Flashback to the eighties! I never thought about the light being too bright for the kids, but the dentist offers them and it's a big hit.

Tags: M, health

Last week, I went to the Occupational Health office at the hospital I will be starting at for residency, in order to complete my pre-hire physical (asked my height and weight, checked my vision and blood pressure), and get blood drawn for tuberculosis testing. I called back to see if the results were back so I could have them sign off on my checklist, and this is what happened:

Me: Hi, I wanted to check on my lab results for my new-resident physical and TB lab test.

Nurse: Um, hold on a sec.

Me: Okay.

Nurse: Oh, did the lab call you?

Me: No.

Nurse: Oh, they didn't? Well, we do not have the results of the test because the tube broke. You need to come in and have blood drawn again.

Me: You're kidding me!

Nurse: No, I'm sorry I am not. The lab should have called you. Please come in Monday through Thursday...

Me: (interrupting - hey, I was miffed) You're not open tomorrow?

Nurse: No, please come in Monday through Thursday to have it redrawn.

Me: What time can I come in until?

Nurse: 4:30pm.

Well, I better get going. I'll have to hurry if I want to go stand in line to pick up a new lab slip and then head over to the lab again where I will wait another 30 minutes for an available phlebotomist to draw more blood. Boo. What a wasted afternoon.

Tags: health

Save 20% when you buy any two Aveeno or Lubriderm products offered by Amazon.com, using the code May8Avee. Expires May 31, 2008. Although this offer can't be combined with their Subscribe & Save program, it's actually a better deal, especially if them item you want isn't part of the program. I'm restocking on bath supplies, so this is a perfect sale for me.

Tags: health, Amazon

Until April 30, 2008, get 25% off instantly when you purchase two or more select Dove products at Amazon.com by using the code Apr8Dove at checkout. This offer applies to products offered directly from Amazon.com Free shipping for orders over $25.

I like Dove's body wash and bar soap, since it doesn't seem to dry out my skin as much as regular soap. Plus, Dove has a lot of options for sensitive skin (which are not always easy to find in-store), which I like since they are very mildly scented or not at all.

Check out some of Amazon's other promotions on my Shopping Resource page.

Tags: health, Amazon

Over the weekend, we celebrated Earth Day by learning about marine life and preservation. It was chilly around here and even chillier near the water. I think the boys had a good time (they got to touch some fish), and so did we. There's nothing like having children to further remind us of the growing urgency to care for our environment. I know that we could certainly do a better job for our kids, so there is always room for improvement, however small the steps are. We're in a constant state of working-in-progress when it comes to being green. Overflowing landfills and toxic smog levels are obviously not things I want my kids to have to address, especially if we can do things right now to improve them.





On a related note, keep your eyes open for big sales on eco-friendly products. For example, save $20 instantly when you spend $99 or more on select planet-friendly products using code EARTH4O8 at checkout, through April 30, 2008. See site for additional restrictions. Click here for my other shopping deals.

Tags: health, Amazon, holiday

We need a sink like this.

Tags: M, A, health

If I have a free morning, what I really want to do is drop the kids off at daycare and then come home, have a bowl of cereal and maybe fold some laundry while I catch up on months of recorded television shows on our Tivo. Then I might catch up on email, and post something to this site. And then study for a few hours. If I am feeling really indulgent, I could take a nap.

This never happens. I hardly ever have a free morning, for starters. But let's just say it's a rare occasion. Realistically, what happens is I throw in load after load of laundry, letting the clean clothes pile up into baskets in the hallway, and wolf down a bowl of cereal while I try to catch up on my studies. Why not take a break? Well, I've learned that I can pretty much be called at any time during the day because someone has a fever, fell down, or has pinkeye. Especially during the winter months. I can live with unfolded laundry. I will fail my exams (not to mention be a terrible physician) if I don't study.

Prior to any major exam I've taken since the kids were born, someone always gets sick in the few days beforehand. It happened before Step 1 and Step 2, as well as several shelf exams. This is stressful to say the least, but what's it taught me is to try not to procrastinate, especially when it comes to studying.

Tags: health, school

I just placed an order for this Aveeno oatmeal bath product that we soak the kids in when they are particularly itchy from dry skin, eczema, bug bites and whatnot, and noticed that Amazon.com is currently running a promotion. That's always a nice surprise.

Save an additional 20% when you purchase two or more select Aveeno products offered by Amazon.com. Enter code Feb8Aven at checkout. Valid through February 29, 2008.

Tags: health, Amazon

A new study in "Pediatrics," the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, showed interesting results regarding our current standard of care regarding allergies:

...no evidence supporting a delayed introduction of solids beyond 4 or 6 months for the prevention of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and food or inhalant sensitization at the age of 6 years...

It's just one study, but could be quite influential in the way parents introduce new foods to their babies. Currently, the recommendation is to wait until 6 months to start solid food (rice cereal), and then to gradually introduce new foods over the next several months (whole cow's milk at one year), while abstaining from giving foods that are known to be more allergenic until a later age. These foods include peanuts, eggs, shellfish, and berries.

It's a tough decision parents have to make (aren't they all?) regarding their kids. I think that some people tend to believe that we over-scrutinize the details, as some parents feed their babies whatever the family is eating as early as four or five months, and they turn out just fine. But for others, allergies are a real and life-threatening entity (hence all the banning of various foods at schools) and any information that might help delay or ward off future food sensitivities is a good thing.

We don't have any family history of food allergies, so we're kind of more laid back. However, both boys have had some form of atopic dermatitis (eczema), which fortunately, M appears to have grown out of. A's eczema seems bit more related to certain foods, and we recently had him tested (recommended by our pediatrician) because the skin on his hands and face would get really itchy and red (pruritic and erythematous). The results are difficult to interpret, as values are all relative. However, he does appear to have mildly increased sensitivities to peanuts and eggs, so we're holding off on all nuts and egg products for the moment (which is tough since they are a great source of nutrition for kids). It's likely that he will outgrow his sensitivity and will be able to enjoy french toast with peanut butter and syrup once again (that's how J likes his).

Tags: food, health

Here are some stats for this week (and it's only Thursday!)

75% of my household is sick.

50% of the chromosomes of the members of my household who are sick are Y.

A combined total of 3.25 days of daycare have been missed.

A combined total of 3 workdays have been missed (I'm on research right now, so it's flexible, thank goodness).

3 different medications are being taken.

2 residency interviews have been attended (on 1 day).

8000 tissues have been used (give or take a few).

1 miracle is needed for the remaining person not to catch something.

Fortunately, everyone is at work, school, or doing research today (and studying for Step 2), so we'll keep our fingers crossed. Whew!

Tags: health, A, M, J, me

There have been many toy recalls this year, especially with all the concerns about lead in products from China. I have a hunch that many more toys are contaminated with high levels of lead (and have been for years), but have just not been appropriately tested.

In any case, we don't have these blocks, but I do know several families who do. Apparently, it's the blue block that is the culprit. You can find more details here and check to see if your product is affected here. I'm trying to be extra careful about what A puts in his mouth these days, since I really have no idea which toys are actually safe. He's much better now than he was a few months ago (he was practically tasting everything in sight), thank goodness.

Tags: toys, health, safety

I like getting an update about the kids each morning after J drops off the boys. I got this text page the other day from J:

Drop off good. No crying. A felt warm T99, no D or V. Good po intake.

Right after I read it, I realized how much it sounded like a regular medical presentation (and how nerdy J can be). T99 means he had a 99F temperature, no D and V means no diarrhea or vomiting, and good po intake means he ate well. Since I got the text page while I was on rounds, it made me chuckle.

One more call night to go. Hooray! I discharged most of my patients yesterday and only have one to pre-round on this morning, plus any new ones that came in overnight. I hope I can make it through the night - I've been crashing around 9pm lately (and getting up ridiculously early to do some work). I've got tons of funny new photos of the boys to post, which I will do soon (haven't downloaded them yet). Plus, M has been adding to his collection as well.

Tags: school, health

It has always bothered me that physicians don't practice what they preach, especially when it comes to taking care of themselves. I just got home from my second call on my inpatient pediatrics rotation, where I only got 45 minutes of sleep on a 30-hour shift. Usually, I can make it through a shift like that, except that over the weekend, I had gotten less sleep on Saturday night before my call because I was trying to get stuff done at home. So I feel pretty wiped out right now.

The worst thing is that I could have been sleeping for many of those hours, but they were wasted (in my opinion) because we didn't sleep earlier in the evening when it was quiet, and then of course, when we were about to go to bed at 2am, new admits came in. Part of this is due to the unfortunate schedule discrepancy, where the residents and medical students have entirely different call structures. The students are q4, while the residents have a night float system. What this means is that as a medical student, your call shift is from 6am until 12pm the next day, while the residents work from 6am to 5pm, and then sign out to the night float team, who covers until 6am. So, when it might be a little quiet on the floor around 8pm, no one is in any mood to go nap, and instead, everyone gathers to chat, watch tv, or conduct a teaching session. If it were up to me, we'd be napping every spare moment we had, because you never know when the hospital will get busy, and much of the time, it'll be in the middle of the night.

Anyhow, I crashed from 1-5pm, pumped and picked up the boys with J, which was nice. I'll spend the next few hours with them until the kids go to bed, and then I'll try to get some studying done, pump again, and be ready to get up tomorrow at 5am. I'm on call again this Thursday. Whew. This is where being chronically sleep-deprived is really difficult. None of the residents I am on with have children, which is too bad, because if they did, they might be a bit more understanding about time.

Tags: health, school

Mattel just recalled a bunch of plastic preschool toys due to potential lead toxicity. The toys include products from their Elmo, Dora, and Diego lines (so if you have a toddler, there is a good chance you own one of these). Recalled products have a specific production date, and there is a tool online to help you figure out if your toys are affected (by purchase date). We have one of them (Elmo Giggle Doodler), but I can't quite remember when I bought it. In any case, they must be getting a bunch of inquiries, since the site server has been busy and I haven't been able to request additional recall information.

With the recent uproar about toys with toxic lead levels (particularly those made in China), it's hard not to wonder if we own many more toys with lead-based paint. I did buy some lead test kits recently, but I haven't had a chance to use them yet. I think I will start testing the boys' favorite toys, and I'll post what I find out.

You can see the list of affected toys here. And keep trying if it says the server is too busy.

Tags: toys, health, safety

A's quite sick with some bug. J's taking his boards on the other coast (good luck sweetie!). I am taking a sick day from ob/gyn to be with A. Crossing my fingers that I won't have to take him to get an LP (lumbar puncture). Wish me luck. I'm a single working mom this week (how in the world do you all survive?).

Here are two new photos from M (you can see them all here too):

Tags: health, A, me

Before I started my Ob/Gyn rotation, A came down with his second ear infection. He's a pretty robust little baby, but he's definitely had his share of illnesses over the last few months. Unfortunately for us, he never really has any symptoms (no fevers, ear tugging, etc), so it makes it hard for us to know when to take him in.

The first time the pediatrician told us A had an ear infection, I got mad at myself for not checking his ears myself. I think it's hard to see, especially in babies, and it's even tougher to look in my own baby's ears, for some reason. I can do it comfortably if J holds him really still. I always firmly hold A's head to my body when the pediatrician looks so there is no chance A can squirm around. It was always really hard to look in ears on my pediatrics rotation when parents would just lightly hold their toddlers and babies, and I ended up having to hold them still myself.

I do check now, even if we are going to bring him in to see the doctor anyway. It helps give me a baseline so that I can follow-up and see if the treatment is working.

Here we are waiting for the pediatrician to see us:

Tags: A, health

Actually, that is the current media health hype of the week. It comes right after the headlines stating your cell phone can cause brain cancer, and ice cream can cure infertility (actual news topics, by the way). Seriously, I wish the media didn't jump to publish such sensational headlines, because even if it had truth behind it, such remarks tend to cause unnecessary panic among the population. Apparently, some leading baby bottle manufacturers use Bisphenol A in their polycarbonate plastic, which according to an environmental group, leaches out in concentrations found to be dangerous in laboratory animals. Of course, I had to see if this was validated by any good scientific studies, so I did a brief PubMed search and concluded that there is probably no harm based on the current published information. I guess the NIH is forming a review panel on March 7 to review current findings, so it will be interesting to hear if there are any changes. The brands involved include Avent, Dr. Brown's, Evenflo, Gerber, and Playtex (all the major brands). We've used Dr. Brown bottles for both our kids (I'm planning on writing a review at some point), and I would be rather disturbed to hear that they leaked harmful chemical concentrations that can cause neurologic damage. I highly doubt that this is the case though. I mean, it seems unlikely that they would be more harmful than say, drinking from a plastic cup or eating with a plastic spoon. In any case, I'll post more when I find out more about it.

Tags: health

One year after its announcement to release the vaccine (Merck's RotaTeq), the FDA made a statement warning about 28 infants who got intussusception after receiving it. A previous vaccine (Wyeth's RotaShield) had previously been pulled for that same reason. I've heard similar announcements before regarding medication warnings, but of course it's a whole new ball game when it involves yourself or your loved ones (very easy to become obsessed about searching for details). A has had 2 doses of RotaTeq, with the final one scheduled in a few more weeks. I was initially concerned when we were offered it, because of the previous vaccine effects, but was moderately reassured that a study was done in about 70,000 babies (and published in NEJM) before the FDA approved it. I'm honestly worried (and what parent wouldn't be?) about whether or not to give the last dose (does it even matter now that we have given him the other two?) and will probably do some searches today about how long the risk lasts (is A still at risk considering he got the second dose about a month ago? I think that NEJM study followed the kids for at least a year). As someone in the medical profession, I see a lot of hand-waving about the issues parents have with immunizations, and I'll be the first to admit that my personal bias is pretty medically-bent. However, I can totally understand the concerns a parent might have and the decisions they make regarding immunizing their children. In the grand scheme of things, it's all a risk-benefit decision. Is A more likely to get rotavirus if not vaccinated, or intussusception if vaccinated? Probably the former. Both can be fatal. But it still freaks me out anyway, and now I'm going to be paranoid about any bowel issues he might be experiencing (or that I perceive him to be experiencing). Now that I think of it, he has been a bit more colicky at night and daycare has mentioned that he seems to have belly pain at times, and of course, then there is the fact that he is now sick with a fever. I don't think he looks septic, as fever is a late finding. Isn't this insane? I'm going to watch him like a hawk today. I'll probably end up calling the pediatrician this morning too. If anything, he can reassure me about the fever. This is probably a classic example of how a little extra knowledge (but obviously not enough) can cause more stress than it should.

Tags: health

"Hi, it's (insert daycare provider's name here). I just wanted to let you know that (insert child's name here) has a fever."

Sigh. Luckily I am not officially on a rotation right now (best not to schedule anything in December or January for illness reasons alone), but I am supposed to be doing research and studying for Step 2. I am happy to bring A home to take care of him but it's stressful to have so many other things to have to worry about. I wish I could stop time! I'll always willingly choose family over medicine but it is not without consequences (other people have to cover for you). Ideally, we'd all cover for one another in terms of taking time off, but there's often someone who likes to lay on the guilt. The one or two times I've had to take days off during a rotation (either because my kids were sick or because I was really sick), I've always offered to make it up on the weekend, or in some other way. I think it shows that I appreciate the flexibility but don't want to seem like I am entitled to walk out every time I get a call. After all, the work has to get done somehow. But I digress.

So, I picked A up and he was pretty warm. He was so sad looking, I felt awful for him. I changed him and gave him some infant Motrin and fed him a semi-cool bottle of milk while wiping his forehead with a cool washcloth until he fell asleep on me. Sigh. He's actually been sleeping for almost 3 hours now (I have since placed him in his crib so I could fold some laundry and have some lunch. I even managed to do some studying!). In any case, he'll be my date for Valentine's Day tomorrow (24 hour fever-free rule at daycare). I'll try to sneak in some reading while he naps, but I'm not going to expect to get too much done, which means I should really crack down on the books tonight while they're all asleep. Ah, the life of a medical student mom is never uneventful.

Tags: health, A

What a crazy month January was, for many reasons. It certainly was not a great month for us in terms of health. I think everyone in our household got sick last month, especially A. Three exposure notices went up in his room at daycare this past month (roseola, coxsackie, and conjunctivitis). Just last week, we visited the pediatrician four times in eight days. Fortunately, we live pretty close to everything we need to go to (school, daycare, hospital). And he is finally starting to feel like his normal self again (his appetite is certainly growing). I'm hoping he will start sleeping through the night again (we haven't had an uninterrupted night's sleep in quite some time). Unfortunately, I think Matthew is coming down with a cough now. Will it never end?

Here's happy A, as opposed to wheezy, rashy A:

Tags: A, health

At J's 4-month well check earlier this month, he got the standard immunizations (DTaP, HIB, IPV, Prevnar). In addition, he also got the second dose of the (relatively) new rotavirus vaccine. I was not able to make this visit, so J captured this hilarious moment on film for me (rotated for viewing ease). What a funny baby. Unfortunately, he wasn't as thrilled about the other ones, but luckily, J didn't photograph those.

Tags: A, health

Sometimes it's tough being a baby. We went for A's two-month old checkup today. He's doing great and is growing like a champ, but got 4 immunization shots and oral rotavirus vaccine. He only cried (screamed) for a few minutes. I had to bite my lip to keep from doing the same.

Tags: A, health