Emptying the Bucket

Well. Long time no write. Sorry.

So, last Monday we were Zombies because Zac had spent a weekend teething horribly with no amber necklace and kept us awake.

We put the necklace back on him and suddenly he was much better…and I then spent the next two nights completely unable to sleep because of anxiety attacks.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another, right?

So that’s why I was gone last week. No sleep+anxiety attacks+life=Mama wanted to bury her head under the covers and not emerge until the kids are in college.

Still, I didn’t actually  spend my week under the covers. Last week saw some good forward momentum in both my education and Zac’s health, in fact. Dare I say it: I think we’re emptying his little bucket!

As I said, I’ve spent the last two weeks now without potato chips and without drinking tea.

Tuesday of last week, Zac ate some paper. (I was paying bills and distracted, didn’t see that Jed had found some paper and dropped it in the living room). It took until Friday for him to have a poopy diaper – and that diaper had no mucous and no blood! THAT IS HUGE!!

So far to date, that is the mildest reaction to paper he’s ever had.

Of course, then on Saturday he ate a cricket and had a total FPIES diaper on Sunday to that, but still.

I think we might be emptying his bucket! Because aside from small trace blood in the one cricket diaper, his reactions to both the paper and the cricket are almost non-reactions. Major improvement!

So Darrel and I started talking about what to trial next and when to begin the trials, and while we were in the midst of that never-ending conversation, I happened to read an interesting comment on a post on the corn-free boards.

That is how I learned that apparently, Alimentum RTF IS the only corn-free formula on the market…but it is served out of bottles that are corn-derived plastics!

That could easily explain the reaction many corn-sensitive kids have to the Ali RTF!!

Apparently, the smaller, 2 oz. “nurserettes” are possibly in safe plastic, but the large white plastic bottles are almost certainly corny.

So, I have more research to do before we can even consider doing another Ali RTF trial, and we may be dropping Ali RTF and moving straight into something else anyway, just to be safe.

There are some other things I learned this week, but I’m going to discuss my potato education tomorrow.

Boo. I got sick.

In the meantime, normal Childhood sank its fangs into our lives this weekend: Saturday afternoon, Jed started getting really cranky, and he seemed a little warm. He had a 101 degree temperature. After letting him rest for a while, we checked it again and he had gone up to 102 degrees and his throat looked red and irritated.

Sigh, okay, time for a doctor!

So once again, we searched for an urgent care center and found one, and raced in through the doors just as they were closing. They tested Jed for strep and the flu, and both were negative. But his white blood cell count was scary high, so he has some sort of bacterial infection.

This time, though, the doctor listened to us and prescribed capsule form of amoxicillin for Jed, so life is returning to normal fairly quickly.

Jed has had a rotten appetite ever since Thursday night/Friday morning, but today he finally seems to want to eat again. I’m so glad for that, because I hate it when he won’t eat.

As for me, I don’t know if I’ve just finally worn myself out or if I’m coming down with what Jed has, but this post was *almost* ready to publish at 9 this morning…and every single time I sit down today, I have fallen asleep. Zonked out on the couch, with Jed screaming “Mommy wake up! Play with me!” is NOT how I’d planned to spend my day.

I really hope I’m not getting sick.

Anyway, stay tuned for tomorrow and my continuing organic potato education!

Oh, and you have to check out some pictures Darrel took this weekend: Katie’s Dust Dancing.  They’re AMAZING! But they’re on Facebook, so if they don’t pull up for you, that’s probably why.

So, how was your weekend?