Distractions

Several times in the last year, I thought for sure my son J had an ear infection; he cranky or running a fever or pulling at his ears. I was always wrong. I had lots of ear infections. My sister's kids all have had lots of ear infections. Her youngest had 3 or 4 before he turned one. Finally, at J's 12 month well-child visit, he was diagnosed with an ear infection. I didn't know kids could go so long and never have an ear infection.

He was prescribed amoxicillin. A wonderful drug for sure, but I knew it was also a common culprit for causing allergic reactions. I read the print out from the pharmacy. I thought I knew what to watch for.

Nine days after his first dose J woke up with small pimple like bumps on his belly and face. He was also running a fever. I thought for sure that he had gotten the chicken pox from the vaccine he had received at his well-child visit.

An allergy to amoxicillin was the last thing on my mind. I had watched for a rash for the first few days. He got a bit of a diaper rash, but some yogurt and Ron's Diaper Rash Cream cleared it right up.

The next day, I gave J his final dose of the antibiotics. I got an appointment with his pediatrician for that afternoon. His rash was getting worse, and I didn't think it was chicken pox anymore, but I didn't know what it was.

One look at him, and the doctor said, "No, that's not chicken pox. He's not taking any medications, is he?" I answered, "Only the amoxicillin you prescribed him 10 days ago." "That would do it," she replied. She suggested some benadryl and said the rash would last several days.

Two days later, it was still spreading, so I took him back to the doctor. His pediatrician wasn't in the office, so we saw one of her partners. She was nice and all, but I really love our doctor. Anyways, J got a dose of long acting steroids, and his rash looks much better -- it is not so bumpy, and much lighter in color -- though it is still spreading.
Day 2

Day 3

Day 5


He has been very cranky. He hasn't been sleeping well, and has just wanted me to hold him. It has made it very difficult for me to get out in the evening for my walks. Though I have kept my promise to exercise everyday. Two days I didn't get my full thirty minutes in, but I made the best effort I could on those days.

My husband has been very wonderful. He has done a great job supporting me. He holds crying babies while I go out for my walks. More importantly, he encourages me.

Healthy Habits. Healthy Families.

This morning, I picked up a "Healthy Habits Healthy Families" calendar at daycare. It is a bright fun calendar with tips for becoming healtier as a family. Each month includes a new healthy recipe. It is published by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. In Idaho, you can get your copy by contacting the Idaho Care Line at 2-1-1.

Change: Add a serving of fruit

I was hoping my 'weeks' would go Saturday-Friday, or Monday-Sunday, but it doesn't seem to be working great that way. I am continuing with one change before moving on to the next. My problem this week is that I'm having a really hard time deciding which change to make next.

We are almost out of Pepsi in the fridge, so it seems like a perfect time to give that one up -- but I'm not sure I'm ready to give it up completely. I've tried that in the past, and it seems to me that it is too big of a change for one week.

I've decided instead to add a serving of fruit. That is, I'll make sure to get at least one each day. Most days, I'll admit, I don't eat any.

I love it!

I got my Forerunner 305 today. I like that I have a more acurate time for my walk than just using the clock on my ipod. Here's the data from my walk. I'll use this as my baseline.

Total Laps: 3
Total Time: 0:30:12
Total Distance: 1.68 miles
Total Calories: 189
Average Pace: 18:02/mile
Average Heartrate: 139

My shins really hurt tonight. I've got to figure out how to make it better. It was very discouraging that they started to hurt so early during my walk. I want to be able to enjoy it. I expect it to hurt when I push myself, but not like this.

Happy Birthday to me

My birthday was on Saturday, and I still walked. I'm awfully proud of myself, especially because I was really bummed. I had been really excited because I was going to get a Garmin Forerunner 305 for my birthday.

I had been wanting a heart rate monitor, but now the cheap one wouldn't cut it -- this one has got GPS. It was just what I never knew that I always wanted -- until I saw them last week on sale at Costco.

I like to look at numbers. I want to see my heart rate go up, and hopefully see my resting heart rate go down. It's one of those metrics I was talking about.

But I digress -- when we went back to Costco, they didn't have any left. I was grumpy, and I pouted, and I acted like a martyr, but we went home and ordered one online. It should be here any day now. Anyways, I was bummed not to have it on my birthday, but I walked anyways.

I think I feel good

My week of exercise is over. I did it. I exercised for 30 minutes every day for a week. I feel better. I know it's only been a week, but I do. Each day I walked, it got a little easier. Yesterday, my shins didn't start to hurt until almost one full lap of the neighborhood. I even ran some -- not much, but some. It really got my heart racing, but it felt good -- it hurt, but it felt good. I only got 15 minutes in tonight, because I've got sick babies, but I'll pick it back up tomorrow. Not because I want to, but because I need to. I think when I do it because I want to, that will be real progress.

Motivation

I don't have any. Last night I had a really hard time finding the motivation to get in my 30 minutes of exercise. My husband went to play church ball last night just after the boys went to bed, and I don't like any of the videos I had. When Brett got home, I put my shoes on and went for a walk. It wasn't something that I wanted to do, but it was something that I had promised myself I would do. It was cold, but it wasn't as hard as it was on Monday. I walked a full three laps around the neighborhood in 32 minutes.