3.17.2011

st. patrick's day

Photobucket
we've had quite the day. it started out great, just as planned. it had to do with st. patrick's day. rainbow painted nails (above), a visit from a leprechaun, green breakfast and outfits. problem is photobucket is acting up and won't let me upload any of my pictures, so i'll just go ahead and tell you about the lame part of our day, which started at ten.

we were at the gym and i heard my name paged to come to the playroom. nash had been coughing so much that we got the boot. he's been coughing on and off for a few weeks, but has been fine otherwise. he does this every spring-he seems fine until he is outside/in public and then begins to cough. and we're talking a chesty, dramatic cough. last week three moms started yelling at him at the park while he was hacking up a lung. luckily he can't hear over himself when it gets to that point! i realized i'm sick the mean looks i get from other moms and i'm sick of chasing my kid around the playground explaining to other moms that "he just has asthma," so we made an appointment for today* (because tomorrow he is supposed to start soccer).

luckily (and this is the only time i would ever wish for his symptoms be to bad) he woke up coughing and didn't stop (actually, he still hasn't stopped and it's eight at night). so the doctor witnessed first-hand what has been going on. during a nebulizer treatment he stopped coughing and got about twenty minutes of peace, but the cough came right back when the treatment ended. the doctor sent us to get blood drawn and for a chest x-ray. we'll find out the results next week, but for now the doc says he has bronchitis most-likely induced by asthma which is probably due to allergies. for safe-measure he put nash on an antibiotic, singulair (for allergies), and albuterol (inhaler for asthma). he's supposed to stay indoors for five days (no soccer), cut out all dairy/eggs**, and take local honey for the allergies.

he's been such a good sport. i hate to say it, but i love him even more when he's sick. all the nurses were doting on him. they'd come over to the coughing kid, look him in his big eyes and melt. if the eyes didn't do it then his raspy voice swept in to make them weak in their knees. he made me one proud mom today. so sweet and courageous. he's reminded me several times that he only cried a tiny little bit when they drew his blood.

and for that, he earned a non-dairy frozen yogurt with carob chips! mmm...

*we tried to have him checked out once before but his cough refused to make an appearance at the doctor's office and then slowly subsided.
**now that he's off diary/eggs he's a vegan (except for the local honey)! he stopped eating meat a week or so ago after he realized what it is (at least he's refused it when he's been able to make the connection). because i'm such a good mom and i told him all the gory details;) i think we should tell our kids what they're eating and let them make their own decisions. he's only four, but he's smart: today he ordered a cheeseburger at wendy's* and asked for "no pickle, no meat. because i want to be nice to animals." 
i'm afraid i'm going to get nasty comments about the vegan thing, so let me clarify: we don't  eat at wendy's regularly and i don't feed my kids white bread with synthetic cheese + HFCS-laiden ketchup and call that a suitable meal. i don't know if nash is really going to be a vegetarian or vegan. i just think it's fun to talk about this stuff and raise awareness now so my kids have good relationships with healthy food and don't find themselves trying to kick bad habits as adults.

9 comments:

Harris Family said...

it sounds like a long day!! I hope Nash is feeling better. I know Max has some kind of allergies- he has never not had a runny nose. I hope Nash can start soccer soon.

I love your disclaimer at the bottom- I won't judge:)- I think it is great for kids to choose and learn about food.

We had a nervous breakdown at walmart the other day with bad kids so I being pregnant and at wits end just sat down and let my kids veg out on chicken nuggets- I think I was wearing PJ's too with my hair not brushed.

Melanie said...

Poor guy. What a bummer that he can't do soccer. My friend had the same thing with her son and people commenting on his cough. One lady in our old ward tirelessly recommended one particular bottle of Triaminic to her, somehow never picking up on my friend's reply that it was ASTHMA.

That's funny about the vegan thing and that he chose to go meatless. We've done the same thing and told our daughter openly what meat is. The other day she asked what brisket was and Mike told her it was cow's neck, which oddly enough she was totally down with! haha!

J-ROK said...

Poor Nash! I think it's great that your kids are growing up understanding the importance of the food choices they make! I'm currently reading the BEST book called "Real Food" by Nina Planck. I'm seriously one step away from buying a cow to milk myself :)

{lizzythebotanist} said...

julie-i'll have to read that one. i just finished "eating animals" by jonathan safran foer last week and it made a pretty big impact on me. have you read it?

Alifinale said...

Poor Mashy Bay. Glad that he is getting the help he needs so he doesn't have to keep hacking away and you don't have to deal with the dirty looks. Sad that he is sick and missing soccer.

And I love that he asked for a cheeseburger without meat so he doesn't hurt animals and that Haven asked for nuggets without the meat. Cute kids.

Jill said...

i'm sorry nash is sick. hopefully the antibiotics the doc put him on will help. and maybe give him some of those peppermint brownies, that will probably help too :)

Christine said...

My Sadie has asthma & gets that way when seasons change too. 2 Asthma attacks this week. Boy, do I know how you feel. I hope they can get it controlled and he recovers quickly!

Katie Lady said...

What fun St. Patrick's day traditions! Your kids are so cute!

raina said...

Hey Liz! I haven't stalked you in a while so I figured it was time! So sorry to hear about nash's cough/asthma. That is no fun. I totally agree with you on the vegetarian /vegan thing. We eat a vegetarian diet and I slowly want to progress into a dairy-free diet as well. I talk to my girls about it but allow them to make their own decisions. I don't buy or cook meat for them unless they order it if we eat out. It's so funny how people get so protective of their diets. Not really funny so much as stupid. To each his own but I definitely feel fine with raising awareness, like you said. Anyway, hope is all well with you guys and I'd still really love to hang out if we are ever in Vegas or you guys ever get to Utah while we're there. We now live in minneapolis again as of march. :) if you ever come here for by some small chance, let me know.

Anyway, good luck to you and your darling family!