March 4, 2015 - On Nairobi

Close to four weeks ago we went to Nairobi overnight without Grace and Noah.  I needed some medical tests that couldn't be done in Dar (even though they were not invasive or unusual tests).  Last week we received the good news that all results were normal and I am AOK :) 

I have to say, though, that it was REALLY WEIRD being back in Nairobi.  Since we left three years ago, so much has changed.  They have built these enormous super-highway-fly-overs to divert traffic out of the city center.  The Chinese had started these roads before we left but now that they are complete, wow.  It gave Nairobi a whole new feeling of being a bit more modern and developed.  Because we wanted to try out the new highways, we took the diversion to our hotel instead of going through town.  We could see parts of Nairobi that we had never seen before, but it still took us an hour to get to our hotel.  Had we gone through town, it would have taken 2 hours I'm sure.  Unfortunately, traffic still seemed crazy.  In and around the parts of Nairobi where we lived and where we were visiting (namely the hospital), there were just so many cars, so many people. In addition, there was just construction everywhere.  We could see new malls, apartment building, office buildings, and hotels.  Development everywhere.  We went into one mall - one of our old stomping grounds, if you will - to get some medicine that I needed from a pharmacy, and were really surprised to see all of the new international brands they have there now.  Both the mall and the hospital had also changed in terms of security.  There was a very heavy feeling around us.

And really, when we lived there, I think I didn't realize how stressful it was!  It was just what we were used to - part of our everyday life.  But after being away, yikes.  It was really stressful! Worrying about the traffic and security was quite a burden, and we were only there for 30 hours.  Even though we had a good four years in Nairobi, it made us grateful to have gotten out when we did.  Especially as we drove past the shadow of the Westgate Mall.  There was an enormous pit in my stomach when I think about all of the hours we spent there. 

One thing that was VERY impressive was the new airport!  Wow!  How I wish they had that airport finished when we lived there. It was so bright and clean and modern, compared to the old one which was dark and stuffy and dirty!  I really enjoyed the 90 minutes we spent there and would not mind traveling through there again in the future.  

Kristoffer especially enjoyed talking to our drivers to/from the airport.  It was a little bit fun to show off our Kenyan knowledge a bit and ask some questions about the Kenya of today.  We tested our memory trying to figure out how to get places from where we were.  We did not drive by our house or anything like that...would have been too weird I think!  And we only had the chance to see one friend (thank you, Colleen!  That was a treat!).   It was an odd throwback of sorts and made me realize that someday in the future...the FAR future...I think it will be really cool to bring our kids back to Nairobi and show Grace and Noah where their lives began.  As much as it has changed these last three years, in the future Nairobi will be unrecognizable to us.  Until then, we are still here in Dar.  It was nice to come back to this place, which is comparatively slow and "quaint" and much more relaxed.  What a trip!

LMW

  

November 12, 2014 - Where to Begin?

Hi again.  Remember me?  I used to blog here a lot.  Then I had my third beautiful child and somehow she broke the proverbial straw of the camel-blogger's back.  I just can't get my blogging act together!  Sorry!  I think about writing blogs a lot. In my head I start to compose them even.  But if there is a choice between taking a 30 minute nap or writing a blog, the nap is winning every time these days.   Anyway, here is kind of an update of our recent goings-on, just to string you (and myself!) along until I can up my game.

The week of Halloween (right after my last post) and the week after Halloween were very challenging.  Grace became sick on Monday with a very bad headache, a very high fever, and an extremely high white blood cell (WBC) count causing the doctor to diagnose "bacterial infection" and put her on antibiotics.  Her fever - going as high as 104 (40c) and coming down lower than 103 (39.5c) for short stints ONLY with the help of some serious medication - didn't break until Saturday evening.  The initial antibiotics didn't work and the second antibiotics still didn't make a dent in her WBC. She couldn't eat or drink and so became quite dehydrated.  She ended up with an "IV" for three days to receive a third kind of (stronger) antibiotic and fluids for her dehydration.  We were in and out of the clinic - sometimes staying there the whole day! - for 5 days.  She did end up with other symptoms like swollen glands and tonsils, stuffed up or runny nose.  No cough.  No ear infection.  It was so strange.  But she was sad and miserable, and also very cooperative considering all the needles, injections, medications, etc.  It was all very exhausting for her and that is hard to watch in your child when you can't just make it all better very quickly.  Patience with African health scares is not a strength of mine. 

At some point Noah got it, with a concentration in his right ear.  At another point Aya got it, with a concentration on the fever (not as high as Grace's thankfully) and general unhappiness. From the start of Grace's fever to the end of Aya's fever, it was a 10-day "siege" that left me and Kristoffer completely and utterly exhausted.  That could possibly explain why I am now on antibiotics for a sinus infection myself.

Our friends here were extremely concerned and very, very helpful.  We would definitely have been even more stressed without them and without our trusty staff, Oliver and Christopher.  We survived the siege, but not without a few lasting scars.

I would say we are just about recovered from all of that, but now Kristoffer is traveling this week for work so I'm dealing with the night-shift on my own.  Aya is miserable at night - WILL SHE PLEASE JUST GET A TOOTH ALREADY!? - and last night Noah decided to be awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night as well ("Mama, do you want to read some books?" he innocently asked me at 2:30 am.  I'm sure I said something inappropriate but can't remember my actual response.).  

Grace had a sweet musical assembly at school today - I'd love to post a bit about it here, but that will have to wait until...next time (whenever that may be).

LMW  

October 10, 2014 - Family Firsts

There's always something going on in our house.  Often that "something" requires a trip (or many) to the clinic.  And so it was these past two weeks as well!

Some good "firsts":

• I survived my first time solo-parenting 3 kids while Kristoffer traveled to Indonesia for work.  (Note that he thinks if I write "Indonesia" instead of writing "Bali" that sounds more like work and less like vacation.)  I had Oliver work an hour and a half extra each day to help with the witching hour trifecta of bath-dinner-bedtime and we all survived, despite me not getting a lot of sleep.  I decided to sleep train Aya as a belated birthday present to Kristoffer (among the crazier gifts I've given him), so he got to miss out on the hardest parts of that.  She is now pretty good at putting herself to sleep in her own crib without fussing, but alas, has not stopped waking up at night yet!  And Noah was also waking up at night a few times as well, so that was the hardest part of Kristoffer being away.  We all missed him and were happy when he came home - I think Noah the most, because they are best friends to be 3 and your best friend goes away for a week.
• We saw Grace swim to the very bottom of the pool at school for the first time.
• Aya went swimming in the pool for the first time.  Similar to bath time:  she loved it!  She also moved on from bananas to apples and avocado and butternut squash.  Banana is totally her favorite, but last night when she was finished with her squash and applesauce she cried when I took the bowls away. Did we finally get a really good eater?!

The biggest, and most painful, first of our week was undoubtedly Noah's first big injury.  Thank goodness it was not worse (and thank goodness K was home from his trip!), but his monkey act on the playground which was preceded by him telling Grace, "Look what I can do," landed us in the clinic getting stitches for his split chin on Sunday afternoon.  It was bloody and painful and traumatic (physically for him, emotionally and parentally for us, empathetically for Grace!), but he did as well as could be expected of a 3 year old with a seriously split chin.  It seems like the sheet they had to put over his face when the doctor was doing the stitches was among his least favorite parts.   For us, it was him having to get two shots of anesthesia before the stitches. Horrible!  He was rewarded well with popcorn and candy for dinner and bottomless episodes of "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" for the rest of the day.  Thank goodness for iTunes.

The stitches were removed this morning - that was a little bit tricky as one of the stitches seemed to have grown into the skin - but he was really great and so brave to go back into the same room with the same doctor and nurse as Sunday.  Now covered in steri-strips only, it will be a pretty big scar but since he is so young it will fade quite a lot with time.  I will be interested to hear how "big" the story gets as he ages.  I know for a fact that Grace has told anyone and everyone who would listen on our peninsula about Noah's big fall and just how much blood there was ("He was bleeding forever!").

This past week also marked Aya's second virus - fever for 3 full days, but no bacteria so no antibiotics this time around (she's already had those twice too).  I thought/hoped it was her getting a tooth but 102.5 is pretty high fever for teething and it broke last night with no tooth to show for it.  She was complaining a lot and not sleeping restfully.  And we went to the doctor twice for it (throw in an extra visit with Grace last weekend to check out her cough, and we've been there 5 times in the last 7 days!) Maybe this weekend will be the time when she decides to just sleep on through the night.  A Mama can dream!

So now the kids have a break from school - one whole week off!  Of course it comes just as they are doing pretty well in their school routine and super early morning schedule (read: fewer temper tantrums at home!).  The week will be just enough time to screw their bodies up and make getting back into the routine the following week a very big pain. Unlike many friends, we are not traveling this week so will have to get creative with how to pass the time in increasingly hot-as-hell Dar.  Summer is officially here again!

LMW

August 28, 2014 - Growing Pains

It's been a tough week (few weeks?) for us.  Grace's start in Kindergarten has been a roller coaster:  she is really happy at school and loves it there, but is so exhausted that her behavior at home leaves a lot to be desired.  She also had one physical fight with another child already :(  We know other kids having different symptoms of adjusting to the structured school environment with lots of new activities (Kiswahili lessons, music, art, swimming, PE and library!). I know we're in good company, but that doesn't make it much easier in the middle of her extreme temper tantrums.  

In order to be to school on time without sitting in an hour of traffic she has to leave the house at 6:20.  Which means waking up at 5:30.  Which means going to bed by 6:30.  When school is over at 1:45 she either comes home (2 or 3 times a week) or goes to Nordic School for their after school program where she gets to have Danish lessons and be in a safe, comfortable place with her Nordic community for eating, playing, swimming.  It is a wonderful opportunity for her to keep that Nordic connection and start learning to read and write in Danish, but also makes her even more tired.  So we're still working on finding the right balance.  At least she loves her school, loves that she has a lot of friends there and is making new friends even.  Seems to like her teacher, who I will get to know a little bit better this afternoon at the school's first open house.

Then she got head lice (and so did Kristoffer...so far just him), which is MUCH WORSE THAN ANYONE EVER TELLS YOU.  Or maybe it's just because Grace is impossible when it comes to anything related to her hair.  Our past weekend was the worst one on record with new levels of screaming, separations, and very expensive medicines/hair products.  

Then she got sick with a chest infection.  As did Aya (who has both viral and bacterial infections).  Both of them are on antibiotics now.  I hate that Aya needed them already...although I guess Noah's first antibiotics in Kenya started at 16 days old, so at least she is not that young.

Speaking of Noah...he is adjusting to life without Grace at Nordic School pretty well, for the most part.  But he misses her a lot so when they are together he is not always nice to her (teasing her a lot...for which she has no tolerance).  We can see that their play is changing as she now feels a distinct difference in their age since she is in formal school.  We will have to continue to help him - both of them! all of us! - navigate this change.  One coping mechanism he is using is imaginary friends.  He seems to be talking a lot about his "big brother Shredder" (the bad guy from TMNT) and "all of his little brother robots". Luckily he really loves to play with Oliver and when he gets home before Grace he will often decide whether he wants to play with me or her, and then he is getting a lot of focused attention.  And you know...he's only 3, so he still has his fair share of "where did that come from?" meltdowns...although at school they don't believe me about that because they think he is just the sweetest boy ever. He is very sweet!  But all kids are complex!

Aya is not sleeping through the night even a little bit...being sick has sort of ruined whatever progress we were making in that department.  She is surprisingly mobile now that she can roll both ways, and she is very ticklish which I adore about her.  I really hope she feels better soon - the antibiotics are helping her infections, but are not helping her stomach.

Kristoffer and I are really, really, really tired.  Loving our little kiddos, but having three of them in three totally different stages is a little bit more challenging than we expected.  Hoping we can start fresh next week with no illness, more sleep, and perhaps more patience with each other :)

LMW

June 18, 2014 - Dar Strikes Again

Well we were only back for two weeks before the first sniffles.  And then the coughs.  And then fevers.    Grace and Noah both got sick on Saturday and by Sunday morning it was obvious to me (Dr. Mama) that Grace had a sinus infection and Noah had the croup.  We went in to the see the doctor to find that my diagnoses were correct but that they both ALSO had ear infections.  We got drugged up with antibiotics, inhalers, nasal sprays, etc.  Great.

Until the baby got a fever!  So now we're on Day 5 and while the big kids were cleared to go back to school, Aya still has a fever and is not herself at all.  Not eating well, fewer diapers, poor sleep, lots of screaming and/or moaning.  Her blood test yesterday showed it was viral, not bacterial like the big kids, so she is spared the antibiotics for now.  But wow...we hate to see our baby with a fever feeling so miserable!  Hoping the madness ends today.

All of this is just to confirm that we are officially back in East Africa - the land of infection (at least for our kids!).  Argh!

LMW

January 15, 2014 - Crowded...again...

Living in Africa brings an expectation of being sick sometimes.  Dealing with all the bacteria and germs and God knows whatever else is not the most pleasant part of living here.  You might recall from way back in the final month of my pregnancy with sweet Simba (Grace!) that I got sick with a parasite called giardia (flashback to here if you want the gory details).  I got sick with the same parasite this past June, and it appears that giardia has hit me once again.  For the last 3 nights I was in truly great discomfort with the symptoms of giardia - which are distinctly different than symptoms of other bugs, in my experience. I will spare you the deets on that. But on Monday my doctor gave me medication to treat my symptoms, advising me to wait to actually treat the parasite for another day or two.  It is pretty difficult to diagnose with lab work and in my case the parasite wasn't showing up (which doesn't mean that I don't have it, at all), so she just wanted me to wait and see if I improved before taking the medication for it.  It is safe to take it after 3 months of pregnancy, but of course in general you don't want to take anything you don't have to take when you're preggo.  So I waited and seemed to get better because I had largely stopped eating.  But with feeling better came bigger meals yesterday, which led to tremendous suffering last night.

Finally at almost 11 pm Kristoffer found an open pharmacy to fill the prescription.  The symptoms are so clear that I have no doubt it's giardia...and it could take another week for it to show up at the lab.  YUCK! So the meds work really quickly - you take a lot of pills all at once for two days and that's it.  I am already feeling soooooo much better and really hope this is my last bout with giardia (although let's be real...).

By tomorrow the BBG should have a bit more square footage back on the inside that she doesn't have to share with anyone (anything?) else.
LMW

December 13, 2013 - Mixed Day

Grace woke up yesterday morning with a cough and stayed home from school, but otherwise didn't seem too sick.  She slept through 8 hours of the night with no problem, but at 4 am suddenly had a fever and a hard time breathing.  The doctor told us at 8 am that she has advanced bronchitis which is almost pneumonia and to carefully watch her breathing.  He started her on antibiotics and a ventolin inhaler.  Not great, but at least we got in early to see the doctor. 

There was a show at their school today; Scandinavian countries celebrate Santa Lucia (St. Lucy) every December 13th in costume and song, and our kids missed it last year when we were in Denmark so were particularly excited about today.  Today was also the last day of school in 2013.  The school said Grace could come just for the show and the medicine brought her fever down temporarily so that she could participate. 

See some pictures and video clips below.  In general, it was very cute (minus the mom I almost got into a fight with because she was standing up in front to film her kids so that nobody else could see their kids!) and, thankfully, very short (less than 10 minutes of actual singing!) so Grace did great.  And when you could see Noah he looked adorable too (no stage fright as long as he was with Gracie - and at one point you can see him kiss her shoulder), but other kids kept blocking him so he was hard to see (you gotta get a little taller, Buddy!).  

I cut down the 7 1/2 minutes of video to three 30 second clips.  They are not great quality but I was on the floor and am not very tall anyway.  Also, kids were hard to see and I couldn't zoom.  Sorry, but hope you can find Grace & Noah!  First two songs are in Swedish (I think) and the third song below is in Danish (but it was really long, so I didn't share the whole thing).

Unfortunately, not too long after the show her symptoms got a lot worse.  I think she overdid it, and I feel awful about that.  We ended up back at the doctor's office for a nebulization treatment when her lips turned blue and she really couldn't breath properly.  Her oxygen level was down to 89.  So she is better since the nebulization but we will be back for a few more treatments tonight and tomorrow.  And by the then the other medications should be working on the infection.

Whoever heard of a little kid getting pneumonia in the middle of the super hot season?!?!  Or maybe it has to do with the rain and humidity?  Whatever it is - BAH HUMBUG!

So the kids were cute, but this Mama has been running around all day and is exhausted.  Just praying this is not an omen of how the next three weeks with no school (and no nanny) will be spent!  And today's silver lining is that my two very good friends brought me special deliveries today:  one of them arrived with flowers and one of them brought me coke and chocolate.  What more does a girl need when she's having a bad day?  Thanks ladies, I am so grateful for you!

LMW

November 28, 2013 - American Trip Recap and Feeling Thankful

Thanksgiving and Fourth of July are always a little bit hard for me.  Unlike Christmas or Easter, which are celebrated all over the world, Thanksgiving and the Fourth are uniquely American and, even though of course their spirit could be celebrated anywhere, I have this hang up that you should really be IN America to celebrate them. It otherwise feels very much not the same. So today we'll be having the least-Thanksgivingish dinner possible: pizza at beach!  Just to be very different from the rest of you (besides, if I told you how much it would have cost to import a tiny turkey, you would probably faint!). 

But of course, there is still a lot to be thankful for this year. I am also a blog late in describing my trip to the US so will use that week as my lens for Thanksgiving this year.  In no particular order, here we go:

1. I am thankful that I had a lot of great quality time with my parents last week.  I feel more and more with age that I just really appreciate their company and especially because  we go such long stretches without seeing each other, I am particularly thankful for the stretches when we do get to see each other. 

2. I am thankful that I had a great reunion with my girlfriends from college - The Fun Factor! It had been more than three years since I was able to be with them for a big celebration.  I have missed weddings, bridal showers and weekend getaways. This time my trip was timed perfectly for Gina's baby shower (love celebrating babies!) and it was so good for my soul to laugh, cry and just be with these women who have been in my life for 14 or 15 years now. 

3. I am thankful for amazon.com, Target, Macy's, Motherhood Maternity, Old Navy, Michael's, Market Basket, the Christmas Tree Shop, Party City. and even Walmart...because I was able to bring home gifts and supplies for celebrating Christmas and my kids' upcoming birthdays and birthday parties. I am also very thankful that Black Friday is not even an option for us!

4. I am thankful that my mom and my sister Meghan worked hard to host a lovely brunch before I left so that I could see some of my aunts, uncles and cousins who I never have quite enough time with.  My parents also hosted some wonderful dinners to help with this effort during my week home - thank you for that!

5. I am thankful for so many long standing friendships in my life...and that I got to see several of these wonderful friends, Kate, Brooke, Jean (Bibi) and Jen, while I was home. 

6. I am generally thankful for seasons, and that I got to experience a different one in America than we are currently experiencing here in Dar. 

7. For all of my experiences in Massachusetts last week, the primary purpose of my trip home was to get Bonus Baby checked out.  I am most profoundly thankful this year that our baby looks healthy and strong. My due date was pushed back to its original date - April 27th - and our c-section was scheduled for Monday April 21st (already adjusted the countdown on the right), which is both Easter Monday AND Marathon Monday!  I am so thankful to have had a great team of technicians, nurses and doctors assessing me and Bonus Baby.  We had some great conversations and quite a few laughs...in addition to some emotional tears as well. I feel we are in great hands in Boston and I can't wait for April to arrive. 

8. I am very thankful that I had easy, smooth, uneventful, and spacious economy class travel from and back to Dar.  It was probably the easiest trip I have had these last 6 years with very accommodating airlines and crews (not always the norm!). Fingers crossed for a similar experience in the spring! 

9. After all that, I came home to a husband who was smiling at the airport after having a pretty big week of his own balancing work and kids with no Mama around. We are both thankful that Rose and Christopher the cook were great and helpful all week to make my absence less difficult.  But mostly I am thankful that he is such a great husband/partner/father because I was not nervous or worried about anyone while I was gone and the kids were perfectly happy and well-adjusted the whole time.  He is truly the best.

10.  Last but not least, my two great kids were excellent in my absence (Rose keeps reminding me that they whined a lot less when I wasn't home!) and were absolutely adorable and charming and precious upon my return.  I am truly thankful for them everyday, and I am also especially thankful that they are so excited for Bonus Baby.  They seem so eager to welcome another person into our family; it gives me goosebumps sometimes to really think about how blessed we are. 

So even though we'll be eating pizza at the beach tonight, this holiday is not lost on me.  I have an abundance of people and situations and experiences to be thankful for...and so, very thankful I am.

LMW

October 30, 2013 - Occupational Hazard

Last week Kristoffer was traveling through rural parts of Tanzania for a mission on water hygiene and sanitation.  The ultimate irony was, of course, that he came home with a wretched bacterial infection and amoeba.  When Kristoffer posted on his Facebook that he was hospitalized for it, which he was, someone asked me what was wrong with him.  

The best way I can describe it to an American audience of people about my age:  remember playing Oregon Trail on the computer about 20-25 years ago?  And there were all these things that your people could die of while on the Oregon Trail?  Yeah...so Kristoffer had most of those things (no, did not drown in the river because he decided to caulk the wagon).  High fever, nasty stuff going on in his stomach, super dehydrated.

The other downside of this is that he has never been so sick in his life, so he wasn't very good at it.   When I told him that the doctor said he had to stay all day on Sunday and overnight until Monday before she would let him go home, he started yelling at me and saying that he would just drink a lot of water at home.  Riiiight.  Nevermind those pesky life-saving IV antibiotics.  He told her the next day how mad he was and she told him, "That's because you couldn't see yourself with your eyeballs sunk into your head."  Classy.

Anyway, it wasn't a very fun time, but he survived it and is doing very well now.  And my husband is such a giving man that he GAVE me his bacterial infection.  Despite what we tell the kids, sometimes I think sharing is NOT caring!

So I ended up at the doctor's office yesterday with stabbing pains in my stomach - not fun at 15 weeks pregnant! - and some other symptoms as well.  They determined that I was starting with the same bacterial infection and put me on antibiotics right away.  I stayed in bed all day yesterday and am still there now...gearing up for 2 full days of teaching the rest of this week.  Feeling pretty good, and rather lazy frankly.

Needless to say, we survived another round of THAT here in East Africa.  Whenever it is that we don't live here anymore, experiences like these are ones that I will not miss for sure!

LMW

June 13, 2013 - Spotlight on the M Word

Malaria.  No, we don't have it.  But since it is on our minds a lot right now and I've mentioned it in my last blog, I thought I would share some data recently released from the World Bank.  Excerpts are quoted directly or summarized from here.

"With an estimated 10 million malaria cases in 2010, the World Health Organization considers Tanzania to be one of the four countries with the highest malaria prevalence in Africa, along with Nigeria, DRC and Uganda."  But new data shows that from 2007-08 to 2011-12, fewer children and malaria deaths decreased signficantly from 2006 to 2012.  So that's good news.

"Tanzania’s recent success in reducing malaria-related morbidity and mortality can be linked to a significant scale up of interventions aimed at preventing transmission of the malaria parasite, controlling mosquito populations, and improving treatment". 78% of children under the age of 5 slept under a treated bed night last year, which had more than doubled since 2008.  Many nets are funded and distributed by development partners in Tanzania like USAID.  There has also been an increase in households getting sprayed with insecticides.

So all of that is great news here in Tanzania.  We still get very stressed any time one of us has a fever or if we hear that someone we know has it (which has been quite a few people lately).  A malarial mosquito bites at night between 10 pm and 4 am, and that mosquito got infected originally by biting someone who had malaria.  So if our neighbor has gotten malaria then we get a little worried since we are more likely to share mosquitos with her at night...which is also why we definitely sleep under nets.

Problems that still remain here are that pregnant women aren't given proper antimalarial drugs and many children under the age of five are getting early diagnoses.  This is why malaria is still a leading cause of death amongst infants and children here. Another issue is that people are often treated for malaria with confirming that they actually have it.  In some parts of the country children are given malaria medication if they have a fever without any blood test to see if they definitely have it. 

If you are ever looking for an African cause to donate to - definitely look for programs that provide malaria prevention, detection or education (the education bit is key or people use them for other things - like fishing! - and then the nets are waster).  Examples are here and here and here.

LMW

March 28, 2012 - Boring

Another hour and a half at the clinic today. Both kids are very slowly improving. Grace's fever is finally down right now (although we thought that yesterday and then last night it spiked) and Noah's fever is gone too. Their issue is still coughing and because they are not eating well they are having stomach problems from the medicines. But today was not about them. Rose was feeling a little ill yesterday and woke up today sick with the same throat infection as the kids, so she had to go to the doctor. And I have a full on sinus infection, which I was hoping would be just a cold, but of course not. And because both of us needed to see a doctor to get antibiotics, we couldn't leave the kids home alone and so the four of us, once again, spent the morning at the clinic. I am boring myself with this story! And I feel like we've "lost" almost a whole week now where I have't done anything on our list of things to do for the house and Grace hasn't been back to school after her first week (and next week is off for the Easter holiday) and I haven't found a playgroup for Noah yet. Argh. And now they are both asleep so I should shut my eyes for a few minutes. I guess there is always next week. LMW

March 26, 2012 - His and Hers

Fevers. They now have matching fevers. It would be funny if they weren't actually still sick (or sick again). Noah finished his antibiotics yesterday but was awake throughout the night with a fever and cough. Despite being in the middle of her antibiotics Grace's fever is still almost 103 F. So we were back to the clinic this morning. Noah actually has a brand new viral infection - his second since we've been here. Grace is still just battling this throat infection and her antibiotics were increased. The dr honestly thinks that once they are adjusted to this environment their health will improve. I just hope I survive until then...it is no fun having two sick kids! And I have a list of other interesting blogs to write about this new land of ours...but I guess they'll have to wait for healthier days. LMW

March 24, 2012 - Sick Joke

I thought I was putting it out there to the universe with my blog the other day that I was all done with people in this house being sick.  And yet.  Grace started with a fever during last night and by the time she woke up this morning it was over 102 F (over 39 C) and she was pretty miserable.  So yes.  We spent a portion of our Saturday morning at the clinic.  Again.  One of the nurses said,  "Give it a few more weeks and they'll get all sorted out."  Let's freaking hope so! 

Little girl went to bed without a fever finally.  We discovered that she likes chewable tylenol a lot better than other fever reducers we've tried.  Noah is almost done his antibiotics and she has just started hers, for the same throat infection he has.  Kristoffer hesitantly asked the doctor, "So we're going to get it too?"  She mentioned something about it mostly affecting kids.  

So if I wasn't clear before, I will be explicit now:  PLEASE NO MORE INFECTIONS IN THIS HOUSE!  I think we should be all clear for at least the next half year.

LMW

March 22, 2012 - The New Norm?

I was back to the clinic yesterday when Noah suddenly spiked a high fever out of the blue (almost 102F or 39C).  Fearing malaria or dengue fever (so soon?  really?!), I rushed him over.  The check-in nurse said, "You come here a lot."  Yes.  Thanks.  I'm aware of that.

Luckily not malaria or dengue...he has a bacterial infection in his throat and ears.  Not that this is great or anything, but slightly less scary.  And so he now he is on antibiotics; he didn't have a great night with the fever going up and down.  I am left wondering...is this how living in Dar for the next three years is going to be?  Someone on antibiotics every other week?!  Please, NO!

LMW

January 27, 2012 - Sleeping Beauty (or Foodie)

Last night was a historic night in our family.  Noah slept through the night FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.  7:45 pm to 6:35 am.  That is almost 11 hours, which he has never been even close to before.  

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know we've been a little bit out of touch lately.  Mostly I'm just too unhappy with our lack of official news about our future and so I haven't been online too much (I won't even tell you how many emails are waiting to be answered in my usually immaculate inbox)...so I will try to catch you up on Noah's news right now.

On January 11th, Noah had surgery to remove his adenoids.  It was a very routine and brief procedure that went very well.  Everyone was fascinated to learn about our life in Africa (I think they heard there was an African family in for surgery...and then they saw US and...well...maybe they were a bit disappointed?) and we were beyond pleased with the care we all received from hospital staff, doctors and especially nurses.  Children's Hospital Boston is the best in the world for a reason.

Noah looked like this before his adenoids came out:

And like this after his adenoids came out:

He was in the hospital for a little over 24 hours.  The only thing that ended up being slightly complicated was that he had a nasty stomach bug before the surgery and continued to have it afterwards.  This means that they kept him quarantined from other patients, and so we had a private room in the hospital.  It also means that even as they were discharging us from the hospital, he was still vomiting and having diarrhea!  YUCKO!  From start to finish he had it for 8 days (other members of my family also got this plague...it was violent and nasty...luckily, Kristoffer, Grace, and I were spared...my theory is that we have some serious antibodies and/or parasites from Kenya that fought off this American bug) and we felt really bad for him.  The bug did not interfere with the surgery or his recovery from the surgery though.

We were told that it would take 2 weeks for him to be officially recovered and for us to necessarily notice an improvement.  For the first couple of days he still snored and was not sleeping any better (due to the virus? post-op pain? habit?).  He also had a horrible, horrible, horrible stench coming from his mouth and nose. But everything started to improve within a few days and once that stomach bug went away.

He started doing longer stretches of sleep and Kristoffer was usually able to get him back to sleep without him nursing from me.  He also started eating without choking for the first time in his life.  He is now self-feeding all kinds of food with no problem at all, whereas before he was choking on absolutely everything - sometimes even smooth food!  So, we've been really happy about the better eating and better sleeping.  We felt comfortable training him to put himself to sleep without nursing now that we know he can breath well (remember, before up to 70% of his breathing was obstructed).  It took three nights of him crying a bit before he started putting himself to sleep with no problem at all (at bed AND for both of his daytime naps...seriously, this is unbelievable!). 

Then came the true gift.  Last night, 2 weeks and one day after his surgery (at the ripe old age of 340 days!) he went to sleep at night and woke up in the morning with nothing but (what I assume were) sweet dreams in between.  A M A Z I N G.

And so begins a new life for us.  Of course this doesn't mean that he will sleep that well every night for the rest of his life or anything...but it does mean that he will be able to rest and grow so much better than before.  His sleeping coupled with his new ability to eat are a recipe for a healthy boy!  

I know I am biased, but Noah is just the sweetest, most charming little guy I've ever known.  He is so happy - always smiling, laughing.  Curious beyond belief and getting into everything with a glimmer in his eyes.  His favorite toy after all his Christmas and birthday gifts is the remote control to my parents' TV.  He is obsessed with it!  He is an explorer.  I suspect in the near future he will be an instigator with Grace.  All he does now is sleep, eat and play.  He rarely cries.  He rarely fusses (except now when he wants more food!).  His sounds are getting more and more expressive.  He hates to sit still (oh, how I dread our next plane rides).  He can take steps on his own but is not yet walking.  His super-crawling is just too fast! 

Having that surgery was the best thing to happen to him and I think us too!  We will all be so much happier and more rested as we head into the next chapter of our lives.  

More on that soon.  I promise.

For now, I am off to get a good, full, wonderful night's sleep.

LMW

December 21, 2011 - Sweet Dreams

Yesterday Noah had a doctor's appointment at Children's Hospital with an ORL specialist (that is Otolaryngology which is a fancy way of saying an ear, nose and throat doctor). We got this appointment because of Noah's sleep issues.  Basically since he was about 5 months old (or earlier, I suppose), he has had some kind of sleep apnea where he stops breathing for up to 8 seconds at a time in his sleep, often many times throughout the night.  The poor kid has never had a REALLY good night's sleep!  In Nairobi an x-ray showed that his adenoids are enlarged, but the small treatments we tried there didn't help.  

So we saw this specialist - an experienced, Irish doctor who is the head of the department - and he could tell through a camera up Noah's nose that his adenoids are obstructing 60-70% of Noah's air passage.  We also learned that his eating issue - choking on everything! - could be related. The doctor prescribed a sleep study to determine what is going on throughout Noah's body when he has apnea and then he will remove the adenoids. We were hoping to get all of this done ASAP since our next international travel is looming in the new year.  Luckily, when I called the sleep lab at the hospital this morning they let me know that they had an opening for tonight.

So...

Noah is asleep in a hospital crib next to me right now.  He has about 25 different wires attached to his head, face, chest and legs (note: he was not thrilled about this).  To keep him from pulling the wires off, his whole head is wrapped in gauze so he looks like he has a head injury.  Poor little guy.  There are cameras and microphones in the room and every move and bodily function is being monitored until 6 am tomorrow.  Kristoffer is sleeping in the room next door since they don't have a full house tonight, because I didn't want to come in with him by myself but only one of us is allowed in the sleep lab.  (Grace is at home with Nene and Pops; she got to help Nene make Christmas candy tonight...so all is definitely well there.)

We hope the study gives useful and accurate information - the technician said a LOT of parents report that their children sleep unusually well for their study, and we really hope this is not us.  It sounds crazy, but I hope he has one of his worst nights so that they can really see how serious the situation is. Sometimes he wakes up 10 or 12 times a night.  We also hope that they are able to schedule the surgery as quickly as possible so that this boy (and, ok, us too) can start getting some really good sleep.  We are all tired!

He is 11 months old tomorrow and his first Christmas is just a few days away.  I hope the little sleep he gets tonight will be full of very sweet dreams...and even though I hate to put him through the upcoming surgery, we really look forward to getting his adenoids out!

LMW

November 27, 2011 - First Week in Denmark

After surviving phase 1 of our move (Operation Leave Kenya) and our journey to Denmark and after having some nice days with Farmor and Hans, Grace got really, really sick with pneumonia this week.  She is not 100% yet, but is at least much, much better.  We nearly had her admitted to the hospital after she kept getting sicker, but somehow this morning her high fever broke and she just quickly started to improve.  I guess the second attemp with stronger antibiotics kicked in.  She is breathing easier and coughing less, and is generally much more herself.  PHEW.  It was a sad and scary few days, and we are very relieved that she is on the mend!

Noah is sleeping worse than a newborn (between the two of them, Kristoffer and I are not sleeping much at all), but is otherwise having a good time at Farmor's house. Nikoline and Josefine visited us this weekend; they are such wonderful cousins and I have nicknamed Nikoline "Rose Jr" because she is so great with Noah!  As you can see below, he looks very sweet and innocent.  But  I think that crate of beer knows better :)  SKÅL!

 

LMW

August 15, 2011 - And Then...

Two Fridays ago, August 5th, our family departed for a weekend safari to the Masai Mara.  The plan was simple: drive to our camp at the Mara, meet up with our friends The Burt Family,  go on some game drives to see the Great Migration, leave the kids at camp with Rose for a hot air balloon ride (a present for my 30th and 31st birthdays) on Saturday morning, have a great time, come home on Sunday.  Nice plan, right?  Unfortunately...that is not at all how the weekend went, or the entire week that followed as a matter of fact.  Here's a summary of what happened:

Halfway through our drive to the Mara, Noah began to be sick.  Fever, vomiting.  We thought it might be car sickness, but he continued to get worse.

AND THEN...

Early Saturday morning - when it was still pitch black out! - Kristoffer and I attempted to go on our hot air balloon ride.  We had a one hour drive to get to the balloon site - saw two black rhinos at least! - and watched as they tried to get the balloon up in the air.  It was way too windy in that particular spot, though, and our balloon ride was cancelled because it was unsafe to take off.  I was so disappointed that I cried.

AND THEN...

We had a good game drive to get back to camp after the balloon disappointment, but right after we ate breakfast we packed up to drive back to Nairobi (less than 24 hours after our arrival).  I had talked to Dr. Nesbitt and he was worried about Noah's fever.

AND THEN...

The short cut we were told to take to drive home faster ended up taking about one hour longer than the way we had originally come.

AND THEN...

The car's engine overheated and stalled us for another hour as Kristoffer put about 15 liters of water in it (there was no coolant! this was a Landcruiser we had rented for safari).

AND THEN...

Noah developed a rash all over his entire body.  Continued to have a high fever.  Continued vomiting.  Longest car ride ever.

AND THEN...

We finally got back to Nairobi - about 6 hours later - and Noah was instantly admitted to the Gertrude's Children Hospital, where he had also been admitted as a newborn with a virus as well.  He was given IV fluids and his blood tests showed a very high white blood cell count (double, actually) so he was started on IV antibiotics.  Rash got worse.  It was believed to be a virus in addition to the bacterial infection.

AND THEN...

On Sunday, Grace was miserable.  We thought she was just unhappy with me and Noah being in the hospital and all of the attention he was getting, but she turned out to have a high fever as well and "the rash" slowly developed all over her body as well.  They couldn't treat her in the ward where Noah was admitted because she wasn't also admitted, so she ended up going through the emergency room.  Once her fever came down she was better but in addition to the fever/rash virus, she was also diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and was also put on antibiotics.

AND THEN...

Every time Kristoffer went to start our car, the battery was dead so he kept having to get a jump. Also, I started to have pain in my right knee whenever I bent it.

AND THEN...

Finally, after a great night on Monday when his fever finally broke (48 hours on the dot after starting IV fluids and antibiotics), Noah was discharged and we were home after lunch on Tuesday.  Grace was also feeling much better by this time.

AND THEN...

I started to feel unwell.  Had a terrible headache, increasing pain in my right knee, new pain to move my neck, and general discomfort.

AND THEN...

Around midnight I became really nervous about my neck pain (thinking: meningitis! no!) and inability to tolerate any light.  I've had migraines before and this was just as bad as or worse than they were.  Kristoffer took me to the emergency room, with both kids in the car, and drove to pick up Rose at her home so that she could stay with the kids and he could go back to me in the emergency room.

AND THEN...

The emergency room was awful.  There was only one other person there, and they still were insanely slow.  They gave me something for the pain, but would not give me IV fluids, even though I asked.  My blood work came back with a possible sign of infection so they gave me antibiotics and pain meds and sent me home.

AND THEN...

I was so sick that I could barely sleep. I was mostly just moaning.

AND THEN...

I started vomiting.  Couldn't even keep down one sip of water or one bite of banana.  Called my cardiologist/general practitioner and he said to come in.

AND THEN...

He immediately admitted me to the hospital (this time Nairobi Hospital where he practices, not Aga Khan as usual) for observation, pain medication, and most of all IV fluids - I was seriously dehydrated.  I was diagnosed with "viral meningismus", which is basically all of the symptoms of meningitis (so my fears were not that far off!) but without the actual inflammation of the brain or spinal cord (THANK GOD). I felt much better after the first bag of fluids and continued to get well quickly - the medicine they had given me in the ER had just made me so much sicker with the vomiting AND I did not have a bacterial infection so shouldn't have been on antibiotics in the first place.

AND THEN...

I went home late morning on Thursday feeling exhausted by the whole week, but not sick anymore.

It took all day Friday before I felt somewhat myself again.  Grace was so happy because Friday morning was the first day she woke up and I was home and well all week.  She and Noah recovered quickly and were doing great - it was amazng to have all of us home.

Saturday was my birthday - thank you to my wonderful husband for his sweet blog and for everything he did to keep us all afloat last week.  I had a lovely, happy day (which included a 2 1/2 hour spa treatment) and have never been more grateful for my family to be healthy again!

That was more than enough drama for awhile.  Let's have a calm, quiet, boring week now please!
LMW

May 22, 2011 - Champagne, Please!

The Welsiens have a lot to celebrate!

We had a G-R-E-A-T visit to the doctor on Friday for joint check-ups and vaccinations for Grace and Noah. Noah is doing great and developing well. He weighed 7.1 kg/15.6 lbs and was 64 cm/25.1 in long. This put him just under 75th percentile for both weight and height. His measurements from when he went to the ER in the US must have been off (he was wearing clothes, and I'm not sure she converted kg to lbs properly) because we expected him to be much bigger than that...but we are thrilled that he is so full and healthy and doing so great. He liked the taste of the oral vaccination he got but was not too happy about the double jabs :( Noah is roughly the weight Grace was at a year and is the length she was at 7 months old. We weren't expecting to have such a big baby, but he is a boy so this is to be expected.

And Grace. Wow! Our little, little peanut had a growth spurt! You've never met two happier parents than us on Friday afternoon. At 27 months old, she weighs 10.4 kg/23 lbs and is 87 cm/34.3 in. THIS IS HUGE! She gained a little over 1 kg since March 2nd (or almost 2.5 lbs), which was an enormous jump for her. Instead of being well, well, well below any percentile on her growth chart, she is now just under 5th percentile. For her length, she is somewhere around 38th percentile, which is also an increase from the 25th percentile before.

When Dr. Nesbitt saw her stats, he came in to the room and said, "Should we open a bottle of champagne?" Having been on the rough road of Grace's weight and eating issues with us, he was just as thrilled as we were. And to what magic do we owe Grace's growth spurt? On the one hand, she is definitely a better - albeit still difficult - eater, in part to some behavior modification we have tried (rewards for eating); and, on the other hand, she has been drinking a lot of "older toddler formula", which we call "Special Milk" in our house, since Noah was born. This combination has helped her along with just being a bit older, more mature and able to understand us when we talk about eating or food.

Grace was also very brave when she had to get two vaccinations - against typhoid and meningitis - and was so, so, so good throughout the whole doctor's visit. Compared to a few months ago when she would start crying in the parking lot of the children's hospital before even going into the doctor's office, she has come a long way and we are so proud of her! These days she is saying and singing anything and everything. She loves to run and jump and dance and play, play, play. She was a little shy going back to school this week after such a long break, but by Friday Ms. Mbata said she seemed back to her old self, and she is on a great sleeping schedule (8pm to somewhere between 6:30 and 7 am straight). Grace is Super-Girl!

In addition to all of that good news, Noah is four months old today! Big boy is so happy. He rolls over and moves around when he is laying down; he smiles and is starting to giggle and laugh; he coos and a-goos and makes very sweet noises in response to people; he reaches for and grabs stuff; he likes to be standing up and is working on sitting up by himself; he eats well and is sleeping better since figuring out he can roll onto his stomach in his sleep (which he prefers); he is generally easy-going and sweet. Super-Girl's little brother is Super-Boy for sure!

Cheers to all! Skål! Happy, happy, happy!

LMW

March 3, 2011 - An Apple a Day

Grace and Noah had back-to-back doctor's appointments yesterday: a 2 year check up for Grace and a follow-up for Noah from his illness.

Grace did MUCH better than anticipated, given her previous track record of absolutely hating everything about going to the doctor. She only cried when she was weighed and measured and was actually very sweet with Dr. Nesbitt. We discovered that she gained a teeny-tiny amount of weight in the last few months, so now she weighs 9.3 kg (20.5 lbs). Still a petite little thing, but at least she remains in the 25th percentile for her height and the 75th percentile for her head circumference. As the doctor said, it is a relief that developmentally she is doing so great despite her poor weight gain. We are (once again) re-evaluating our strategies to encourage Grace to eat. Otherwise, the doctor thought she seemed very healthy!

We also had Grace's parent-teacher conference last week at school. Ms. Mbata had a lot of nice things to say about Grace. She likes to ride the horse at school on Mondays, she likes to do anything art related and has gotten more involved in their gym class. She is enjoying swimming every week too. The theme with all of these activities is that Grace likes to do things in her own time and doesn't want to be rushed by anyone (no surprise to us). She is ALWAYS singing, according to her teacher, and they even say she provides background music when everyone else is quietly playing. Apparently Grace is pretty discerning about her social life. There are several children that she doesn't seem to like, and some that she does. She has one "best friend", a Kenyan boy named Andrew, who she hugs and holds hands with. He is the only child that she seeks out to play with. Mostly she plays alongside the other children. Ms. Mbata said the things that they are "working on" with Grace are EATING (see above) and joining other children to play with them. Grace knows everyone's name and where their school bags are hung and which shoes belong to which child. So funny! It was really interesting for us to hear another adult's perception of our child when we are not around.

Now on to Noah. At 5 1/2 weeks old, he weighs 4.8 kg (10.5 lbs) which is 50th percentile (he gained 1 kg since his birth weight). He seems so big to us now! He is 55 cm long, which is about an inch longer than when he was born. Dr. Nesbitt is very pleased that Noah made such a full and complete recovery from the virus (or infection) he had a few weeks ago. He got a clean bill of health and goes back in 2 weeks for some vaccinations.

What else is new with our newborn? Well, Noah seems to love being on his stomach. Maybe he would sleep all night that way if we let him (we don't dare) but we're just letting him take supervised naps that way for now. He was given a new play gym (see picture) by some friends and seems to like the music that accompanies it. He wants to be in motion if possible so he loves his bouncy seat (and we do too!) or being in the car. I wouldn't classify him as a colicky baby, but for the last week he definitely has a very fussy period in the evening. He can be comforted for a few minutes here and there and he will eat and burp off and on, but he is also crying and uncomfortable for quite a bit of time (this is when the bouncy seat seems to be the only remedy!). He is starting to smile a tiny bit, he can follow a finger with his eyes, and...are you ready for this?...he can roll over from being on his stomach to his back. Yup. He's done it 4 times (the first two times we thought it was because of a slope in the sofa, but then he did it on a flat hard mattress as well!) and we have all been very impressed.

All in all, not such a bad report on these two little ones.

LMW