Saturday's visit to the ER

Well, in my last post I mentioned Kaela being sick so I wasn't surprised when Daeton got it next.  However he got it 100 times worse and 4 times as long.

Kaela got sick Thursday morning. She vomited about five times.  Was tired most of the day. Tossed around all night long with stomach pains and cramps and had diarrhea once the next morning.  The rest of Friday she had a headache but was better.

Daeton got it Saturday morning.  He ended up missing his football game that we were all ready to go to.

He woke up tired.  Started making dashes for the bathroom about 8am and I gave him anti-diarrhea medicine. Started vomiting about 10am and didn't stop.  Their dad came and took Kaela only for his weekend and left Daeton to stay home.

I took Daeton to Urgent Care about 1pm because he was still having it come out both ends.  Daeton was throwing up in the dr office trash can for his whole visit and exam but the doctor said to go buy over-the-counter diarrhea medicine and that was it.  I told him Daeton needed anti-nausea medicine or he'd be dehydrated and in the ER.  The doctor said, 'You might be right but he isn't there yet so I'm not going to prescribe it for you.'  (yes I was pissed).

So, about 6:30pm, when Daeton was still sick and racing for the toilet, I got him dressed and took him to Simi Valley Hospital's Emergency Room (ER).  We were very fortunate to arrive to the place being almost empty.  Before I even signed Daeton in the triage nurse (that checks in patients) had him in a wheelchair and asked me to check him in with the front desk (they get insurance card, verify address, name, dob, etc) while she started on his vitals.  From there they put a id bracket on him and took us to a hospital room (still in the ER).

We waited about 10 minutes and the doctor came in, checked on him and I told him that Daeton'd been vomiting and having diarrhea for about 12 hours by this time and that the Urgent Care doctor had done nothing.  The ER doctor wrote up orders and about 30 hour later Daeton had an IV drip to hydrate him and they put the anti-nausea medicine in the IV line.  They also gave him (in the line also) some pain medicine for the stomach muscle spasms and pain.

When were were at the ER the doctor called Daeton's pediatrician (that was on call, thankfully) and he said he wanted us to do a follow up call with him on Monday, in his office.  I really like the kids' pediatrician and wish he had been the one to be there when we went to Urgent Care.

We were there for over 5 hours. They gave him three full IV bags for 'sugar water' to hydrate him.  I'm not sure exactly what it is but that is the layman's term for it.  He had stopped vomiting immediately after the anti-nausea medicine had been administered but they still have me two to take home (that devolve under the tongue) and a prescription for five more.

That night he slept for from about 1am until 5am and then tossed around until 6am and woke up saying his hands were hurting him.  I called the ER nurse and she couldn't think of anything that would cause his hands to be hurting him.  He described it as needles stabbing through his hands.  I think it was due to the high amount of fluids in his body and that he was feeling a tightness, like water retention, in his fingers.  I heated up the 'rice sock' as we call it and gave it to him and he hugged it with both hands and fell back to sleep.  About 1/2 hr later, when the rice sock had cooled off, he was tossing again and in pain.  I reheated it and he hugged it and went back to sleep.

He woke up about 8am, went to the bathroom and his fingers were okay and he didn't remember them hurting earlier (he must have been too tired and sleepy).

On Sunday he was tired, very sore- especially from vomiting for so many hours, and had a headache but felt better.

On Monday it was MY turn.  I did not vomit at all but did race for the bathroom a few times and then had a headache and was VERY tired.  I was okay the first 1/2 of the day but napped from 1-2:30. Got up and took the kids to Daeton's pediatrician appointment.  Got home and fell back asleep from about 3:30-8pm.  I was up on/off in that time for the kids asking questions or talking to me.  Kaela made them both dinner of Hot Pockets.  I got them to bed about 9pm and went back to sleep until 8:30 the next morning.

And so, on Tuesday we all were healthy but the days of Daeton not taking his ADHD medicine (from when he was sick) caught up to him and he didn't wake up until 10:30 am, was cranky and grumpy all day and then napped from 2-4:15pm.

I made him go to football but to sit on the sidelines and watch the plays the kids were learning but not practice  or exercise at all.

and... now I think we are recovered besides the 101 things of 'catch-up' I need to do.

:-)

Just Grandpa & Me

My dad came over today to bring Daeton some batteries for a RC plane (Air Hogs) he got for his birthday. I didn't want to take him to get any because Kaela was sick last night and throwing up.
So, my dad came, brought the batteries and played catch with the football with Daeton. My sister stopped by to bring Daeton out for a while, for his birthday, and it just my dad and Kaela were here.
 She does not get 'just grandpa and me' time as often as Daeton does with my dad so it was neat that the two of them were here.

He asks her if she wants to go catch some lizards in the back yard and she enthusiastically nodded yes.  A while later I went to peek on them and what are they doing????

Taking apart the old, rusty swing set.  They stacked up the poles and carried them (with my help) into the front yard and we put them at the curb with a FREE sign.  The whole thing was gone before morning.

Get Out And Play; Worldwide Day of Play to turn off the TV and play outside

My family seems to be running around without stopping most of the week.  Enrichment classes, school work, errands, field trips, even violin lessons.  But I try to make sure we exercise all the time. There is an old saying about if the parents read in a household than so will the children.  Well, the same goes for exercise. 

The Clorox 2 Play 2 Day pledge is a perfect intensive for my children to do more outdoors.  http://clorox2play2day.com,

Right now my son is in football. This year is his first in www.gcyfl.com.  He has practice three times a week, for two hours each time (and yes, the white jersey and padded shorts are full of grass and dirt stains after every practice) and one game a week.

I am on an adult kickball team, playing on the Mercury league for WAKA.  We have games once a week and practice every Sunday.  Both of my kids help out at practices, running for others, fielding the balls, and we even let them go up to bat.

With these two sports taking up five days a week, my daughter isn't in any active sports but does practice gymnastics and running (track starts in February) and goes on 2-4 mile walks a few times a week.

With busy lives we have a hard time fitting in some down time but I try to schedule or 'undschedule' that as well so we have time to go to the park and play on the jungle gyms.

Exercise is important for everyone in the family.  Not just for someone overweight, not just for the kids.  For everyone.  If the parents are healthy they are setting examples for their children.

In honor of the Clorox2® Play 2Day pledge to play outside  I am going to try to reduce any multi-media in our house for the next month.

This will be hard, since my kids DO play on too many games.  My son has an X-Box, DSi, iPod and laptop.  My daughter  has the same, minus the X-Box.  All of these are a addiction and attraction to them, especially my son.  When we are driving, waiting for an appointment, or not told to go out and play, they are both drawn to these games or the television.    NONE of which are that great for them besides being a babysitter.  I definately notice a correlation between how many hours of multi-media they have had and their attitudes and behavior.

I am going to do a reward chart for hours of exercise, by the 1/2 hr mark with rewards of outdoor toys.  A new Frisbee, balls to play catch with and other items that are attractive and fun in the sporting good section of the stores.  Maybe a big reward is a tether-ball pole!

I'd love ideas other people have to make exercise fun for the whole family and what they do together. 

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox2® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, ”click here."

Loose Change From The Car

We went to Coin Star this week with a tote bag of loose change that has been accumulating in my car (and from the car before this one). This money was mostly loose change from fast food purchases or anything else I paid cash for and got change back that was coins.

Quik Bebe, Reed This!

"Mom, why is this word spelled wrong?"
Anyone have an answer for this?
I explained that sometimes it is a matter of marketing, like Quik Market.  It is eye catching and one less letter to put on any and signs.  One letter might seem small but I remember it being discussed in a psychology class I had eons ago.
Another reason is to be different, just like Kaela's name.  :-)
It isn't easy for kids to learn to read, write and spell in English.

Fishin' on Labor Day

Okay, it might be cliche but we are fishing on Labor Day. My sister bought worms yesterday and invited us today to go to the local 'Duck Pond' and go fishing.

So far the kids have all caught one fish each. All are 4-6 inches long. The kids are releasing them after my sister removes the hook.

Football Time- Fall Is Almost Here

Well, the beginning of the school year is upon us. We technically started school work this week but our first official day is Tuesday. About three weeks ago my dad signed Daeton up to play football for Grace Brethren. Daeton played football once, a few years ago, for the Y' but that was flag football and wasn't too serious. They only had four teams and often borrowed other kids from teams that already finished playing to help out, since they didn't have enough players on each team.

A HUGE difference is that THIS football he is playing now is tackle football. I watch the games wincing as the kids get hurt and cheering as they do good.

Below are pictures of his first game, against a team in Acton.

Daeton is new, and still learning the ropes, per see, but he still did a great job and tried hard.

He is # 40.

The heat wasn't fun but no one complained and they got a GREAT morale booster, especially for their first game.

Final score was 34-12. :-)