Infant Diarrhea, Part IV

Monday, Dec 31, 2007.  New Year’s Eve. Just when I thought Little Mochi was getting better.  This morning, he gave us a scare.  His first poopy diaper after not pooping at all yesterday.  It was greenish-brown and has some red mucous in it.  A full diaper.  A few minutes later, lime green mucous.  Just a little.  Both diapers looked rather odd.  A few minutes after that, more lime green mucous.  I’m starting to get really worried now. 

I’m thinking it could be because all we gave him yesterday was Pedialyte and some rice water to clean out his system.  No solids or formula.  It’s also because he wasn’t taking the rice porridge I made him.  I hope the lime green poop is not a sign of his stomach eating itself away because we starved our little one.  Maybe the liquid only diet was a bad idea.

So we took Little Mochi back to the Pediatrician.  We were scared the red spots were blood.  It didn’t really look like blood but we wanted to make sure. 

Fortunately, the pediatrician said it wasn’t blood.  It could be his stomach lining.  Well, THAT’S not good! 

The pediatrician told us to change his formula.  He gave us a sample of Nestle’s Good Start.  Supposedly, it contains yeast, something that will help him digest his food.  In addition to the yeast, the proteins are partially broken down so it’ll be easier on his stomach.

We tried that.  But we also bought Gerber’s Rice Cereal.  I think it’s finally time.  He’s not taking the rice porridge very well.  Forget the home made rice cereal…

We fed Little Mochi his Gerber for the first time tonight and he loves his Gerber!  I was so happy to see him eat. 

All night, Little Mochi seemed ok.  Actually, he’s more alive than he has been the last few days.  After all, he has solid food in his stomach now.  Don’t get me wrong…it wasn’t like he was totally lethargic or anything.  He has been quite responsive and still plays with his toys and still smiles and laughs with us - just not as hyper as he usually is.

Hopefully, by tomorrow, he can start his 2008 diarrhea free!

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Infant Diarrhea, Part III

Fri, Dec 28, 2007.  Little Mochi didn’t poop until around 3 pm today.  It might have been because I gave him 3 ounces of milk.  I wanted to see if the milk had anything to do with his diarrhea.  Like other times, he pooped approximately 10 minutes after his milk.  Except this time, it was dark chocolate and very mucous-like.  Since it was his first bowel movement since we gave him the rice starch water, I thought we would wait until his next bowel  movement.  I was hoping it could be just his system cleaning itself out. 

But he pooped two more times in one hour - both which were dark and mucous-like.  So we decided to visit the pediatrician (took a poopy diaper for examination as well). 

Pediatrician took a sample of his poop for testing.  We’ll get the results in a few days.

But he said that Little Mochi seems OK.  Afterall, there is no fever, no vomitting, not dehydrated, not fussy, and he’s sleeping well at night. 

Anyways, we were supposed to go to my manager’s Holiday dinner tonight.  Scratch that plan since we ended up at the pediatrician’s office instead. 

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Infant Diarrhea, Part II

Thu, Dec 27, 2007. I tried the Enfamil AR this morning. DOES NOT WORK. He pooped it right out 10 minutes after consuming it. So we tried Mom’s diet of thickened rice starch water and Pedialyte. It seemed to have worked great since he didn’t have diarrhea all day. Not much else to report today…until tomorrow…

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Little Mochi’s Infant Diarrhea, Part I

It all started yesterday, on Christmas Day. It wasn’t very convenient since we were having Christmas dinner with my brother in-law’s girlfriend’s family. By the end of the night, I swear, he had pooped 5 times. 4 out of the 5 times, it was just a little bit. Not really a full diaper of poop. It wasn’t so bad at first. But it seemed to have gotten worse later. I’m referring to his poop. It was yellowish and runny.

Today, Wed. Dec 26, 2007. Pooped 3 times. Still runny and yellowish. Called the pediatrician. He suggested rice cereal to help absorb the acids in Little Mochi’s stomach and pedialyte to help with dehydration. But I haven’t even started him on solids yet! So he suggested Enfamil AR. AR is thickened with rice starch. I called my mom and finally told her that Little Mochi has diahhrea. Of course, the overly worried grandma goes nuts over that fact that I didn’t tell her sooner. She suggested that we give Little Mochi pedialyte and thickened rice water from rice porridge. Perhaps I’ll try that later. But for now, I wanted to give the Enfamil AR a try.

I am beginning to wonder if the trip the Aquarium of the Pacific on Christmas Eve had anything to do with his diahhrea. Perhaps there were bacteria from all the animals. Perhaps taking him there at nearly 6 months old was not a good idea after all. Or it could be purely coincedental.

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A Visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific

Today was the first day I took Little Mochi out. Not out to Grandma’s or out to the grocery store. But out out. We took him to Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacfic. It wasn’t so bad. As a first time parent (and I’m pretty sure many of you can relate), I was overly protective. I brought extra blankets and made sure he wore his cap, even indoors.

The cutest thing happened at the entrance. I guess when you give the lady at the door your ticket, they scan it and a bird (I forget, but I think it was a bird) hawks at you through a speaker. The speaker was about waist level. Little Mochi is about waist level when sitting in his stroller. Well, the hawking scared him and he started to bawl. You know how Disneyland takes a family picture at the entrance? They have one of those at the Aquarium too. In our family picture, Little Mochi had tears rolling down his red face.

I have to admit that taking Little Mochi out was a bit of a hassle. But seeing how much fun he had - or shall I say, how curious he looked - it was well worth it. My hubbie and I had fun, although we thought $20 was a little steep for an adult ticket. I was quite surprised to see so many people there on Christmas Eve.

Sorry for this sudden sign off, but I’m off to bed now. I’m tired. Good night!

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Baby’s First Christmas, Part II

Last month, on Nov 26, I posted a story about how we took our Little Mochi to the mall and took Christmas pictures of him in his cute little Santa’s outfit. I just wanted to follow up on that story and tell you what we ended up doing with all those pictures.

Most of the pictures turned out really well. Half of them were taken candidly, which I love. I really hate those pictures where you pose and give the camera a picture perfect smile. I decided to make a poster size collage for my parents and my in laws as a Christmas gift. I thought it would be a neat gift.

I did my homework to see where I could do it for cheapest. Let me tell you…Costco kicks ass in their prices. I was able to get a 12 x 18 collage made for only $2.99 each! Although it’s next day pickup, the price is unbelievable. I was so excited. I was even more excited when I picked up the poster size collage. It turned out almost perfect. Of course, there has to be a reason for why it’s so darn cheap right?

Most definately.

12 x 18 is NOT a standard photo size. I realized that after one entire day of looking around for a frame. I quickly learned that you have to custome frame it. Of course, that defeats the cheap $2.99 price.

I went to my mom’s shop’s neighbor, the Photo Store. They do custome framing. And let me just say that one of their cheapest frames is $35 a piece. And that doesn’t include the mounting or the glass. It’s just the wooden frame. (I know, I know. Professional photography hates using glass to cover their pictures. But this isn’t a professional photo…it’s a $2.99 photo for goodness sake!).

Sigh. My $2.99 inexpensive gift is now $37.99, plus the glass and mounting.

Thank goodness for Amazon! I found these pretty nice frames for $13.95 (plus $8 shipping)!

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Absent Minded after Giving Birth!

Hmmm…. 

I think I’ve misplaced my keys more than a dozen times the last month.  I know I’ve “lost” my cell phone twice as many times as misplacing my keys.  And for sure, I’ve forgotten to bring my cell phone with me to work practically every other day.  Lately, I’ve been forgetting to pay the bills - something I rarely forget to do since I absolutely hate late fees.  And just yesterday, I left my house keys in my mom’s car and locked myself out of my own house.  It doesn’t get any better either.  This morning, my mom called me at 5:30 am to tell me that I forgot my wallet in her car as well!

So here I am, at 5:31 am driving to work, thinking about all the times I’ve misplaced my belongings.  I’m finally realizing that I have become very absent minded since the baby.  Why is this happening to me?  Surely I’m not getting old?!!?

So here’s my excuse:

  1. My morning routine is now a little more complicated. Husband just returned to work so I’m running around more often.  More things are on my mind.  Wake up at 4:00 am, feed him if he’s awake, change him, wipe his face, mix 3 bottle of formula for my husband to bring to my mom (my mom baby sits), wash up, get dressed, and go to work.
  2. It’s my last week of work before the company has a shut down for the holidays (yes, the company will be shutting down until Jan 3, 2008.  Lucky me!).  So I’m trying to get a lot of things done at work before we shut down.
  3. It’s the holidays!  Who doesn’t get stressed out during this time of the year?  All the planning, the shopping, the baking, and the cooking.  By the time we meet for our family Christmas dinner, my smiles are forced.  The only good thing that ever really comes out of it is that the 405 freeway is much lighter so the drive home is nice.
  4. With the baby around, how do you expect me to find time to clean the house?  My house is a mess, making it even more difficult to find things.
  5. Even if I do have the time, where do I find the energy to clean?  By 10 pm, I can barely keep my eyes open.
  6. I have been really busy working on a new project.  I’m going to be launching a baby newsletter soon.  Things have been really hectic lately trying to get it together and hope to have my first issue by mid January 2008.  Get a free lullabye CD for subscribing!  (Ok, so this is a little strange since I’m self promoting, but hey!  I’ve got sell my newsletter somehow somewhere, right?). Although the newsletter is not quite ready yet, you can still pre-subsribe.  Click here:  BabyWriter

anyways, these are just my excuses for being so darn forgetful, so darn absent minded!  So, what’s your excuse?

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When to Start Infants on Solid Food?

OK.  So this is strange.  My Little Mochi is almost 6 months old now.  That means he’s almost ready for solids, right?  Well, according to some of my friends, I should try to push it off as long as possible.  Some of my friends waited until 9 months even.  Why?

Given the fact that their main source of nutrition should be formula or breastmilk up until 9 to 12 months, infants don’t really need to be on solids just yet.  They may be ready but is it a good idea? 

They will get too accustomed to the sweet and salty tastes of solids.  So they will no longer want their milk.  I tried to do some research on this whole “When to indroduce your little one to solids” thing, but it’s pretty generic.  Most literature says “Whenever he’s ready.”

I did run into a pretty good, comprehensive guide, however.  Click here for the PDF: Solids

It’s great, but still generic.  My question still remains:  Should I wait until Little Mochi is 9 months before I introduce him to solids?  Or should I start him on infant cereal now?  Would it be harmful to him if I started him on solids at 9 months instead of 6 months?

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Lead in Christmas Lights Wires? Don’t let your kids touch them!

I recently read an article in CNN claiming that four commen brands of Christmas Lights (Wal-mart, Quantex, Phillips, and GE) contain lead.  Exposure to lead over a period of time is very harmful to children as it may cause problems with cognitive development in children.  So when putting up or taking down your Christmas lights this year, make sure only adults touch the wires.  And even then, adults should wear gloves.

I guess it would make sense to use lead in the Christmas light wiring because lead can be used as a fire retardant.  I know a lot of you love Walmart, but I’m going to have to let you know that the Christmas lights at WALMART contain the highest level of lead. 

For more details, please refer to this article: http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/12/10/christmas.lights/index.html

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My Vision on Vusion: The Ultimate Yeast Infection Ointment?

I remember how we thought the redness in his diaper area was just a rash.  We tried every OTC diaper rash cream there was:  Desitin, Balmex, Aveeno Baby…but none seemed to work.  The rash just would go away.  So we switched diapers from Huggies to Seventh Generation.  Perhaps the chlorine and other chemicals in Huggies was giving him the rash.  Seventh Generation is supposed to be chlorine free.  And it’s supposed to help.  But the rash was still there. Two weeks later, we finally decided to take him to his pediatrician.  The doc gave us Nystatin, a mild cream to help fight yeast infection.  I guess it was no rash after all. 

At first, it was just red in his folds. It was just bright red, almost like a burn. But then it started to spread to his butt crack area.  I started to worry when it became red underneath his testicle area.  That’s when I knew it wasn’t a rash. 

It has been a month since we started using Nystatin, a mild cream to help fight yeast infection in the baby’s diaper area.  It controlled the infection, but it just wouldn’t go away.  I would think that after one month of smearing that white cream on my baby’s bottom after every diaper change, the infection would go away.  And this is with blow drying his diaper area so it can “air dry” before applying the Nystatin!

It was Monday, November 26.  And we were on our last tube of Nystatin (we got four tubes).  So we decided to give the pediatrician another visit.  Perhaps he could give us something stronger.  Instead, he told us that it could be just chaffed skin and to try applying Vaseline after Mason has been “air dried”.  I was puzzled.  Didn’t he clearly tell us the redness was a yeast infection?  Now he’s telling us that it could be chaffed skin.  I tried it anyway. 

By Thanksgiving Day, the redness worsened!  Of course, I stopped using the Vaseline, reverted back to what was left of the Nystatin, and made an appointment to see the pediatrian on Friday, November 30.

The doc gave us another type of yeast infection ointment called Vusion.  Apparently, it’s a new drug that was just approved by the FDA on February 16, 2006 .  And it’s supposed to work great.  It’s a combination of miconazole nitrate (the active ingredient that treats the infection), zinc oxide (provides a skin barrier to help prevent and heal skin irritations), and white petrolatum (breaks down dead skin and softens the skin).

But let me tell you…it is very difficult to get a hold of this cream! At least when I tried to get it!  I spent my entire Saturday trying to find a pharmacy that had it in stock.  My first attempt was at Walgreens.  Actually, they did have it in stock.  The ointment costs $237, but my out of pocket expense for this ointment was $100! 

So I tried CVS.  After waiting in line for 30 minutes, the pharmacist told me that they didn’t have it in stock.  So I ran to Walmart.  The didn’t have it in stock either.  And I waited 45 minutes there.  Frustrated, I went home to call Rite Aid, Target and other pharmacies.  Finally, I called a friend who works at a pharmacy. She said she’ll special order it for me and it will be ready the next day.  The day is already over so that was the best option.

I guess the $100 was standard because I ended up paying $95 out of my pocket for this ointment at my friend’s pharmacy.  That is one expensive yeast infection zapper!  Perhaps I should’ve opted for a cheaper alternative such as Monistat!  =)

If you do decide to use Vusion, however, be sure you use as directed since it is an antifungal.  Typical treatment is 7 days.  Using it longer may mean the fungus can grow an immunity to the ointment.  Also, the fungus may not be completely killed if you stop using it too soon.  I’m not a pharmacist, but that is what the pharmacist told me. 

It has only been 3 days (4 more days to go) since I’ve started using it and so far, I have had no regrets paying the $100.  Vusion does work - Little Mochi’s redness is red no more!

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