Mama Drama

Ok. My life is all drama and I just want boring. I like to call it Mama Drama. So, it starts out that I have been working or "on call" for 1 week solid. Ugh. So, finally Tuesday comes...my only day off. My horse, Chase colicks bad and I'm up all night with him. I didn't think he was going to make it... I had to run IV's, pass a nasogastric tube twice, and give him all kinds of medications. Fortunately, he made it through... So, the next night (my night off after working hard all day), one of my good clients and friends' horse suddenly goes into toxic shock and is dying. She calls me at home and I rush over. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything I could do but euthanize the horse and comfort my friend. Up again late. Took two beers to calm down my nerves afterwards.

So, today I took Kyle to gymnastics class this morning. He was doing great until his cough (from his cold) kicked in and that phenomenal gag reflex he has kicked in to full effect. He barfed all over himself, all over the bathroom (where I grabbed him and ran while he was barfing all over himself)and all over the toilet. Ok, we got over that, returned to class, sans nasty shirt, and then he did it again about 20 minutes later. I figured we better leave at that point. So,we went to pick up Devin from preschool. All is well again until we are driving down the road and Devin informs me she has to pee and she has to pee NOW. "Its going to come out Mom, you have to stop!" So, I do an emergency pit stop on the side of the road. At this point, I realize my daughter does not know how to squat properly and pees all over her shoes and pants by accident. Ok... we gotta go home so everyone can change. Then, we are off to the daycare so I can go to work AGAIN. Of course, when dropping the kids off, Devin has a complete temper tantrum b/c I forgot her backpack and left it at home when I changed the kids clothes... ya just can't win.

So, work was busy with lots of drama and now I'm home watching Grey's Anatomy trying to veg out. Kyle is in bed and Devin is watching her nighttime shows. Ahh... a moment of peace.... Course, I'm on call tonight, so ya never know...

Preschool Pictures

Devin's preschool had their Open House yesterday. She is doing so well there now. I am so happy we switched. All the teachers seem to really like her and she likes them. She gave everyone lots of hugs (she's a hugger). We got her 1st progress report. Overall, she got good marks... we need to work on her letter/sound association and lower case letters. She filled out a sheet on "all about me"... her answers were:
favorite color. green.
Favorite toy... pink bear (Ellie)
Favorite place...Grandma and papa's house
Favorite activity... drawing.
what i want to be when I grow up.. doctor.
If I could have anything in the world, I would want...another pink bear.
So cute.

Here are a few photos of Devin at Bel Esprit.

Devin is going to Preschool

Well, we survived the drama of not going to kindergarten this year. I don't know who was more traumatized... me or Devin. Since then, she has been having night terrors and walking in her sleep almost every night. We have gotten her to a point that we don't have to sleep in her room anymore. But, she usually wakes up almost every night...starts wandering around the house and talking nonsense. We have to walk her back to her bed and tuck her in. She "seems" awake... walking around, eyes open, talking... but she talks nonsense. Sometimes she has nightmares, sometimes not.

Well, I talked to lots of other moms and did some research. I picked out 3 preschools and then and went with Devin to visit them. We ultimately chose Bel Esprit. It is a private preschool in Litchfield. I really liked it there and their schedule is very flexible. So, we signed up Devin to start with 1/2 days on Tues & Thurs mornings. She started on Sept 1st. The first few times were rough, as expected. She cried at drop-off and didn't really want to participate at first. But, she has gradually improved every time and did not cry at all last week! This is a big deal for us. Plus, she is happy to go and participating well in class. I am so happy. I want Devin to have a positive school experience. This was definitely the right choice to wait till next year for kindergarten. She just was not emotionally ready for regular school yet. I'm so glad she is doing better... it is a huge relief.

Kyle allergy update

Well, Kyle's allergic reaction resolved. I took him to an allergist and the doctor thinks he had an allergic reaction to his cold virus. Go figure. They performed skin allergy testing on his back for 8 common food allergens including milk, soy, egg, peanut, gluten, etc... they all came back negative. He thinks Kyle's food problems stem from milk intolerance and not milk allergies. I would agree with that. He ordered a blood RAST test for peanuts to re-confirm he doesn't have peanut allergies... but we don't think so. Kyle has had peanut products many times before the allergic reaction. Haven't had the blood test for peanuts done yet b/c lab was too busy one day & finding the time.

In the meantime, my regular pediatrician had a bunch of blood and fecal tests done on Kyle including Celiac Disease panel, CBC, metabolic panel, fecal WBC, fecal cultures... they all came back negative. That was NOT fun getting the blood test.. Kyle cried from the moment he entered the lab office until we left. He is terrified of doctors now. Ugh.

So, basically after all this... we really don't know much.... just guessing and Kyle still has frequent bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. Both doctors did suggest considering a gastroenterologist specialist. I am not ready to go there. I am hoping we can figure this out ourselves and he will grow out of it.I know what the gastroenterologist will want to perform an endoscopy and possibly a colonoscopy of Kyle. I don't want to put him through that. He is basically a healthy, happy, growing kid. Most of his vomiting is correlated when he coughs... which he has had a chronic minor cough for months. He has a REALLY sensitive gag reflex and frequently vomits when swimming if he gets any water in his mouth. Lucky me... I have to hold him over side of pool if he starts coughing at all in the pool. He has vomited on the side of PUBLIC pools many times and its really embarrassing. I've even caught it once in my hands... yea, I know... gross! Better than in the pool though.

So, we are back to square one... I am currently keeping a log of his eating habits, vomit & diarrhea frequency... so we shall see... Hopefully, this too, shall pass.

Allergic reaction

Kyle had a severe allergic reaction to something this past week. The doctors think possibly from peanut butter... but he has had PB several times in the past without a problem. They say he can develop peanut allergies.. but we are still not sure. Anyway, it started on Tuesday afternoon about 3-4 hours after ingesting a PB cookie. He woke up from his nap with a rash all over his body & pruritic. The rash was actually red blotchiness all over. He seemed to feel ok and not running a fever- so I gave him Benadryl and he improved. On Wednesday morning, he woke up with the rash even worse and his left eyelid was swollen 1/2 shut and some facial swelling. I took him to Urgent Care and had him treated with antihistamines. They gave me script for pred if it got worse. Well, the rash never went away and got way worse that evening. I gave him more antihistamines & pred but his face started to swell up again. So, I took him to ER. The gave him more steroids and epinephrine. Since then his rash has slowly been getting better with intermittent hives all over his body. He is 95% better today with only a little itchiness. Unfortunately for me, Benadryl and pred make him like a kid on crack who drank a pot of Starbucks coffee. To say he is "wired" is an understatement. He is so jacked up - he just runs around the house bouncing off the walls. We had him rechecked by our regular doc on Thursday who has put in a request to see an allergist. In the meantime, he has ordered a bunch of tests which I need to do this week.... CBC, Celiac Panel, Metabolic panel, stool cultures, etc.... We are still having some issues of intermittent diarrhea & vomiting- so we are still trying to sort out all his GI problems. I'm attaching a few photos of the allergic reaction - didn't get a picture before ER b/c I was too panicked.

Kyle has Car OCD

Kyle has car OCD. To say he loves cars would be an understatement. He is CRAZY about cars. He loves to be in car. He loves to play with cars. He loves to hear cars. He loves to point out every car we see on the road, on TV, in a book, ANYWHERE. He loves car books and car movies. You have to acknowledge when he says "car" or he will say it over and over again... and louder and louder.. till you say, "Yes, Kyle, I see the car." When we first got him, he immediately found the only car toy in the house and wanted to play with it. :)He also equally goes crazy for any motorized type vehicles including trains, planes, tractors, and construction vehicles. He is all boy.

Kindergarten Blues

Well, Devin started kindergartent this past Monday August 3rd and stopped on Wednesday August 5th. They were 3 days of sadness, tears, and stress for both of us. Devin did not do well at kindergarten at all. She cried all day Monday & Tuesday. She cried so much on Tuesday that she fell asleep from exhaustion. She also would not eat or drink or use the bathroom at school. She had to go to bathroom so bad on Tuesday that she freaked out and the teacher had to rush her to the bathroom. Course, since they started school so ridiculously earlier here.... that it was still 110 degrees outside. Not good if you are not eating or drinking all day.

Well, Tuesday night she wet her pants at home and Wed morning she had diarrhea before school. She was so stressed out. We tried everything to convince her kindergarten was a good thing. I started prepping her months ago "talking about kindergarten". I took her twice to the school to check it out and visit a classroom. I bought 2 books about kindergarten and have been reading them to her the last few weeks. I requested her be put in her friend Cody's class so she would know someone. I walked her to class & requested to stay awhile (they wouldn't let me b/c its against their policy). I even resorted to rewards---if you try and give it a chance, I will give you candy/ice cream after school. Nothing worked. Jack & I drove her to school on Wednesday together and she just absolutely lost it when we went to her class. I was so upset to see my child so sad. I felt like my insides were being torn apart. We decided to go visit with the principal. She already knew about Devin from her kindergarten teacher. She agreed that Devin wasn't emotionally & socially ready for kindergarten class yet being the youngest in her class. She agreed Devin needed more time and we decided to withdrawal her from kindergarten.

Fortunately, Miss Julie's daycare still had a spot open for Devin. I am now looking into putting her in preschool twice a week to help prepare her for next year. The principal offered for her to visit school for a few hours a day a few days a week late next spring to help her prepare for school next year.

I am feeling more at peace now with our decision. My parents also held me back a year when I was in first grade b/c I was the youngest person in my class (also an August baby). Basically for the same reasons... sadness at school, not interacting well with the other children, not doing well in school b/c of being sad at school. So, I think this is the best decision for Devin right now.