Sunday, August 2, 2009
Noah's first airplane trip
Noah's first trip was a doozy. We flew from Orange County to Maine so that Noah and Grant could accompany me on a job interview in Bar Harbor, Maine. It is not easy to get to Bar Harbor, and we did 13-17 hour days of travel. Noah was perfect . He smiled and flirted with everyone on the plane, so when he got a little fussy (which wasn't very much) no one really cared. He also slept a fair amount and just did a great job. I quickly had to get over my germ-a-phobia as Noah insisted on chewing on the plane safety information card (which would literally send chills down my back because it is so disgusting) but he was very insistent on doing it and it kept him happy and quiet, so what else could I do.
Our brand new stroller, which we had bought to replace our previously stollen stroller, got stollen in the airport on the way out to Maine. Well, stollen or lost, but we checked it at the end of the gateway, and when we got off the plane it was gone. There goes another $150. I have no idea why people keep taking our crappy stuff. It wasn't even an expensive stroller brand. Another couple had a MacClaren, and somehow our cheap-o Kolcraft stoller is the one that goes missing. Anyway, Grant had to go buy a replacement stroller in a Walmart in Maine and it is terrible and I hate it. Plus, what is double sucky is that the stroller we had has been discontinued it so now I can't even get the same one to replace it.
Maine was beautiful and Grant and I really loved it. I'm not going to take the job, but we would have really loved to live out there.
Our brand new stroller, which we had bought to replace our previously stollen stroller, got stollen in the airport on the way out to Maine. Well, stollen or lost, but we checked it at the end of the gateway, and when we got off the plane it was gone. There goes another $150. I have no idea why people keep taking our crappy stuff. It wasn't even an expensive stroller brand. Another couple had a MacClaren, and somehow our cheap-o Kolcraft stoller is the one that goes missing. Anyway, Grant had to go buy a replacement stroller in a Walmart in Maine and it is terrible and I hate it. Plus, what is double sucky is that the stroller we had has been discontinued it so now I can't even get the same one to replace it.
Maine was beautiful and Grant and I really loved it. I'm not going to take the job, but we would have really loved to live out there.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Big stuff going on
We have had lots of big stuff going on....
1. Noah started UCI daycare full time. We love it. We get report cards as to what Noah did during the day with stuff like, exactly how many diapers were changed, exactly how much he ate, when he slept, and cute things like, "Today Noah watched bubbles float outside." How awesome is that? Noah hasn't completely adjusted to his new environment yet, he is still having trouble sleeping in the new set-up, but for his first week, I think he did pretty well. It is also so wonderful for me to cut my morning walk time in half! Wonderful!
2. Grant was a single parent for a full day on Friday. I went on my first job interview. It was in Seattle and I flew up early in the morning and came back late at night. So Grant had to get Noah ready for daycare, take him there, go to work, and do the night time ritual and put Noah to bed all by himself. Frankly, I was more worried about leaving Noah for that long, more than I was worried about the interview. But Grant and Noah did great without me. No problems at all! My problem was that during the interview, which was a full scheduled day, I was unable to sneak away to pump at all. As a result, it looked like I had gotten a boob job by the end of the day. In the taxi cab ride to the airport, all I could think about was getting to a bathroom to pump. I had carried my manual pump with me and I sat in a stall for 45 minutes pumping before getting on the plane. This is part of the reason I don't want to go on too many interviews and I hope I find something I like sooner rather than later! I have another interview in Maine, which Grant and Noah are coming with me.....I am freaking out about traveling with a baby.
3. We saw the pediatric allergist yesterday. I feel much better after speaking with him, though the bad news is that he 'strongly' urged us to get rid of our cat. He said that even though Noah's allergy to the cat might not be so bad right now, having him around the cat sensitizes him to be more likely to develop asthma, and so it would be best to find Winston another home. I feel really bad about this, but how could we have known that we would have such an allergic baby when Grant and I have always been around pets. Poor Winston.
In general, the doctor suggested that we practice avoidance. The idea is that if we don't expose Noah to the allergens, particularly peanuts and egg whites, then we have a better chance of letting his body stop making the antibodies against them and hopefully after awhile, his immune system will mature and stop making them all together when they are re-introduced.
Yesterday I cleaned out our pantry of all peanut, egg and milk containing products, there wasn't a whole lot left at the end. We even had to get rid of things made on the same equipment, even if it didn't contain the ingredients per se. Ultimately, it looks like we are going to have to stop eating most processed food. Like I said, this is going to make us really healthy. I also am going to buy a couple of cookbooks for allergic families so I can at least have an occasional cookie.
The only good news to come out of this, for now, is that the doctor thought we could ignore the wheat allergy results. He said it often comes out as a false positive. So we can try giving Noah wheat containing products and just see what happens.
1. Noah started UCI daycare full time. We love it. We get report cards as to what Noah did during the day with stuff like, exactly how many diapers were changed, exactly how much he ate, when he slept, and cute things like, "Today Noah watched bubbles float outside." How awesome is that? Noah hasn't completely adjusted to his new environment yet, he is still having trouble sleeping in the new set-up, but for his first week, I think he did pretty well. It is also so wonderful for me to cut my morning walk time in half! Wonderful!
2. Grant was a single parent for a full day on Friday. I went on my first job interview. It was in Seattle and I flew up early in the morning and came back late at night. So Grant had to get Noah ready for daycare, take him there, go to work, and do the night time ritual and put Noah to bed all by himself. Frankly, I was more worried about leaving Noah for that long, more than I was worried about the interview. But Grant and Noah did great without me. No problems at all! My problem was that during the interview, which was a full scheduled day, I was unable to sneak away to pump at all. As a result, it looked like I had gotten a boob job by the end of the day. In the taxi cab ride to the airport, all I could think about was getting to a bathroom to pump. I had carried my manual pump with me and I sat in a stall for 45 minutes pumping before getting on the plane. This is part of the reason I don't want to go on too many interviews and I hope I find something I like sooner rather than later! I have another interview in Maine, which Grant and Noah are coming with me.....I am freaking out about traveling with a baby.
3. We saw the pediatric allergist yesterday. I feel much better after speaking with him, though the bad news is that he 'strongly' urged us to get rid of our cat. He said that even though Noah's allergy to the cat might not be so bad right now, having him around the cat sensitizes him to be more likely to develop asthma, and so it would be best to find Winston another home. I feel really bad about this, but how could we have known that we would have such an allergic baby when Grant and I have always been around pets. Poor Winston.
In general, the doctor suggested that we practice avoidance. The idea is that if we don't expose Noah to the allergens, particularly peanuts and egg whites, then we have a better chance of letting his body stop making the antibodies against them and hopefully after awhile, his immune system will mature and stop making them all together when they are re-introduced.
Yesterday I cleaned out our pantry of all peanut, egg and milk containing products, there wasn't a whole lot left at the end. We even had to get rid of things made on the same equipment, even if it didn't contain the ingredients per se. Ultimately, it looks like we are going to have to stop eating most processed food. Like I said, this is going to make us really healthy. I also am going to buy a couple of cookbooks for allergic families so I can at least have an occasional cookie.
The only good news to come out of this, for now, is that the doctor thought we could ignore the wheat allergy results. He said it often comes out as a false positive. So we can try giving Noah wheat containing products and just see what happens.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Crawling!
In honor of Independence Day, Noah started crawling, officially crawling, yesterday. It is so adorable, I can barely stand it. He is still getting the hang of it, so he looks very jerky, like a mechanical toy, when he does it. So far the only things he has felt are worthy of his effort are his red ball and most things that I don't want him to get into (e.g. a heater, our desk drawers, electrical cords, the diaper bag, etc.).
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Allergy test
We took Noah to get an allergy test. I feel that the root of all of the health problems we've been dealing with...the excema, the bacterial infections, etc. stem from allergic reactions. To do the allergy test they performed a blood draw and screen for antibody levels against common allergens. Unlike when he was a little baby and they took blood out of his heel, this time they took blood straight out of his arm like an adult. It was the saddest thing ever and I almost cried.
We got the test results back yesterday and I almost cried again. The test is out of 5 or 6 scale, with a 2 being the lowest number that they consider to be an allergic reaction.
Noah is allergic to:
Wheat grain (2)
Milk (2)
Egg whites (3)
Peanuts (4)
Cats (2)
We have an appointment to speak with a pediatric allergist in mid-July and I think we'll know more then. The doctor said for now that we don't have to get rid of our cat. I'm most concerned about the peanut allergy, though Noah certainly has been exposed to peanut protein as I have been eating peanut products the entire time I've been nursing.
Anyway, after my initial freak out yesterday, I'm am trying to remain calm about all of this. Everyone keeps reassuring me that kids grow out of a lot of their allergies and that it is so common now-a-days for kids to be allergic to everything. Also, Noah' allergic reactions so far have only been hives and excema, so far no respiratory problems. All in all, I realize that it could be worse. Part of it is I just have to wrap my mind around being an allergy family. It's a foreign concept to Grant and I as we're not allergic to anything. I suppose it will make us eat healthier as a family, and that is a good thing. However, I am not a parent who wants to deny my kid junk food, so the thought of Noah going to birthday parties and not being able to eat cake and ice cream breaks my heart a little bit.
We got the test results back yesterday and I almost cried again. The test is out of 5 or 6 scale, with a 2 being the lowest number that they consider to be an allergic reaction.
Noah is allergic to:
Wheat grain (2)
Milk (2)
Egg whites (3)
Peanuts (4)
Cats (2)
We have an appointment to speak with a pediatric allergist in mid-July and I think we'll know more then. The doctor said for now that we don't have to get rid of our cat. I'm most concerned about the peanut allergy, though Noah certainly has been exposed to peanut protein as I have been eating peanut products the entire time I've been nursing.
Anyway, after my initial freak out yesterday, I'm am trying to remain calm about all of this. Everyone keeps reassuring me that kids grow out of a lot of their allergies and that it is so common now-a-days for kids to be allergic to everything. Also, Noah' allergic reactions so far have only been hives and excema, so far no respiratory problems. All in all, I realize that it could be worse. Part of it is I just have to wrap my mind around being an allergy family. It's a foreign concept to Grant and I as we're not allergic to anything. I suppose it will make us eat healthier as a family, and that is a good thing. However, I am not a parent who wants to deny my kid junk food, so the thought of Noah going to birthday parties and not being able to eat cake and ice cream breaks my heart a little bit.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Splashing in the pool
Post-pool. Noah doing his best Zoolander pose.
We put Noah in a pool on our deck yesterday. We were really excited to do this. The problem is that we don't have a way to get water into and out of the pool easily. Grant filled it using a pitcher. Then to empty, he had to carry the pool through our living room to empty it into our bathtub. Suboptimal, but not disasterous. Noah liked it.
Post-pool. Noah doing his best Zoolander pose.
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