Solid food!

On 4/28/12 Amelia tried her first solid food! We did a lot of research and decided we would try a combination of baby led weaning and purees and see what worked best for our family. We also decided that we would be forgoing the traditional rice cereal most families start with and feeding Amelia real food and whole grains.

First up was avocado! We decided we would try The baby led weaning approach and gave her hand held size strips. She had a hard time keeping the slippery pieces in her hands but overall she seemed to enjoy it! I'm not sure she actually ate too much but it was a fun experience!

Next up was banana, again we went with the BLW approach. Things pretty much went the same as they did with the avocado. She was interested but didn't actually eat all that much.

Next we decided to try oatmeal with the spoon. What a hit! She immediately started squealing with delight when the oatmeal touched her tongue! She slurped it down like champ! She wanted to hold the spoon herself and did a great job of bringing it to her mouth.

Next up was pureed sweet potato and it was another huge success. Although she made crazy faces and didn't squeal quite as much as she did for the oatmeal oddly enough she kept opening her mouth big for more!

Overall we have really been enjoying exploring solid foods with Amelia. We are taking it slow, she still has a bit of a tongue thrust reflex, but plan to keep trying new foods!

Our little girl is growing up so fast!

Our first trip to the ER

On Sunday May 6th we had a milestone I was not looking forward to... we took Amelia to the Emergency Room for the first time.

I guess the story begins about a week or so before when I went to nurse Amelia at lunch and noticed she felt kinda hot. My mom said she hadn't been acting strange so we decided to just keep an eye on her. At lunch the next day and she felt twice as hot so I busted out the temporal thermometer and it read 99.3. (you add 1 degree to whatever a temporal thermometer said so really her temp was around 100.3) I decided to call the doctor because she had also been pulling on her ears. (She had been doing this for awhile but we had her checked when she first started doing it and no infection, apparently teething pain also occurs in the ears so we chalked it up to that). The doctor's office said to bring her in so I did and low and behold her right ear was infected. (I guess another milestone...her first ear infection. sad.) Doc perscribed amoxicilin and sent us on our way.

Fast forward about 8 days...Friday May 4th...we took Amelia out to watch a local bike race. It was pretty hot but we were in the shade and Amelia kept cool but I started noticiing a few bumps on her legs and back. We figured it was probably heat rash and it wasnt bothering her so no big deal. I put a little cortizone on it before bed that night and didn't think much of it. Saturday night we gave Amelia a bath and when we were done we realized that the spots had spread a bit but we still weren't too worried, she was acting normal and she didnt have a fever so we put her to bed. Sunday morning when I went to change Amelia's diaper I realized the spots were now COVERING her entire stomach, back and behind and her arms and her legs....I started to get a little worried. I decided to call the on call nurse at our pediatrician. I explained the situation and that she was on the amoxicilin and the nurse said it was probably a reaction to the amoxicilin but nothing to worry about. She said to call the pediatrician first thing in the morning and to call her back if there were any new sympotoms.

(I have a better pic where you can really see the bumps but I will refrain from posting pics of my dear daughter's backside!)

A few hours went by when I noticed this on Amelia's arm.

At the time I didnt have a  clue what it was a frankly it freaked me out! After speaking with the nurse we decided it was a hive. She still felt it was ok to take Amelia to the pediatrician the next day and told me again to call with any new symptoms, espeically any swelling of the hands or mouth or any trouble breathing.

A few more hours went by and the hives started spreading. The next thing I know she has them on her arms and legs, some several inches wide! I also noticed her bottom lip appeared a bit swollen. I called the nurse back and they advised that I take her to the hospital. (Cue freak out by me...)



I pulled myself together and we drove Amelia to the ER. ( I have sense learned that Spartanburg has TWO after hours minor clinics...grrr) The hives were getting worse, covering her face and head after she nursed, all over her legs and arms. We waited HOURS to see a doctor and stayed up WAY past Amelia's bedtime. When the doctor finally came in he looked at her for about 30 seconds and decided it was viral, she had to be out of daycare for a week and walked out. He literally was backing out the door as we tried to ask him questions...needless to say we didn't get our answers. We went home and put Amelia to bed and hoped for the best. ( I didn't sleep to well) She seemed better Monday and the hives were gone by Tuesday. The bumps are gone now and she never had a fever. I decided to take her in to see her regular doctor just to make sure everything was alright and they felt like we can't rule out an allergic reaction so she is now considered allergic to penicillin. They also discovered that her ear infection is now a double ear infection and put her on a new antibiotic.

We survived our first trip to the ER. Lets hope we don't have another one anytime soon.

(feeling just fine on Monday after the ER, what a trouper!)