Andrea's Adventures in Binkyland

Life Just Never Stops Coming At You

Well, some of you may be wondering how Sick Baby is feeling. She finished her course of antibiotics a week ago Monday, and was declared penumonia-free by the doctor. Hurrah! But her ears had fluid in them, so we scheduled a 1-month follow-up visit to make sure she didn't get an ear infection.

Saturday morning, Sasha feels a little warm to me. I take an axillary temperature: 101.6. Hmm. By the time we get to the doctor's office, about three hours later, she feels a bit warmer. They take a rectal temperature: 103.3! Sasha has a double ear infection. Back on an antibiotic, but straight amoxycillin this time, and not Augmentin. Thankfully her stomach is not upset by amoxycillin straight-up, so we haven't had a recurrence of the diaper rash menace.

Since then, she appears to be in good temper, and THANK GOD her appetite is starting to come back. See, Matt and I sneakily weighed her while we were alone in the doctor's office, and found that she weighed less in her diaper and onesie now than she did stark naked at her 9-month appointment. Gaining only very slowly is one thing, and troubling but not panic-worthy, but losing weight over a nearly 4-month period does concern me. It is to some degree, I'm sure, due to her ongoing battle with various illnesses, since she has been eating only very poorly. At least she's been nursing well! But on Monday, we discovered something that put all of this in a new light.

Sasha is, indeed, allergic to peanuts. But she ALSO has a very mild allergy to milk! Not allergic enough to have ongoing eczema, asthma, or diarrhea; no, nothing so obvious as that. But allergic enough to beat down her immune system so that she's suddenly catching one illness after another? Quite possibly. Allergic enough that her rate of growth has been impeded since she started eating cheese and yogurt, at around 9 months old? Almost certainly. In fact, poor weight gain and strings of mysterious illnesses are classic symptoms of a food-allergic child!

We have a follow-up visit with the allergist next Tuesday to explore, in depth, what all of this really means for us. In the meantime, both I and Sasha are avoiding straight dairy products (though not items with milk in them, like baked goods or Goldfish crackers), and anything that might have even trace cross-contamination of peanut in it. I'm already missing my Luna bar breakfasts. It's astoundingly hard to avoid peanut traces in food. Almost no chocolate, ice cream, or baked good is safe; and there are traces of cross-contamination or even unlabeled peanut oil in the strangest places, from sunscreen to Hellman's Mayonnaise.

Since we've made these small changes to Sasha's diet, she seems to be showing some improvement. More active, but less combative and much happier than she's been. More like the baby she used to be. She is, however, exceptionally clingy to me. I'm of the school of thought that if she thinks she needs that much snuggling, then she should get it, so last night I ordered a Maya Wrap.

Aside from all of thse health issues, then, how are we all doing? Really, not so bad! Our lease on Matt's car is about to expire, and it looks like we're going to do something to make all of my Michigan relatives despise and shun us: We're buying Japanese. Matt did a lot of research on what's out there in our price range (and you thought *I* was the only obsessive researcher in our house, hah!) and did some test drives, and has ultimately settled on the Mazda Protege. We will likely get it in the next month or so.

Matt is also going away this weekend to Foxwoods for a bachelor party, leaving me, alas, home alone with the baby. Sasha's gotten used to spending days alone with me when she was too sick for daycare, but even on weekdays, once I get her from daycare, she's all about waiting for daddy to come home. She asks about him, looks around for him, and sometimes fusses until he comes home. We'll see how it goes.

And how about me? I'm starting to feel a little more in control again. I'm gradually trying to get into a weekly rhythm again, but my beat's been so disrupted by the past month or two that it may take a while. But I've felt on the verge of getting it all together again every week for the past several weeks, so my optimism is certainly tempered this time with a fair amount of skepticism. Can the mother of an almost-toddler ever really say she is in control of her own life, really?

My kitchen is: clean. Yes, that's it. A clean kitchen is the first step toward a peaceful life.

Posted by andrea at July 10, 2003 11:55 AM