Hospital visit # 2

Grace had another stint in the emergency department of the Robina Hospital yesterday. Fortunately, she wasn't as sick this time, but was well on the way to it.

It all started on the way home from our camping trip on Tuesday. She was fine in the morning as we packed up to leave, and fine in the first part of the car ride. We stopped in Brisbane and headed into a shopping centre for lunch. The kids were getting ratty from hunger, so I headed to the closest place with food which happened to be McDonald's. Now, the kids have had dribs and drabs from there, mainly chips and ice cream, but this was the first time that I'd bought them a full crap meal. Xav's not that keen on chips, so he opted for nuggets, apple pieces and apple juice. Grace had the nuggets, chips and apple juice. All was good until we got back into the car to head to the Museum in the city. Grace started complaining of a sore stomach and looked a bit white, we put it down to car sickness as she had been reading and writing the whole trip.

Soon after though, she was looking paler and said she was going to vomit. Lucky I had a spew bag in the front of the car, and just after I passed it to her she filled it up. She perked up after the spew, so once again thinking it was just car sickness, we headed to the museum. Grace was quite happy wandering around checking out the dinosaurs and all the other exhibits, however after an hour or so she just wanted Duane to carry her. Her and Duane went and found a comfy chair to hang out on, and I took Xav through the rest of the museum as he was absolutely loving it! She fell asleep, but we still figured it was a combination of a busy week and car sickness.

She slept all the way home, and transferred straight to the couch - where she spent the rest of the afternoon/night. She vomited once more, and although she didn't want anything to eat she was still drinking small amounts of water and sucking on ice chips.

We put her in our bed for the night, with towels under her head and a bucket close by. She slept well, 12 hours with no stirring or vomiting. However, as soon as she opened her eyes in the morning, the spewing started and didn't stop. Poor little thing was bringing up bile, as there was nothing else left. By about 8am she started vomiting specs of blood, which was a very worrying thing to see. I got her straight into the Dr, who after examining her told us to head straight to emergency as she was on her way to becoming severely dehydrated again.

So once again, we hurried and dumped Xav and headed to the hospital. The triage nurse took one look at her limp and listless, and sent us straight through - Thank goodness. She was a lot more alert than last time, but her mouth was dry and her capillary refill was taking a bit longer than it should. Her pulse was also really high, and the way she looked was worrisome.

The Dr was keen to get either a gastric tube or iv in straight away, but I was a bit apprehensive as she was still alert enough to put up a fight. She wasn't to happy about the bsl test, so I could just imagine how she would react to something being shoved down her throat. The Dr and nurse suggested we try a drug called "Ondansetron", which is mostly used for cancer patients to stop the nausea from chemo. It worked amazingly. Grace went from vomiting every 5-10 minutes to stopping within 10 minutes of sucking on the wafer. It's apparently not commonly used, and there are certain criteria that have to be met before it can be prescribed. I'm normally all for letting an infection or whatever works it own way out, but yesterday I was thankful for the relief this tiny pill offered my little girl. It also meant that she could now hold down fluids and have a better chance at avoiding an Iv.

Once the vomiting ceased, she was put on a strict time frame of 20 mls of fluid every 10 mins. My over achieving little girl gulped back 40 ml in the same time frame, so was well on the way to rehydration within the hour. We got to hospital at 10am and were on our way home with a perked up little girl by 4pm. Once again, I am so thankful for access to such a fantastic public health service.

The Dr's are still not really sure what keeps happening to Grace. This is the 4th time in 12 months that she has been vomiting (no diarrhoea) and no one else gets sick. The Dr once again said that although it doesn't seem right, he could only put it down to a viral infection. I've got my own suspicions that it's food related, so I'm going to be keeping a close eye on her eating over the next few months. I'm also dosing her up on probiotics and booking her in to see a naturopath to hopefully build her gut flora up again. It just doesn't feel right that she gets so dehydrated after being sick for less than 24 hours. Maybe she is just one of these people that has trouble stopping vomiting once they start?

By this morning she was back to her happy, cheerful self. The only remnant left of yesterdays ordeal was the tired meltdown we had early today. However, after a little rest it has rectified.

There is one silver lining to all this. She has blamed the vomiting on McDonald's, in particular the chips and has vowed never to eat them again. She must associate the taste of them with the vomiting, something I also do. After vomiting after eating saveloy's as a child, I still can't bring myself to even try them now.

Goodbye Dulcie...

~~Silkie with her eggs, Dulcie is in one of them~~

We've had to deal with death this week. Our sweet little Dulcie chook passed away, leaving one very sad little girl. Only the day before Grace and I had been talking and she was getting quite teary when I mentioned that Daisy and Lily were getting older. She said she didn't want them to get old, cause that would mean that they would die and she didn't want that to happen. The sweet little girl was so sad thinking about her dogs not being around anymore. I assured her that although they were getting older, they still could live for many more years.

It was the next day that we came home to find our little Dulcie belly-up in her favourite position beside the swing. We are not really sure what happened to her, she had no marks on her and had been laying for the previous few days. I'm just hoping that it's not something that can be passed on to the other chooks.

Xav was very nonchalant about it all, suggesting that we bring her inside and he'd "fix" her. Not a good idea considering it would most likely involve prodding with the thermometer, and he doesn't appear to have a very gentle bedside manner. Grace immediately burst into tears and sobbed her little heart out. In between gasping sadness, she gave Dulcie a pat and asked to go inside to make some pictures for her.
She drew the following:

~~Dulcie's house~~

~~Dulcie~~

And then this one which nearly had her Father weeping:

~~The egg that Dulcie came out of~~

We were all there watching as the 3 chooks broke out of their eggs. It was an amazing experience and a beautiful act of nature for the kids to see.

Grace was upset for the rest of the day and night, she was particularly sad that Silkie wouldn't have her baby anymore and that she would really miss her. We had the heaven talk, which confused Grace a little as she figured if Dulcie could fly up there she may as well come back to us! She put her pictures in the box and Duane buried her up at his work.

~~Baby Dulcie

Goodbye sweet Dulcie xx

Pictorial update

I've got a bunch of photo's to add, so this post is going to be very image heavy!

A few weeks ago we went along to the local councils Big Machinery day. I wasn't expecting anything too fantastic, but figured the kids would get a kick out of seeing all the equipment. Well, I was completely blown away by how well it was organised and how much fun we had! All the machinery was on display and kids were encouraged to hop in, climb around and blow the horns as often and as loud as they wanted! There were 4 wheelers, tractors, dump trucks, cement mixers and excavators - my children were in heaven. The council boat was even set up, and taking kids for a quick trip up the river. We will definintely be marking the date on next years calender, fantastic AND free!

~~What better way to end the day - Ice-cream!~~

On the 30th May was Wendy's birthday, so the kids and I spend the afternoon baking her a very special birthday cake. It was a banana, honey and walnut loaf and it was absolutely delicious.

~~spitting blowing the candles out~~

I've been inspired by fellow blogger Penny to dedicate 1 night a week to an extra special dinner. Our night is going to be Saturday night and our tradition was started last weekend. We debuted with a cross between sukiyaki and Chinese steamboat, and it was a huge hit. As a family we busily prepared the stock and then the kids helped chop up the meat and vegetables. The stock was made up of ginger, garlic, soy, spring onion and shitake mushrooms. Once it had been cooking for an hour or so, we transferred it to the table and onto our gas camper cooker so it would keep boiling. We each had a little wire basket and filled it with vegetables and either thinly sliced meat, chicken or salmon. The basket then goes into the boiling stock for a minute or so until it's cooked and then gobbled up. Hokkien noodles were also cooked in the stock, and were the kids favourite. It was so yummy and so much fun to do, so it'll definitely be on the menu again soon!

Pearly whites

After over 20 years of trouble with my front tooth, it's finally gone. And I'm a little sad.....

I've had that wonky, partially black front tooth for a while now and I'd come to like it. It had character and felt familiar and comforting in my mouth. Well, until the damn abscess kept rearing it's ugly head, then it was bloody painful.

Anyway, last Tuesday I went in to have it removed. It was supposed to be an easy 'grip and rip', but it wasn't coming out without a fight. After 3 injections I was still feeling pain, so then had to have the dreaded anaesthetic with adrenaline which I hate. I had to have 2 doses of that, so 5 needles all up, before the area was numb enough for extraction. The abscess was affecting how the anaesthetic worked, so the adrenaline was needed to constrict the blood vessels and keep it all in the right place. Once it was numb, then it was just a matter of the lovely dentist using her trusty pliers to pull the bugger out. By this stage I was feeling quite ill from the adrenaline, with my heart racing and the familiar nervous laughter happening. Eventually it was out though and we both inspected the culprit. It was a tooth in very bad shape, with not just 1 vertical fracture but 3!! No wonder I'd had so much trouble with it, with 3 big canals for infections to travel up!

After plugging up my (no doubt very attractive!) gap, it was time to get started on the temporary one going in. The permanent tooth will replace the temporary one in about 6 months time, just to give the gum and bone time to heal. The temp one looks ok, but it's taken me all week to get used to it. It's glued to my other front teeth via a bridge on the back, which just feels so foreign and uncomfortable. I had trouble to start with even closing my jaw properly, which made it ache and difficult to chew. Maybe it was just the swelling going down, but it's all settled now and not as painful. It still feels really strange in my mouth though, and I'm hoping that the permanent one feels less bulky.

Onto other toothy issues......

The funniest thing happened last night. Xav was exhausted after a busy day and went to bed early at 6pm. About 9pm, I was sitting on the couch surfing the Internet studying, when I heard him tip-toe down the hall. He often wanders out to go to the toilet, so I asked him if he needed to go. "No, I forgot to brush my teeth, I need to brush my teeth", said the little hygienist. Then he toddled into the bathroom, brushed and flossed his teeth and went straight back to bed. He didn't seem to be sleepwalking, he just seemed very upset and slightly distressed that he'd gone to bed without brushing his pegs!

Seems my lectures over the last week about dental hygiene must be giving my children nightmares!!

Mug cake

Oh my goodness.......Everyone must try this. If you like gooey, fudgey chocolate pudding, this could very well be the best thing you have ever tasted. And so, so easy. It is the perfect desert for winter; pure comfort food.

I made it up in soup mugs, which left plenty of room for a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top.

Chocolate Mug cake

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons self raising flour
2 tablespoons sugar (I used only 1 tbs)
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons butter flavour infused rice bran oil, or butter (I just used 1 tbs of olive oil, and it was fine)
¼ teaspoon vanilla essence or peppermint
1 tablespoon choc chips
1 large mug

Preparation
1. Add dry ingredients to the mug, and mix well.
2. Crack an egg and add it to your mug. Be sure to mix it well to avoid any pockets of flour in the corners. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the vanilla essence.
3. Pop your mug into the microwave & zap for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt). Wait until the cake stops rising, and sets in the mug.
4. If necessary, run a knife around the sides of the mug, and tip the still warm cake out of the mug and onto a saucer. (I ate it straight out of the cup...why dirty more dishes??)

Then you eat it and go to chocolate heaven.

As you can tell from the blogging blitz and clean house, the study is going fantastic......................

Thanks!

Thanks to all the lovely e-mail message I've had about my blog. It's been lovely "meeting" you all and getting to know you all better.

I was actually quite amazed that I had any readers, but I love and appreciate all your comments. I also love reading all your blogs, for those that have them. For those that don't, start one! And then send me the link so I can read it too!

I know when I started I thought I'd have nothing to write about, and sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. Hence, plenty of entries where I've dribbled on about nothing. Or about things that I'm sure no-one else gives a toss about. But you know what? This IS my life, and I really love having all these things documented to read back over and laugh or cry. I'm sure in 20 years time, my mind will be foggy with how young and sweet my babies were, but I'll always have these written memories. It's also for the kids, I want them to know what we did and also how much I love them and treasure all the moments we have (well most....). Also, the special moments aren't always the loudest, biggest or fanciest. Simple wins most of the time.

That is why I blog.

So, all you non-bloggers! Get started, and I'm sure you'll be blogging up a storm in no time!

July List

I'm at home alone, a complete rarity. I really should be getting more familiar with neuro-muscular junctions and the specifics of the central and peripheral nervous system, instead I'm procrastinating. I've unpacked the dishwasher, loaded up the washing machine, defrosted spaghetti bolognaise for lunch and been day dreaming about all the fun things I have planned for 12 days time. In 12 days I'll have a month of from studying and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

So, I've given myself half and hour to think about and write down everything I want to do in my time off, then I'm hitting the books hard. Apparently. Until the next wonderful opportunity to procrastinate comes along.

My July list:

• Scour op-shops for sweet and funky little handmade pottery containers. The kids and I have been dabbling in making pure beeswax candles, which has been a lot of fun. I have a big slab of sweet smelling beeswax, ready to be melted down and made into special pot candles for presents and tapering candles for the table. I also want to make a special birthday candle for each of the kids, that can be used on their special day.
  
• Speaking of birthdays, apparently my littlest baby is turning 3 in 26 days. So apart from being in total denial that he is getting bigger, I really need to get a start on his party organisation. He has requested a racing car cake and he'd also like a racing car to come visit. Errr....I don't think I can arrange that Xav! I am thinking about a car themed party, and maybe making some pretend cars out of big cardboard boxes with little straps that can go over the kids shoulders. Maybe it's a bit out of my scope of capabilities, but I'll give it a go.
  
• I also have to make Xav's birthday crown. I'm packing that to take when we go camping (along with many other little crafty projects!). He's picked out the colours, but we are still in discussions on the final pattern for the front. Xav's tossing up between a star or a tree.
  
• Yes, that was not a typo. We are going camping in winter for 5 nights. We've had a few chilly nights and days over the last week, and I'm starting to actually get a bit nervous about camping in the cold. I've stocked up on thermals and new flanalette pj's for the kids and I'm hoping that lots of layers accompanied by hot water bottles and their thick sleeping bags will be enough. Who am I kidding anyway! Of course the kids will want to jump in with us half way through the night and steal our body warmth! I'm very excited about taking the kids to Australia Zoo and underwater world, which I know they will love!
  
• I have a large piece of pure silk and some gorgeous natural dyes, and I'm hoping to dye it in a rainbow pattern for my little rainbow fairy. The last time we did dying, it was so much fun so I can't wait to give it another go.
  
• Ever since I made Lucie's little crystal cave, Grace has been begging for one of her own. I've got everything cut out and ready to make up, so once I've got time we are going to make it up together. Grace loves helping with crafty things, so she's going to be on needle felting duty and also head designer.
  
• We made paper lanterns last week, with beautiful autumn leaves pressed into them. The kids and Grandma have been busy searching for sticks and fallen leaves for some more that we are making. I was hoping to have them done for winter solstice, but that is next Monday, so unless I don't sleep at all this weekend it's not going to happen. Maybe we can just pretend it's in the week Duane has off and we can do our little celebrations then? I have big plans for a bonfire and us all sitting together as a family toasting marshmallows, not sure how keen Duane will be for the fire though. Party pooper!
  
• I have a long list in my head of yummy things I want to bake and freeze. Muffins, slices, biscuits are high up the list as well as stews and curries for those night next semester when I just can't be fussed cooking.
  
• I have 3 more little cloth books that I want to make up.
  
• My vegie garden needs lots of love. The tomato plants are overgrown and need to be ripped out. I've planted some seeds in my seedling containers, and they are all on track for being planted out in the next few months. So hopefully we'll have a beautiful harvest of vegetable coming into Autumn. Grace's fairy garden also needs a bit of maintenance, so I'll help her spruce that up too.
  
• I can't wait to get reacquainted with my wonderful camera. It's spent way too much time alone lately, and I'm eager to start capturing again. Miss Lucie is overdue for her 1st birthday shoot, so that's a priority. My kids also surely must be having withdrawals from having a camera in their face all the time, so I must fix that.
  
• Apart from all these wonderful things, the most precious moments that I am looking forward to is just being with the kids. I'm longing for the mornings where we can and will just lay in bed chatting and giggling. With no need to rush out the door, just be together. Snuggled up with a pile of books, Grace insisting we read the fairy ones and Xav pushing for the car ones. Not leaving bed or each others arms, until our bellies are grumbling. Duane won't miss out either, as he has taken 2 weeks off work.

Right, so now that's all out of my head I really should get back to studying.....