Ouchy Tummies (As Em says it)

This has been a busy weekend for this mama.  I have a whole houseful of sickies this weekend.  My poor babies have been having vomiting and diarrhea for days.  Its been a struggle to get them to even try to drink anything.  There has been a constant flow of laundry and hand sanitizer in hopes I stay healthy enough to take care of them.  Andy had to stay home from work yesterday as he joined them on the sick bed but decided to go to work today (I just hope he doesn't have a big structure fire with no energy to work very hard).  Days like today I am grateful I am a pediatric nurse, these child illnesses I am fairly immune to because of my high exposure rate at work. 

When kids are sick with vomiting and diarrhea and not drinking very much, do you know when to take them to the doctor or hospital?  You can keep your kids at home and save your co-pay as long as they are still playful and urinating.  Keep them home and comfortable and offer them water, pedialyte, or a Popsicle.  My kids (and most kids I've ever taken care of) hate pedialyte.  It tastes bad on a good day so needless to say it tastes bad when your sick.  Gatorade seems like a good supplement, but it's not.  The electrolytes are balanced for an athletic adult male, not for a little child.  So what can you do?  Try the pedialyte frozen pops.  They taste better and kids think its a treat! 

If your child has not urinated in 12 hours or is getting lethargic, then it might be time for the doctors or the hospital.  Dehydration can be dangerous if not addressed.  It can lead to seizures and mental changes.  Once in the hospital they will rehydrate until your child starts eating more.

Emily's Fever update

We went to the doctor today and he thinks it's just a virus.  Our pediatrician (Dr. Shah for all you who also go to see him will probably agree) always says the same thing when kids have a sore throat.  It's a virus, give her some ice cream and she will get over it.  Thanks, almost not worth my co-pay.  Finally just before bed time I got her fever down and she ate her first meal of the day.  After offering her ice cream, milk shakes and mac and cheese the crazy girl decides what she wants is broccoli of course!  But then she also ate two bowls of mac and cheese too so I could get some calories in her.  So she is now in bed with no fever.  I can only hope it will last.

Illness at the Kennison's

I am a pediatric nurse.  I think, most of the time, I'm a pretty good one too.  At work I don't loose my cool when a kid has a high temperature, stops breathing, or has a seizure.  There isn't much I haven't dealt with while on the job.  Here though, in my own home it is all a different story.  I thought asthma was the worst thing in the world when Will was wheezing a couple months ago and I had to torture him with albuterol treatments.  My little fishy was so brave and took it well.  With the worst winter now behind us, I thought it would have taken with it all of its illnesses, fevers and ailments.  I was sadly mistaken.  As soon as I got home from work last night Emily started acting sick, had the shivers and was cold.  We put her to bed with Motrin and a fever of 101.  I checked her twice before I finally went to bed and she was fine.  This morning when we woke up she was at 103 and I haven't gotten it down all day.  Now, I am freaking out.  With a temp of 104.6 things are getting a little too crazy for my home.  Taking her to the doctor in 30 minutes.  It is so funny how all my expertise and training means nothing to me when I am at home.

Five on Friday

1.  This week was another week of illnesses in our family.  First I was sick, then Will, now Emily.  Hopefully it will skip right over Andy.  I am really looking forward to a couple months of great health.  It may be a dream, but I think we have earned it at this point.  Although we have been staying home a lot, the weather has been so great, we have been out enjoying our backyard.  I am so glad to have this great oasis at home!

2.  It has been almost a week since our potty training adventures with Emily.  I am SO thrilled to report she is definitely potty trained!  She has had only one day time accident and a couple at night but even that has been a few days.  I am so proud of her!

3.  As her potty training present we went to get her a tea set.  We painted it earlier this week at Color me Mine.  It was fun and she absolutely loves it!  We picked up the finished product today and she had to play tea party right away.  The gift she really wanted was a ride on a train.  I thought it was funny, she is obsessed with trains right now.  We are going to take her in April for a little train ride.  It should be fun.

4.  We have yet to hear news on Andy's captains test.  It is getting frustrating as we are so anxious to know how he did, but as of today people have started receiving fail notices.  So no news today was the greatest news.  So keep your fingers crossed for another few days at least.


5.  Will has gone from just learning how to crawl and stand a few short weeks ago to being a down right monkey.  There is no limit to what this boy can do.  All the minor safety measures I had been ignoring such as the shoulder straps on his high chair, now are a requirement.  He is going to be a handful!

A day that never seems to end...

My little ones are not the healthiest little beings right now.  When I woke up this morning I knew Will was worse than he was the previous day.  He is such a sweet boy he was still happy and playing despited his inability to breath.  The only real indication of how bad he really felt was his food strike.  Yes, my little fatty on a food strike.  Weird. 
So for two hours Will and I hung out in the waiting room of the Pedicenter waiting to see a doctor to get him some Albuterol and antibiotics.  Forunately Dr. Lagunda was the doctor on call, a friend from work of whom I have a great working relationship with.  She did a wonderful job getting us in and out fast with a breathing treatment already done.  The bad part was Will hated the breathing machine.  And the prescription is every 4 hours for 7 days.  I can picture myself now, torturing myself and Will to tears to let the little guy breath.  This is going to be a bad week. 
After all that time in the urgent care I came home to eat dinner and get dressed and head off to work.  Where I am now, desperately trying to stay awake until I get home at 8am, yet sick with worry about my two babies at home. 
Emily seems to be feeling better today.  Her fever has stopped and the antibiotic seem to be helping the ear ache.  She was a much happier girl today.  On the brighter side of this illness is it has brought back naps to my house!  From the day we brought Will home, Emily has given up napping.  But this week we have had nap time everyday and I get a much needed break during the day.  It is amazing!  I hope that continues!