. Ok.... so I call around and NOBODY including the Honda dealership can help me, everyone is out.  So Joanna looks the mechanic in the eye and starts to cry.  Ohhhh that's right. I'm sure the customers standing behind me LOVED it!

So as I was saying... five big guys come from the back and all decide they are going to try and help me come up with a plan. Hilarious!

So home on my donut, I'll drop it off tomorrow after I have the kids checked out...again.

Both kids now asleep,  I'm feeling a little better about Alex...Hayden is another story but we'll take care of him tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Good night Irene.

Awesome

You know that feeling after throwing up 10 times in a row when you just want to die a quick death because your body had just been put through a violent and unnatural torture? Well... take that feeling, add one teaspoon of it being the middle of the night (all night long), one cup of a sick baby that can't breath and will only sleep ON YOU (between barfs) and one cup of a husband that is high fiving you as he passes you in the hall with the same flu.

That's right. Friday night BOTH Marcus and I went down with the 24hr flu and for the love of god it was awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssome.

Now I sit here on Sunday clearly not recovered from my even worse sleep deprevation debating to take Alex to Sick Kids because he has had a terrible cough for two days and is just not himself.  I debate Sick Kids because I don't trust Dr. anymore after what had happened with Hayden.

So there you have it.

As I said....

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOME!

WOW

Not sure how to begin this post. Ticked off, sad, scared, did i mention TICKED OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm going to point form this for you because if I get going I won't stop.

1) Boxing day: Take Hayden to emergency because he is breathing funny, has a high fever and coughing.  TOLD THEM he hs breathing funny but I was assured his lungs, throat and ears were clear and it was just a cold.

2) Dec 28 I go back to emergency because he still has a fever, bad cough, no appitite etc.  I tell them again he is still not breathing well but I'm told it's because he has tonsillitis and it's the sound of the air passing around this large tonsils. We are sent home with antibiotics.

3) Dec 30 I go to my family Dr. just to check things out. No fever for two days but he still has a cough and is breathing funny. (or so I point out to them). I'm told his tonsils are not better and ears and throat and lungs are clear. No wheezing etc.

4) Jan 1 - he pukes but no fever. (after a coughing a fit)

5) Jan 2- he pukes but no fever (after a coughing fit)

6) Jan 3- he pukes with fever that came and went quickly

7) Jan 4- he pukes after a coughing fit but no fever

8) Jan 5- I decided to give him a steam in the bathroom which results in him coughing (not puking) up a ridiculous amount of mucous.  I studied the contents and was more than convinced that it was in fact from his lungs and NOT his tummy this time.

9) I take him to our family dr who again tells me he is not wheezing but agrees to a chest x-ray that I had to request!

Long story short...the poor kid had:

Tonsillitis
Ear Infection
and wait for it...
Pnemonia

ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Did I mention that on DEC 26 I TOLD THE DR THAT HE WAS NOT BREATHING LIKE HE NORMALLY DOES????????

"Dr's" - yeah right.

How to heal them...

This section of the blog is to talk about the many colds and issues our little petri dishes encounter as they grow.  Everyone is asking me if things are ok with my little one Alex (now 6 weeks old).  Honestly, besides the lack of sleep we are fantastic and now I know why.  The trail has been blazed by Hayden (now 16 months) so everything is coming as second nature.  My continuous challenges are with the "Trail blazer" himself.  From colds to separation anxiety, we continue to learn.

This is what Marcus and I learned about diaper rashes and diareah this week... (yup, im talking about poop so proceed with caution).

Here it goes....
Hayden had REALLY strange poops for about three weeks but they got progressively worse as time went on.  Not runny but a little too soft serve to be normal (I warned you).

Anyway, we finally figured out that his poops were terrible because he was either teething or caught a virus, or both! Monster awful molars are coming in and are a bitch to work through.  Now.... dealing with the pain of teething is under control as you may know (from my post talking about the homeopathic treatment).

We learned that there is increased acid in a babies mouth during teething which can burn and cause a diaper rash when coming out the other end.  Up until this last week Hayden never had a diaper rash to this was all very new.

Well... we did what any good parent would do and we made sure we wiped down the area nice and clean with our baby wipes, mistake number 1. Apparantly baby wipes are a no no as are soap on the rashy area because the chemicals can irritate the rash or leave a film of bacteria. (side thought... WHY WOULD BABY WIPES BE PUT OUT ON THE MARKET THAT CAN IRRITATE A BABIES BUM???? #)@(#)$*#&@)

We also lathered the area in Penaten cream and tried to keep the area as dry as possible by airing it out as often as we can.  You are pretty much playing with fire to let a toddler run around bare bumed though.

Anyway, long story short the poops were not getting better and the rash was not healing, if anything it was getting worse.  So after some research I learned that Hayden did not have diaper rash but a yeast infection caused by bacteria (caused by his many bad poops mixed with BABY WIPES). Apparantly it's a common mistake because diaper rash and yeast infections look very similar.  The major clue was no matter our efforts with the bum creams, nothing seems to heal it.

SO, here is the key.  We were instructed to pick up a yeast and anti fungal cream and the highest concentration of zinc to use together on the area.  The yeast cream twice a day (morn and night) and the zinc to be used as a protective barrier after every bum change.  We are also cleaning the area with just a cloth and water and it seems to be letting up.

We also kept his diet bland with lots of bread and yogurt and that seems to be helping his tummy.

So my long drawn out point here is....

Now when Alex gets a diaper rash, soft serve poops or a yeast infection I'll know exactly what do.

and we continue to learn...

Homeopathy

These products have saved my life over the last year and a half.
Safe, natural and quick working alternatives if you are tired pumping your child with antibiotics
tylonal, motrin etc.

Here it goes:

"Earache by Homeocan" - This will not only nip the ear infection in the bud but will also provide INSTANT pain reliefe.  This product has saved my life now a few times.  Kids love the blueberry taste as well.

"Teething by Homeocan" - Once again this product is saving me now as the molars are coming in! Instant pain relief. Kids love the orange taste

"Flu Buster by Homeocan" Gets rid of sniffles, fever, aches, pains. LOVE IT - Berry flavour

These products can be found at most Loblaws in the pharmacy or at alternative drug stores such as Hoopers, Smiths and Thompsons.

For those moms out there who prefer the alternatives than I HIGHLY suggest picking up this book:
"Homeopathy - a manual for mothers".
A manual for taking care of yourself and baby, nautrally.

You can buy this product on line at:  http://www.homeopathylife.com/A_Manual_for_Mothers.html