Fire!

We had quite an adventure on Friday night. As you can tell from the title of this post, it involved fire. A small one. In the microwave.

As you know, we completely renovated our house last year. During that process, we purchased all new appliances, including a microwave. For the past few weeks, every time I used the microwave, I kept seeing some white steam/smoke coming out of the vent inside the microwave when I opened the door. Each and every time, there was no smell and the smoke quickly dissipated, so I assumed it was normal. Last night, however, DH decided to heat up his dinner in the microwave. I was sitting on the couch, and all of the sudden I heard DH exclaim "Oh, shit!!" As I always do, I assumed he did something dumb/absentminded . . . like turn on the wrong burner of the cooktop (remember Passover when he set fire to my beautiful apple charlotte?), or forgot to remove a paper label, or got distracted while the water pot boiled over. In my usual mocking tone, I turned and asked "What did you do this time?"

Much to my surprise, DH shouted that there was a fire in the microwave. I went running into the kitchen and there was smoke pouring out. We tried to look inside to figure out where the fire was and whether we could put it out ourselves or if we needed to dial 911 and go evacuate the baby quickly. I first assumed DH had just been cooking popcorn or his dinner too long and it caught fire. We quickly realized, however, that nothing INSIDE the microwave was on fire. Instead, the thick, white smoke was pouring out of the side vent of the microwave. We unplugged the microwave, and tried to touch the wall, unit, and cabinets to see if there was heat emanating from anywhere. The smoke slowly started to slow, and we were left with the rancid smell of an electrical fire. We turned on the exhaust vent, opened up the windows and doors, and decided we should call the non-emergency number at the local fire station.

About 5 minutes later, the fire squad showed up. All of them. We opened the front door, and they kept coming in . . . one after the other. I think there were ten guys who walked through the front door. For a non-emergency fire. It reminded me of a clown car, or one of those comedy routines where the person answering the door keeps trying to close it, and one more person suddenly appears, says hello, and enters. It must have been a slow night at the fire house!

They used a heat sensor to check out the walls and cabinets. There was a localized area of heat on the microwave, and they told us there were no active fires. They told us to keep an eye on it and make sure it continued to cool off, but that if we kept it unplugged it should be safe to leave where it is until a tech from GE comes out to replace it.

So, the good news is, we have a very responsive fire squad and there was no damage done to the walls or cabinets. We expect a tech from GE to come out on Thursday, and we'll be asking for a new microwave! Good thing it is still under warranty.

Sinus Infection

Friday, I called the doctor for the results of the nasal culture the took from Micah on Wednesday. Naturally, they told me that I would have to wait until next week sometime. After I explained that I really wanted to get an answer because Micah's cough was getting worse, the woman finally agreed to check into it and get back to me. Saturday morning, she called back and said the culture confirmed that Micah has a sinus infection. Additionally, they told me that with the type of infection he has, we do not "have" to treat it with antibiotics. I indicated that I would prefer to treat the infection (as he has already been sick for 2 months and it seems to be getting worse, not better). She consulted with the doctor on call, who wanted me to wait until Tuesday. She finally agreed to call in the prescription, so Micah is now on antibiotics. I hope I made the right decision! I certainly don't want to over-medicate him, but I do not want him to end up with bronchitis, or a nasty ear infection, or even a chronic sinus infection that requires months of antibiotics instead of one week. Apparently, the doctor on call thought I should "just be patient." I'm going to have to trust my instincts on this one.

Sitting and Playing

Can you believe it?? Micah is big enough to be sitting on his own AND playing with toys at the same time!! I'm amazed each and every day how much he is growing. He loves to sit and chat, too. He has the most wonderful laugh and smile, and I just love listening to him. I think Micah laughs might be the most beautiful sound in the world. Here - listen for yourself! (Don't forget to push the triangle on the bottom left to play the video!)

Micah sitting and playing:



Micah talking (we think he speaks Wookie):



Micah laughing (the first one is a voice recording and I just added some photos of Micah to make it a video):

Call the authorities!

I think that if Micah could talk, today he would have been telling you to call the authorities on me. Apparently, I have been practicing the worst kind of torture and abuse on my little man. He shrieked and screamed bloody murder today to try and get someone to notice and put an end to my torture, but to no avail. Let me put this in context for you . . . .

Micah came down with his first cold when he was about 5 weeks old. As we were instructed, we sprayed some saline up his nose and used the blue squeegy thing from the hospital to suction out the mucous. I can't say Micah enjoyed this, but he was usually fairly calm for the first few attempts to clear his nose. After 4 or 5 times, he would cry, and I would set it aside for another time.

A bit later (I think he was 3 months old?), Micah came down with another cold. This time, he was older, smarter, and stronger. He very quickly learned to recognize the blue squeegy . . . and hate it. He would begin to scream at the first glimpse of the squeegy, and if I brought it near his nose, he would hit and kick and shriek and turn his head away. I must say, he had gotten quite strong. I quickly realized that all the hysteria resulted in more mucous, and I made the decision that it was not worthwhile to even attempt to squeegy his nose. I did try using a squeegy that was not blue . . . but Micah was smart enough to quickly recognize that as well. I then began to just wipe his nose with a cloth. It is far less effective, but it seemed to create very little upset, and it was "good enough."

Unfortunately, this cold did not seem to disappear. It persisted . . . and persisted . . . and persisted. Micah has been stuffy for over 2 months now. At his 4 month appointment, I discussed it with the doctor, and he did not seem concerned. I have been working very hard to not be concerned about it, either. Since I am tired of being that crazy mom who brings her son to the doctor for everything, I've just let it be. Until today.

Yesterday, Micah started to cough. His congestion intensified, and he just did not seem to be feeling well. Today, he woke up coughing, and the mucous had turned green. I called the doctor, and we went in for a sick appointment. I made sure all the nurses heard him coughing and sneezing (just in case he miraculously got better as the doctor walked in the room). All this time, I have been wiping his nose with a cloth, with very little upset. That is, until the past few weeks. Lately, each and every time, Micah shrieks bloody murder. Yes, ladies and gentleman, to hear it from Micah, I have been practicing the worst kind of abuse . . . nose wiping.

Micah gets mad when he even sees the cloth. I have to sneak attack him, and he kicks and hits and arches his back and turns his face away. He then sobs these loud uncontrollable pained sobs indicating how tortured he is. He makes sure to do this in very public places so that everyone can tell what a horrible mother I am. So, on behalf of my son, you may need to call the authorities and inform them that, indeed, I have been nose wiping him. Daily. Multiple times. And if I had it my way, I'd be using the squeegy, too.

In case you were wondering . . . they think he might have a sinus infection. They took a nose culture to find out (you should have seen what he did to that nurse who tried to stick a swab up his nose!) and we should have the results back either Friday or Monday. They confirmed he was running a low grade fever, his throat was red (probably from post-nasal drip) and he does not have strep throat. If he has a sinus infection, they'll give us antibiotics. I did not get a very good answer about what they will do if it is not a sinus infection. Remember - they insist that babies do not get allergies. So, because colds do not persist this long, and babies do not have allergies, if it is not a sinus infection, we are SOL.

I did also ask a few other questions today . . . he told us we can use sunscreen on Micah now, that some water is fine when he gets hot, that I can be giving him up to about 3 tbs of cereal 2-3 times per day now and I SHOULD also start him on fruits/veggies (also 3-4 tbs 2-3 times per day). We tried oatmeal for the first time yesterday (and he seems to like it). Since that is a "new" food for him, we can start something else new later this week or next week. On our list to try is: green beans, squash, peas, carrots, apples, pears, peaches, avocados, and sweet potatoes. There will be more to follow!

Food, Glorious Food

We have been feeding Micah rice cereal since he turned 4 1/2 months old. We started out slowly . . . just 1/2 tbs of rice cereal mixed with 1 ounce of breast milk. Initially, Micah could only eat 1/2 of that at each feeding. We have now "graduated" to 2 tbs of rice cereal with 1 ounce of breast milk every day. I think he would be willing to take more, but we are trying to ease into solid food since it is not really necessary until babies are 6 months old.

As I wade into this world of babies and solid food, I realize how complicated it is. No one can agree on when to feed a baby. No one really knows exactly how much to feed them each time. Some people insist you start with veggies, and others insist you should start with fruits. My pediatrician said we could start food any time after 4 months, and since Micah was showing signs of increased hunger, he suggested we at least start with rice cereal, but start slowly. We called the pediatricians office another day to talk about the heat and dehydration, and the "on-call" pediatrician gave me a hard time about feeding Micah food so early. Pediatricians in the same office can't even seem to agree!

I feel like starting rice cereal has been a good thing for Micah. It has resolved some of his hunger issues, and it has made it possible for me to continue breastfeeding. Now that Micah is 5 months old, we are trying to determine the "next steps" for feeding. At any time, we can increase his food intake. We can start adding vegetables/fruits. I have no idea what to do next! I think this week, we are going to try oatmeal, and see how Micah does. Next week, he will be 5 1/2 months, and I think perhaps we will start adding fruits/veggies. One new one every 3-5 days. That will take us until Micah is at least 6 months old. I know some people do not even start introducing food until then, but they are encouraged to do so at a far more aggressive pace at that point. I am not certain when we should increase to 2 meals a day. I'm thinking Micah is content with the quantity of food he is getting right now, and since breast milk (or formula) is supposed to be the primary source of nutrition for the entire first year, there is no rush to increase the number of times per day he is eating. Simply adding in the veggies/fruits will increase his intake. I'm thinking I'll wait until after we introduce the other foods (or Micah shows signs of hunger) before we increase the number of feeds each day.

Does anyone else out there find the whole feeding thing confusing? I sure hope it gets easier! I think I am going to worry about Micah and whether he is eating enough for a very long time. Somewhere in here, I have to start thinking about when and how I am going to wean Micah, but that is a post for a different day.