All better

Yeah, the rash is almost completely gone! Great news!


As for me, I'm feeling kind of blah these last few days. Feeling kind of depressed if I'm being honest. Blaming it on financial problems, marital problems, and also I think because my baby is almost 1 and I'll be going back to work soon.

I know I will be better soon, just a down in the dumps kind day.

But I always keep these kind of feelings (especially financial and marital) to myself secret as much as I can in my "real" life. So I'll put on a brave face and hope that this feeling will soon pass. I am certainly looking forward to a group mom and baby party this week too get my mind off these things.

worse today

Here ae some better pictures...the rash is worse today.

At least she isn't itchy, and she's not sick otherwise.

What is that???

I just want to document, what happened today. It turned into a novel....sorry! :) so here is the summary so you don't need to read it all!

• Ohh Has a rash
• Thought it was measles, but its not
  
• Its another, virus, not too worry.
• Not contagious now that the rash has appeared.
  
• Go back next week to see pediatrician if still present
• Symptoms - Tired this week (sleeping more then usual), and rash today.

This morning started like all others. Woke up to a playing baby. Changed her diaper, brought her downstairs and fed her breakfast and a bottle. She was rather fussy, not wanting to eat (even less then normal...I'll have to blog about her poor eating habits another time), but I didn't think much of it.
I decided on short notice to go swimming with her, but upon getting her dressed noticed something alarming.
She had a rash. A rash behind one of her ears. Strange I thought, where is this coming from? Then I noticed it appearing behind her other ear. Now I was getting worried. I brought her downstairs for closer observation with my husband. Then I noticed that there were red spots appearing on her chest and belly, then on her back too. I admit, I was scared. I thought she was having some type of allergic reaction, and was watching closely for any swelling, or difficulty breathing. Thankfully that never happened.
I called my mom (I always do when something is wrong!) and she thought maybe a heat rash. She mentioned measles, but thought more likely heat trash. So I gave her a bath, and thought that the rash stopped spreading further.

For a couple hours hubby, my mom and me tried to figure out what it was. I was sure it wasn't measles, and thought it must be hives or something. But, we couldn't figure out what it would have been. I started googling, while she took a nap, and couldn't find what exactly it was. But was starting to think measles because of the pattern. After much humming and hawwing (hmm is that a word? lol) I called the Dr. and was sent to the pediatrition. I had to be there within 1/2 hour!!! I wasn't sure if it was because it was an emergency, or because of booking issues. Turns out it was the latter. But I am sure you can imagine the chaos as we tried to get her dressed, and gather up some supplies to be out the door in less then 10 minutes, all the while while we discuss what the heck was wrong with her.

We made it there with 1 minute to spare.

He examined her. (she weighed 17.5 pounds which is on the small side, and he mentioned wanting to recheck her weight later on)
First thing he said was, well, it looks like measles. YIKES!!! but its not. WHEW!!!
If it was measles she would be sick, have red eyes, have a fever etc etc.
So it is likely another virus ( which one, he said, didn't matter) and would go away on its own.

The only symptom she's had, has been being unusually tired this week. She has been sleeping her normal 12 hour nights, then taking a three hour nap, and then 2 more hours. I had been worried earlier in the week, but had called the Dr, and was told to keep an eye on her, and if she got worse or I became more worried to call. I still don't know if the 2 are related for sure, but I am highly suspicious. If she's been fighting a virus, then it makes sense that she's been tired.


If she still has it next week, I am too go back in. Fingers crossed that it will be gone. Especially since she's to go to daycare again on Wed, and I'm going to a group baby birthday party with 4 other babies.

So tonight the rash looked worse, but we gave her another bath, and she's sound asleep now. So we will see what tomorrow brings.

Ahh, what a day!
But oh so glad its not Measles!!!
I tried to take pictures, but they didn't turn out so well, but I'll still post a couple.

Happy 11 months!

Today little Ohh is 11 months old. I just can't believe it! 1 more month til she is a year old. How did that happen?!

We had a fun weekend away in Kingston visiting family. I miss it there. Sometimes I wish I was back.

Here are some pictures from a wondeful weekend. It makes me wish we had a pool. Time to get some sleep...stupid cold.

What a week

It went from the crappiest ever to a wonderful much needed relaxing day at a spa with some great momma friends.

I was supposed to have a busy week of storytime, photo shoot for Ohh, swimming, and a little mommy/baby party at my house. Ending today with a pedicure and drinks. But of course things didn't go quite as planned. Our house ended up with some type stomach flu. I was MISERABLE! And trying to take care of my little girl was near impossible for a couple days, especially when she started to get sick. Thank goodness for a wonderful hubby that let me take some gravol and live next to the bathroom when he was home! (even if I wasn't appreciative at the time)

So this is what I learned about babies and having dirrhea. ( I want to document what happend to maybe help some other moms, and also to remind me of what to do, the next time it happens.)

• There is nothing you can do about it. My Dr at least thinks letting it run it's course is the best thing. Giving drugs to stop it aren't good because it's the bodies way of getting rid of some type of infection.
• The most dangerous thing is dehydration. Babies can die from this. You don't need to be super stressed, but you do need to be mindful and use your instincts.

When Ohh was at the peak of her sickness, she was much more tired, she would sleep her regular 11/12 hour night, then take a 3 hour nap 2-3 hours later, then take up to another 1-2 hour nap 2-3 hours after waking up again. I knew that she wasn't in "danger" mode because she was still relatively happy when she was awake, and would still play with her toys. If she hadn't been, then I would have been more worried.
The day she didn't eat so well, she also looked a little "spacey" or "lost". To others I'm sure she looked like a happy, hyper little baby, but DH and I kept saying to each other that something wasn't quite right for her. And we talked about how if we took here to the dr's they would think she was totally fine. Now I know that, that was a sign of some dehydration. And I will know how to deal with it for next time. Luckily though, she ate better the next day and was more herself again.

• In adults, not eating for a day is a good way to give your gut a break, but in babies that isn't an option, so feeding a diet that is full of banana's, apples, rice, starchy foods is the best idea.
• If on formula which is milk based, switching to pedialyte is best because the milk can be yucky on their tummies. (I`m not sure what you would do if they were on breast milk? would you still switch?) We were told to completely stop the formula and feed pedialyte until firm bm's were seen.
  

We gave it in the bottle, and she loved it. She drank quite a bit of it, which was good, and you could soon see her getting more energy, and getting back to her old self. It isn`t very filling, so she was more hungry for solids food!

My only regret in all of this, is that I hadn't called the Dr sooner. I mean I knew there wasn't much I could do, and I knew pedialyte was a good option, but I didn't realize that you replaced it completely from the formula. I had also been too sick to make it too the store, so from now on I will have at least one container on hand just in case for the next time. Next time I will know to start this plan sooner.

So I know have a new found respect when other mothers tell me they are sick (especially with the stomach flu) and have a baby to take care of, whether they are sick or not. It really is the worst thing around. Maybe I`m just a wuss, but I just wanted to sleep, and was glad when she was sleeping more too. Its the only time I`ve wished little Ohh was old enough to take care of herself. Bad mom? No I don't think so, just a sick one!

But now I`m back to feeling wonderful, and oh so glad to be able to mother my little girl.
Good news is, she was in a great mood today, and had a "firm" poop for the first time in 4-5 days. So we restarted formula, and await for the next "movement". If its still firm, then I'm satisfied that we've survived our first but certainly not our last stomach flu!


P.s...we found a daycare!!!! so no more stressing about that!

Picture updates!

Its been a while since I've posted some pictures...so here are some over the last little bit. She she is growing up. Looking at her pictures always make me feel better!
I can't believe she'll be 10 months in just a few days!!! And even more amazing is that her hat is on in all of them. It lasts a whole 2 seconds on her head now! I'm sure she'll have a burned head by the end of the summer.

The second picture is of her in the swing for the first time...she loved it!

Count down - 2 months, 2 weeks

Thats about how much time I have left on my Mat leave. Yuck. That is exactly how I am feeling today...Blah!

The rush is on right now to find daycare. I had a little meltdown on Tuesday. Not sure exactly why, partly because I'm in the 2 week hell of PMS, partly because reality is sinking in, and partly because I'm scared of not finding the right place, let alone a place at all.

So this is what has been happening.

We've figured out for certain that we can't afford the daycare centre. If we took her there we'd have less then $300 a month for groceries, diapers, some bills, and life in general! I think I was living in a fantasy world before thinking that somehow it would magically work out, but no it won't. I had my heart set on a centre and was upset that I was being a bad mom by not being able to give her the best because of money. We'll still be broke with a homedaycare, but at least it will be more managable.
Well I've come around, and found that there can be some good home daycares, I just have to find it.

But my first interview sure didn't help. She was an elderly lady. She was super nice, and I honestly wouldn't mind her to be a babysitter once in a while, but it just wouldn't work out long term.
So I found out from this, that I am looking for a place that will do more activities with them, something that is more like a centre where they are playing and learning a lot more.

I have an interview at this place next week....to me it seems to be a great place. And if you had seen the other place I had the interview at, you'd agree. She has lots of rules/policies, but from looking around that seems pretty common, and my mom said she has to protect herself. I suspect this interview will be different, and she will be interviewing me, just like I am her. Better be on my best behaviour...haha! I hope this turns out to be the one, and I won't need to search anymore.

ahh...I really should get outside when Ohh wakes up from her nap...