[TemporaryMom]

So Chubbs (and I) came down with this virus several days ago, guessing the Rotavirus based on symptoms, although, that is supposed to only hit infants and children. Anyway, Since Friday, we have had major D, preceded by two major throwups, Read: entire bottle all over me and my bed. I myself have had 101.4˚ two nights in a row. I am a mess, I feel like a mess, and I am trying to clean on top of it all because Wednesday is my annual "walk-through" for my foster licensing. (Also my last visit with FW until I get another foster placement.) So, it has been rough, to say the least.

Chubbs is a mess. I finally took him to UrgentCare because I was worried about his little man part. The plastibell ring still hasn't fallen off. Luckily, everything looks good there, so doctor is having me put neosporin on it for protection and then wrote me up an Rx for Aquaphor mixed with Maalox. We couldn't get that until this morning because it takes an hour to mix. My advice: get a prescription and keep it on hand so you have it when you need it! It is apparently only good for 6 months, so I'll probably ask for more before next winter, when this virus is at its height.

Anyway, I am exhausted. We did get some sleep last night, but mine was not solid. I have been giving the boy baths at least 4x a day now for several days. And the crying, good LORD the crying. He must be getting his appetite back now but we are on the BRAT thing so I am having to reduce his quantity and he is not doing well with that. And the crying!!! Oh my goodness.

So how do you know that this insane crying is just normal sick baby stuff, or from the drug exposure. Totally inconsolable crying that I just have to put him down and do something, and come back. Nothing has soothed him until he gets a little bit of food, and then he cries because he still wants more, but I can't give him more.

And then, no top of it, I notice today that he is starting to lean up on his tippy toes when we practice standing up. He has been, up until now, pretty solid footed. My step-sister has a gbaby that she has custody of with Sensory Integration Disorder (whatever the current name is) and she indicated that this was one of the first signs of it in her gbaby.

I do think this will be the hardest part of raising a drug exposed baby, not knowing what behavior is normal and what is not. And please do remind me of this weekend the next time I spout off about "oh, he is doing so great and having no issues." OY!!

I better go finish cleaning the kitchen floor before he wakes up again.

[hopefulandwatching]

Aw...hang in there...does Chubbs seem dehydrated at all? Is he still crying tears? ROTA is very dangerous...it does hit adults, although in a much milder form than infants...there are infants who die every year from it. If he isn't actually at risk of losing all fluids, I'd guess it isn't ROTA...when my boys had it, the islands had been hit bad and the hospitals were so full of dehydrated babies and children that they had me calling in to report every hour as I stayed quarantined in my kids room...only two of my four got it...but, the big sign was that they had vomited and had "The big D" as you say so badly and so suddenly that within in hour they were both seriously at risk of dehydration. The hospital lost an infant to it that they had on fluids because the baby was passing them so fast they couldn't keep up. We have had a virus here, though...not ROTA that is doing both vomiting and diarrhea...both babies have had it...it's not great. But, it's not as bad as it could be. Also, not sure, maybe recommendations have changed in recent years, but when we did the BRAT diet, they could have as much as they wanted...but, only of those things. If he is still hungry...I'd give him more...but, maybe the doc said not to... are they having you give him pedialite, or gatorade? He should be able to have more of that, I would think...all the fluids he wants. Hope you find some solutions...the crying can be exhausting!

As for the results of drug exposure...our FS has SID and is curling his toes...however, they OT said it is not because he has SID...it is actually the result of low muscle tone(caused by his mothers drug use) that makes them compensate for their struggle in balancing with their core muscles...they will also hold an arm out kind of stiff and a bit behind them to try to balance when you are carrying them if they feel off balance. She said that while it can slow them down in development(some, not always alot) they will get there...it just takes time. She has us doing "Baby sit ups" to help strengthen his core... Our little guy struggles more with overall stimuli as a result of the SID...we just watch for the signs that he is getting over stimulated and adjust the circumstances around him accordingly. What i hear you describing sounds like a baby who is sick and, unfortunately, is also having his circ done at the same time.(I SO feel for you on the timing of this virus! Geez! Blek!) There are a lot of good sites out there that describe issues related to drug use in utero...also, sites on SID that will give you an idea of what to look for, etc. Hang in there!! I hope you feel better soon!

Originally Posted by TemporaryMom

So Chubbs (and I) came down with this virus several days ago, guessing the Rotavirus based on symptoms, although, that is supposed to only hit infants and children. Anyway, Since Friday, we have had major D, preceded by two major throwups, Read: entire bottle all over me and my bed. I myself have had 101.4˚ two nights in a row. I am a mess, I feel like a mess, and I am trying to clean on top of it all because Wednesday is my annual "walk-through" for my foster licensing. (Also my last visit with FW until I get another foster placement.) So, it has been rough, to say the least.

Chubbs is a mess. I finally took him to UrgentCare because I was worried about his little man part. The plastibell ring still hasn't fallen off. Luckily, everything looks good there, so doctor is having me put neosporin on it for protection and then wrote me up an Rx for Aquaphor mixed with Maalox. We couldn't get that until this morning because it takes an hour to mix. My advice: get a prescription and keep it on hand so you have it when you need it! It is apparently only good for 6 months, so I'll probably ask for more before next winter, when this virus is at its height.

Anyway, I am exhausted. We did get some sleep last night, but mine was not solid. I have been giving the boy baths at least 4x a day now for several days. And the crying, good LORD the crying. He must be getting his appetite back now but we are on the BRAT thing so I am having to reduce his quantity and he is not doing well with that. And the crying!!! Oh my goodness.

So how do you know that this insane crying is just normal sick baby stuff, or from the drug exposure. Totally inconsolable crying that I just have to put him down and do something, and come back. Nothing has soothed him until he gets a little bit of food, and then he cries because he still wants more, but I can't give him more.

And then, no top of it, I notice today that he is starting to lean up on his tippy toes when we practice standing up. He has been, up until now, pretty solid footed. My step-sister has a gbaby that she has custody of with Sensory Integration Disorder (whatever the current name is) and she indicated that this was one of the first signs of it in her gbaby.

I do think this will be the hardest part of raising a drug exposed baby, not knowing what behavior is normal and what is not. And please do remind me of this weekend the next time I spout off about "oh, he is doing so great and having no issues." OY!!

I better go finish cleaning the kitchen floor before he wakes up again.

[servnjah]

Is the tip-toe thing just since being sick? MOST kids get heightened sensory defensiveness under stress. It is just that most people don't recognize it. Obviously, an illness is definitely a stressor for the body.

So can he have pedialyte? water? more rice? I mean, you want to be careful about how much at a time, but if he does okay for 20 minutes, you might give him some more.

I'm sorry y'all are miserable. Hopefully you'll be good as new in a week

[mamallama]

The BRAT diet should only last 12-24 hours. After that, doctors now say that it actually prolongs a stomach illness. Your body needs a variety of healthy fruits to heal. The rule is start with something light and as long as you aren't hurling, resume eating healthy foods that aren't greasy.

[parenting-over-40]

TemporaryMom - there was a thread a couple of weeks ago about drug exposed babies in the Foster Forum. I tried to find it for you but can't seem to locate it.

To answer your question about whether it is drug exposure or not? It is so hard to tell. I still ask that question at times and the Queen is 4 now.

I would see things she would do at Chubbs age & wonder what was going on. However, it wasn't until 18 months of age when she was spinning for 30 minutes that I realized there was more going on. So, Chubbs may have sensory issues or not. Really too early to tell. You can always call ECI out to evaluate him if it is a concern.

To calm him I would try swaddling him. I know he is 6 months now but you should be able to get him in somewhat of a swaddle. That was the only way I could get the Queen to calm the 1st two years. You may also want to try a swing or car ride. Putting him down & walking away is a good thing. Sometimes we need to relax. I used to put the Queen down, take a quick shower, and put her calming lotion on me. By then she was either already asleep or we were both calm enough that I could get her to calm down the rest of the way.

((((HUGS))))! Hope you feel better soon.

[Quilter006]

I hope you and Chubbs start to feel better soon.

[lovin2boys]

We are in Ohio too, and last week our AS got a nasty bug. No throwing up or diarrhea but high temps. And he was miserable, laying on me or DH literally all day and that is saying a lot because he is an EXTREMELY busy baby. We must live our lives in parallel because we also had a caseworker visit AND a GAL visit with walk thru. I couldn't work, take care of baby, take care of the other two and clean!!! Luckily DH and I have a friend that is a housekeeper so I called and almost sold my soul to have her clean this house from top to bottom. Also our STBAS is drug exposed and he curls his toes under, his PT said it's the core muscle issue like PP said. However he has Hypertonia which is to much muscle, not lack of. The plastibell thing though I can't help with we followed the American board of Pediatrics recommendations to not circumcise, so I have no experience with that! But on all other points we are dealing with the same stuff!!

[irelady10]

My little guy had a Rota-type virus when he was 9 months old. We ended up in the ER. He was so sick- he couldn't keep anything down. It progressed to diarrhea and when I took him back to doc again 3 days later he had lost 1.5 pounds (alot when you only weight 18 pounds). Doc said if his D continues one more day he would have to admit him. It stopped the next day. But, the poor guy was so sick. I didn't do the BRAT diet, though.

A nasty stomach virus can take awhile for it to work its way out of the baby's system. Be very careful of dehydration...my pediatrician recommended putting a cotton pad in his diaper to make sure he was urinating.

As far as the toe walking- give it a few days for the baby to feel better. It could be he is doing it because he is uncomfortable, be it from the virus or his recent procedure.

FWIW- my son is also drug exposed and I often wonder what behaviors are from his exposure...its tough to know. I just address what comes up, whatever its cause. But, I do always wonder.

Hang in there!

[TemporaryMom]

Thanks for the replies all. The toe standing does seem since he has been sick.

He is for sure urinating, I can see the yellow in his diaper. I've been doing disposables. but he is passing a lot out, very soon after eating. He is eating more though. He hadn't been spitting up until I tried to give him a little ibuprofen to help with the discomfort. Big mistake. His little tummy is not ready for that. But, he definitely ate more today than yesterday. I gradually got him back up to 5oz of formula. Fortunately he is already on Sim Sensitive so I didn't have to switch that.

The doctor said as long as he is taking that down, I didn't need to change to pedialyte. Following the BRAT isn't too out of the norm for us. Oddly, we were on bananas this week anyway. I was going to start avacado but have to wait on that now.

After his last mess and bath, he finally seemed to want to play by himself for a while and went down for bed ok. Apparently if Mama Beat Boxes while changing him it makes it more tolerable. The Aquaphor/Maalox mixture is working very well.

I didn't think to try swaddling him, we haven't done that for a while. I feel it is going to be a long day tomorrow. I can't take him to daycare like this. I have had to change his outfit 4 times today. I was planning to Work From Home anyway, but I don't know that I'll get much done with him here in the same way.

As for his circ, I don't need to feel bad about that, I am already having second thoughts and feeling I made the wrong decision. Ultimately, I had to go with what I thought was the right decision after doing a ton of research and talking to MEN who had it done as either teen or adult. I do pray that it heals and he has no issues as this illness was very bad timing for that.

The doctor wasn't at all worried about dehydration yesterday but I'll probably be calling his normal doctor tomorrow anyway.

[parenting-over-40]

To answer your original question the best way to figure out if it is normal behavior is the intensity, frequency, and duration. This is good information for future behavior with him as well. If the behavior is intense, frequent, and lasts a long time then there is something going on. Could be the drugs, could be sensory issues, or something else.

[momto1g1b]

When my DS first started walking, he would walk on the tip of his toes. Maybe it's something he just discovered he can do?

I hope you & your family feels better soon.