Swine Flu

Well, my shopping trip after my doctor's appointment is on hold. Tonight after the 6:00 news, our governor had a special news break regarding the Swine Flu. There have been several cases throughout the state to be tested for the Swine Flu. The State Health Examiner has confirmed two possible (95% chance) Swine Flu cases from an elementary school in Madison County. A few other students from this school began to come down with the same symptoms. The state has authorized the school to shut down for 7 days. Shoot! I was going to head over to the Madison Mall after my doctor's appointment, but I guess I won't now. It's too much of a risk, especially since I'll have baby boy with me. I'll have another chance Friday afternoon to do a little shopping. Let's hope there will be no cases of Swine Flu come up in the town of Cullman. Isn't this flu a little crazy? It seems like the count keeps going up and up. The last I heard it went up to 93 cases in the U.S. The State Health Examiner reported that this type of flu is no different than regular seasonal flu. I guess it's a good thing that Doug, Katie and myself had our flu shot/mist this past year. Let's just hope that our flu shot will cover the Swine Flu. I've always been real picky about making sure I keep the kids hands clean after leaving any public facility, including church. I keep Wet Ones in the car and as soon as we get in the vehicle, I start passing out the Wet Ones. Now, I'm really stepping up keeping our hands clean. Katie gets so mad at me because I'm making her wash her hands all the time. She's even learned to go into the bathroom and come out. The strange thing is I never even heard the water running. I'll ask her if she washed her hands. Of course, she has guilt written all over her face as she is telling me "uh, huh". Then, I ask to feel of her hands. CAUGHT! Her hands are bone dry, so she cries all the way back into the bathroom. Now, I have to smell her hands because she'll wet them, but forgets to put soap on them. Ugh, kids! I have to keep lotion on my hands because they are so cracked from so many washes.

God Bless . . .
Last night, I was helping Katie say her prayers. At the end, we always "God Bless" all of our loved ones by name. I usually help her name names. Well last night, I wanted to hear who she would bless. Oh my gosh! The list went on and on. She blessed everyone and everything from Colton to the sun and moon. Then, without me mentioning anything, she asked me who else should we bless. "Jesus" she added. I thought that was so sweet. Yes, my baby girl can be so sweet when she wants to be. Don't let her foul you though, the horns show every now and then.

Poor Fella!
As you may know, we had to take Colton back to the doctor today to retake the PKU. Last time, the nurse wasn't able to get much blood out of his little heel. I know she smudged at least 2 spots out of 5. Doug looked it up online and it said that the test might be rejected if the blood might have been smudged or not dropped on the card just right. I believe this was the case.

Katie knew we were going some where because I was putting on my makeup. People, this is sad when your daughter knows that she's about to go some where, when momma puts on her makeup. This tells me that I don't get out much. The questions started when I told her we had to take brother to the doctor. "What for?" she asked. "Why do they have to take his blood? Will he cry?" You talk about a very protective big sister. I told her that he would cry because it hurts, but we will have to just hold his hand. She can't stand it if Colton cries, so I felt like I needed to warn her in advance. As soon as the nurse came into the room, Katie was right by her brother. She watched everything the nurse was doing to him. As soon as he began crying, Katie began stroking his head saying "aww, poor fella". She even moved the nurse because she responded to Katie caring for her baby brother by saying "awww". When we were getting ready to leave, Katie hugged and kissed Colton. The nurse thought Katie loving on Colton was so sweet.

Is Extreme Colic Based On Genes?
Based on what I've been told, I might be literally paying for my raising. My parents and sisters have always been so good to remind me how colic I was as a baby. Well after my last post, Sandy was so nice to remind me once again. I'm just hoping it will go away in about 2 months. The only method currently working is just walking around the house bouncing him, while he is up to my shoulder. I've thought about purchasing this device from "One Step Ahead". You wrap it around his belly and it vibrates just the belly. Right now when he has gas attacks, he doesn't like to be on his back. Even the vibrating chair doesn't work for him because it vibrates his back and not his belly. You can't help, but feel bad for him. Some people have questioned the bottles we use. I don't think that is the main problem because I'm breastfeeding as well and he still has bad gas attacks. I might be wrong, but I don't want to go out spending money on different types of bottles just to find one that would give him less gas. I fear, by the time we find one, he will be 3 months old and getting over colic. I've spoken to my doctor about it before and he told me, most all newborns have gas/colic their first 3 months because of their digestive system is still developing. He assured me that there's not much you can do to get rid of it. All you need to do is just comfort him during an attack. This is what I'm doing.