My daughter was born just about 14 months ago, a day that will be remembered and cherished forever. The day went better than I could have ever hoped for. I had gone through a traumatic pregnancy and only hoped for a healthy deliver for both baby and myself.
What I got was a healthy natural birth that from start to finish was 12 hours. It was non-stop but to be honest I wouldn't have had it any other way. I never had to deal with any stalled labor or any "breaks." My body and it's natural pain fighters, endorphins, stayed in tip top shape. After such a tough pregnancy I look back at labor and delivery as being the best part of the entire experience.
Once she and I got the hang of nursing, which to be honest can be a bit tough, we started to notice that our little one would get very fussy and seem to be in pain at night. During the day she seemed to do just fine but at night she would just cry out in pain. We weren't getting much sleep so I went to Google for some answers. Yes, most things said Colic but I was not convinced.
The one thing I did notice was dairy. Dairy passes through breastmilk which can cause issues in the baby. Humans are the only mammals that continue to drink dairy after the weening period which leads me to believe it cannot not be good for you. I didn't do a ton of research at the time, who has time to read when all you need is sleep, but decided to cut out all the dairy I had been consuming.
Boy, did that make a huge difference. She no longer had the distended hard stomach and she no longer screamed for hours on end. This was helpful for all of us. It wasn't that difficult to give up dairy although I thought that it might. During the pregnancy Dairy Queen seemed to be my go to place! Well, once you stop drinking or eating dairy products and replace with healthy alternatives, I find, I started to crave the healthy stuff.
Fast forward to January of this year. We had watched Forks Over Knives in December and decided that cutting out that last bit of animal products would be the best for our family. In January we stopped eating all animal products. Go us!
It's now May. My little one is growing like a weed and absolutely loves the food we feed her. I am sure to keep an eye on blood work to ensure she is also getting all the nutrients she needs as well. We still nurse, she hasn't quite given up on me yet. :) I'm not about to stop until she feels ready or until age 2.
Here's the problem though. We seem to keep getting sick and passing things back and forth. I look back to when we moved into this house and I wonder if that has anything to do with it. It's not the food we eat because my naturopath is constantly testing my blood and immunity. I know many, skeptics, are quick to point the finger at being vegan but I know far too many vegan children who are healthy and thriving. In fact, my little one is healthy (for the most part) and thriving too. What I've noticed is we both have horrible allergy type symptoms. Running nose, itching eyes, headaches.
So, back to the house. This house was built in 1978. That's not always a bad thing but the rental company is not too keen on fixing things or so it seems. We've been here since October of 2010 and every time we ask for an item to be fixed they sit on it for quite awhile then, sometimes, fix it (half ass).
I have to admit, when we moved in we were just looking for something easy, quick and big enough. I was very pregnant and still very sick so I didn't feel it necessary to drive all over town to find THE place. So, when we moved in we noticed that the walls had not been painted in a very long time, the carpet is incredibly old, as is the tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. I'm pretty sure this is just a place for the owner of the house and the rental company to make a quick buck. It's not a place they want to treat with a little TLC like it needs.
Could it be air quality in our home? Asbestos? Old, dirty, bad carpeting? No matter what we do to the carpet it does not seem to help it. How would one have the air quality in a home checked any how?
In October, when our lease is up, I plan to move the family to a better place in hopes our sniffly lives start to dry up.
We take the time to eat well, stay active and yet we sneeze, wipe, and itch.
We send our little one to daycare. We have to because we both have to work. It's the way it is so we deal with that portion. As much as we would love to stay home with her we must pay the bills. So, we deal with other parents as well. It seems they continually bring their kids to school when they are sick. We do not. If she merely has the sniffles from allergies she's fine to go but fever and other ailments, she doesn't need to be with other people. She needs to be with at least one of us. Last week when I picked up the little one from school I noticed one of the boys looked like he was not well. I took her home and she seemed to be just fine throughout the weekend. On Monday afternoon when I got to her school for pick up I noticed signage out for an illness outbreak at school. Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease! It's a virus that causes painful sores in the mouth and rash on the body. It also causes fever and malaise.
Come to find out it was the boy I saw last week who was sick with HFMD! I noticed as soon as I got my little one to the car that she had a rash! I called the doctor immediately. She does in fact have the disease. It makes me so sad that parents continue to send their children to school when they are sick and miserable. Why is this? At first I thought that maybe I had made a mistake on the school we chose. Isn't more expensive schools "immune" to this sort of thing? No, they are not. It doesn't matter where you send your children to school because any parent can be a lazy one. Any parent can just not pay attention to the signals their child shows. Any parent can send their kid to school with a fever, with pale skin, with a rash. And, it doesn't even have to be at school. It can be anywhere. The grocery store, the movies, swim lessons. Anywhere.
I'm just trying to keep my daughter healthy. She is for the most part which is great. One good thing about daycare, she's building quite the immunity. She is supposed to have signs of fever and the doc said she shouldn't have an appetite. As of yet she has not broken out with a fever and is eating normally. She's eager to play as well. She's pale and puffy and she definitely has a rash but otherwise she's a trooper. I envy her!!
She's home from school and on the mend. We both will get better even if it takes moving to do so. I'm determined. Why else would I take the time to feed her the way I do? She's my little brown rice and quinoa girl! She loves the stuff. I'm so very proud.
Please, if your children shows signs of illness do what you can to keep them from others. It really does help out! No one wants to be sick. I realize you can't always help it but really if it's a fever most likely it's contagious.
I will be speaking to her school with regards to teacher observation. Perhaps they need to be trained by medical professionals (mini training of course) to watch for any signs of illness. This way they can nip it in the bud! Cut it off before it happens. Call the parents and ask that they pick up their children.
I suppose this is my rant as I sit at home with a sick little girl as she naps. Thanks for listening. Send us your healing thoughts.
For now it's lots of mommy/daddy love, fluids, and good healthy foods. She is loved!
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