Wordless Wednesday

(Summer wedding! Congrats, Erik and Amber!)

Extended Rear Facing

The minimum age that a child's car seat is supposed to be changed from rear facing to front facing is one year and twenty pounds.  However, rear facing past that point is still safer.  Just think about this for a moment...

When a child is in a forward-facing seat, [in an accident] there is tremendous stress put on the child's neck, which must hold the large head back. The mass of the head of a small child is about 25% of the body mass whereas the mass of the adult head is only 6%!  A small child's neck sustains massive amounts of force in a crash.  The body is held back by the straps while the head is thrown forward - stressing, stretching or even breaking the spinal cord.  The child's head is at greater risk in a forward-facing seat as well.  In a crash, the head is thrown outside the confines of the seat and can make dangerous contact with other occupants, vehicle structures, and even intruding objects, like trees or other vehicles.

Rear-facing seats do a phenomenal job of protecting children because there is little or no force applied to the head, neck and spine.  When a child is in a rear-facing seat, the head, neck and spine are all kept fully aligned and the child is allowed to "ride down" the crash while the back of the child restraint absorbs the bulk of the crash force. The head is contained within the restraint, and the child is much less likely to come into contact with anything that might cause head injury.-" (source)(emphasis added)

Nathan's current seat

It is safer not to turn your child's carseat forward facing until you reach the rear facing weight limit on the carseat itself, which on a convertible carseat is usually around 30 pounds.

Both of ours, The First Years True Fit and the Cosco Scenera, go to 35 pounds rear facing, so both Nathan (29 months) and Miriam (16 months) are rear facing.  There are even some carseats, such as the Graco My Ride 65 Car Seat, Safety 1st Complete Air that can rear face until 40 pounds, and the Sunshine Kids Radian80SL goes to 45 pounds rear facing.

Some people think that you have to turn them around when their feet touch the back of the seat, but that isn't true.  We've found that Nathan is quite comfortable crossing his legs. Occasionally  the objection is made that a child might be at increased risk of broken legs if rear facing.  I am ok with that, if true, because in the event of a severe accident in which my child was likely to suffer an injury of that magnitude rear facing he would be at higher risk forward facing.   There's a little saying that goes "Broken leg? Cast it.  Broken neck?  Casket." 

 Basically, the longer a child can ride rear-facing, the better protected his or her spinal cord is in the event of a collision.  - Joe Colella, Former Child Passenger Safety Training Manager for the National SAFE KIDS Campaign

"The most common misunderstanding is that a child is ready to travel facing forward when his neck muscles are strong enough to support and control his head. However, when a car hits something at 25 to 30 mph, it will come to a stop at a negative acceleration rate of from 20 to 30 G. Because of the time lag between when the vehicle stops and an occupant stops, and the fact that the head of a forward-facing adult or child is still free to move relative to the restrained torso, the head may experience as much as 60 or 70 Gs acceleration for a brief moment. Even the strong neck muscles of military volunteers cannot counteract such forces. Instead, the rigidity of the bones in the neck and strength of the connecting ligaments (not the muscles) hold the adult spine together and keep the spinal cord intact within the confines of the vertebral column.

Very young children, however, have immature vertebrae that are still partly made of cartilage. These are soft and will deform and/or separate under tension, leaving just the spinal cord as the last link between the head and the torso. According to documented research, autopsy specimens of infant spines and ligaments allow for spinal column elongation of up to two inches, but the spinal cord ruptures if stretched more than 1/4 inch. Real-world experience has shown that a young child's skull can be literally ripped from her spine by the force of a crash."- from Carseat.org, here

And just one more quote, this one from a post on the subject:

 "toddlers between the ages of 12 & 23 months who ride rear facing are 5 times safer and 75% less likely to experience serious injury or die than their forward-facing peers."

I'm not a safety expert, a car seat technician, or a crash test expert.  I'm 'just' a mama.  I know that I can't protect my children from all harm, but considering that motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death among children in the U.S it is definitely worth a little bit of thought and research to consider how we can best keep our children safe while traveling.  Because it doesn't matter how safe a driver you are - you cannot control other drivers and you cannot predict whether a drunk driver is going to come flying through red light at a seemingly empty intersection.  You can only take steps to keep your child as safe as you can.  Keeping your little one rear facing is an easy way to make them safer. 

We haven't found rear facing past a year to be inconvenient or a hassle at all... it's a really simple way of making our kids a little safer in the car! 

 

Are your little ones rear facing still?  

Did you know that it was still safer, even past the age of one? 

What are some good safety resources you've found?

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Update: As of April 2011 "the American Academy of Pediatrics now advises parents to keep toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they exceed the height or weight limit for the car seat, which can be found on the back of the seat.  Previously, the AAP advised parents to keep kids rear-facing as long as possible, up to the maximum limit of the car seat, and this has not changed.  But it also cited one year and 20 pounds as the minimum for flipping the seat, which many parents and pediatricians interpreted as conventional wisdom on the best time to make the switch.  The new policy clarifies the AAP's recommendation, making age 2 the new guideline -- a real game-changer for parents of toddlers.

A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention found that children under age 2 are 75 percent less likely to die or to be severely injured in a crash if they are rear-facing. Another study found riding rear-facing to be five times safer than forward-facing." -CNN, AAP: Toddlers in rear-facing seat until 2

We are still rear facing two carseats, with an almost 3 and almost 2 year old.  Nathan is getting very close to the weight limit, so he will probably need to forward face soon after 3, however.  
 

The Tube is Gone

The dialysis tube is gone! 

In two weeks he can go swimming and take baths again!

Monday we spent most of the day at the hospital... including of course monkey.

Miriam went to get lunch with Daddy and returned sound asleep!  I wolfed half my lunch in the hall and then ate the rest later.  We couldn't eat around Nathan as he was beginning to get quite hungry but couldn't have anything of course before surgery at 1pm.

He had a lot of fun playing with this VERY noisy truck.  The surgeon observed that he would not want to have that toy at his house, and I totally agreed.  It had buttons for hammers, jack hammers, and other noisy tools, and was loud.  

Surgery went smoothly, we were able to come home Monday night, and he has been recovering great.  The biggest challenge has been keeping him quiet.  I have no idea how they expect a healthy, energetic two year old to take it easy for a few days.  If they really wanted him to stop climbing things and running around and all that they should have sent me home with a sedative for him!

Today we met with his wonderful kidney specialist... who said that he is doing great and that we don't need to see him again for six months.  I was surprised since we'd been on monthly meetings.  That's a big jump!  But obviously it shows how well he is doing! :)

Driving Already?

Everyone tells you that your babies will be grown up in no time flat, but I did not expect Nathan and Miriam to start driving this summer, just the same.  Call it new mama naivety.  Be that as it may, though, so far they're doing very well.

Miriam- "I'm driving!"

Except for the whole rollover incident, where Miriam was unbuckled (duh, there aren't any) and miraculously survived a rollover where she went through the windshield (well, where the windshield would be, anyway) with only a little dirt on her face.  She was unfazed.  I guess that she just expected something to happen when Nathan started pushing her around the yard.  I was surprised, though, as our yard, while not exactly a putting green, isn't hilly enough that I would have expected him to hit a bump and cause the car to roll.  Oops.  Apparently the Cozy Coupe has a very high center of gravity.

Nathan- "Smile at the camera, Miriam!"

"Bye!"

They have been having an absolute blast playing with this, and I love it.  I'm not usually into plastic toys,  but isn't this practically a classic anyway?  It was on my garage sale watch list last year, with no success, and this year I haven't made it to hardly any, but a sweet, sweet friend heard I was on the hunt for one... and dropped this one off in my yard since her kids are mostly too old for it anymore.  :)

Miriam - "uhmm, Nathan, the door is over here...?"

She also dropped off a slide and a little picnic table, so our newly picket fenced yard looks just as kid friendly and fun as it is!  Now I'm daydreaming about a kiddie pool, since I know that both my kidlets would just love one, and as hot as it is, so would I.  Plus, it would give Nathan a chance to wear his new life jacket correctly for once.  (Thank you, Stearns Flotation and MOM Magazine! Cannot wait to try it!)

this is NOT how it's designed to be worn!

Of course,we have to wait for surgery to remove his tube first... but after that?  Squirt guns and sprinklers and hitting the pool! :)  I can't wait...

--------------------
 I received the Stearns Personal Flotation Device at no charge from them and from MOM magazine through my relationship with BSM Media/MomSelect.  I was not obligated to write about it and any opinions I express are solely my own.  Also, links are affiliate links.  Also, don't let your child put a life jacket strap around their necks... in the immortal words, don't try this at home, kids.  Am I done with the small print yet?  I think so...

Home Again

Thank you all for your comments and prayers during Nathan's hospital stay. We are HOME! And he is doing very well. We are still adjusting into a new routine of weighing him daily, checking his blood pressure, and giving him (only one!) medication twice a day, as well as needing to go to regular pediatrician and monthly kidney specialist visits. His wonderful pediatric kidney specialist has repeatedly assured us that he is extremely happy with Nathan's progress, that he thinks that he will have no lasting damage, and that he is recovering quickly.  We are going to have to have his peritoneal dialysis tube removal surgery in a few weeks, and then I know that I will feel like we're getting back to normal.


 Nathan is understandably a bit emotional, and swings quickly from extremely happy and giggly to tears.  This is not normal for our even keeled, cheerful boy, but obviously a small child who has been very sick, stuck with countless needles, catheterized (with two failed attempts by the PICU nurses before they called the stat nurse), gone through minor surgery, and gone through temporary cold turkey weaning is going to be scared and confused and feel less secure for a while.


But he is still generally a happy little guy, and is getting his energy and strength back very quickly.  He is blossoming verbally in the last few weeks, labeling everything by color (usually correctly!), spontaneously reciting animal noises-

"Cow say MOOOO. Pig say *snort snort*.  Chicken say BUK BUK BUK."

- and greeting us all by name in the middle of dinner ("Hi, Miriam.  Hi, Mama.  Hi, Daddy.").  He is also enjoying some new books he was given, including a new favorite, Fifteen Animals!, and an old favorite that I remembered reading to my brothers but that we didn't have, Guess How Much I Love You.



Also home is Monkey, who was given to Nathan by some kind friends who visited us in the hospital.  Monkey was 'listened to' by countless nurses, bravely took tylenol first to show Nathan it tasted good, donned a face mask along with Nathan whenever the dialysis nurses needed to change his dressing or hook or unhook his tube from the machine, and even wore a blue cap and accompanied him into surgery.  Monkey's given name on his tag was Bongo, but Nathan told every nurse who asked that his name was Monkey, so we're going with that.  ;)

We are all soaking in the summer with renewed enthusiasm... eating popsicles with all four of us piled in the hammock we bought on our honeymoon (and hung this week... why did we wait so long?!), wearing our "flips flops", as Nathan says, drinking pink lemon aid, and generally reveling in being home and being together.  God is good and has been gracious, and we are full of joy.

Nathan Update

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth many many more, right? Here is Nathan this afternoon.  Off dialysis (for today and tonight... praying that his levels will have continued to improve by tomorrow so that we can stay off altogether!), unhooked from all the wires (for at least part of the day) and able to get up and play!  He is a bit wobbly and needs close attention (he thinks he can do everything, but he's still a bit weak and his balance is a bit off.  Anyway... here is some amazing Nathan cuteness.  Thank you so so so much for your prayers.



We are hopeful that if he continues to improve at this rate that we may be able to go home soon. 

Please pray that...

• his blood pressure would stay within the normal range so we can stop the blood pressure medication
• his body would be able to heal itself from this point, and his kidneys would be able to handle things from here on out without the help of dialysis.
• that his anemia would go away without another transfusion (we've had 4 so far)
• that there would be no long term damage to his kidneys or his health
• that we would be able to go home soon!
• that we would be able to find a good doctor to have follow up/monitoring visits with, and that we would be able to establish a good relationship with them.

Thank you so much!

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Pray for Nathan

Tuesday evening we took Nathan to the ER at a small local hospital, because he had been vomiting and having bloody diarrhea. They gave him an IV, took his blood, and admitted us, because the staff pediatrician was not on call until the next morning. When she  came in she did more blood tests, because she didn't like what she saw.  She told us she was afraid Nathan had Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). The tests showed the levels of certain chemicals controlled by the kidneys, so if there was a trend of those chemicals not going the right direction, he probably had it.

Since that small hospital was not equipped to do anything further in our care, we were sent via ambulance to a larger one an hour away, where we had excellent care and were given lots of information on HUS.  They continued to monitor his blood levels, and warned us of the possibility of transferring for dialysis, since they were not equipped to do pediatric dialysis.  Thursday night we were transferred three hours away in case Nathan ended up needing dialysis.  His levels had made two jumps in the wrong direction, so we anticipated that it would be likely. 

Nathan and I got here around 1AM, and Miriam and Micah arrived shortly after.  We had a fairly uneventful but mostly sleepless (for adults) night.  Thursday Nathan's levels were closely monitored, and a catheter was inserted.  Although his levels of creatinine and BUN did get higher, unfortunately, they did not take a big leap.  His potassium was still too high, and he was given a medication to help him eliminate that.  The decision was made that we would plan on putting in a peritoneal dialysis catheter in Friday morning, and put in a central line as well (which will be used for blood draws, etc, and prevent him from getting even more needle pokes. 

The surgery went well, and pretty soon they hooked him up to dialysis. Peritoneal dialysis pumps a liquid into his belly, which absorbs toxins via some sort of osmosis, and then pumps it back out. Then it does it again, and keeps pumping and absorbing, and draining, until they decide he's better.

Nathan was understandably tired Saturday, but he really enjoyed seeing a bunch of his aunts and uncles and both grandpas who all drove up to see him. They got his first giggle out him since the whole things started. Sunday showed huge improvements in energy, alertness, and attitude. He smiled, giggled, and ate more than he had all week. Monday he giggled, playfully threw his monkey off the bed (to be retrieved and immediately thrown again, with an impish grin!), and wanted to eat a few bites of my cheesecake and pizza!

His blood tests have begun coming back with minor improvements. This is of course a huge improvement to us, because they aren't drastic declines anymore. We don't know how long it will take for him to get better enough for them to send us home. Some patients make fairly quick recoveries, and some take a while. But overall the prognosis is hopeful.  This afternoon we moved out of the PICU and out onto "the floor" as the hospital lingo goes.

 Our sweet boy Sunday (left) and a few weeks ago with Miriam (right).

And Friday... before surgery, before the dialysis, when his levels were at their worst and he was his most lethargic and weak.

The dialysis will take strain off his kidneys, so they can recover and get back to their job.  Please pray that the dialysis continues to go well, that he continues to heal, and heals quickly so we can go home, that we continue to have skilled, attentive nurses and doctors, that my milk supply would stay up (I am pumping for him since the kidney doctor needs to know exactly how much liquid he's getting)  and that he would not have any long term damage from this.

Also, thank you so much to those who have visited, sent cards or gifts, or have called or emailed us.  It has been such an encouragement to us not to feel alone.  To have the love of God made tangible and visible by His people.  Such a blessing.

I will try to have an update in the next few days.  In the meantime, please pray! 

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Playdough!

 We used this recipe and made some homemade playdough today!  Nathan had never played with playdough, so I was a little apprehensive that he'd have trouble understanding that it wasn't food, but he did great and had a lot of fun with it!  :)

Do your kiddos like playdough?  Have you ever made playdough?

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Tick Tock, Chickenpox

Sometimes I just need to lose the household clock.  Some days I scale back the 'to do list' to include

- change diapers
- feed everyone
- make dinner

... and "nothing" else.  "Nothing", of course, opens hours quickly filled.  Filled not with catching up on laundry or cleaning out the fridge (worthwhile tasks, of course, and in dire need of happening), but with snuggles, one on one, and good stories.

And also, in our particular circumstances at the moment, calamine lotion, oatmeal baths, and lots of diaper free time, since the chickenpox seem to have hit his lower back particularly badly and I think the diaper makes it worse.

But his fever is gone, and his spots are scabbing over, and I know that soon, soon, we'll be back to our usual activities...

... and that beautiful soft smooth skin will be back, too!

Little Helpers

Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking has a new post on including kiddos in household work.  That is something that I really try to do with Nathan (and need to start doing more  with Miriam), so I loved reading about ways she tries to do that in their home.

I especially loved this...

"Including your children in your various household tasks may require more time and effort on your part to teach and instruct them, and there very well may be a bigger mess afterward…but what is more important? Investing in your relationship and teaching valuable skills in the process or sending them away and getting the job done quicker while losing out on this important opportunity?"

And here is my comment on her post...

My two year old "washes" dishes with me every morning.  He has also started putting things in the dryer as I unload the washer, getting specific items out of the fridge for me while I'm cooking, and throwing things away when I ask him to.  Yes, it takes longer, yes, sometimes the clean clothes end up on the floor before they make it to the dryer, and yes, we've broken a lot of glasses while washing dishes... but he is learning, he is trying to help, and we are enjoying working together!

my loves

Milestones

Someone had a birthday. 

He is now two.

There were bubbles involved.  And cake.  And a hair cut... those curls peeking out in the photo above are now no more... and my baby boy now looks like the big boy that he is!  We gave him a big set of thrifted mega blocks, too - which, by the way, I washed in the washer.  They had a distinctly funky smell, but there were SO many that I quailed a bit at washing them by hand, so I dumped them all in and I put them through a series of rinse cycles with just water, then bleach, then  just water, then vinegar.  A few of them, I've noticed, still have a bit of a musty smell, but I know for a fact that they are CLEAN, so I'm ignoring it. ;)

Some milestones he's reached recently include showing an interest in coloring (versus eating the crayons), blowing bubbles, stacking blocks well, saying thank you (instead of just signing it), saying lots of new words, including plane, train, eat, food, hurt, done, wagon, stinky, shirt ("sooot"), pants, jeans, yum, and on and on. 

And then we had Easter... you can't see much of Miss M's adorable outfit, but you can enjoy the boyish, fresh look Nathan sported. 

Speaking of Miss M, she is walking well and steadily and everywhere, saying Mama, Dadda, uh-oh, touch, and tree, waving bye-bye to people, trying to climb things, following her brother everywhere... and generally being achingly, amazingly cute...

It has been so fun watching them both have verbal explosions in the past few months!  I'm sure that they'll really be talking by the end of the summer...

Finally...

... I figured out that the cord wasn't working, and used a different cord, so these lovelies aren't trapped on my memory card anymore!

Helping... that is a child's rolling pin in his right hand, and hammer in his left.  Yup.  He's a boy.

Miriam woke up in the middle of getting the bread into pans, so she cuddled on my back in the podaegi while Nathan ate bread dough helped me.

The finished product...

Miriam has mastered pointing, and loves to point with both hands when excited... and I finally captured it!

And this handsome munchkin has a birthday this week... and a date with some scissors.  Those darling blond curls have never even had a trim, but he's getting pretty fuzzy, so that is scheduled for his birthday.  Hopefully he doesn't hate it...

We just got this loaned out mei tai back from a friend, and we're enjoying having an old favorite back to play with! :)  It is a minty, cheerful green... so perfect for spring, which seems to have actually (finally!) arrived. 

The daffodils have bloomed, the grass is greening up, and it has been warm enough for some evening walks.  I'm really looking forward to the kiddos getting to play outside more this week... it isn't any fun for anybody being cooped up!  Hope you're all having a great Monday so far...