Month: January 2014

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And she drooled pink…..

Parents are uniquely qualified for investigative research.

A beautiful Saturday morning in the McKenzie household- I was giggling with Oz on the couch and Lily was helping daddy in the kitchen. Then I hear my husband say, “What is coming out of your mouth?” In true toddler form, she ran away to the living room as he tried to get a better look at her.

My husband exclaims, I think she is bleeding! As I grab her and plop her on my lap, I see that her shirt is covered in countless drips of a pepto bismal-looking pink. Following her stained shirt up to her mouth, I see her chin covered in the same pink drool and more in her mouth. After a brief debate about the color (I won) we confirmed it wasn’t blood. Unless of course my daughter is part faerie, in which case pink blood may be normal.

The next step was figuring out what in the world it was….this meant a more invasive technique. We chose the lay her my lap and use her toothbrush to help us look in her mouth. Anyone who has ever dared to put their finger in their toddlers mouth, never did it again and probably lost part of their finger! In case you are unaware, they BITE! So the toothbrush dicovered a small clump of pink behind a tooth. We lost the wrestling match at this point though and had to retreat for a minute. A drink of water to flush out the remainder and we were confident that whatever it was, was gone.

But as scientists, and more importantly, still new parents, we were compelled to uncover the source of the pink drool. She could not have gotten into any medicine or chemical. It looked like candy but had no discernable odor like candy. What would dye my daughters drool pink? Since we had ruled out anything dangerous we relaxed and began to gaze around the room.

Then I saw it. Smack dab in the tray of her easel was a pink crayon, with a small chunk missing. It looked so innocent just lying there, silent.

I realize that we are only at the beginning of stories like this and you can believe I will be honing my observation skills!

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Empty Box of Tissues

….We have emerged from the depths of woe and despair and are healing with a smile now….

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The last week and half has felt like a haze and athough I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I am afraid it may just be that freaking freight train others have spoken about!

Okay so I am being both vague and a bit dramatic but having two very sick children and next to no sleep for over a week will make one a bit battle weary.

Now I have been through pnemonia with Lily (twice) and the stomach bug (once thank God) and I have had the pediatrician tell me that on average kids can get sick up to 6 times a year (!) so I wasn’t niave nor necessarily optimistic about winter rolling in. Let me say this here….I was not prepared for the illness that struck our household.

The New Year 2014 found all four of us in poor health and at the nearest pediatric urgent care. Yep, January 1, 2014 we rang in the new year with RSV in tow.

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RSV for a two year old and a 6 month old is just about as much fun as it sounds. Here is what I have learned this last two weeks:

1. My children are stronger than I am.

2. Sucking snot out of a toddler and a baby should be an olympic sport. I mean seriously- wrestling with one hand trying to keep away their hands and hold their head while trying not to hurt them with the restraint AND get the job done?? Yeah I think I could get a bronze medal at least.

3. I can make up a “Take Your Medicine” happy song in a flash. Half of the time the technique works and I dont wind up with sticky bubblegum flavored ibuprofen all over me.

4. I really can just keep going on no sleep. although I seem to be only going in circles some days.

5. Repitition offers both hope and despair. Take temp-give meds-clear nose-do breathing treatment- rock to sleep-put back to sleep after coughing fit woke them up-try to make them eat or at the very least drink something- repeat.

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I know this is a whiny little rant blog post but I have been tested this week. Watching our daughter beg to go to sleep just to be awakened moments later by a terrible cough or watch your infant son cough so much and so hard, he vomits. I never really understood sickness before- never truly understood how a little virus could injure a person or cause death. You hear all the time that the very young and the very old are so succeptible to severe complications from illnesses but it hit home watching my two navigate their way through this and I will honestly say that I became moderately afraid.

Being an older parent, I like to think that I am more relaxed as a person, as a mother. I listen to my gut, I approach things scientifically as well as emotionally…so yeah, none of that held up this time. I ended up taking Oz to the ER twice and Lily once. All for valid reasons but I felt that stupid, over dramatic parent fail feeling.  Luckily both children never got too severe that I couldn’t continue caring for them at home, which was such a relief.

Now I sit here typing while my son lay next to me sleeping (still with a raggedy breath) and my daughter sleeps in her bed across the hall. The house is filled with sounds of humidifiers running. Looking around I see eveidence of the epidemic everywhere- tisssues strewn all over, empty syringes laying in bizarre places only proving how ridiculous of a feat it was to give the medicine. The nebulizer that occupies our table in the living room, the random assortment of medicines (both natural and western) in every room of the house and of course the ever-growing mountain of dirty laundry testifies to our week. The promise of hope? Hope lies in the sound of my children sleeping- peacefully-at the same time. Which means I should try to end this silly little post and join them in slumber. I have greatly missed the sandman and welcome his embrace tonight.

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May your families find and keep health this winter season and always.