Over the course of the last school year Ryan complained about being tired - a lot. We chalked it up to him finding a complaint that gets results. If he's really, really tired he can go lie down in the nurses office. But it persisted. So in addition to talking about the other behavior stuff with Ry when we visited his Doc in March, we mentioned his 'not sleeping' complaint. He claimed he wasn't sleeping at night. Other than chatting with Kyle for a while before drifting off, and continually getting out of bed earlier than I'd like, I wasn't seeing it. And so, didn't really believe him. But I took his plight seriously enough to chat with the doc. She was immediately concerned - she saw a link between nighttime and daytime (this is why she gets large chunks of our money and holds a medical degree - let me test my software thank you very much). She gave us some pointers on changing up our bedtime routine - and that if that didn't do it she wanted a sleep study done.

So we turned off all things with screens (TV, games, computer) at 7:30 with bedtime at 8:00. At 8:00 we actually read something (currently the 2nd Harry Potter), then we say goodnight. Most nights they are both asleep by 8:30 - sometimes they chat until 9 (after being reminded several times that they are supposed to be asleep. Ry tends to get up around 6am - sometimes much earlier.

After a week or so I also gave them 2" memory foam mattress toppers. This resolved the 'my mattress is lumpy' complaint. In fact Ryan declared for the first time ever that he slept 'GREAT' - but that was just once. Then he went right back to 'i'm not sleeping'. So I told him that if he finds himself lying awake at night, unable to get back to sleep, to come down and sleep with us. So that I know. And he did. He came down one night around 12:30 - snuggled right in. And rolled over. And snuggled in. And turned the other way. Repeat over the course of 4 hours. Yes, he really was having trouble. So I send email off to the Dr and she ordered the sleep study.

We went last night - treated it like an adventure :o) he actually enjoyed himself I think (me, not so much - lumpy foldy mattress for me combined with waking up every time the tech came in... i'm a little cranky and tired today).

From jul09

We won't get the results for a while I think. The Dr didn't actually tell us how long, but from what I'm reading I'm expecting a week, maybe two. Mostly, she's looking for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Which is usually caused in children by abnormalities in the mouth. Like tonsils and adenoids that are too big, or swollen, or just don't fit quite right. I'm reading a lot about how this is resolved by removing this offending bits of tissue. On the one hand, if this is what is causing so much trouble at school - I would love to have an answer. On the other hand, I'm not sure I want my little guy to have surgery yet. (Even though we know several kids who have already undergone this ...) I don't know if the CPAP machine is an option for him or not. His Dr and I haven't had this part of the discussion yet. So I'll wait for the results and go from there. In the meantime I have all these wicked cute pics of him LOL

From jul09

From jul09

"tooth hurty" :o)


---

Kyle had his consult visit with the pediatric dentist yesterday. Love her! (and then I have guilt because I love our regular dentist too!).

So his 6 year molars are growing in under the baby teeth in front of them. The baby tooth on the left is shot - the root is gone. The one on the right is well on it's way to the same fate. The prognosis? Both baby teeth need pulling :-( but if we just pull them, the molars will move there and the later molars that are *supposed* to go there will have nowhere to grow into. So we need to coordinate with the orthodontist to see if he can handle some sort of gear to keep the space, and maybe even push the 6-years back a little.

We think we can get by with this ordeal with just nitrous-oxide. Kyle was pretty easy going about the whole thing - of couse all he knows is that there is something interesting about his new back teeth that people keep wanting to look at them. And at some point we will 'fix' them. She also showed him the machine for the 'silly gas' and the scented nose cover too. He chose vanilla- because I told him it would smell like cookies :o) She said he'll be conscious and aware - just relaxed. Like an adult having a glass of wine first. Now there's a thought - next time I need to have a filling I'll just have myself a glass of wine first ;o)

Ky's appointment is in late March - unless they have a cancellation and they'll let me know if they can do it earlier. Keep your fingers crossed!

I sat down on a stool instead of the floor (which is still drying from Ryan's - ummm - output last night) to read to the boys for bedtime. Something Daddy usually does, but they requested me. I sit down, Ky asks to see the cover and 'splat', 'splat', 'splat' - Kyle is vomiting from the top bunk to the floor. Lovely. At least he missed me - mostly. Apparently the bottom of my pants weren't off scott free, but it didn't come raining down on my head - and for that I'm thankful.

I've got him camped out on the couch - I don't want him trying to come down the ladder 30 times tonight. He's got his 'bucket'. We should be good. Poor guy - I so thought he would miss this one since he's got strep again. No word from the Dr office on Ryan - which means the short test was negative. They do a full two day test too - to be sure. So we may still get a call on Thursday.

Excuse me now- I have to go flip coins with Steve for who is staying home with the diaper girl and the pukey boy tomorrow.

Ryan's got the stomach thing. Steve's got the stomach thing. Hopefully, most of the yuck is out now. Ewwww. What a night! Kyle made it into school though.

Waiting on a call to see if Ry has strep - figured it was good to rule it out. Also chatted with the Dr covering for ours this week (she's not back from baby leave until January) re: Ryan's acting out/regression at school. Apparently there are some people that 'carry' strep - meaning they get it and carry it around without symptoms. Kinda like his stuffy nose and tiredness a few weeks back? He said wait for this result and don't let them put him on amox again if it is positive. But in addition to that, it'd be worth it to start down the road of a counselor of some sort. So I'll call and make appointments for both boys to see Dr. B - Ky's overdue for his visit anyway.

Kyle got up today and sat down for cereal. Ate about 3 bites then came to me and told me his nose was running, he has a headache and his throat hurts. Ugh. He went back to bed. After about an hour and a half he got up - head feels better, still stuffy and throat still hurts. An hour after that the headache is back. *sigh* we went to get another culture. It was positive again. This poor kid - it happened this was last year too. And yes, I threw out his toothbrush last time. He's been off the kephlax (?) a little over a week... so now he's on Zithromax (or azithromycin I believe). At least he's totally awesome about taking meds ;o)

So Ky and Holly will be home tomorrow. Which should make getting Ryan on the bus very interesting - I may skip the impossible and just drop him off instead.

Holly is feeling much better this morning. She slept until 3:30am at which point she drank 4 ounces and went back to sleep. She threw up about 45 minutes later - but it wasn't a 'full void' or multiple heaves. It was a quiet thing, and she didn't even wake up. I pulled out the blanket that got hit a minor bit and let her sleep. There wasn't enough to wake her up for. She woke again at 6:30. She's had 4 more 4 ounce bottles and is now napping quietly. Yay! At lunch time she can have something light - but I think the tummy is OK now. It's moved lower in the digestive tract - if you get what I mean ;o)

Today Ky woke up with a headache, stuffiness, minor sore throat and a tummy ache. He went back to bed for an hour or so and now says he's just stuffy with a tiny sore throat. Hoping it's not 'Return of the Strep" ... but I let him skip Sunday School and church. We'll see how he feels at lunch - if he wants to go with me for the Christmas parade - the Cub Scouts have a 'float' (aka flat bed truck with hay bales on it).

I pulled apart the framing that we had done in the playroom->bedroom project and started putting it together better this morning. I'll try to get Steve to cut some more for me later (I have an aversion to the saw for some reason and Holly is napping right above the room - so it's not a good time for me to learn it... ) then I'll see if I can get the wall done today. I'd really, really like to get the door in sometime soon, and start wallboarding... the lack of progress is killing me.

:o)

So I called the Dr today to talk about the scarey breathing - and the nurse had me come in to have Holly's ears looked at. Her ears are fine of course :o) but the Doc didn't like the story I was telling, so she sent us for Xrays just in case. And hey - there's a tiny spot in one of her lungs that *could* be an infection. Small, but there. The radiologist at the hospital will have a look, and may very well call it negative, but the Dr was more comfortable treating her - especially with the funny breathing and the week and a half of cold/nose running/ coughing stuff. So we have some tasty, pink stuff that she sucked right down. Nice - at least I don't have to hold her still.

The Xray wasn't so bad. Once upon a time, Kyle had bronchialitis and had to be dropped into this plastic, medievil looking thing that held his arms straight up. This time, the tech just had me hold her (with a big ole apron over me). For the side view he had to help me hold Ms Squirmy :o) but it was all done without the torture device which remained covered in the corner. Phew!

For as long as I can remember I have been anxious about riding as a passenger in a car. Even while riding with my best friend while in High School (she's 3 years older) she would pick on me - "you're going to push your foot through the floor, Jen" as I unconsciously press my foot on the imaginary break pedal.

Years later, I can cope with almost anyone driving - taxi drivers still give me lots of stress, but I've learned to sit in the back and focus on something else and all is good. I've learned over the years to accept that Steve is not going to drive us off the road :o) I'm most comfortable with Steve - which makes sense. He's the main other person that I would be in a car with.

In recent years my anxiety has gotten worse (about all kinds of things - getting old and decrepit is one of them, but that's a total tangent). It doesn't consume me, and I do what I call 'beat it down with a stick and shove it back in it's box' - basically it's an internal dialog based on logic. I'm mostly a logical person, and this works for me. Mostly. But I have to be awake for that to work... huh? You may be wondering what sleeping would have to do with this....

Our family travels back and forth to our home town many times a year. A chunk of our family and our friends are there. It's a 4 hour drive if we don't stop. As long as I'm awake and functional (and it's not raining - rain is another factor) I'm fine with Steve driving. As soon as I start to drift off though I am just *Positive* that he's falling asleep at the wheel and what is normally just an anxious feeling immediately escalates into panic. Why? I'm thinking it's because I'm in that in between state of mind and I can't control the feeling the way I normally would. But in my mind we are drifting into other lanes, driving off the road, crashing. Is it worse because we have children now? Maybe.

Either way - today I had my physical and I raised this concern to the Dr (a new, young female who just joined the practice that I think I'm really going to like)... She summarized it as 'Your husband's driving makes you anxious?' Hee hee. In a simplistic way - sure. But really it would be whoever was driving at that point. She's prescribing a 'calming medication' for me. Of course I can't take it and breastfeed - but we're not going down again for another few weeks. Worst case, I discard the milk if I take it. But things have been slowing down in that area - so we may not even have to deal with it. We'll see what happens. (don't worry, I don't have plans of discontinuing breastfeeding just so that I can take this medication). But if I can function with Steve driving the long distance, then I don't have to do the whole drive - both ways. Which has been my 'big hammer' approach to coping with it.

so into my file the notation is made 'prescribed xx medication for anxiety with husband's driving' :o) (poor steve)

Last Wednesday Kyle got in my car and announced that he didn't want to go to Peter Pan Center, he wanted to go home because his tummy hurt. I turned the car around. Not fast enough - He promptly puked all over the back seat (and himself). I felt just awful for him. I got him home, stuck him in the shower and his clothes in the washer. I happened to wash him in the shower downstairs so he noticed that his sneakers - which have lights on them - were lighting up in the washer (a front loader). So I turned out the lights and we watched the show for a minute :o)

Steve came home with the same bug that night. Steve was OK in the morning, though drained. Kyle had one more round. Over the weekend Ky picked up something else and has been running to the toilet a LOT ever since. Poor guy. He's missing school again today for it. When I went to get Ryan last night I learned that he had thrown up 3 times in the last 30 minutes or so. We got home and he vegged on the couch. He eventually got up to use the toilet... he's got both ends wreaking havok on him :-(

To round it off - Steve woke up sick this morning too. Now that's against the rules - he only just *HAD* this bug!!! he wasn't supposed to get it again! But that's the nature of a virus I suppose, they change and reinvade or something.

Ry is back to being bouncy this morning. Kyle just took him outside - yes, please, go breathe the nice, fresh air!!! Steve's in bed. Holly is at daycare with the healthy folks.

I'm going to have a cup of coffee now.

-----
The throwing up at school has become something Ry is proud of - in a way that only small children can display pride in feats like this:
"First I frew up outside. DEN I frew up in da book area. And DEN I frew up aGAIN in da kitchen!!!" all said with a smile - now that he's feeling better.

It's not that easy being green;
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold...
or something much more colorful like that.


Holly would like to report that yellow ain't so easy either...
We had a third blood draw yesterday. Good news though - her bili level has dropped again, and the Dr feels we are good now and don't have to go back.

YAY!

Kyle's hives are greatly improved today. He reports that they don't itch much at all anymore. His chest, neck, arms and back are all so faint that you wouldn't notice them if you didn't know they are there. His legs are still bright enough to draw attention, but they are lighter than they were yesterday. I've spoken to his teacher so she's not alarmed if she happens to notice them. And I've updated the school nurse with his new allergy info.

So Steve's first question in all of this was - but Ky has had amoxicillin before... why now? And my first thinking was that it's been 5 years since Ky has had an antibiotic of any kind (knock on wood here) - and even then I think he's only had 2 rounds of anything. One of which was amoxicillin. Or maybe it was Augmentin. It was 5 years ago - I really don't remember. But... then Auntie Liz informed me that the first time you ingest something that the body is allergic too, you don't react. It instead Primes the body. So the next time, you have the reaction. Very interesting. And it means we'll be staring at Ryan a lot the next time he has anything, since he's only EVER had an antibiotic just once.

Thankfully, with drug alergies he is unlikely to come into contact with it again. The allergy will get plastered everywhere - and already it's all over his file at the pediatrician, and I asked CVS to update their records, and now the school Nurse is updating theirs. It's certainly not like a food allergy - where you have to be on alert all the time every where you go. So we count our blessings.

The alarms went off. We dragged our butts out of bed. Fed ourselves and the boys. And I cleaned off the kitchen table so the woman that cleans for me can get to the surface. Somewhere about half way through my coffee I realised the boys weren't dressed yet (it was that kind of a morning). So I grabbed some clothes and sat down to help Ky. I unzipped his jammies - and hey look at all these spots!!!




Off to the Dr - who declared them hives. Kyle is allergic to amoxicillin, penicillin, and augmentin. About 10 % of the folks that fall into this are also allergic to their distant cousins - some complicated name I can't remember but it included Zithromax. Since his reaction was hives, we only rule out the first three. If the reaction was worse, we'd go on the safe side and declare all distant cousins off limits. He has two days left of amoxicillin - so we're picking up two days worth of Zithromax to finish that off and make sure our good buddy Strep doesn't come back.

In the meantime, it's lots of benadryl for Ky -

but this one isn't anything to celebrate - Kyle has strep throat. :-(

After staying home yesterday - with a fever and 'neck pain' and a headache. His temp was down to 100.2 today. Technically, not a fever, though higher than usual. (100.4 is usually considered a fever). When he didn't finish his waffles (he WANTED to eat! it was exciting!) because it hurt to swallow, I decided I should take a look. Sure enough, bright red and swollen with white pustule thingies. Off for the culture which was positive. But I kinda figured after the look I had gotten.

Hopefully, it doesn't reach Ry or me. Though they tell me if I do get it, it's fairly easy to treat. We don't need to over worry on it. So he gets to stay home a third day. He's been bored today - I can only imagine tomorrow! I did get him to drink some of a smoothie I made for him though. That's a start.

So I heard back from the Nurse and my pain has been declared Round Ligament Pain. I am incredibly uncomfortable, but glad to hear this should clear up after a week. Yes a whole week. I'm exhausted from my restless night. So after I talk to my manager later, I'll head home to rest for a big before I have to cart the boys over for soccer. I'll stop and pick up a heating pad on the way too. I know we had one at some point, but I have no idea where it might be.

The baby has been a little more active today. Still tiny movements as far as I can feel. Though if I lie on my side, she pushes up to the top, far part of my belly and I can tell she's there. Certainly is nice to refer to her as a she too! Just knowing is so much nicer for us - I've never been one to hold out for surprises :o)

So for the next week - no excercise, limit my walking, work is OK since I have a desk job but avoid the stairs. And have someone else do things like the shopping. Heat or ice is good and lots of rest.

Today I had my very first every Accupuncture visit. I've dealt with migraines since high school - probably earlier... just didn't know what they were beyond "nasty headaches" before that. I don't get them often, thankfully, but when I do they last for 3, 4, 5 days and sometimes longer. I can actually usually combat them effectively with Excedrin (Regular, Migraine, Tension - all the same - take a look at the active ingredients... acetominiphene, aspirin, caffeine). Sometimes it's not enough. In the interest of not resorting to heavy duty drugs all the time, my Dr's office suggested I try Accupuncture and recommended someone for me.

So he stuck my feet (tops), calves, lower arms, wrists, tops of the hands, one finger on each hand, my forehead, and one on either side of my neck up near my ears. Probably close to 20 needles all told. It was pretty neat. I got to just lay there and relax with nice music. It would have been better if I wasn't stressing out about picking up the boys in time, but overall a decent experience. We'll try it for a few weeks and see if it helps.

This practice is a husband/wife team. Hubby worked on me. The Mrs is a licensed Occupational Therapist and works a lot with Childhood development (things always work out in mysterious ways methinks) - so I plan to talk to her to see if she thinks Accupuncture would be beneficial to Kyle. I'm willing to try it over the summer, if he can tolerate it, since not much else will be happening until September when school opens again. I'm not sure how his Sensory stuff will tolerate needles. But they were painless. Only a few of them felt like tiny pinches. Certainly not anywhere near what I felt when I had the EMG for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (which he is also working on for me - yay!).

I go back Thursday - I hope to be able to relax a little more this time :-)