Lolo peed in her pants twice today and is telling us that it hurts to pee. We are very concerned about her getting another urinary tract infection (UTI). We have scheduled a voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) where she is catheterized and x-rays are taken as she urinates in order to determine if she has vesicoureteral reflux which is a condition where the urine ascends the ureters to the kidneys. This can be a very serious condition which can led to surgery to reattach the ureters to the bladder.
We are really hoping that she doesn't have a UTI or especially we hope she doesn't have reflux. It would be very difficult to watch her to have to go through surgery.
1/30/2007
1/29/2007
What Do I Have To Do To Get A Secular Education Around Here?
The twins have pretty much worn me out. They are both sick again with runny noses and congestion. Atticus will not sleep through the night- always up at least once. Nevertheless, i shouldn't complain because the wife has to take care of them 24/7 and I get a vacation when I go to work.
Lolo is going to the Montessori school. I take her to school in the mornings. The wife is very concerned about Lolo going to the Montessori. I like it mainly because it is a secular education and I know the teachers well. I would rather my 3 year old daughter learn about how the world works and develop life skills than learn about Jesus. I think she should be given the opportunity to make up her own mind about what her spiritual life should be. At the age of three she does not yet have the capacity to understand and make her own decisions about something as complex as spirituality.
I attended a christian day school from Kindergarten to sixth grade and I turned out ok. I remember having to memorize bible verses every day in 5th and 6th grades and the teacher would call on each student and make him or her recite the verse from memory. Nevertheless, my education did not brainwash me and I felt like I got a pretty good education but I can't help but wonder how much more I could have learned if I weren't spending time learning about something that I don't consider important at this stage of my life.
I just want my daughter to grow up to be able to think for herself and to be critical of what people tell her and what she sees and reads in the world.
The little town I live in has a fair share of public schools which in my opinion are lacking when it comes to a private secular education. Being that this is the bible belt there are plenty of christian elementary schools. There are NO private secular schools besides the Montessori. For me, this really, really is a negative point to living in this small town.
The wife wants to send Lolo to the same elementary school that I attended. I am hesitant. The wife is uncomfortable with the Montessori method so far. I believe that it is mainly because she was raised with very traditional values. Damn, for that matter, I was too. My parents took me to Sunday school and church very regularly. My views on religion changed drastically when I was in my mid 20s and now I have absolutely no desire to attend church. My wife on the other hand feels the draw.
This is one of the areas of our marriage that needs work. It is going to be resolved by me attending church with her against my will. I will do this if that is what it takes to keep my family as one cohesive unit. Hopefully I can be there to help my children keep an open mind.
In this part of the US of A you can't blow your nose without hitting a church. Practically everything revolves around churches. The only thing that I miss about being active in a church are the social aspects. Damn, most of my first sexual experiences were with the girls in my church youth group!!! Well, of course i miss that but on a more mature level, I miss getting to know other successful business people and members of my local community.
So I guess i will suck it up and go to church and blow an hour sitting there listening to music I really don't like and hearing stories that I really don't believe (dead men raising from the grave, floods that cover the entire earth and one of each species fits on a boat) and giving money to a cause that I consider to be backed by a fairy tale.
So in case you haven't figured it out, I am agnostic. This means to me that I believe that a higher being can be neither proved or disproved. I believe that accepting the bible or any other religious text simply because it is there and other people accept it is painting too simple a picture of the real world. I believe that prayer and church attendance is a waste of my time. I believe that a person can be raised with a secular upbringing and still have a solid foundation of morality, integrity and a profound sense of right and wrong. I belive that f there is a higher being then it certainly doesn't control every aspect of my life- I have an internal locus of control.
I could go on and on but to summarize I am a lonely conservative infidel in a sea of people who accept religion without question and you can't get away from it- especially if you marry into it. Fortunately, although the wife is a believer, she has a healthy skepticism of devout believers.
If I didn't despise cold weather I might move elsewhere where there are more secularist minded individuals. I don't know if my conservative mindedness would allow me refuge there or not. I am a rare conservative agnostic capitalist. I don't think there are very many of us out there. If you are like me I would love to hear from you!!
Lolo is going to the Montessori school. I take her to school in the mornings. The wife is very concerned about Lolo going to the Montessori. I like it mainly because it is a secular education and I know the teachers well. I would rather my 3 year old daughter learn about how the world works and develop life skills than learn about Jesus. I think she should be given the opportunity to make up her own mind about what her spiritual life should be. At the age of three she does not yet have the capacity to understand and make her own decisions about something as complex as spirituality.
I attended a christian day school from Kindergarten to sixth grade and I turned out ok. I remember having to memorize bible verses every day in 5th and 6th grades and the teacher would call on each student and make him or her recite the verse from memory. Nevertheless, my education did not brainwash me and I felt like I got a pretty good education but I can't help but wonder how much more I could have learned if I weren't spending time learning about something that I don't consider important at this stage of my life.
I just want my daughter to grow up to be able to think for herself and to be critical of what people tell her and what she sees and reads in the world.
The little town I live in has a fair share of public schools which in my opinion are lacking when it comes to a private secular education. Being that this is the bible belt there are plenty of christian elementary schools. There are NO private secular schools besides the Montessori. For me, this really, really is a negative point to living in this small town.
The wife wants to send Lolo to the same elementary school that I attended. I am hesitant. The wife is uncomfortable with the Montessori method so far. I believe that it is mainly because she was raised with very traditional values. Damn, for that matter, I was too. My parents took me to Sunday school and church very regularly. My views on religion changed drastically when I was in my mid 20s and now I have absolutely no desire to attend church. My wife on the other hand feels the draw.
This is one of the areas of our marriage that needs work. It is going to be resolved by me attending church with her against my will. I will do this if that is what it takes to keep my family as one cohesive unit. Hopefully I can be there to help my children keep an open mind.
In this part of the US of A you can't blow your nose without hitting a church. Practically everything revolves around churches. The only thing that I miss about being active in a church are the social aspects. Damn, most of my first sexual experiences were with the girls in my church youth group!!! Well, of course i miss that but on a more mature level, I miss getting to know other successful business people and members of my local community.
So I guess i will suck it up and go to church and blow an hour sitting there listening to music I really don't like and hearing stories that I really don't believe (dead men raising from the grave, floods that cover the entire earth and one of each species fits on a boat) and giving money to a cause that I consider to be backed by a fairy tale.
So in case you haven't figured it out, I am agnostic. This means to me that I believe that a higher being can be neither proved or disproved. I believe that accepting the bible or any other religious text simply because it is there and other people accept it is painting too simple a picture of the real world. I believe that prayer and church attendance is a waste of my time. I believe that a person can be raised with a secular upbringing and still have a solid foundation of morality, integrity and a profound sense of right and wrong. I belive that f there is a higher being then it certainly doesn't control every aspect of my life- I have an internal locus of control.
I could go on and on but to summarize I am a lonely conservative infidel in a sea of people who accept religion without question and you can't get away from it- especially if you marry into it. Fortunately, although the wife is a believer, she has a healthy skepticism of devout believers.
If I didn't despise cold weather I might move elsewhere where there are more secularist minded individuals. I don't know if my conservative mindedness would allow me refuge there or not. I am a rare conservative agnostic capitalist. I don't think there are very many of us out there. If you are like me I would love to hear from you!!
1/11/2007
One more thing
We noticed today that Adrinne is getting her first tooth! A little hard thingy is poking its way through her bottom gum.
She rules.
She rules.
What a nightmare of a week.
Lolo finally came home from the hospital today. After four nights and two IV sticks and lots of rattled nerves our sick little girl got to come home today. Fortunately she feels much better.
She had lots of visitors in the hospital. One of Lolo's school mates named Alyssa and her mother came by to see Lolo (I didn't even notice that Alyssa's mommie was a hottie) as well as two of her pre-school teachers, all the grandparents and Mercury knows who else!! She got so many damn presents and dolls and coloring books that I needed to rent a pack-mule to carry all that shit home.
She was sent home with a prescription for Nitrofurantoin which is an antibiotic specifically for urinary tract infections. Of course none of the pharmacies in the area had it in stock. We either had to find it or Lolo had to go back to the hospital to get the necessary drugs by injection.
Finally the wife got the local Eckerd to fly it in by carrier pigeon from Botswana and now Lolo gets the pleasure of taking this nasty tasting liquid by mouth four times a day for ten days. Shit, she could have stayed in the hospital on more night and get the drugs through her IV and not had to take the drug orally but Lolo and mommie were very ready to get the hell out of the hospital.
Tonight was a challenge trying to get Lolo to bed. She didn't want anyone to come withing three feet of her arms because of the two IV sticks. She wouldn't let me change her shirt even though it was soaking wet because she refused to roll up her sleeves when she washed her hands fearing it would hurt her "boo boos".
I feel bad for the poor girl. She has been through a lot for a 3 year old!
Tuesday I took Atticus to the other local hospital for his bilateral myringotomy (tubes in both ears) . He took it very well and it was over so quickly. He showed his true colors by charming all the nurses in the outpatient center. He gets more action at 7 months than I ever did at any age.
Atticus never really sat up before this surgery. When you sat him on his bony little ass he would go immediately to crawling. Immediately after the surgery they rolled him out to me on a gurney. He was on his stomach looking up with his eyes wide open. I picked him up and sat him on the gurney and he sat right up. I don't know whether it was because he had balance now that all the pressure is off his ears or whether he felt too messed up to try to crawl, but he actually sat there for a second.
Tears started flowing shortly thereafter so I picked him up and held him until he stopped crying. He didn't cry for long at all. He was a very good boy about it.
He actually slept all night Tuesday night for the first time EVER!!!! Yay!! He slept from 7:00 pm to about 5:30 am!!! Last night he slept from 7:30 pm to 6:00 am!! Two nights in a row. Hell yes!!
The wife and I are praying to the micrognomes who live in the horry netherworld that he will sleep all night tonight and that this is a trend.
Work sucks. I have a board meeting on Monday. Big board meeting. I will be presenting my final proposal to one of the current owners of the business to buy her out. I am not very optimistic about us coming to terms. She truly has no idea what the true value of the business is and how little it really is worth.
She had lots of visitors in the hospital. One of Lolo's school mates named Alyssa and her mother came by to see Lolo (I didn't even notice that Alyssa's mommie was a hottie) as well as two of her pre-school teachers, all the grandparents and Mercury knows who else!! She got so many damn presents and dolls and coloring books that I needed to rent a pack-mule to carry all that shit home.
She was sent home with a prescription for Nitrofurantoin which is an antibiotic specifically for urinary tract infections. Of course none of the pharmacies in the area had it in stock. We either had to find it or Lolo had to go back to the hospital to get the necessary drugs by injection.
Finally the wife got the local Eckerd to fly it in by carrier pigeon from Botswana and now Lolo gets the pleasure of taking this nasty tasting liquid by mouth four times a day for ten days. Shit, she could have stayed in the hospital on more night and get the drugs through her IV and not had to take the drug orally but Lolo and mommie were very ready to get the hell out of the hospital.
Tonight was a challenge trying to get Lolo to bed. She didn't want anyone to come withing three feet of her arms because of the two IV sticks. She wouldn't let me change her shirt even though it was soaking wet because she refused to roll up her sleeves when she washed her hands fearing it would hurt her "boo boos".
I feel bad for the poor girl. She has been through a lot for a 3 year old!
Tuesday I took Atticus to the other local hospital for his bilateral myringotomy (tubes in both ears) . He took it very well and it was over so quickly. He showed his true colors by charming all the nurses in the outpatient center. He gets more action at 7 months than I ever did at any age.
Atticus never really sat up before this surgery. When you sat him on his bony little ass he would go immediately to crawling. Immediately after the surgery they rolled him out to me on a gurney. He was on his stomach looking up with his eyes wide open. I picked him up and sat him on the gurney and he sat right up. I don't know whether it was because he had balance now that all the pressure is off his ears or whether he felt too messed up to try to crawl, but he actually sat there for a second.
Tears started flowing shortly thereafter so I picked him up and held him until he stopped crying. He didn't cry for long at all. He was a very good boy about it.
He actually slept all night Tuesday night for the first time EVER!!!! Yay!! He slept from 7:00 pm to about 5:30 am!!! Last night he slept from 7:30 pm to 6:00 am!! Two nights in a row. Hell yes!!
The wife and I are praying to the micrognomes who live in the horry netherworld that he will sleep all night tonight and that this is a trend.
Work sucks. I have a board meeting on Monday. Big board meeting. I will be presenting my final proposal to one of the current owners of the business to buy her out. I am not very optimistic about us coming to terms. She truly has no idea what the true value of the business is and how little it really is worth.
1/07/2007
Lolo is one sick girl
Lolo is really sick. Her fever was over 105 F last night. She fought taking her antibiotics that are supposed to fight her urinary tract infection. She absolutely refused to take them in a little cup or out of a syringe. We had to hold her down and force her to take it with a syringe. When we did she just spit it out all over us. She was screaming as I tried to shoot the nasty tasting thick antibiotic liquid into her mouth with the wife holding her down.
She was so upset that she was screaming for her grandmother. We finally got her to take the antibiotic by mixing it in her juice and threatening her to "get the syringe" again if she didn't drink all of the juice.
Her fever came down to about 101 F after some acetaminophen. At about midnight last night I went into her room and took her temperature again and it was back up to 105 F. It is so scary! I prepared some ibuprofen in her juice and took it to her. With Lolo lying flat in bed she leaned forward to drink her ibuprofen-laden juice. After the first sip she vomited a large amount all over herself and, her bed, pillow and blanket. She was shaking and quivering uncontrollably.
I took Lolo out of her bed and laid her on the floor. She felt so bad that she just laid on the floor with her eyes closed. After I got the sheets on the bed and a new pillowcase and put Lolo back into bed she willingly drank the rest of her ibuprofen juice and her fever eventually came back down again.
I went to bed and the wife took over. Lolo's fever shot back up again in the morning and she vomited again. She just was not able to hold down food. We called Lolo's pediatrician who was on call. He asked a few questions and told us to meet him at the emergency room.
We loaded up the car and took Lolo to the emergency room. She was just burning up! Lolo is used to having her temperature taken with an ear thermometer. They did not have one in the emergency room so it was either orally or rectally. She refused to do it orally so we had to hold her down and get her temperature rectally. The result was at least 103.8 F. She was 90 cm tall. They immediately gave her two acetaminophen suppositories to help bring down her temperature.
The doctor arrived and discussed with us what he thought might be going on. Lolo was showing all the signs of a kidney infection. The doctor ordered a slew of blood test, urinalysis and antibiotics requiring an IV. Once again we had to hold Lolo down as the nurse put in the IV. Lolo was screaming "Get it ayout, get it ayout" referring to the IV. The nurse did a good job of collecting the three vials of blood out of the screaming toddler. Fortunately the tears didn't last that long and the nurses brought her a popsicle and along with her lower fever she felt good enough to play "name that color" with me.
The doctor noted that he had never heard anyone say "out" the way Lolo did. He obviously enjoyed her "Belwood" dialect of the English language. Belwood is the little town in North Carolina from where the wife hails and was reared. Lolo spends a lot of time with her grandparents in Belwood where she has picked up this dialect.
We did not expect that we would be staying at the Hospital. The doctor admitted Lolo to the hospital and told us to expect a 2 to 3 night stay. He condition can be very serious and can lead to kidney damage and failure. The wife and I are very concerned.
The doctor also told us to expect that her fever would continue to rise and decline repeatedly for a couple of days even with the powerful antibiotics that she will be taking. After she was admitted to her own room on the pediatric floor her fever spiked again at 105 F. This time she willingly took ibuprofen. Her IV was pinching at the top so the Nurse had to retape it. Anytime we touched or messed with her "boo boo" as she called her IV, she would cry. The nurse retaped it and put a splint on her arm so she wouldn't bend her arm and aggravate the IV.
It is difficult to explain the horrible feeling and emotion I feel when I see my daughter sick to this degree. I'm not normally a very emotional person. I have been accused of being the opposite, but when it comes to my children I can easily get overwhelmed with emotion. If I were a firm believer I would pray but at this point I will simply think positive and hope that further painful tests are not needed.
She was so upset that she was screaming for her grandmother. We finally got her to take the antibiotic by mixing it in her juice and threatening her to "get the syringe" again if she didn't drink all of the juice.
Her fever came down to about 101 F after some acetaminophen. At about midnight last night I went into her room and took her temperature again and it was back up to 105 F. It is so scary! I prepared some ibuprofen in her juice and took it to her. With Lolo lying flat in bed she leaned forward to drink her ibuprofen-laden juice. After the first sip she vomited a large amount all over herself and, her bed, pillow and blanket. She was shaking and quivering uncontrollably.
I took Lolo out of her bed and laid her on the floor. She felt so bad that she just laid on the floor with her eyes closed. After I got the sheets on the bed and a new pillowcase and put Lolo back into bed she willingly drank the rest of her ibuprofen juice and her fever eventually came back down again.
I went to bed and the wife took over. Lolo's fever shot back up again in the morning and she vomited again. She just was not able to hold down food. We called Lolo's pediatrician who was on call. He asked a few questions and told us to meet him at the emergency room.
We loaded up the car and took Lolo to the emergency room. She was just burning up! Lolo is used to having her temperature taken with an ear thermometer. They did not have one in the emergency room so it was either orally or rectally. She refused to do it orally so we had to hold her down and get her temperature rectally. The result was at least 103.8 F. She was 90 cm tall. They immediately gave her two acetaminophen suppositories to help bring down her temperature.
The doctor arrived and discussed with us what he thought might be going on. Lolo was showing all the signs of a kidney infection. The doctor ordered a slew of blood test, urinalysis and antibiotics requiring an IV. Once again we had to hold Lolo down as the nurse put in the IV. Lolo was screaming "Get it ayout, get it ayout" referring to the IV. The nurse did a good job of collecting the three vials of blood out of the screaming toddler. Fortunately the tears didn't last that long and the nurses brought her a popsicle and along with her lower fever she felt good enough to play "name that color" with me.
The doctor noted that he had never heard anyone say "out" the way Lolo did. He obviously enjoyed her "Belwood" dialect of the English language. Belwood is the little town in North Carolina from where the wife hails and was reared. Lolo spends a lot of time with her grandparents in Belwood where she has picked up this dialect.
We did not expect that we would be staying at the Hospital. The doctor admitted Lolo to the hospital and told us to expect a 2 to 3 night stay. He condition can be very serious and can lead to kidney damage and failure. The wife and I are very concerned.
The doctor also told us to expect that her fever would continue to rise and decline repeatedly for a couple of days even with the powerful antibiotics that she will be taking. After she was admitted to her own room on the pediatric floor her fever spiked again at 105 F. This time she willingly took ibuprofen. Her IV was pinching at the top so the Nurse had to retape it. Anytime we touched or messed with her "boo boo" as she called her IV, she would cry. The nurse retaped it and put a splint on her arm so she wouldn't bend her arm and aggravate the IV.
It is difficult to explain the horrible feeling and emotion I feel when I see my daughter sick to this degree. I'm not normally a very emotional person. I have been accused of being the opposite, but when it comes to my children I can easily get overwhelmed with emotion. If I were a firm believer I would pray but at this point I will simply think positive and hope that further painful tests are not needed.
1/04/2007
I need a raise
It seems I just can't make enough money to quench my family's insatiable appetite for cash.
The twins have been to the doctor about five or six times in the past two months and London in just getting over a urinary tract infection. Now Atticus went to the ENT doctor and he will need tubes put in his ears. The deductible on our insurance is $1000 per person so Atticus will blow his away pretty quickly. I am buring up all the equity I had left over from my last house.
But nothing is more important than spending the money on the health of my children. Atticus was not sitting up and playing like his sister. Now we believe it is because he couldn't balance due to the chronic ear infections and all the fluid in his middle ear. We also believe that this is the reason is always so cranky and will not sleep through the night. Without this surgery the doctor believes that Atticus will continue to have chronic ear infections which could affect his speech development. The risks are minimal so we have decided to proceed with the operation on Tuesday January 9th.
Check out this site to see a quick video of the operation to insert tubes in the ears called a Myringotomy. I had this done when I was a young boy but the tubes were much different.
The twins have been to the doctor about five or six times in the past two months and London in just getting over a urinary tract infection. Now Atticus went to the ENT doctor and he will need tubes put in his ears. The deductible on our insurance is $1000 per person so Atticus will blow his away pretty quickly. I am buring up all the equity I had left over from my last house.
But nothing is more important than spending the money on the health of my children. Atticus was not sitting up and playing like his sister. Now we believe it is because he couldn't balance due to the chronic ear infections and all the fluid in his middle ear. We also believe that this is the reason is always so cranky and will not sleep through the night. Without this surgery the doctor believes that Atticus will continue to have chronic ear infections which could affect his speech development. The risks are minimal so we have decided to proceed with the operation on Tuesday January 9th.
Check out this site to see a quick video of the operation to insert tubes in the ears called a Myringotomy. I had this done when I was a young boy but the tubes were much different.
1/02/2007
Just a Few Random Notes
The first night I slept in our new house (new to us) was December 9, 2006 after returning late from a trip to Honduras
Adrienne has been sitting up for about two weeks.
Atticus crawled the entire way up the stairs from the kitchen to the second floor in our house. He also is very fussy and getting over a very nasty ear infection. He won't sit and play like his sister. He has the ability to sit but will not do it. He has to be crawling.
Adrienne loves her sister. She loves to watch Lolo and frequently giggles with delight while watching her. Adrienne will sit by herself and play for extended period of time without getting upset and crying.
Atticus mostly cries when you put him down. When he is feeling well he will crawl very quickly to something dangerous. He loves to crawl from the nursery to the bathroom and pull up on the tub.
I took Lolo to the doctor yesterday. She has a urinary tract infection. She was very well behaved. She asked if the doctor was going to put a sore on her behind referring to the flu shot she had a couple of months ago.
When I leave for work in the mornings she demands to have "hug kiss" and frequently asks "You going to make me some money?" She has been asking me to buy her Hello Kitty Gummies at Honeys (a local grocery store). This morning she asked me to buy her Wolf Gummies.
Adrienne has been sitting up for about two weeks.
Atticus crawled the entire way up the stairs from the kitchen to the second floor in our house. He also is very fussy and getting over a very nasty ear infection. He won't sit and play like his sister. He has the ability to sit but will not do it. He has to be crawling.
Adrienne loves her sister. She loves to watch Lolo and frequently giggles with delight while watching her. Adrienne will sit by herself and play for extended period of time without getting upset and crying.
Atticus mostly cries when you put him down. When he is feeling well he will crawl very quickly to something dangerous. He loves to crawl from the nursery to the bathroom and pull up on the tub.
I took Lolo to the doctor yesterday. She has a urinary tract infection. She was very well behaved. She asked if the doctor was going to put a sore on her behind referring to the flu shot she had a couple of months ago.
When I leave for work in the mornings she demands to have "hug kiss" and frequently asks "You going to make me some money?" She has been asking me to buy her Hello Kitty Gummies at Honeys (a local grocery store). This morning she asked me to buy her Wolf Gummies.
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