Update on Isaiah

Yesterday Isaiah developed quite a cough, so I rescheduled his (and Grace's) well-baby visit for today to go see their regular pediatrician.

I love his pediatrician! She is so supportive of all of our decisions, especially when it comes to us not vaccinating, extended breastfeeding, and vegetarian eating! She immediately said she wanted him off of antibiotics, which was great news to me. After listening to his lungs for quite a while, she decided another chest x-ray would be good since she could hear something "off." He still has some fluid, but that will slowly go away, no pneumonia, but just watch the cough and if it gets worse, we'll do something more aggressive with it.

Grace's visit wasn't so nice. She's off the growth chart underweight again. It's been a longterm battle to get her to eat anything of substance. If only I hadn't gotten her weaned by 19mo. (My goal with Isaiah is at LEAST to go to 2 years old) In addition to that news, it was almost impossible to check anything. At 3 yr old, she knows that doctors can hurt! But she's healthy.

So, Praise the Lord we are not dealing with any serious side affects from last week's accident!

Isaiah is ALIVE!

We had a near drowning accident yesterday. Spent the night in the hospital and are now home.

Grace and Isaiah were in the bathtub together. DH was watching them but fell asleep! I didn't know he was sleeping but heard an odd sound from the bathroom and yelled at DH to get up as I ran to the bathroom. Grace had put Isaiah on his stomach with his head in the water (about 2 in.) and was sitting on him. DH pulled him out of the water and handed him directly to me. He was totally blue, floppy, and not breathing at all. I have no idea how long he was actually under water.

I held him face down, almost upside down and pounded his back. Sat him up and kindof heimliched his stomach. Tipped up back over and still nothing. 3 minutes had passed. I pounded on his back, then felt a slight twitch. He was still alive! I pounded more and finally water started coming out of his lungs. DH took over and held him upside down as I stimulated him to get more water out. He finally took a tiny wheeze of breath. I didn't have to do CPR. There was still too much water in him, so we turned him on his side and got him to spit out more water. His eyes were rolling in his head.

I grabbed my birth supplies bag that has some supplies in it and pulled out a bulb syringe. I suction huge gobs of flem from his nose. Stuck it down his throat and suctioned more. It hit his gag reflex and he threw up a lot of water. Finally started breathing better. He opened his eyes. I threw a sposie on him, DH pulled a dress over DD's head, and we ran out to the car. We drove to the emergency room. There is no 911 here.

I was too freaked out to remember the words I needed in Thai. I kept saying "he needs oxygen NOW!" They wanted to check his temperature and blood pressure. It had been 25 minutes since we first found him. They check his BP and then realize he needs oxygen NOW. Within 2 minutes, he was breathing much better, better color. Once he was stable, they took a chest X-ray which showed some fluid on the lungs. Blood work showed elevated white blood cells.

The pediatrician (who thankfully spoke much better English) said he may get pneumonia or an infection. After 16hr on IV with antibiotics, no fever, they sent us home. He is acting his normal self. Grace has no idea that she almost killed her brother. We are still in shock. We now wait and watch for fever or coughing and possible pneumonia, but he seems to be doing well.

We praise God that he spared our son's life.
Erin

Which path to midwifery?

I've been reading through Paths to Becoming a Midwife: Getting an Education. I really really want to go the direct-entry/CPM route. But, to even have the slightest chance of working here legally, I almost have to go the CNM (nurse) route. I do not like the active management of most nurse-midwives, or that most have to work in hospitals being told what to do by doctors who do not understand true natural birth. Even if not in a hospital, they have so many obstacles to overcome. If I were living in the USA, it'd not be the way for me to go.

The CPM will work in the USA but most likely not be recognized here. CPM is expectant management and the approach that I will take. So what to do??? Too soon to make the big decision. I know what I want in my heart.

I once was a nerd...

Why am I online at 12:30am? I was trying to work on some childbirth class handouts but I got sidetracked ... thanks Leticia ...



Wow! I'm nowhere near as nerdy as I used to be! Of course they didn't ask me what OFP, or ROA, or HELLP, or AROM mean. Though I'm sure the more nerdy Leticia would know ...

Back to Blogging

Hello readers! After a nice long visit to the USA for the summer, I'm back in Bangkok and "back to work"

I've been busy planning my first childbirth ed. class scheduled for September, making contacts with local breastfeeding consultants or teachers, studying midwifery on my own, helping my husband get ready for this school year, etc..

Began cloth diapering a week ago, and it's going well... the hard part isn't the diaper, it's getting the kid to lay still long enough to get it on!

I got a printer finally! Now I can be getting my handouts and visuals ready for classes.

I'll post some pictures in a few days.