God Gets Us Through Another Tough Week

Last Monday, we received that familiar call. You know the routine.....daycare.....fever......doctor.....ear infection. This time, the doc prescribed a different antibiotic. Just so I won't get sued, we will call this the "fruit medicine." We gave her two doses of the fruit medicine like the doctor told us. Usually, she starts feeling more like herself in less than 24 hours. But this time, she seemed to feel worse. Thank God, her fever broke. But she was terribly fussy, like nothing would make her happy. I thought, her ears must be really bothering her, this should pass in another day. But the next day, she was still pretty bad. She would not stop crying. She woke up crying and nothing would calm her down. She would hardly eat a thing.

She took about three big naps, which is not like Kamryn. If she wasn't sleeping, she wasn't happy. She was also terribly clingy. Then, her body broke out in a rash. To make matters worse, she had terrible diarrhea. It was so bad that her wet wipes made her poor little booty burn. She went through two to three pairs of pants a day, because her bm's were so explosive. She stopped smiling. She stopped laughing. Usually when I play peek-a-boo with her, I turn into Dave Chappelle in her eyes. I am so hilarious!!! But she just looked at me with a glazed over look in her eyes.

She returned to daycare after a couple of days and even the teachers were baffled. She wouldn't crawl, smile or laugh. She just wasn't my little Kamryn.

The scariest thing happened after day eight of the fruit medicine. At about 1:30am, I heard a blood-curdling scream. I had never heard a scream like that in my life. I feared she may have fallen out of her crib or something. I knew it had to be bad. I ran to her room, where she was in her crib screaming. I went to pick her up and calm her down, and she freaked out even more! She started kicking and flailing around, pushing me away. I could not calm her down! I went to get her a bottle of milk. She took a few sips and knocked it to the floor. I didn't know what to do. I put her back in her crib, turned on her jungle soother, and gave her the glowing seahorse toy that plays music. She seemed to finally calm down. But about ten minutes later she started screaming again. I got back up and checked her diaper to make sure there wasn't another explosion. It seemed fine. I tucked her back in, gave her a pacifier, and left the room again.

I told my mom about the incident the next morning, and she said I should google it. Well, after hours of googling, it seems that Kamryn had a "night terror." Read the definition from babycenter.com below.

What are night terrors?
Night terrors occur in at least 5 percent of young children, and can start as early as 9 months. These mysterious disturbances happen during deep, non-dreaming sleep. A child in this state will cry, whimper, flail, and even bolt out of bed. Though his eyes may be wide open, he's not awake and isn't aware of your presence. Once the night terror (which can last anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour or more) is over, your child will return to a sound sleep and have no memory of the incident in the morning.

How are night terrors different from nightmares?
Nightmares happen during rapid eye movement (REM) or dream sleep. A child who's had a nightmare is likely to have a fairly clear idea of what scared him, though he probably won't be able to articulate his fright until he's about 2. He may also be afraid to fall back asleep, and in the morning, he'll probably remember that he had a bad dream.

What should I do when my toddler has a night terror?
Of course, your first instinct will be to comfort him, but your efforts will most likely be futile (remember, he's not really awake and he's not aware of your presence). You just have to wait it out and make sure he doesn't hurt himself. Don't speak to him or try to soothe him, and don't try to shake or startle him awake or physically restrain him — all of which could lead to more frantic behavior. In 15 to 20 minutes, your child should calm down, curl up, and fall into a deep sleep again

Kamryn has done a lot of weird things in her lifetime, but she's never done anything like this. So, with the rash, zombie-like behavior and night terrors, I decided to google the fruit medicine. It seems that these bizarre things are all side effects of this medicine, including the night terrors!!! Why wouldn't doctors warn parents of this? I am so mad, hurt and confused. Does the treatment have to be just as bad as the illness? Where did my little girl go?

Thankfully, she is now officially off the fruit medicine and my happy little girl is back. This is yet another lesson learned. Ask plenty of questions. DO NOT depend on your doctor. You have to be your own advocate for your child. If you want to know what the fruit medicine is, call me or shoot me an e-mail: denise.rowell@gmail.com

A Day at Rowell Ranch!

As we drove up to the house on Rowell Ranch Road, butterflies filled my tummy. How was Kami going to react when she saw her paw-paw? Was she going to cry big crocodile tears? Was she going to be scared? Or was she going to be playful and loving? The last few times she spent time with her paw-paw, she acted scared, and cried every time he got near her. Needless to say, I was embarrassed. Well, as we walked up to the sitting area outside, the tears came a-comin'. That little face just wrinkled up and turned red as she wailed, tears streaming down her face.




Here we go again.


I decided I was not going to let it freak me out or stress me. Babies just do weird things, and this was just a phase. I took her inside and let her play with her toys. Anytime Kenny popped his head into the room, boom! There came the tears.

Whaaaaaaaa!

Then, something incredible happened.

A couple of hours after we arrived, she stopped screaming at Kenny. He tickled her and did this Donald Duck voice, and she actually smiled. Then, he played peek-a-boo and the smile got even bigger. Eventually, that smile turned into giggles and laughter. By mid-afternoon, she couldn't get enough of her paw-paw!! He took her outside and started kicking the soccer ball with Josh while she looked on, laughing and having a great time. After that, he grabbed her hands and helped her walk. This lasted for a long time. She is sooooooo close to walking. At one point, she took four steps while trying to get to Kenny. I don't think she even realized she did it!

Then, at the end of the day. she gave him a huge hug. It was a blessed moment. Enjoy the pics!

Teething

Just when you think she is finally recovering from a tooth coming in, it's time for more! Kamryn's back teeth are coming in, and she's had quite a time with it. It has caused her nose to be runny and she is basically just really irritated. Lately, it seems like nothing is making her happy. She wakes up in a bad mood. Then, when I pick Kami up from daycare, she comes home in a bad mood.

Usually, I can put her straight to bed for a nap after daycare and she just konks out. Not any more. Her teeth are bothering her so badly that she can't seem to get comfortable. Plus, she is congested. So, I have to give her some "little noses" so she can breathe. She had been sleeping through the night so well. But that came to an end this week. Lately, she has been getting up around 3 in the morning and fussing.

But here's some good news! It seems to have finally come to an end! Yesterday, she finally woke up in a great mood. She got home from daycare, konked out, then woke up as happy as can be. I think those teeth have finally pushed through. When Kami is in a good mood, she is such a joy to be around! She truly brings out the best of me and Josh. Those of you who know Josh know that he can come across as the alpha male, man's kind of man. But when he gets around Kami, he truly melts. It is so awesome to watch those two bond. Kami truly adores him. She's always saying "daddy, daddy, daddy!" over and over. She only says "momma" when she's ticked off!

This weekend we are going to see Josh's dad, Kami's paw-paw. The last time Kami saw paw-paw, she cried and was scared of him. How embarrassing!!! Those of you who have had babies know what I am talking about. You know, when your child is petrified by someone you love. You just want to crawl in a hole and hide. My mother said I was afraid of a sweet man with a bushy mustache when I was little. There was something about that mustache that frightened me! Well, pray we will have a good visit with paw-paw and Kami can behave herself. If the weather is good, we will take her outside to look at the horses. She loves the outdoors, although she is scared to be placed in the grass. Hopefully, she will have a great time this weekend! I'll keep you posted.

I Like Wild Game!

On Wednesday, Josh cooked up some delicious deer backstrap. He marinated it overnight and grilled it. Well, we weren't the only ones enjoying the delicious dinner. As soon as we sat at the coffee table to eat, Kami came crawling over to check it out. She couldn't keep her eyes off of the steak as we put it in our mouth. Finally, I gave her an itsy bitsy piece. She loved it and whined for more! So we tore off itty bitty pieces and fed them to her slowly. I couldn't believe it! My 13 month-old was eating deer meat and loving it!

She is starting to not like her baby food now, which is great, but now I need to figure out which table foods are appropriate and how much I should give her. It's just another new adventure for all three of us! Miss Karen at daycare told me I didn't need to bring bottles anymore because Kamryn was drinking out of her sippy cup so well. I guess she is really growing up!

By the way, any food suggestions from parents would be wonderful.

New Foods for Kami!

Well, now that Kami has passed her one year mark, it's time to ease up on the liquid foods and get her more on solids. This has been quite a challenge because she does not handle different textures very well at all. But persistence has really paid off. In this picture, she is eating lasagna and green beans! As you can see, she's fighting it. But at the same time, she is still eating it. Sometimes, she turned her head away and the spoon hit her face, hence the messy food all over her. She used to hate chicken noodle. Now, she likes it! For the first time ever, she ate little pieces of chicken. She watched me eat chicken and she looked like she wanted to take the food away from me. So I gave her little bitty pieces and she ate it! But if the piece was too big she would spit it out. This is the age where I really need to watch with the choking. I took a CPR/First Aid class last week, which taught us how to handle a choking victim. I pray to the good Lord above that I never have to use this knowledge.

The other pictures are of Josh taking the binky away with his mouth. I thought it was too cute!

Mommy Update

Sorry it's been awhile since I have blogged. This has been a rough week at the Rowell Household. It seems my stomach virus has returned with a vengeance. I have been pretty sick most of the week. It's probably the worst I have ever felt. The good news is Kami and Josh are both spared from the illness. But the picture has been far from pretty at our home. It is very difficult taking care of a little one when it sometimes hurts to move. Thank God Josh has done a great job playing Mr. Mom. We also had some help from Grana Pam.

Here is some more good news. Josh is now a permanent federal employee! For the past couple of years, he has been in a term position at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But thank the Lord, a permanent position came open and Josh landed it. God is good! Now, we are feds for life!!!!

Back Problems for Mommy!

You will not catch mommy lifting Kami like this!

Well, it has been a rough couple of days at the Rowell household. Kami is great! Momma, not so much! I woke up a couple of days ago with excrutiating lower back pain. I could hardly get out of bed. I had to walk hunched over. It killed me to try and stand up straight. I went to a chiropracter, who did some "adjusting." But I was still in excrutiating pain and had to go home for the day.

The next day, I went to a doctor who said my back was very inflamed. My blood pressure was also high, she said, probably because I was in such pain. She gave me a steroid shot and anti-inflammatory. The culprit? Kamryn! Apparently, momma needs to lift more with her legs instead of her back. I am now on medicine and feel much better. Naproxen in really helping. But if I sit for too long, I start to hurt. I guess I just have to be more careful when lifting Kami. So, I'll leave the "superman" lifts to daddy!