Vitamin D

I went to the chiropractor a couple weeks ago and picked up an article about how Vitamin D can combat colds and the flu. Before giving any extra Vitamin D, I made sure to do some extra research on Vitamin D and how it is good for the immune system. Let me just say that I was very impressed with what I found. Here's one site and an article from the site to start with:

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Vitamin D and the Flu

In my opinion Dr. Mercola is a great researcher, plus he's an O.D. which means when he sees patients he's treating the "whole person" not just the problem (I've thought about finding an O.D. for our family). I read some of the articles about Vitamin D and was shocked to hear that Vitamin D deficiency is one cause of a ton of health issues-Cancer, Hypertension, Pre-eclampsia, Diabetes, Colds, Flu, and on the site you can check out all sorts of other diseases. And for all of you pregnant women out there check out this article I read about Vitamin D and pregnancy. When I was pregnant I had high blood pressure and had pre-term labor 5 1/2 weeks early. Now I know how I can prevent those issues during my next pregnancy.

Vitamin D and Pregnancy

I never realized how important Vitamin D is, and if you've ever checked me out then you know that I'm a pretty pale person. So, being that it's Cold and Flu season I decided it was best to up our dosage. According to the site you need 35 IU's of Vitamin D per pound of body weight in order for it to even be effective, so why is the AAP recommending only 4o0 IU for children? Who knows!? Bubby now takes a daily dose of 1,000 IU and Hubby and I take 5,000 IU. And if we find that we do get sick then we can up our IU dosage for a day or two to help combat our illness. This is an experiment I am willing to try for the winter (along with proper hand washing and staying away from others who are sickly). Being that we are no longer in the day care center like we were last winter will probably help a lot, but since I clean houses and touch all sorts of germs every day it's good that we protect ourselves so I don't bring anything home and expose my family to anything.

Also, now that Bubby is a year old we tried introducing him to whole milk (also for some extra Vitamin D) but after giving him some Whole Milk with his formula this past week he has drank significantly less milk. I'm guessing this is why he's super fussy and refusing to drink anything that's not water or formula. I think that he either doesn't like Whole Milk or it is giving him a tummy ache. So we are going to stick with the formula and also try giving him Almond Milk instead. I've been wanting to make my own Almond Milk for a while now! *On top of all the milk issues we've been having a hard time breaking the bottle. He will sit and drink 6oz. of formula from a bottle but barely touch a sippy cup full of the same formula! Luckily we don't really have to wean him completely until he's 15 months so I've got some time to figure things out.

I've also just started using Norwex in our home (and I just joined the Norwex team as a Sales Consultant!) which will help to actually pick up the germs and put them down the drain where they belong!! I love how Norwex can kill 99.94% of germs without using any chemicals, which means no more residues in our home!!!

Crazy Week

I'm not sure what's going on with Bubby, but if you remember from my previous post we've been battling diaper rash. However, that's not the only thing we've been dealing with, since Sunday Bubby's been having occasional diarrhea, constipation, and about 6-8 BM's a day (the obvious cause for his diaper rash!). I've tried getting him to the chiropractor but they are completely booked so I have to wait till tomorrow, and I've called the doctor's office several times with very little help from them. So, I've taken matter into my own hands, what else can a mommy do for her little one who's suffering?

Here's what we've been doing:
1. Eating lots of blueberries-apparently good for curing diarrhea

2. BRAT diet

3. Stopping all dairy-including switching to a non-dairy formula

4. Squeegee Bottle of water and cotton balls to wipe his bottom

5. Resinol mixed with Clotrimazole for his bottom

6. 2 Baths per day plus some diaper free time to air out his bottom

7. Pedialite and lots of water

8. Changing A LOT of diapers, even in the middle of the night when he wakes up and has a BM

9. Gripe Water

I know I've mentioned using Colic Calm before but we were out and couldn't find any in the store so we are using Gripe Water instead to calm his tummy. I haven't decided if it's really working or not because we've made so many changes in his diet and not much has happened yet. The doctor says it's just a virus and that I don't need to worry unless he has diarrhea for 2 weeks. 2 WEEKS! Seriously...isn't that a little long for a baby to be having diarrhea? If I have diarrhea for a few days I get concerned. Sometimes I think doctors are just nuts. Thankfully his diaper rash is starting to clean up and his BM's are looking a little more normal so I'm slowly coming off of the BRAT diet and giving him his regular formula again. We will see if things continue to get better! I hope they do!

Some days are just rough!

You know those mornings when you wake up, have your cup of coffee and think to yourself "hmm...this will be a good day" and then all of a sudden your day does a complete 180 and you think to yourself "Lord, get me through this!" and it just keeps getting worse and worse? Well, today was one of those days!

Bubby decided to wake up at 5:45 this morning, not sure why, but at 6:15 I decided to end the crying and get him up. He was a big grump (but trying to stay positive I just prayed that he would take a good morning nap). I thought 45 minutes of a nap was decent when he woke up, but turns out...he was still a big grump. We had to leave to go visit my grandma so I had hopes that his spirits would turn and maybe 1. he would be a happy boy for his great grandma, or 2. he would take a nap when we got there and THEN be a happy boy for his great grandma. However, neither of those happened. He was just a BIG GRUMP. I tried nursing him, rocking him, playing with him, feeding him lots of food, and nothing worked. It was not awful.

At 11:30 (after letting him cry for 25 minutes in the pack n play) we had to take off for a chiropractor appointment. Which by the way...never schedule an appointment during your child's nap time! I am SO BAD at this! I never ever think about his nap time when scheduling things and today I definitely learned my lesson. Bubby fell asleep immediately in the car and then I had to wake him up 20 minutes later when we got to the chiropractor, which meant he was a big grump at his appointment. Then I had to schedule him a doctors appointment (since his eye has been looking red/puffy and I wanted to avoid any weekend trips to the doctor) and since we were already in town I asked for the first appointment they had available. It was unfortunately an hour wait, so what did I do for an hour with my grumpy child? I drove around...for an hour...so he could nap and stay asleep in the car. It was not fun. Do you know how much road kill there is in Ames? I think I saw the majority of it today, including innards of a little rabbit spewed all over the road (sorry, probably too much info). And there is TONS of construction, which was super annoying. Thankfully I didn't run into any trains. There was one time that I did pull over at a park, rolled down the windows and rested my eyes a bit, but I drove the majority of the time.

After an hour we headed to the doctor to find out Josiah doesn't have pink eye (thank the Lord!) but instead a bacterial infection in his eye. The doctor thinks he may have gotten something in his eye and then it got infected, so now he is on antibiotics (so glad it's not contagious!). Well, after the doctor we headed to the pharmacy, which meant another small nap on the way there and then a screaming kiddo in the stroller as we walked through the store for 15 minutes while they filled his prescription. By the way...did I mention that I hadn't had lunch yet? So it was about 2:30 in the afternoon and I was starving. Bubby wailed the majority of the way home (probably because it had been 5 hours since he had eaten as well!).

When we got home I thought maybe things would lighten up. I nursed him, gave him his snack and then laid him down in hopes that maybe he would actually get a decent nap. But he refused and cried and cried and cried some more. And the stinky part is that we were heading to some friend's home tonight for dinner and I really wanted him to be in a good mood. So the evening was really not that good. I barely got to eat my dinner or talk with my friends. All in all, it was really nice when he went to bed tonight. I couldn't be happier to have him asleep and to have the day behind me!

Lessons I learned today:
1. Never schedule an appointment during your child's nap time
2. Impromptu trips to the doctor should be avoided, especially if you are breastfeeding and able to use breast milk as a temporary antibiotic
3. Pack a bottle! (being able to feed Bubby while waiting for his prescription would have made things easier)
4. Driving around to keep your child asleep is a good alternative to keeping them up, even if it means seeing gross road kill, getting caught in construction, and using extra gas
5. Pack a snack for yourself when leaving for the day, especially water!

*What are your suggestions on being prepared for impromptu days when things just don't go as planned?

GermFest 2000

Today we took a walk around the mall and you know those kid play areas (Kid Zones) that are typically set up in a large area of the mall? The place with all the giant animals that have slides coming out of there mouths or stairs going up their behinds or tunnels going under their bellies? Hubby and I like to call those places "Germfests." Every time we walk by one we start chanting "Germfest 2000" to each other. We just can't imagine the amount of germs in those places! You want to learn an interesting fact about those "Germfests"? They may or may not be sponsored by your local medical center, at least the one in our mall is! What a smart idea (sarcasm button)!!!! Attention all medical centers, you want a way to make more money??? Sponsor a Kids Zone in your local mall and get them all sick so that they all come to YOU to get loaded up with antibiotics!

*Note: you should know that I am kind of a germ freak. I've been washing Bubby's hands under the sink for awhile now. Once he starts walking I plan on getting him a large step stool so we can really start pushing the hand washing for after diaper changing and before/after meals. Maybe that's why I didn't like having him in a day care center that much. I have relaxed a little since he's been home so often, for instance I'm not as picky as I used to be with giving him a bath every day and I don't rush to wash off his binky when it falls or sanitize a toy if the dog licks it (or him!) but I'm still a little freaked out to let my child play in a kids zone such as the one at the mall. Heck, I don't even let him play with toys that they provide at clinics and offices!