A sick little man.

Christopher is finally getting better after having a very serious fever for five days and a cold/cough and runny nose for many more days than that. I relented and took him to the Dr. on the 6th and sure enough the night before we went in his fever broke. He has a borderline ear infection, meaning he doesn't have one yet but is working on it if his congestion doesn't clear up. So Mucinex is our friend right now. Everyday he's getting better and better, he's not giving any indication that there is an impending ear infection (ear pulling, crying, acting like he can't hear me) so I think we're in the clear and get to avoid antibiotics. I've yet to give him any and I certainly don't want to start now if I don't have to.

Thank you to everybody who was concerned and wishing him well. All that positive energy flowing his way really helped. Lots of love to all of you.

A health report.

Well, I went to the gastroenterologist on Monday and he scheduled me for a scope the next morning. Why did I go to the gastroenterologist you ask. For the past 5 months or so I've felt like I have a ball in my chest (not every day though, every 4-5 days) when I have this feeling my saliva would get very sticky and if you touched it it would do the mozzarella cheese thing (stringy) wierd, it would be hard to swallow and I wouldn't have any appetite... I dealt with it. Each episode would last about 12 hours, I'd be uncomfortable but could live with it. Well the last month or two it had become so uncomfortable I couldn't sleep through it anymore and dealing with this issue and hives was bringing me to the breaking point. So I went to see the gastroenterologist.

When you get a scope done, they give you some pretty heavy medication to sedate you during the process... meaning you can't drive home and you shouldn't use the kitchen or other potentially dangerous items and you most certainly should not be left to care for a very active 17 month old all alone. Adam, my hero... picked up an emergency flight home Monday night so he could watch the little mister and Suzy, bless her heart came and picked me up to take me for the procedure (at 7 in the morning) and drove me home. The Dr. found that I have candida esophagitis... aka a yeast infection in my esophagus. So I'm on meds for 2 weeks and it should hopefully clear up.

On a hive note: I have chronic idiopathic urticaria and so will just have to live with them until they decide to go away. I'm taking a tiny pill 3 times a day to keep the flare ups down. The medicine does not cure hives just helps make me comfortable. I have a couple of Dr.'s yet to see but my allergist is feeling very firm in her diagnosis. I'll let you know more when I do, however it will probably be very similar news.

On a side note. Please keep my grandmother in your thoughts, she's going in to have a completely blocked artery cleared out and we are all very worried about her. It would be much appreciated.

Ahhhhhh....

So last Wednesday I went to the allergist, I was all ready for a 3 hour appointment which would involve poking and prodding and getting to the bottom of what was causing my hives. It was not to be, while the Dr. would love to do the testing, she can't. Why you ask?!?! I have hive flare ups whenever you pretty much touch/prick/scratch my skin even slightly. This would cause any testing to show a false positive as every time they poked me that spot/area would flare up. Sooooo, we have to get the flare ups under control before we test.

I'm taking a histamine blocker 4 times a day as well as Zantac twice a day (they use it to treat hives as well as heartburn..... who knew.) I go back in on the 18th. Since I started the meds I haven't had any flare ups, it's so nice not to itch non-stop and look like I have some weird disease all over my skin, it's a short lived experience however as it's not a permanent solution. I'll have to be off the meds for 7 days before she can do the allergy testing. I'm just hoping that we can solve this mystery as I'm completely miserable.

What to do...

So it's been a few weeks, I still have hives. Not only do I still have hives, I'm starting to get them places I haven't had them for months, like the bottoms of my feet and my scalp (along with all the usual everywhere else places.) When the hives first started 14 months ago it was on the palms of my hands and the bottom of my feet, let me tell you it feels like you're walking on bone when you have hives on your feet. Now that I'm facing a miserable hive-y existence that my OBGYN says he doesn't believe is related to breastfeeding but rather that "giving birth" changed my chemical structure yada yada in such a way that I'm now allergic to something I wasn't previously, I'm a little dismayed. If you Google chronic hives, those people are not happy people... in fact most have had it as there is not much to be done. So, my Dr. told me to see an allergist. I will, then I'll let you know what said allergist says.

This last weekend was eventful. We found that we have birds in the attic, with lots of babies just chirp chirp chirping in there. They are actually in the house exhaust fan tube. Adam was unable to get to them this weekend (couldn't quite reach the nest,) so Gar won't be getting his ladder back until next weekend.

Adam was hard at work in the backyard getting the last corner weeded, he put down landscape fabric and a drip line. He also planted a dwarf japanese maple for me. Now I just need to figure out what else I want to plant back there and put down some bark-a-mulch. I'll post a picture soon.

Bittersweet

Christopher is growing so fast. I suppose he would now be classified as a toddler, being as that's what he spends most of his time doing, toddling around. He's using signs, talking, eating more and a larger variety of foods. He's still in 9-12 month clothing and only has his bottom two teeth, but he doesn't let his size slow him down or his lack of chompers stop him from eating anything.

We reached a bittersweet milestone however. I took a weekend hiatus to prepare for a week long one coming in July and I decided if Christopher did well with Adam over the weekend and didn't seem to miss nursing much than I would wean him. We were down to one session a day as it was, nursing just when he woke up in the morning at 6 a.m. or so. I've had awful hives the entire time I've nursed, they started as soon as my milk came in and have not gone away. After consulting with 3 doctors or so we've come to the conclusion that I'm allergic to the hormone breastfeeding produces. I enjoy the half hour or so in the morning when he's just cuddling with me and was a little worried I'd have a hard time giving it up. I was pretty sure Christopher would be ok, he's never been "boob crazy," tugging at shirts or demanding it, it was really just food to him and not so much of a comfort thing.

Well, he did great with Adam and took to getting whole organic milk instead of breastmilk just great. I wasn't having any engorgement issues and was doing well with the transition emotionally, so we weaned him. I'm proud to say I nursed him for 14 months. I know many moms who didn't choose to continue it that long and I know many who, had they had the hives I have would certainly not have gone as long. So, I pat myself on the back for a job well done. It's been a week, I still have hives. I'm hoping they will go away, if they haven't within a month which I believe should be enough time for the hormones causing them to subside, then I will have to consult a specialist and maybe go get some allergy testing done. They truly do make me miserable and I can't see having them for much longer being as I've put up with them so long already.