My Sick Little Girl

I hate when Addison is sick. Really...what mom likes for their baby to be sick? It just really sucks. It all started Thursday. My husband called me at work to let me know Addison was throwing up. Of course, my initial reaction is "shit." I cam home to find my poor baby really sick, throwing up and lethargic. The rest of the night we spent with her throwing up more and more...a total of about 7 times. I was up with her most of the night since Donnie had a meeting in the morning and I could stay home with her on Friday. Friday wasn't much better. I more or less forced her to drink Pedialiate all day. And she slept most of the time, either on me or in her bed. About every couple of hours, I just had to put her down in her bed. My arms were literally killing me from holding her practically all day. By Saturday, she was still running a fever and we decided to take her to the doc just to be sure she didn't have an ear infection or worse. The outcome...stomach flu, cold and to top it off a bad diaper yeast infection (again). Just great. And there wasn't any medicine (besides diaper rash cream) that could make her feel better.

By Sunday, late afternoon, she started to get better and was actually crawling around the house a bit. I'm hoping today will be even better. The worst part...I'm sick now. I can barely talk and have a really bad sore throat. I caught her cold probably from holding her so close to me over the last 4 days or so. I wish there was someone who could stay home and take care of me. I wouldn't mind being carried around for a couple of days :)

First Birthday....Fast approaching

Wow...is it seriously time to start thinking about the first birthday party? Seriously??

Well, we have. I successfully went to not one, not two, not three....but four party stores to find the exact party supplies I wanted. Actually, it was a particular invitation that I wanted. I saw it at the first one and insisted on going to more to find it again. Finally, by the fourth one, I found exactly what I was looking for. Plus...as an upside, the party supplies (plates, napkins, cups) were 50% off! Can't beat that now can you!

I contemplated on whether I should do a princess theme, lady bug, Disney, etc. In talking it over with my husband, we decided that we only get to plan ONE first birthday with the number 1. So, we chose a 1st Birthday Theme. The picture is the exact plates we got and everything else to go with it, table cloth, napkins, cups, decorations, high chair decoration kit, hanging sign...you name it. Even though I saved 50%, it was cheap, trust me. We will have to get a cake (two...one for guest and a small one just for her), food, drinks, balloons, and of course a present. Geez...you would think doing a party at your house would be cheaper. But once you are done, it really isn't. Next year, we will be going somewhere else....(Chuck E Cheese?)...don't know...but somewhere.

I don't particularly sweat the money, especially when it comes to Addison. I want everything to be perfect. It is going to be hard enough for me to get through the day without crying. Don't know if that is possible yet. I just wonder where this time has gone. Where has this year evaporated to....It feels like just yesterday I was in the most pain I have ever been in, in my entire life! It was worth it all, and I would do it over and over again if that meant having my baby girl.

Enough reminiscing...I think I am going to cry, now! Down to some serious business....what the heck am I going to do about food? I want something easy, but has to be substantial since the party is at 12PM (lunch time). And I don't want to spend a fortune....decisions, decisions, decisions. I need to make them quick too. Party is in 2 1/2 weeks!

Apples...a big problem

Apples, apples, apples....they are a big problem in our household. We started Addison off with Applesauce - something simple for a 4 month old. We soon realized she was breaking out in a horrible rash all over her back. Being a new mom, it just didn't register with me that it would be the applesauce causing this...until my mom tried to go through the things it could be. New lotion? No. Bath soap? No. Laundry detergent? No. Food? Uhhh...maybe. But apples? Really? Yes.

When I told the doctor about this, he said to gradually keep trying the apples again. Wait about 3-4 weeks and then introduce them again to see if she still has the same allergic reaction. And we did...tried them again about a month later and still a slight rash - but a rash none the less. Next time, I thought I would wait a little longer. So about 2 months later, I purchased some more apples to put away in the cabinet for when I was ready to try again. Only this time, I forgot to separate them out from the other food. I instead mistook them for pears. When I set out the food in the morning for my grandma, I accidently set out apples. Now, I wanted to try them again; however, I would have tried them on a weekend when I was home with her to see if she had a reaction.

My grandma fed her the apples like no big deal. She said she noticed they were apples and was going to call me but figured I must have set them out for a reason. Later in the day, Addison had a doctor's appointment. My grandma met me at the doctor's office to give me Addison so I could take her to her appointment. We are in the doctor's office and I quickly undressed her so she could get weighed and this is what I saw....

Now, I'm not sure how well you can tell from this picture...but her entire body was covered in red spots...I mean covered. I was utterly shocked and embarrassed...especially not knowing my daughter's body had broken out in a terrible rash. I felt like a horrible mother. The nurse just looked at me and I swear she wanted to say, "How the hell didn't you know that was there." I quickly weighed her so I could hide in the exam room. I frantically got out my cell phone to call my grandma and ask how long this was on her body. All I kept thinking was "how did you not tell me about this?" When I spoke with her, she swears up and down, back and forth that the rash was not on her body. She had just changed her clothes about 30 minutes before the doctor's appointment. And at this time, I didn't know I put out the wrong food. I called my husband and asked him to go home and look through the trash to see what she ate for breakfast. My only thought was...this had to be apples.

The weird thing about this rash was there were no spots above skin. All the red blotching spots were under the skin. She didn't seem to be in any pain from the rash either. I just kept looking at her wanting to cry and feeling so bad for making a mistake. I just knew it had to be those apples.

Donnie did get home and found an empty container of apples. At the same time, my grandma called and said she remembered feeding her apples but just thought I wanted her to. I felt so bad too because my grandma was so upset she was crying. She said she knew she should have called me first before giving them to her and felt like it was all her fault she had the rash. I explained it wasn't her fault at all...I made the mistake by not separating the food. I would have eventually given them to her just not on a doctor's visit day.

Needless to say....we are not giving her apples any longer.

And PS...do you know how hard it is to find baby food that does not contain apples or apple juice concentrate?Hard...very hard. My poor baby is very limited on her food selections.