Close call

Last night, after coming back from work, I gave M her daily massage and bath and left her in the walker while I prepared dinner. J and S were with her in the family room. J had to come into the kitchen to prepare her bed-time bottle of formula just for a couple of minutes and S followed him. J told her she shouldn't leave M alone in a room if we are not around, specially when M is in the walker. We don't leave S to babysit M, but J had left the room thinking S will stay there with M until he came back. So, we were explaining to S why we shouldn't leave M alone in a room when she is in a position to move around (she could pull something heavy over her, take a leaf off of a house plant and put it in her mouth, reach out to something within her reach and put it in her mouth) when J just went in the family room to check on M. She had just plucked a leaf off of a house plant and put it in her mouth and was gagging on it!! I still gives me the shivers to think of what would have happened if J hadn't walked in to check on her. We need to baby-proof our house RIGHT NOW!! By the way, all the various door/cabinet locks and outlet covers have been purchased and are just waiting "implementation". This weekend - I promise!

M is now turning over effortlessly which confirms my belief that she already knew how to do it but just didn't bother. And she is now trying to hold on to things and pull herself up into a standing position. I now believe some people's claim that she will start walking without going through the crawling phase first. This is one gal in a hurry!

Yesterday M took three naps 1 hour and 45 minutes long in total. This is GOOD!! She was napping only for about 15 minutes during the whole day there. This means she is now comfortable and secure enough to take a long nap there. She is already eating and taking the bottle from her care-providers. So now I think she is completely settled in. In fact, she even gave "Miss Carol" a wide, toothless grin this morning when I sat her down in front of a toy and left. This has lifted the cloak of guilt from my heart!

Last week, and the weekend was brutal. I fell sick on Monday, took the day off as I was running a fever. Then returned to work the next day as I could not afford to take any more days off. Just trudged through Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and was looking forward to the weekend. Thursday night, I came home to find that M was sick too. I had passed on my cold to her :( I had to go to a PTO meeting so I left. But I came back as soon as I had presented my report to the members and discovered that M was running a high fever! 102.4!! Panicked thoughts of seizures and frothy mouths and ER visits ran through my mind and called her pediatrician's answering service (it was 10:20 PM). Her pediatrician immediately called me back and told me to give her some Tylenol to bring the temperature down. She was also straining as one does to pass stool when one is constipated (I am not joking) and she continued to do so for good 20-25 minutes. The doctor had no idea why. J had also emailed a friend whom we consult for homeopathy remedies and she emailed us back immediately telling us which remedies to give to M. She even called in a few minutes and when I told her about the straining, she changed the remedy and told me babies sometimes do that if they are having difficulty breathing. As soon as we gave M the remedy my friend suggested, she threw up. We repeated the dose in five minutes and M threw up again. But she seemed much relaxed after throwing up and even stopped straining so we assumed it was a good sign. M's pediatrician called us again at 12:15 am and told us to keep an eye on her and to call him if we noticed any changes for the worse NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF NIGHT IT WAS. I must say - I love the pediatric group we consult for M and S. They are the most professional and kind doctors I have ever met. Even their answering service is kind and professional and believe me when I say this - not every doctor's answering service is like that. My experience says, one can accurately judge a doctor's worth by their answering service and front office staff's attitude.

Next day J and I took the day off. Well, I took the day off because waking up all night with M took its toll on me and pushed me over the edge and I made J take the day off because I didn't feel strong enough to drive m to the doctor's. We took M to the doctor's that morning, and after a checkup we were told that she had no ear-infection (Phew!!) and no chest-congestion (another Phew!!) and it was a viral infection in all probability. No antibiotics were prescribed - and had they even tried, i would have fought vehemently! This is another reason I love this pediatric group so much - all the doctors in this group believe in NOT prescribing too much medicines which agrees completely with my and J's opinion.

All in all, M is fine now. Yesterday her appetite returned. She still has a little bit of cough but slept well last night and was happy this morning.

The last week and the weekend were so bad that I swear I feel like the last week never ended. We just went through a grueling week and stepped into another one without going through the weekend. It was like landing on a "Go to Jail" box or pulling a "Go to Jail. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200" card in Monopoly.

I had many plans of cleaning and cooking for the entire week during the (last) weekend. And of shopping a bit for essentials. And laundry. We were able to do the shopping but nothing else by end of Saturday. On Sunday, I woke up with the hopes of getting started with all the chores early so I could get everything done and still find time to relax with a cup of tea in the afternoon. Came downstairs to find a glum S. Found out J had discovered lice in her hair which she obviously caught at school. So, there lay our day ahead of us. All planning shot to bits. J went out to get a medicated shampoo to get rid of the lice. I set about gathering EVERY piece of clothing and bedding S had used in the past 2-3 days so I could either seal it up in plastic bags for 2 weeks or wash it in hot water. The whole day went by in a jiffy. I first gave S a much needed haircut - I had been thinking of doing it for a long time. Because of her Alopecia, her hair is growing unevenly and I want to trim the hair to make it look even. Now I wanted to cut it shorter because it would be easier to get rid of the lice. I do have some before and after pictures and will put them up soon but S looks wonderful after the haircut, even if I say so myself! After the haircut and shampoo (even J and I washed our hair with the shampoo because if one person in a family gets lice in their hair, EVERYONE must be treated for it), I was still able to prepare four vegetable dishes for the week. Not bad, I say.

S being S, was VERY upset that she had lice in her hair. I explained to her that it is very common in school age children and is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I had just recently read an article that mentioned lice love a clean head (I did. I swear!) So anyway - she continued to mope around and be generally glum. Then she came to me and asked me if she could Google "lice". I helped her find a kid-friendly article on the hows and whys of getting lice in one's hair and she felt a lot better after reading those articles. In this respect I feel she is like me - I have to have all possible details of any such situation that I might be in. i am glad to report that everyone in the Kay household is lice-free now. And that we will repeat treatment in 7 days just to be sure.

Afterwards, as a courtesy, I called a friend of mine whose daughters ride the bus and play with S, to warn her about the lice and to tell her to make sure her daughters didn't have it. She then told me that she had already treated them TWICE for it and in all probability S caught it from her daughters. It left me wondering if it was too much for me to expect her to call me and inform me so I could take appropriate precautions? I definitely would have appreciated a heads up from her. But anyway - I am sure she didn't hide it on purpose. I think, we Indians associate so much stigma with lice infestations (I remember a friend of mine made fun of me when I caught lice once in my school days) that she felt I will judge her if she told me.

The best question came from my mom when I told her of the "lice saga". She asked "Do you have lice in the US too?" Very innocently. Another funny question I have been asked in the past being - "Have you grown fairer after going to the US?" Upon asking why would that happen, I was told "क्यूंकि अमेरिका में सब गोरे होते हैं" (Because every one in America is fair). I had to remind that person that there are black people in America too :P