Whooping Alert: A person could develop a cough......

The yahoo homepage echoes a concern that my neighbor and I have been discussing for weeks; the return of a scary childhood (well, now adult,too) disease that makes the patient sound like a barking seal. Yahoo speculates that the reason for the rise in cases and infant deaths is the group of folks who choose not to vaccinate. Perhaps the unvaccinated immigrant population is also a factor. At any rate, if your child develops a persistent cough following cold-like symptoms, consider having him/her tested for Pertussis. Pertussis, a disease many thought had been eradicated, is the T in Tdap immunizations. It is now believed that update vaccinations should be given at 11 years and then again at a later adult physical.

Here are some guidlines to follow from Pundit&Pundette:

To protect your children watch out for the symptoms, and hie thee to a doctor to get antibiotics for the whole family (vaccinated or not) if you suspect pertussis. If caught early enough, antibiotics may mitigate the coughing, which is typically extreme and long-lasting. Antibiotics will kill the bacteria and prevent spreading to your other family members. Be sure to tell the doc that you've been exposed to a confirmed case. There are different tests, but the one used by our doctor is a culture by nasal swab and can take as long as 14 days for a result.

Our daughter's culture was negative after 6 days but positive by day 14. The doctor started her on antibiotics the day she was tested. Our doctor said people are no longer contagious after 24 hours of antibiotics. When the test came back the doctor decided to give her another course of antibiotics. Probably not necessary but I didn't turn it down.

It seems to me that many doctors aren't very familiar with the symptoms, testing, or treatment. They're looking for asthma, allergies, bronchitis, croup, or pneumonia. My impression is that pertussis isn't on their radar. I suspect it's more common than they believe and often goes undiagnosed.

Symptoms:

Week one: A cough. May be very frequent. Cold symptoms may accompany it. From website linked below:



runny nose, sneezing, low-grade fever, or a mild, occasional cough, similar to the common cold.



After that: Paroxysmal stage, when cough develops into long, spasmodic coughing fits. The "whoop" occurs when the victim tries to inhale. (Whoop is not always present, and babies in particular may not whoop.) Coughing fits may feature choking and vomiting.


Read more here:
http://www.medicinenet.com/pertussis/article.htm


Forewarned is forearmed.

We reap what we sow. Galatians

An epistle from Saint Paul to the Galatians:

"For what things a man shall sow, those he also shall reap.........

And in doing good let us not fail. For IN DUE TIME we shall
reap."

We watched a few hours of old home videos taken when the older kids were very little. It was a terrific reminder to dh and I that we have sown plenty of tender loving care into our children, and that in God's time there will be good fruit. As we picked little red berries and cut lettuce (before the bunnies eat more than their share), I keep thinking about the similarities between gardening and child-rearing. I know this is nuthin' new to anyone here, but they are good parallels to ponder.

In our AP journey we have come to realize that part of the reason we resort to poor disciplinary tactics (ie, punishments and false rewards) is our own self-centered desire to see immediate results. Sometimes it is difficult to accept our own littleness or the littleness of our offspring, but this is exactly what God calls us to do. Even when we think we've made mistakes along the way, God will work it all out if we are trying to live according to his plan.

Shhhh...be very very quiet, we're hunting wabbits.....

I said to Liam and Eamon just this morning,"Please stop running and screaming during school time!" Now I am all for Boys Being Boys , but there is a time for peace and quiet in every day.

Barbara said it perfectly here

"Let's see how quietly we can shut the door." .........

"Would you like to try?" Before turning it over, show once again how the knob/handle relates to the movement of the bolt.

Once you've begun to draw your child's attention to the auditory impact he/she has on the environment, keep a high expectation. When something bangs, simply say, "Oh . . . let's see how quietly you can close that door."

When I say this will have a major impact, here is what I mean:
As you begin to draw the child's attention to the results of his actions, he will respond to the challenge. These are the very first steps toward self-control - and this is exactly how you begin laying the spiritual groundwork for self-control in the preschool years.
You will see the fruit of this kind of training as your child matures and begins to generalize self-control to even more challenging issues.
Can you see how this early training eventually results in a teen who is self-aware and capable of self-control? The ultimate goal is to raise an individual who is not controlled by outer forces but from within. This starts very, very small - and very, very young.

This is why I keep insisting that the work you moms do is SO important. Who would think that teaching a child to close a door quietly had such great implications for the future? But it does, especially for the child raised by a mom who understands where she and her child are headed and is learning each day how to get there.~~~~~~~~

For more, check out

Mommy, Teach Me!

Thank you, Barbara!

Celebrating Small Successes

Three small successes this week:
1. I connected with an older cousin and discovered something about my paternal grandfather that I never knew: His favorite poem was The Duel by Eugene Field. Bonus: Liam memorized it last year in his MODG poetry curriculum!

2. All three kids completed their school work yesterday - happily and without any toddler disasters.

3. I posted a book to paperbackswap, got a request for said book and printed the label for shipping!