Willa woke up this morning fever free and is acting normal and is back to bugging her brothers… I think we are in the clear.
It is funny how much Wilhelmina resembles Colin and this just is another example… it was around the exact same age that Colin was hospitalized for a high uncontrollable fever and they never found an explanation besides a nasty virus.
*sigh*
*relief*
my little girl is back 🙂
My next post for the other half of the trip is on hiatus right now… Wilhelmina is not feeling well and my mind has been on her…
The first night we got to PEI Wilhelmina threw up during the night and then again in the morning and was a bit feverish. We went on the beach a bit later and she started feeling a bit better but was still a bit clingy… we didn’t think much of it and just hoped that it wouldn’t spread to the other kids.. the next few days were the same though her apetite wasn’t very normal and she was eating less than usual. Her being sick though I didn’t think much of it..
When we headed back home on Saturday, her fever spiked again and she was back to throwing up.. Let me get this straight, I am not scared of fevers… I don’t like when my kids have fevers but I do see them as beneficial and truly believe that reducing a fever just prolongs the illness. However, we were 1/3 of the way home and still had about 7-8 hours of driving to do and happened to have stopped for lunch with a pharmacy a few feet away, so I decided to get something to help bring the fever down and make the journey home a bit more comfortable… I don’t regret it at all. We got home and the fever was still there but she was able to sleep most of the journey comfortably.
On Sunday she was still a bit feverish and clingy but again was looking better and by Monday I thought we were in the clear… her apetite still hadn’t returned and she hadn’t eaten for 2 days but was nursing a lot and still peeing and pooping normally though it was getting a bit more yellowish as she was just nursing…
On tuesday and wednesday the fever came back with a vengeance and she spent her days nursing and sleeping on me… I was starting to get worried but then she started feeling better again and Thursday we had another good day. Again clingy and not eating but she was back to playing and acting normal… but then on Friday it came back and it was enough…
I called the nurses line and then our family doctor in Montreal and both said to head to the hospital… so I called Simon to ask him to head home early.
I left the house around 3pm on Friday and headed to the ER, it was packed but not full and the nurse told me that they usually try to put kids between two others so I sat down and waited… and waited… and waited…. 11 hours later I got called in… yep… I got there at about 3:30pm and only got called in to the consultation room at about 2:30am and then I waited again in there room until the doctor came and saw us. She did not have a high fever while we were there but the 10 days of on and off fever and not haven’t eaten in a week got the doctor’s attention. He ordered a blood test, urine test and chest Xray…
The lab technician came in for the blood test and Wilhelmina didn’t even flinch when she pricked her finger. As the technician milked the finger for blood Wilhelmina started the close her eyes. She was sleepy, shy and just wanted to stay cuddled. Her blood coagulated too quickly though so she needed to prick her finger three times in all and by the third time, Wilhelmina was actually giving her her hand and was starting to fall asleep.
the Xray was another story… the cold machine and needing to be away from my arms was a bit harder but she did it quickly and was contented the minute she was back in my arms.
Then it was back to waiting…
At about 5:30 the results were in but came back mostly negative, except for a high blood cell count. The bag they had put on her to catch urine didn’t catch a thing but the doctor insisted on getting a urine sample to make sure it was not a UTI or something that could be seen in the urine. They were talking about catheterizing her but then I asked if I could just try to get her to pee and catch it. Of course the automatic toilets scared her because they kept flushing when she moved so I asked them if they had a container and finally they gave me a sterile bowl which she then promptly peed into.
Another wait and we were finally called back into the consultation room at 6:30 and I nodded off as we waited another hour.
At 7:30am, 16 hours after walking into the ER the doctor cam in to say that the only thing they found was that high white cell count and that it was a sign her body was fighting something but they would like to know what as the length of time the fever had been on and off was worrisome. He had called the hospital paediatrician and she wanted to see us to try to find out more but only the next day (today, sunday) and the hospital would call us to tell us when to come in…
So we headed home with no answers, battered and sore from a sleepless night.
We slept a few hours and she was feeling slightly better again and then the fever came back and made her miserable for the night… she woke up often crying for both of us and nursed constantly.
This morning the fever is gone again and she is acting much more normal and I actually convinced her to eat a few tsp of apple sauce. For more than a week she would gag when she looked at food and refused to have any food even near her… even the things that she usually loves. She is not a big girl to begin with so even though she is nursing tons, not eating was definately affecting her and she was losing weight enough that it started to show. Hopefully her eating a bit again is a sign that she is finally on the mend… it definitely feels great to see her feeling better as we wait for the hospital to call…
of course… more waiting…
eta: so… I wasn’t getting a call so i decided to call and see what was up… the ped came in the morning for a few minutes and then left and wouldn’t be back. The nurse called her and she said that I should call her office monday morning and she will see me there at that time… of course then when I called the secretary said she was not taking new patients…
I guess the moral is… if you are worried about your child, don’t just think twice about bringing them in… think many more times then that..
We are back from our first Family Camping trip!
We left bright and early on the morning of the 23rd of June… actually… scratch that… it was dark and early when we got up at 4am…
(Do you have a minivan? if you do, you can understand that packing a tent, sleeping bags, food and clothes for 6 people is not an easy task with all the seats in place!)
We started driving and made great time even though we stopped on the way quite a few times. We arrived at the campground in Fundy National park 12 hours after we left home with a few hours to spare as we pitched our tent and settled in. Fundy National park is on the New Brunswick side of the Bay of Fundy and boasts the highest tides in the world and we looked forward to discovering it all… our friends arrived soon after us and settled into the neighbouring camping space and the kids played in the small ravine and creek than ran between us… The black flies were horrendous, the mosquitos and noseeums were biting but it didn’t stop us from enjoying ourselves… ok, ok… we did complain a lot…
Our first night and day were beautiful and we headed to the iconic Hopewell rocks at low tide and walked on the ocean floor. The flower pot ricks were gorgeous and the thick red mud was irresistible to the kids..
(click on any pic to see it larger)
The rest of the time in Fundy made camping a bit rough, the tents were not pitched correctly because of the rocky terrain, the temperature was quite cold, the nights were rainy, the mornings foggy, but once we got down the mountain we had cloudy but reasonable weather and we were able to discover the beaches and tidal pools, enjoy the scenery and discover a beautiful waterfall…
(foggy morning)
Village of Alma at low tide…
Dickson falls is one of the favourite trails in Fundy National park and though it is not a long trail, it is full of stairs and slippery boardwalks that go next to and over waterfalls and amazing clear and crisp waters… The humidity in the area is o high that my camera lens was fogging up each time I took it out of my bag and the colours of green from the moss and vegetation was intense, truly a different type of ecosystem that we are used to here in Quebec.
The boys enjoyed their first sprint of camping though they too had enough of the bugs and the cold after a few days.
Colin learning to use the axe…
Telling ghost stories around the fire while roasting marshmallows with friends…
After four nights of camping the the rain, freezing nights and foggy, cold humid days that made everything damp we were happy to leave and head to our next leg of the journey.
We headed to Magnetic Hill in Moncton before parting with out friends and heading to Prince Edward Island. Magnetic Hill is tourist attraction and a strange one at that…you park your car at the bottom of the hill, put it in Neutral and the let it do its work… slowly you start moving backwards and then as you gain momentum you car heads uphill backwards without power. Of course, it has nothing to do with magnets but it is a very cool illusion 🙂
We parted with our friends and then headed to PEI… Prince Edward Island is an Island just off of the coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and is the smallest Canadian province. It used to be accesible only by boat but in 1997 the longest bridge in the world was completed and was opened to the public. It is a pretty majestic structure that spans over the ocean for 12.9 KM (8 miles) and takes about 10 minutes to cross… the boys were excited!
I will be covering the PEI part of our trip in the next post…
Places we stayed: Chignecto Camp ground in Fundy National Park
Places we went: Fundy National Park, Diskson Falls, Village of Alma, Hopewell Rocks, Magnetic Hill, Cape Jourimain Nature Centre, Confederation Bridge
A few weeks ago I was asked if I would be interested to consult on a baby wearing scene for an episode of a popular Quebecois television series called “La Galère” . I jumped at the opportunity! Not because I know the show, I actually had never heard of it, but because it sounded like fun 🙂
I needed to get there at 7:30am. That alone was my biggest stressor…. My mom decided at last minute last Friday that she would take the boys to the cabin for the weekend so they were with her while Simon and I caught up with some things in the house. It also made it easier to figure out what I would do to get to Montreal on time. The location was just a few minutes from our friend Jody’s house who is currently travelling, so we were able to get the keys and sleep there on Sunday night.
I got up bright and early and headed to the old 26 room manor called the Mary Dorothy Molson House that they are using as the set. The house itself was amazing to see.
I met with the costume ladies and was shown the bit of african cloth they wanted to use for the character and was told what the director was looking for. I also met with the mom and two beautiful 3 month old twin girls who play the role of the baby in the show.
Then it as the hard part. To explain that what the director wanted was not realistic with such small babies who are not used to be worn and to try to find an alternative. After many trials we ended up using the babies’ silicone twin double.
Watching the shootings of the scenes were quite interesting.
Everyone had a job to do and the director was very stereotypical and you did not want to get in her way. I was able to watch the screen seeing the scene come to life, take after take… and once they got what they wanted in one position, they needed to go the next one in a different angle or with the close-up on one one actor instead of the others… Literally hours of saying the same thing over and over again… I could never be an actor! As I watched on the screen I payed attention to little details and made sure that the carrier was placed the same way each take and enough of the babies head was showing to show that there was a baby on her back but made sure that there was not too much because the silicone jiggled too much each time the actress moved…
The next scene that was shot was actually what was happening right before the first scene and the actress is trying to get the baby on her back while reading instructions… it was actually quite hilarious because I have the exact same instruction booklet and was as confused at reading the instructions myself as the actress was in the scene. This time I had to make sure that the acctress was starting out with the baby on her back in the right position each time and had to show another actress how to help her wrap the baby while making sure that it looked like it did before…(or actually just after in the show) After another hour or so, that scene was finally done and I was able to leave and get back to Simon and Wilhelmina who were waiting for me back at Jody’s house…
The opportunity was so much fun and I am looking forward to be called again if needed 🙂
It also felt great getting paid a reasonable price for just a few hours of work!
Oh… the material we were using was an African Khanga, or actually 2 Khanga’s sewn together. The original position that was wanted was an african carry which was not going to work out as it was not complicated enough for the scene and could not work with the tiny babies. The carry that I ended up showing was an improvised kangaroo back cross carry…
Yep, sewing for a girl is very different than sewing for boys…
This dress basically the same pattern as the dress I made here but it has been a bit refined and simplified and the beautiful colours are really what make this dress so stunning!
(front and back)
What I really love about this pattern is because of the tie in back, the bodice can be made a bit big and still fit months down the road… I love functionality of clothes that can grow with the child!! Wilhelmina can still wear her owl dress and her mushroom dress easily though the skirt is now a bit short which just makes it look more like a tunic instead of a dress… the biggest change that I made to this new dress besides making the skirt longer, was also to make it a bit fuller because I love the look of a full skirt…
I love having my daughter wear handmade clothes…