+++++++++ P A S S W O R D = bambini +++++++++++++
Click on blue "HD" to watch in High Definition, 16:9 aspect ratio
We have a new activity center near us that has an indoor pool with some cool features for kids. The water is not heavliy chlorinated and is at 84deg, which for toddlers is cool. They will last less than 10mins at that temperature if the air temperature is cooler than the water so they also heat the air to about 90deg.
Even with these temperatures, water wicks heat out of the body 25 times faster than air, so I used the wetsuits and kept them from remaining submersed for long periods of time.
This pool has a "beach" which allows the little ones to enter easily. It provides an extended shallow end for them to get comfortable and the gradual slope to the deeper water is so intuitive to them that no "teaching" is required.
I am a big fan of letting them figure out how they want to relate to a space and an activity. Only when they "ask" do I help them with taking a step in their learning. I remember the best thing about my swimming lessons was the 10 minutes of play time at the end. I think learning should be as unstructured and fun as possible.
The facility was recently completed and very well designed. The family room changing provided warm common area and large shower rooms that allowed changing in a warm room. The towles are provided and we had lots of fun with those.
This video was shot in 16:9 aspect ratio, yet despite reading for 2hours about how to get youtube to support this format, all I managed was a hi-def 4:3 vesrion. When I get a chance I will try Vimeo (youtube competitor) since the word s they do support this aspect ratio in hi-def.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Recent Videos
 |
| From Bambini5 |
I have recently moved into a house 4mins from Barbara.
Videos:
New House Oct
Floor surfing Oct31
Nico First Dive Sept20
Nico Second Dive Sept20
Nico&Luca Bike
Luca Bike
Nico Bike
Toddler Class Sept 30
Singing Class
Play Structure
Hat
Ana Nuevo overnight
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Wet Suits
 |
| From Bambini5 |
Video:
Nico First Dive
Nico Second Dive
After a summer of confusion, we finally have begun swimming lessons at the local pool. it is an indoor pool and heated to 90deg F. This seems to be just about warm enough for the little ones to be able to enjoy the water without getting cold within 5 minutes.
We went to a local health club the other evening. They only have open time from 6.30pm to 8pm. This makes no sense in the fall but their pool was supposedly 86deg. it felt more like 80 and the babies started shivering within 5 mins so we had to leave.
This week we are having an Indian summer, so even thought the HOA has stopped heating the pool (not that really heat it in the first place) we decided to buy some wetsuits and try again.
The wetsuits are a little large so they get some flushing, which prevents a layer of warm water staying next to the skin, but they were still able to enjoy the pool for about 25mins before Nico's lips turned a little blue.
It was 96deg today, so we let them walk around in the sunshine for 10mins and then they were ready for another splash.
The wet suits provide bouyancy and warmth. They also have some the latest in coast guard approved kids fun life vests which keeps them from drinking too much water!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Ana Nuevo
I took the boys on a short road trip the other weekend. We had all kinds of fun
Video:
Boo Road Trip
They did everything naughty at the hotel except throw the TV in the swimming pool.
Video:
Boo Road Trip
They did everything naughty at the hotel except throw the TV in the swimming pool.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Summer
Summer came with a heat wave and then vanished for a week leaving everyone with a cold. Now it has returned. Nico got the cold first and a few days later all of us had it. It has been two weeks this weekend and they are doing better, but in rubbing their eyes, everyone except me got pink eye.
The Kaiser Doctor said this was no big deal and did not want to see them (it was friday) and so just prescribed antibiotic drops. Barbara initially was hesitant to use them because like all antibiotics, they need to be given for 5 days consecutivly.
We both feel prefer not to use oral antibiotics because of the whole body immunity issues, but once I explained that topical antibiotics affect just that area of contact she felt ok with using them.
Getting drops in an 18mo old eye is no easy task. I brought a tiny wind up robot toy from a tech show I was at recently and I hoped this would be enough to distract him. I held him on my lap and wound up the toy while barbara put a drop in each eye.
The next four days are not goint obe so easy i suspect. They learn and adapt really fast!
The Kaiser Doctor said this was no big deal and did not want to see them (it was friday) and so just prescribed antibiotic drops. Barbara initially was hesitant to use them because like all antibiotics, they need to be given for 5 days consecutivly.
We both feel prefer not to use oral antibiotics because of the whole body immunity issues, but once I explained that topical antibiotics affect just that area of contact she felt ok with using them.
Getting drops in an 18mo old eye is no easy task. I brought a tiny wind up robot toy from a tech show I was at recently and I hoped this would be enough to distract him. I held him on my lap and wound up the toy while barbara put a drop in each eye.
The next four days are not goint obe so easy i suspect. They learn and adapt really fast!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Luca head contusion
Pictures
This is for my good friend, a doctor, to find the pics of Luca's head contusion. He was ejected out of the stroller while Barbara was pushing the stroller home onto the concrete sidewalk because his safety belt had not been fastened.
This is for my good friend, a doctor, to find the pics of Luca's head contusion. He was ejected out of the stroller while Barbara was pushing the stroller home onto the concrete sidewalk because his safety belt had not been fastened.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Fever
This week, the fourth week of Nico's six week healing process, he developed a fever of 101. We rushed him to Kaiser who provided us with their finest intern as a doctor. she was very nice and Nico sat patiently through the examination. Then she annouced that she was only the intern and the doctor would be in next to do the same examination again!
Nico was very brave and did not kick and scream his way through it thank goodness, but the list of surprises at Kaiser grows with each visit.
The final word was, he has no ear infection or obvious throat infection, but if it lasts more than three days come back (and pay again of course).
Luckily the surgery seems to have healed, but it would have been nice to have one week where he was not fighting some nasty virus.
The "co-pay" alone is more than most salaried doctors make per hour when you consider the doctor is with us for 10 or 15 minutes, but this is what you get with "managed" care. About the only thing that is managed is the amount the collect.
The opportunity was not wasted by them to promote the usual battery of vaccinations. I remineded them that vaccinations are not proven to be either safe or effective. The Doctor immediatly respected this, the intern began to push back so I explained the history of Whooping cough whole cell vaccine as related in Dr Tenpenny's book "saying no to vaccines"
This began in 1948 as a vaccine for pertussis (whoping cough). This "whole Cell" vaccine varied from batch to batch and contained 1.7 times more bacteria than reccomended by the WHO in 1990.
By the late 1960's problems had started to come to light. Papers were published reporting barin inflamation in infants within hours of vaccination. By the 1970's, the vaccine was implicated in causing PEMANENT BRAIN INJURY.
In 1982, Dr John Cameron from the insititue Armande Frappier in Quebecc warned scientists that the vaccine had not been tested adequately and the risk of side effects like oh say PEMANENT BRAIN INJURY had not been discussed.
This, among other evidence prompted a feverish series of studies, meanwhile the vaccine was still given routinely to children. They determined that:
1. The release of islet activating factor from the pancreas increased insulin and thus blood sugar plummeted (hypoglycemia). In infants this causes brain damage.
2. An elevated white blood cell count copled with a low grade fever was misinterpreted by general doctors as a sign of infection prompting extensive hospital evaluations like blood tests, spinal taps.
3. The vaccine can punch holes in the protective coating of the brain (blood brain barrier) allowing toxins to enter the brain causing encephalopathy (infllamation ofhte brain) and siezures.
4. Porduces the production of a molecule called adenyl cyclase, which can alter the function of the neurotransmitters in the brain leadign to brain damage.
5. The vaccine only produced antibodies in <85% of children, and even these waned quickly to completely dissapear in 24months.
These findings supported an opinion made in the UK by Dr G. T. Stewart in 1977 that Whooping cough deaths had declined since the turn of the century (due to better living conditions like food/sanitation/shelter) and could not be attributed to the small scale vaccination program that began in 1948 or the ntaionwide campaign begun in 1957. He stated unequivocally that "No protection by this vaccine can be demonstrated in infants"
If he made that statement today, he would be ostracized by the medical community. His own studies found that more than half of the children vaccinated had convulsions and 10% had severe reactions. The claim by healt official that "the risk of whooping cough exceeds the risk of vaccination" was questiobale at best, yet this was the predominat thinking for another 20 years.
Instead of issuing a moratorium, the US continued to administeer whole cell vaccine. by 1985, 219 lawsuits had been filed with an average award of $26m when reported.
A clinical researcher brave enough to do the research, evaluated 20 children who received the whole cell vaccine and found 75% developed neurological complications within 12hrs. The vaccine continued to be promoted as "safe and effective"
The growing number of lawsuits in the 1980's forced the IOM to begin hearings in 1985. The hearings dragged on until 1990 when they finally concluded there was enough evidence that this vaccine could cause acute encephalopathy. There was still no change in reccomendations for use!
In 1991 a new safer pertusis vaccine was licensed for use and yet they still did not reccomend and changes to the use of whole cell vaccine.
in 1994 there was another study done the conclude whole cell vaccine causes braing damage. Still no change in reccomended use.
in 1995 they concluded whole cell vaccine is "MORE LIKELY THAN NOT" (medical speak for dead certainty) responsible for encephalitis like reactions up to 7 days after vaccination leading to brain damage. STILL NO CHANGE IN RECCOMENDATIONS FOR USE!!!!
Finally in 2001, the whole cell vaccine was removed from the US market.
It should be noted that the safer acellular vaccine was advised for use back in 1937 due to the inability to test vaccines. Dr. Tenpenny asserts that an unsafe vaccine was givein to US children for 64 years.
A study called "The true story of pertussis vaccination - a sordid legacy" authored by the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences in oxford
(Started in 1946 and internationally recognized as one of the top publications in its field) concluded:
"In the US most children received 5 doses, so millions of children may be suffering from some degree of permanent brain injury"
Even though the acellular vaccine is safer (less injuries) 50% experience fever, vomiting, reduced appetite, excess sleeping and soreness. 1% experience serious side effects including 105 fever, seizures, High pitched screaming, Hypotensive episode (turnign pale and becoming limp). Interestingly, when questioned, pediatricians and nurses describe these kinds of reactions aa a "normal side effect".
Since 4m+ children receive the pertusis vaccine per year, statisically 40,000 children per year will have these reactions.
According to the National Immunization Network, about 4 out of 50,000 pertusis vaccinations will result in a serious reaction including breathing difficulty, shock or brain innflamation, long seizure, coma or lowered consciousness.
After a difficult and extensive examination of the reports filed to VAERS (the voluntary reporting system for vaccine injuries) in 1998, a researcher identified 57 DEATHS that were reported following a DTaP vaccination. Of those 23 children were dead within 24 hours. Interestingly that is TEN TIMES more than the number of deaths (5) reported that same year from Pertusis infection.
Given a history of dangerous practices by the very people and governing bodies that are charged with providing "health care" coupled with the vast amounts of money involved in this industry ($20b by 2012) and the alarming increase in Autism with absolutly no explanation from the medical community, it would seem to make sense to err on the side of caution when considering vaccination.
I would not be at all surprised to see a report from the CDC in the next 10 years linking certain risk factors and vaccines with Autism and brain injury.
Since every physicians office in the US is REQUIRED to buy $100k worth of vaccines to set up shop, providing some incentive to move that inventory. Obviously the drug companies have more that a small incentive to influence the licensing of these vaccines and the promotion of "public health".
In the US there is now a vaacine injury court who's job it is to compensate for vaccine related injuries. Despite the implementation of many hhurdles to filing a claim, this court pays out $100m per year. By 1999 the average claim took two years to resolve, and 42% of resolved claims were awarded compensation.
In 2008 the federal government agreed to award damages to the family of Hannah Poling, a girl who developed autistic-like symptoms after receiving a series of vaccines in a single day. The vaccines given were DTaP, Hib, MMR, varicella, and inactivated polio.
The irony is that growing up, children were regularly deliberatly exposed to mumps, measels, chicken pox etc and most children had very mild cases of these diseases if their immune systems are not compromised. This exposure produces a LIFETIME IMMUNITY to the disease, not just a few months from a questionable vaccine.
WE went to great lengths during the first 11 months to protect them from older children because it is well known that dieases like Pertusis are more often than not transmitted to infants this way.
Despite the comprehensive use of hand sanitizer, we managed 11 months without any nasty viral infections. Begging at christmas, the last 5 months have seen one infection after another. The current fever may in fact be pertusis as they came into contact with shildren that had just had the pertusis vaccine amongst others.
It turns out that recently vaccinated children can infect healthy children with the very disease they were vaccinated against by a process called vaccine shedding. Since it is virtually impossible to tell what Nico has had, it is hard to say if this has occured. One thing is certain though, no one is going to be doing a study any time soon to determine what that risk might be.
Nico was very brave and did not kick and scream his way through it thank goodness, but the list of surprises at Kaiser grows with each visit.
The final word was, he has no ear infection or obvious throat infection, but if it lasts more than three days come back (and pay again of course).
Luckily the surgery seems to have healed, but it would have been nice to have one week where he was not fighting some nasty virus.
The "co-pay" alone is more than most salaried doctors make per hour when you consider the doctor is with us for 10 or 15 minutes, but this is what you get with "managed" care. About the only thing that is managed is the amount the collect.
The opportunity was not wasted by them to promote the usual battery of vaccinations. I remineded them that vaccinations are not proven to be either safe or effective. The Doctor immediatly respected this, the intern began to push back so I explained the history of Whooping cough whole cell vaccine as related in Dr Tenpenny's book "saying no to vaccines"
This began in 1948 as a vaccine for pertussis (whoping cough). This "whole Cell" vaccine varied from batch to batch and contained 1.7 times more bacteria than reccomended by the WHO in 1990.
By the late 1960's problems had started to come to light. Papers were published reporting barin inflamation in infants within hours of vaccination. By the 1970's, the vaccine was implicated in causing PEMANENT BRAIN INJURY.
In 1982, Dr John Cameron from the insititue Armande Frappier in Quebecc warned scientists that the vaccine had not been tested adequately and the risk of side effects like oh say PEMANENT BRAIN INJURY had not been discussed.
This, among other evidence prompted a feverish series of studies, meanwhile the vaccine was still given routinely to children. They determined that:
1. The release of islet activating factor from the pancreas increased insulin and thus blood sugar plummeted (hypoglycemia). In infants this causes brain damage.
2. An elevated white blood cell count copled with a low grade fever was misinterpreted by general doctors as a sign of infection prompting extensive hospital evaluations like blood tests, spinal taps.
3. The vaccine can punch holes in the protective coating of the brain (blood brain barrier) allowing toxins to enter the brain causing encephalopathy (infllamation ofhte brain) and siezures.
4. Porduces the production of a molecule called adenyl cyclase, which can alter the function of the neurotransmitters in the brain leadign to brain damage.
5. The vaccine only produced antibodies in <85% of children, and even these waned quickly to completely dissapear in 24months.
These findings supported an opinion made in the UK by Dr G. T. Stewart in 1977 that Whooping cough deaths had declined since the turn of the century (due to better living conditions like food/sanitation/shelter) and could not be attributed to the small scale vaccination program that began in 1948 or the ntaionwide campaign begun in 1957. He stated unequivocally that "No protection by this vaccine can be demonstrated in infants"
If he made that statement today, he would be ostracized by the medical community. His own studies found that more than half of the children vaccinated had convulsions and 10% had severe reactions. The claim by healt official that "the risk of whooping cough exceeds the risk of vaccination" was questiobale at best, yet this was the predominat thinking for another 20 years.
Instead of issuing a moratorium, the US continued to administeer whole cell vaccine. by 1985, 219 lawsuits had been filed with an average award of $26m when reported.
A clinical researcher brave enough to do the research, evaluated 20 children who received the whole cell vaccine and found 75% developed neurological complications within 12hrs. The vaccine continued to be promoted as "safe and effective"
The growing number of lawsuits in the 1980's forced the IOM to begin hearings in 1985. The hearings dragged on until 1990 when they finally concluded there was enough evidence that this vaccine could cause acute encephalopathy. There was still no change in reccomendations for use!
In 1991 a new safer pertusis vaccine was licensed for use and yet they still did not reccomend and changes to the use of whole cell vaccine.
in 1994 there was another study done the conclude whole cell vaccine causes braing damage. Still no change in reccomended use.
in 1995 they concluded whole cell vaccine is "MORE LIKELY THAN NOT" (medical speak for dead certainty) responsible for encephalitis like reactions up to 7 days after vaccination leading to brain damage. STILL NO CHANGE IN RECCOMENDATIONS FOR USE!!!!
Finally in 2001, the whole cell vaccine was removed from the US market.
It should be noted that the safer acellular vaccine was advised for use back in 1937 due to the inability to test vaccines. Dr. Tenpenny asserts that an unsafe vaccine was givein to US children for 64 years.
A study called "The true story of pertussis vaccination - a sordid legacy" authored by the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences in oxford
(Started in 1946 and internationally recognized as one of the top publications in its field) concluded:
"In the US most children received 5 doses, so millions of children may be suffering from some degree of permanent brain injury"
Even though the acellular vaccine is safer (less injuries) 50% experience fever, vomiting, reduced appetite, excess sleeping and soreness. 1% experience serious side effects including 105 fever, seizures, High pitched screaming, Hypotensive episode (turnign pale and becoming limp). Interestingly, when questioned, pediatricians and nurses describe these kinds of reactions aa a "normal side effect".
Since 4m+ children receive the pertusis vaccine per year, statisically 40,000 children per year will have these reactions.
According to the National Immunization Network, about 4 out of 50,000 pertusis vaccinations will result in a serious reaction including breathing difficulty, shock or brain innflamation, long seizure, coma or lowered consciousness.
After a difficult and extensive examination of the reports filed to VAERS (the voluntary reporting system for vaccine injuries) in 1998, a researcher identified 57 DEATHS that were reported following a DTaP vaccination. Of those 23 children were dead within 24 hours. Interestingly that is TEN TIMES more than the number of deaths (5) reported that same year from Pertusis infection.
Given a history of dangerous practices by the very people and governing bodies that are charged with providing "health care" coupled with the vast amounts of money involved in this industry ($20b by 2012) and the alarming increase in Autism with absolutly no explanation from the medical community, it would seem to make sense to err on the side of caution when considering vaccination.
I would not be at all surprised to see a report from the CDC in the next 10 years linking certain risk factors and vaccines with Autism and brain injury.
Since every physicians office in the US is REQUIRED to buy $100k worth of vaccines to set up shop, providing some incentive to move that inventory. Obviously the drug companies have more that a small incentive to influence the licensing of these vaccines and the promotion of "public health".
In the US there is now a vaacine injury court who's job it is to compensate for vaccine related injuries. Despite the implementation of many hhurdles to filing a claim, this court pays out $100m per year. By 1999 the average claim took two years to resolve, and 42% of resolved claims were awarded compensation.
In 2008 the federal government agreed to award damages to the family of Hannah Poling, a girl who developed autistic-like symptoms after receiving a series of vaccines in a single day. The vaccines given were DTaP, Hib, MMR, varicella, and inactivated polio.
The irony is that growing up, children were regularly deliberatly exposed to mumps, measels, chicken pox etc and most children had very mild cases of these diseases if their immune systems are not compromised. This exposure produces a LIFETIME IMMUNITY to the disease, not just a few months from a questionable vaccine.
WE went to great lengths during the first 11 months to protect them from older children because it is well known that dieases like Pertusis are more often than not transmitted to infants this way.
Despite the comprehensive use of hand sanitizer, we managed 11 months without any nasty viral infections. Begging at christmas, the last 5 months have seen one infection after another. The current fever may in fact be pertusis as they came into contact with shildren that had just had the pertusis vaccine amongst others.
It turns out that recently vaccinated children can infect healthy children with the very disease they were vaccinated against by a process called vaccine shedding. Since it is virtually impossible to tell what Nico has had, it is hard to say if this has occured. One thing is certain though, no one is going to be doing a study any time soon to determine what that risk might be.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Misery
 |
| From Bambini4 |
Video:
Table Dance
Both babies now have the worst flu yet. Thick yellow snot slowly oozes out of both nostrils at once with a speed equivelent to their activity rate until it reaches the mouth, when it becomes so disgusting to look at that Barbara or I pin their head between our legs and attempt to remove it with a tissue.
Un fortunatly the approaching tissue signals a spurt in energy as they head for the nearest safe haven to avoid having the sore skin under thier noses assaulted again.
If this isnt bad enough, they have both started producing acidic ka ka which results in an instantaneous daiper rash. Luca's is so bad that he starts screaming as soon as you pick him up to change it.
Nico pinches his butt cheeks together so hard, I would need a screwdriver to pry them apart. How do babies develop such strong gluts?
Then there is the surgical recovery which when sprayed to remove acidic ka ka creates a third reason to scream.
By bath time they are so exhausted that they just fall over for no apparent reason. The resulting screaming would lead you to believe there was blood everywhere.
Bath time after a long afternoon of this is one long 20min exercise in sound pressure levels that four tiled walls can contain. To keep them warm, there is a very effective heat lamp in the bathroom that I purchased that beats down like the mid day sun. By the time they are bathed, oiled, vickesed, daipered and dressed, I am dripping in sweat and my head is pounding.
The number of #2 daipers seems rise proportionally with their ill health. On Saturday, Luca produced 6, twice as many, and Sunday Nio produced 3, 3x as many. To amuse myself in the face these challenges, I decided to examine the contents.
I noticed dark dots in the composition, and wondered if this was something I should be concerned about. Closer inspection revealed they were raisins, one their favorite munchies.
They looked undigested so I began to ponder the results of recycling them. Has anyone ever studied the maturing of a babies digestive system? How many times through the horse does it take to digest a raisin? I could perhaps write a paper on the subject.
These are depths that ones mind goes to after 15mo with twins. Another couple in the park today looked at us with the customary face of pity and made the usual comment "don't worry, it gets better". If I hear that one more time...
Later the husband and I were talking and he said that twins make normal people crazy. I dread to think what it has done to me then.
This weekend I thought it might be fun to go to a local park that was having a kite flying event. For $6 you got a hot dog and 10c plastic kite that flew off to one side only and crashed straight into the ground.
The entrance had two large poles in the ground designed to allow single strollers, but prevent double strollers from passing. Is that twin discrimination? I solved this one adeptly by picking up the stroller, twins strapped in place and lifting it over the whole barricade.
On the way up the hill we realized this was going to be a hot day and Barbara forgot the sun screen for the babies and us. Barbara had elected to dress in all black heat absorbing material and was uncomfortable from the moment we left the security of the tarmac.
I suggested we used our bodies to provide shade for the babies as they ran all over the place and I attempted to assemble and fly a worthless kite. I should have placed the camera on the ground and taken video. That idea didn't last long.
Next we headed for the shade of a tree and were having great fun until some well meaning passerby said they had seen a "big" snake in there. Barbara was heading down the path before I could finish my question "are we leaving now?"
Despite the whole hill being covered with people and kids I was made to holler at the tall grass along side the path to "ward off the snakes".
This was definately a Loooooooooooooooooooooooong weekend.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Healing
 |
| From Bambini4 |
Nico is healing well despite having had anther cold for the duration. This weekend Barbara scheduled play dates every day despite my reservations, but with our friends kids that are the same age. It would have been fun to do more Easter things with them, but the risk of infection from older kids is significantly higher.
Nico needs 6 weeks to heal. If this goes well, he will never have to deal with this again. If an infection sets in, the complications could have him back in surgery at least 3 more times. We have read many stories like this which is why we put so much effort into finding the right surgeon and taking every possible precaution to reduce the risk of anything that might interfere with his healing.
All the Doctors admitted that the real magic of the surgery is not the knife, but the bodies ability to heal itself after such trauma.
Barbara has been obsessive about getting food into him. Sometimes we prepare three different dishes because his taste changes like the wind direction. If he had his way, he would eat carb's like bread all the time.
Some foods he refuses to eat unless he is on papa's lap. That's the magic spot where the good stuff happens like cool video's and exciting restaurants. I have been successful recently in getting him to eat grapefruit this way. It is very difficult to get raw fruit into him, but this is especially important for Vitamin C while is fighting the cold.
The healing is going well and he is not so sensitive in the area. With the help of benedcite, our Dulla, I took the Catheter out this weekend which is not pleasant but he was very good. I have read that it causes a lot of discomfort so I am sure he is feeling better now. Three of us held him on the changing table while I snipped the suture and gently removed the long tube.
The doctor said it would come out easily, but that's like the workshop manual that uses phrase like "undo retaining bolt and remove ball joint". In reality you need a large ball peen hammer and 20 minutes of heavy pounding to get it loose. I was terrified that it would be stuck and I would pull the repair apart while blood gushed everywhere.
It went very smoothly, but I had a knot in my stomach all day and I am sure Nico could feel my fear when I did it.
This has been the most psychologically un-nerving experience. When combined with lack of sleep, you have to have a strong resolve and great confidence in your decisions otherwise it can be very difficult to navigate.
The Doctor had very little bedside manner but I could tell that he was razor sharp. When I walked over to the main hospital with his administrator, she mentioned that some parents complain about this. I told her that it didn't bother me but i could understand how parents that need reassuring would come up short with this doctor.
So far everything is going great. We have another 5 weeks to go.
Happy Easter to all of you and thank you for all your emails.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Return
We flew back to San Francisco yesterday. At my insistence we booked the return for a Tuesday, one of the slowest air travel days of the week, and at around lunchtime (the babies nap time). This worked out really well
It worked perfectly. They were excited to run around the waiting lounge jumping on the chairs and playing peek a boo around the columns, finishing with a duet of high pitched screaming - their latest discovery.
We elected to get on the plane last to minimize the time we would have to entertain them, and we had the bottles and blankies ready to go when we took off. The swallowing helps clear their ears and the milk puts them to sleep. This worked perfectly and this time they slept all the way home.
The flight was four hours (an hour longer than on the way out due to the jetstream) and we had to keep the babies on our laps. If you have ever had to sit in one position without moving for four hours, you will know all about parts of your body going to sleep and the torture of not being able to move. Its like the endurance tests on the TV show Survivor.
There were a couple of other toddlers on the flight and one of them was super bored and not afraid to share it. As I listened to that parent try to entertain, the body pains seemed a much better alternative.
I was worried that Nico would not sleep as he got another head cold from Luca a couple of days after the operation. He was rubbing his forehead and face a lot indicating that he had the congestion and headaches that go with it.
Maria Del Carmen met us at the airport. She came out to drive us home. I had decided to take our famous car seats with us on the trip because the rental car seats were a complete unknown. When I asked the rental agent about them in Dallas, she said she "would not put her child in them" and they had complaints about them.
Aside from that, they wanted $10/day each plus tax. By the end of our trip, the car seats paid for themselves 2x because the airline lets you check them in free. The only problem was carrying them. We had a large suitcase with all the baby stuff, I had a roll on carry aboard case plus a laptop, and we had the stroller and daiper backpack.
Even with the babies in the stroller, we did not have enough hands. I found a cart in all but one instance where I resorted to looping the long back belt of the car seat through both of them and dragging them across the airport on the smooth floor behind the cases.
Each trip was a day long workout for me filled with many pieces that all had to negotiated with a baby under one arm. The trick turned out to be to stand the baby on the counter first. This stuns the baby as he takes in the people talking to him and buys enough time to dig out documents and pay for things. All the counter staff talk to him and he doesn't know what to make of all that.
When we finally got home, the boys were a little more settled. They like being in familiar surroundings and their own comfy beds. They both slept really well last night and seemed much more at ease.
This is the 6th day after the operation and Nico is doing much better. Feeding him for the last week has been an ordeal. Tonight he ate by himself and is running around like nothing happened.
The wound seems to be healing well although it is still bleeding a little, probably from all the activity. I took some pictures tonight and sent them to the Doc for his comment, but it looks good so far.
It worked perfectly. They were excited to run around the waiting lounge jumping on the chairs and playing peek a boo around the columns, finishing with a duet of high pitched screaming - their latest discovery.
We elected to get on the plane last to minimize the time we would have to entertain them, and we had the bottles and blankies ready to go when we took off. The swallowing helps clear their ears and the milk puts them to sleep. This worked perfectly and this time they slept all the way home.
The flight was four hours (an hour longer than on the way out due to the jetstream) and we had to keep the babies on our laps. If you have ever had to sit in one position without moving for four hours, you will know all about parts of your body going to sleep and the torture of not being able to move. Its like the endurance tests on the TV show Survivor.
There were a couple of other toddlers on the flight and one of them was super bored and not afraid to share it. As I listened to that parent try to entertain, the body pains seemed a much better alternative.
I was worried that Nico would not sleep as he got another head cold from Luca a couple of days after the operation. He was rubbing his forehead and face a lot indicating that he had the congestion and headaches that go with it.
Maria Del Carmen met us at the airport. She came out to drive us home. I had decided to take our famous car seats with us on the trip because the rental car seats were a complete unknown. When I asked the rental agent about them in Dallas, she said she "would not put her child in them" and they had complaints about them.
Aside from that, they wanted $10/day each plus tax. By the end of our trip, the car seats paid for themselves 2x because the airline lets you check them in free. The only problem was carrying them. We had a large suitcase with all the baby stuff, I had a roll on carry aboard case plus a laptop, and we had the stroller and daiper backpack.
Even with the babies in the stroller, we did not have enough hands. I found a cart in all but one instance where I resorted to looping the long back belt of the car seat through both of them and dragging them across the airport on the smooth floor behind the cases.
Each trip was a day long workout for me filled with many pieces that all had to negotiated with a baby under one arm. The trick turned out to be to stand the baby on the counter first. This stuns the baby as he takes in the people talking to him and buys enough time to dig out documents and pay for things. All the counter staff talk to him and he doesn't know what to make of all that.
When we finally got home, the boys were a little more settled. They like being in familiar surroundings and their own comfy beds. They both slept really well last night and seemed much more at ease.
This is the 6th day after the operation and Nico is doing much better. Feeding him for the last week has been an ordeal. Tonight he ate by himself and is running around like nothing happened.
The wound seems to be healing well although it is still bleeding a little, probably from all the activity. I took some pictures tonight and sent them to the Doc for his comment, but it looks good so far.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Recovery
Nico is healing but he is very needy. If I put him down or give him to Barbara for a second he crys. He wants to be in papa's lap watching his favorite music videos. He does not have much energy so he is not much interested in running around.
We went to the Zoo yesterday. It was a long day of carrying two 25lb babies around. They had the most fun in the gorilla watch tower running around playing peek a boo. THey seemed to enjoy the birds the most. The parrots were most interesting to Luca who was fascinated by their squaks.
Nico's original dressing has fallen off and exposed the wound. It is not small. He is very sensitive when you remove his daiper and screams. It is still weeping blood so we bought some gauze and vaseline impregnanted gauze that prevents the daiper of the regular gauze sticking to the wound.
The biggest risk to the success of this procedure at this point is infection. The Doc told us that we did not need to do anything, but he all wounds need the dressings changed so i called my Doctor friend who confirmed that a dressing change 3x a day is in order.
He also suggested washing the wound with water and not using any sponge or wipes directly on it. We bought some wound wash which is Ph neutral so it doesnt sting. He still hates it when we spray it on the wound, but it will help keep it clean from urine.
The biggest problem is getting him to eat. He is usually ppicky, but since the operation he refuses everything Baraba cooks him. We have been going out to dinner because they love to sit on our lap and eat our food. Last night the novelty of that had worn off and we were at our witts end trying to find something he would eat.
He will usually much on whole wheat bread, but he was pushing everything away from his face. We left the restaurant and went home and after an hour of musoc video's he took a bite of bread. Then I would tiny flakes of salmon on top and he gradually ate a decent amount of salmon and bread.
He had been holding onto his #2 because he was afraid it would mean more pain. After eating ha went and Barbara and I cahnged him without any extra prodding of the sensitive area.
Fionally there is bed time. This can be quite difficult and nico cannot go in the bath and needds two of us to change him and get him into night clothes. As soon as Luca is unattended and Nico starts screaming, Luca gets very clingy and starts crying too. It is very stressful.
They have not been falling asleep easily so I take them in the rented minivan down the freeway for 45 mins. This will put them to sleep for sure, but i can only do one at a time as I have to carry baby and carseat back into the room. The total weight is around 80lbs and I must negotiate three heavily sprung doors, two with card keys, and lock the van. My back is hurting.
Barbara has so much preparation to do wherever we go. The backpack needs snacks and juice and milk and water and clothes and on and on. When we get back she has to prepare food in no time flat all with a boo in one arm tuging at stuff.
On top of all that, she has to wake up all night every three hours and deal with Luca who wakes up at 5am. She has not had a good nights sleep since we got here. Every day ais 99mph and a lot of stress because we feel for Nico so much.
We went to the Zoo yesterday. It was a long day of carrying two 25lb babies around. They had the most fun in the gorilla watch tower running around playing peek a boo. THey seemed to enjoy the birds the most. The parrots were most interesting to Luca who was fascinated by their squaks.
Nico's original dressing has fallen off and exposed the wound. It is not small. He is very sensitive when you remove his daiper and screams. It is still weeping blood so we bought some gauze and vaseline impregnanted gauze that prevents the daiper of the regular gauze sticking to the wound.
The biggest risk to the success of this procedure at this point is infection. The Doc told us that we did not need to do anything, but he all wounds need the dressings changed so i called my Doctor friend who confirmed that a dressing change 3x a day is in order.
He also suggested washing the wound with water and not using any sponge or wipes directly on it. We bought some wound wash which is Ph neutral so it doesnt sting. He still hates it when we spray it on the wound, but it will help keep it clean from urine.
The biggest problem is getting him to eat. He is usually ppicky, but since the operation he refuses everything Baraba cooks him. We have been going out to dinner because they love to sit on our lap and eat our food. Last night the novelty of that had worn off and we were at our witts end trying to find something he would eat.
He will usually much on whole wheat bread, but he was pushing everything away from his face. We left the restaurant and went home and after an hour of musoc video's he took a bite of bread. Then I would tiny flakes of salmon on top and he gradually ate a decent amount of salmon and bread.
He had been holding onto his #2 because he was afraid it would mean more pain. After eating ha went and Barbara and I cahnged him without any extra prodding of the sensitive area.
Fionally there is bed time. This can be quite difficult and nico cannot go in the bath and needds two of us to change him and get him into night clothes. As soon as Luca is unattended and Nico starts screaming, Luca gets very clingy and starts crying too. It is very stressful.
They have not been falling asleep easily so I take them in the rented minivan down the freeway for 45 mins. This will put them to sleep for sure, but i can only do one at a time as I have to carry baby and carseat back into the room. The total weight is around 80lbs and I must negotiate three heavily sprung doors, two with card keys, and lock the van. My back is hurting.
Barbara has so much preparation to do wherever we go. The backpack needs snacks and juice and milk and water and clothes and on and on. When we get back she has to prepare food in no time flat all with a boo in one arm tuging at stuff.
On top of all that, she has to wake up all night every three hours and deal with Luca who wakes up at 5am. She has not had a good nights sleep since we got here. Every day ais 99mph and a lot of stress because we feel for Nico so much.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Operation
Nico Completed his operation yesterday and the Doc was happy with the results.
We flew to Dallas on Monday, a difficult three hour flight. I don't think there was a single passenger that hadn't said hello to them at least three times. we read books, walked up and down and played dvd's but they were still very restless. I could not wait to get off that plane.
By the time we got the minivan I rented then drove to the hotel and went grocery shopping it was midnight! They were cranky and tired. They did not sleep well. The next day we waited at the hospital for three hours to get the doc to see him prior to surgery. There was not much he could tell until he made the first incision.
They missed lunch and were an hour late for their nap so it took an hour to get them to sleep. I went back to the hospital and paid.
Yesteday the day went very well. The people are SO nice at Childrens medical center. Even the admitting staff go out of their way to please. So different from kaiser California. Nico was relaxed. I had found out what time the operation was scheduled and timed it so when we got there we went straight into the prep room I was not going to sit in another waiting room for two hours with a baby that had not eaten or drunk anything since the previous night!
That worked really well. Nico relaxed. They attached the pulse/Ox and he didn't like that. Then I sat with him on my lap and he started getting really sleepy. Then they gave him the pre-med and he went to sleep.
Not all babies take the pre-med. He drank it all. I sat with him for 30 min's while it took effect then we put him on the rolling bed and he went into into the O/R. Barbara was upset that he was on my lay not hers. I think she felt like she had let him down. The tongue lashing I got about this was just her way of relieving the obvious tension I think. They would not let us go with him, but he was very relaxed so i felt comfortable letting him go.
We went down to the Hostpital cafeteria which was wonderful. On the way Luca saw the model trains running all over the main entrance. He was a little freaked out, but after some lunch took a nice long nap. The restaurant background noise is great for putting babies to sleep.
After two hours they came down and told us the Doc wanted to see us so we went back up to a conference room (unlike Kaiser) where he went over the procedure in private with us. I gave him a second $100 bottle of wine I put on he credit card. I wanted him to be available post op if anything happened and with his personal email address I was "buying" a fast response
The operation went two hours which is about the minimum time for this procedure, so it obviously went well. There was nothing that he was concerned about. He was very confident in his work (and his results prove it).
Last month he was training 80 docs from all over the world. He is very precise and unemotional. He just knows what he is doing and does it well.
Next we went back to the recovery room. Nico was awake and vey out of it. We could not take Luca in with us so we switched out every 10 mins. Nico sucked down some apple juice and promptly threw it all up. The wretching hurt and he was not happy.
It took another hour for the medication to wear off and for them to remove the IV and the monitors. Then we took him back to the hotel.
The dressing is supposed to stay on for a day or so and then fall off. It is taped in place with surgical scotch tape. It looks like a large blister pack of gum, with a bloody red mess underneath.
The first night we had to wake him every 3 hours and give him tylenol or Ibuprofrin. It was a loooooong night. I stayed in a separate room down the hall hoping to get some sleep, but at 3am the phone rang and all i could hear was Nico screaming in pain. In the coming days it would become very apparent that the only position Nico would relax in was on my lap. I Would play him the youtube cartoons I downloaded and he would settle. He did not want Barbara, he wanted his papa or he would scream continuously.
We flew to Dallas on Monday, a difficult three hour flight. I don't think there was a single passenger that hadn't said hello to them at least three times. we read books, walked up and down and played dvd's but they were still very restless. I could not wait to get off that plane.
By the time we got the minivan I rented then drove to the hotel and went grocery shopping it was midnight! They were cranky and tired. They did not sleep well. The next day we waited at the hospital for three hours to get the doc to see him prior to surgery. There was not much he could tell until he made the first incision.
They missed lunch and were an hour late for their nap so it took an hour to get them to sleep. I went back to the hospital and paid.
Yesteday the day went very well. The people are SO nice at Childrens medical center. Even the admitting staff go out of their way to please. So different from kaiser California. Nico was relaxed. I had found out what time the operation was scheduled and timed it so when we got there we went straight into the prep room I was not going to sit in another waiting room for two hours with a baby that had not eaten or drunk anything since the previous night!
That worked really well. Nico relaxed. They attached the pulse/Ox and he didn't like that. Then I sat with him on my lap and he started getting really sleepy. Then they gave him the pre-med and he went to sleep.
Not all babies take the pre-med. He drank it all. I sat with him for 30 min's while it took effect then we put him on the rolling bed and he went into into the O/R. Barbara was upset that he was on my lay not hers. I think she felt like she had let him down. The tongue lashing I got about this was just her way of relieving the obvious tension I think. They would not let us go with him, but he was very relaxed so i felt comfortable letting him go.
We went down to the Hostpital cafeteria which was wonderful. On the way Luca saw the model trains running all over the main entrance. He was a little freaked out, but after some lunch took a nice long nap. The restaurant background noise is great for putting babies to sleep.
After two hours they came down and told us the Doc wanted to see us so we went back up to a conference room (unlike Kaiser) where he went over the procedure in private with us. I gave him a second $100 bottle of wine I put on he credit card. I wanted him to be available post op if anything happened and with his personal email address I was "buying" a fast response
The operation went two hours which is about the minimum time for this procedure, so it obviously went well. There was nothing that he was concerned about. He was very confident in his work (and his results prove it).
Last month he was training 80 docs from all over the world. He is very precise and unemotional. He just knows what he is doing and does it well.
Next we went back to the recovery room. Nico was awake and vey out of it. We could not take Luca in with us so we switched out every 10 mins. Nico sucked down some apple juice and promptly threw it all up. The wretching hurt and he was not happy.
It took another hour for the medication to wear off and for them to remove the IV and the monitors. Then we took him back to the hotel.
The dressing is supposed to stay on for a day or so and then fall off. It is taped in place with surgical scotch tape. It looks like a large blister pack of gum, with a bloody red mess underneath.
The first night we had to wake him every 3 hours and give him tylenol or Ibuprofrin. It was a loooooong night. I stayed in a separate room down the hall hoping to get some sleep, but at 3am the phone rang and all i could hear was Nico screaming in pain. In the coming days it would become very apparent that the only position Nico would relax in was on my lap. I Would play him the youtube cartoons I downloaded and he would settle. He did not want Barbara, he wanted his papa or he would scream continuously.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
End of Flu Season
 |
| From Bambini4 |
Video:
Hallway fun
The boys finally recovered after a couple of very difficut weeks during all the rain we had recently. Luca Got Roseola that Nico had around the new year. He broke out with a slight rash all over his body and had a temperature. Then his tummy was gurgling and he just could not sleep. After a week of having zero energy to even smile, he got better.
Hopefully that conlcludes the first season of vuruses. With a few weeks break here and there, they have basically been sick since the day after xmas. This is to be expecte before the age of two, and I am very glad they did no have to deal with these yucky viruses when they were just months old.
Next week we fly to Dallas for nicos surgery. We are trying to keep him from cathcing anything else that might delay this trip again.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Xmas
 |
| From Bambini3 |
We went to los Angeles for Xmas this year.
Videos:
WrappingFirstStep
StacyBouncyChairs
SMPierSnakeGuy
Popcorn
LucaNicoGirlfriends
LucaNatalie
XmasDayLA
NicoRibbonRoll
NicoLAStairs
LucaNicoKitchenFloor
LucaBenjaminLA
ChasingSeagulLA
Car Seats
After a long discussion on the internet, a couple of retired National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) officials weighed in on the subject of car seat life:
I think those are probably the last words on this subject.
In short, anything past their born on date, or expiration date, they are not liable for and that is their stance.. sad but true. I will leave you with this thought. Cars in general are built with the same type of materials and yet they do not have a 6 to 7 year window before you are pressed to buy a new vehicle..even though many have done that. It's not for the same reasons but perhaps car makers rely on many turn overs and build a cheaper , less durable vehicles based on that theory. Just playing devils advocate here.
I loved what I did helping folks out but never pressed them to buy a new seat for their child. In fact we gave seats to folks who were down and out. My stance was if you had one and its webbing wasn't frayed or plastic dilapidated from sun's effects, use it. My best guesses were based on some visual indicators and some were just thrashed. I never said which car seat to buy other than one that fit the child, fit the wallet and fit the vehicle. Of course when $$ was not an object I went with a Britax.. I put both my nephews in them, for many reasons. My choices.
With fact I will say we cut folks from cars.. many DOAs. In a few instances, there where small children in the back seat, where they were supposed to be and properly secured in a properly installed car seat. One in an instance was a car seat I had installed about 4 months earlier, I knew that family. These little babies I speak of survived with very minor injuries.. if any at all. That was the positive taken away from a fatal collision, even though the future of that survivor was terribly uncertain.
I wish you the best of luck and keep you and yours safe.
dan
Your conviction has legitimacy to it. There is a huge disconnect to the manufacturers and liability issues. I think the company wants to insure the child remains safe and a car seat not be handed down through a family or a bunch of families. Being in one family from purchase and well taken care of I cannot see any reason why it cannot be used for 10 years. Think about a big wheel. And they are pretty abused toys right?
That is what I always dealt with. "We got it from so and so who we really didn't know where they got it...maybe a yard sale"?
Yes, I could look at a car seat and tell what type of shape it was in visually. It it was involved in a collision, all bets were off unless ejection occurred and it perhaps did go tumbling down the tarmac.. kind of like you, I doubt that happening.
Deterioration from ultra violet culprits do happen, I can use tires as a reference but this may be an apples to oranges comparison. It does take place with either material ..how much, I cannot say. Webbing would be least of my issues unless involved in said accident, the stretching is sometimes undefinable but damage can be done. I am confidant you understand web sizing to weight ratios and how these things are computed for safety.
Unfortunately in this litigious society they want to stay as far away from any liability as they can so these more stringent guidelines, or maybe better stated warranty ratings are put to regulation and NHTSA gets a say in how and what those regs state. Does not make it right. What it does is greases a bunch of palms from a car company who builds restraints systems into vehicles, to makers of car seats to even NHTSA who gets paid for programs to train installation specialists even at the national level where I was while involved in the programs before I recently retired from the job.
I think those are probably the last words on this subject.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)