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So, it's 13 days since Lady C started and guess what...we are nanny-less again as of today! Yup...I can't even begin to tell you how annoyed, upset, angry, stressed out, and overall slightly amused I am with the whole situation!! I could write a book on this whole nanny thing...
Lady C was working out OK for the 12 days she was working with us. Yes, she was SssLlllOoooWWW... (as in rated 3 on an intelligence scale of 10), but at least she had a great attitude, worked hard, and was pretty good with the kids. I was willing to overlook the fact that I had to tell her 10-20 times about things before she picked it up (big sigh...). How the heck did she manage to be a good nanny for that family I talked to, I wondered. But we all have our weakness right....
So, Friday (September 26th) came around and it was time for her weekend off. I paid her salary. Her husband picked her up. We met him and chatted with him. And off she went. Sunday night came around and no Lady C (not a call either). I called and called and couldn't get through. Her things were still here so I thought there might be a very good explanation why she didn't show up (e.g. both she and her husband got into an accident and couldn't call, etc.). But as the night progressed, I had the suspicion that she just sort of ran away from us.
David had to take the day off to help me out since my parents were at their new house in Corona. Finally, in the morning, the call got through to her husband, and he said that Lady C "had already worked somewhere else". What?? I was really upset! I told him that I really could care less if she wanted to quit. I mean, I wouldn't really want anybody to be forced working for me, would I?! But what's up with the "no telling" part? Even her stuff were still here! Geez...! Her husband said that Lady C didn't like the food here (uhmm...she ate like a pig everytime we cooked and gushed how much she liked it) and she also missed her TV's soap opera (well, she came here to WORK, NOT hang out at a friend's house for goodness sake!!). Her husband also had the nerve to say that if that other gig didn't work out (since Lady C was on a 1-week trial at that other place), he would take her back to us. YEAH, would LOVE to have her back @#$@%^!
We were completely dumbfounded with the whole thing... This really came from left field because Lady C always acted "happy" and in fact, stated that she was happy (that hypocrite!). What upset me was not because she quit on us (I'm getting used to this whole on and off nanny), but because she didn't tell us that she wanted to quit. What is WRONG with people?! Why can't I get a decent nanny?!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Nanny-Part VI
Right before we left for Baby Kel's visit, the agency called and had me talked to a potential nanny. She sounded great on the phone so I asked her to come in for an interview, let's call her Tante M. Judging from the record so far, Lady C could very well be a 1-day nanny so I wanted to make sure that I had a back-up plan!
Tante M showed up at 5PM in hot pink tight pants, huge earrings and necklace, a very "bling" jewelry watch, and a huge LV bag. Hmmmm....was she planning to apply for a boutique sales rep position I wondered... After a few introductory questions & answers (about 5 minutes), Tante M asked when she could get started. Whoa...hold your horses, lady, I thought! Don't get ahead of yourself! She was quite good, however. I was carrying Wes at the time and he started to fuss. She swiftly took him from me, rocked him back and forth, and within 5 minutes was able to put him to sleep. My mom and I were quite amazed because Wes is usually quite particular with his sleeping habit. Tante M was very "dominant" throughout the whole interview. At the end, we told her that we had just hired Lady C, but of course, given our recent experience, we might need a nanny in a few weeks (or days). Tante M told us that she would wait until this coming Sunday, in case Lady C didn't work out. Our impression of Tante M was that she was a very capable lady but that we might have issues with her dominant personality (i.e. fighting with me, for example).
Lady C showed up at 8P. She thoughtfully brought us a few cucumbers. We were all excited and had high hopes for Lady C... How cool would it be if Kayleen and Wesley could start speaking Spanish! Yay!
Tante M showed up at 5PM in hot pink tight pants, huge earrings and necklace, a very "bling" jewelry watch, and a huge LV bag. Hmmmm....was she planning to apply for a boutique sales rep position I wondered... After a few introductory questions & answers (about 5 minutes), Tante M asked when she could get started. Whoa...hold your horses, lady, I thought! Don't get ahead of yourself! She was quite good, however. I was carrying Wes at the time and he started to fuss. She swiftly took him from me, rocked him back and forth, and within 5 minutes was able to put him to sleep. My mom and I were quite amazed because Wes is usually quite particular with his sleeping habit. Tante M was very "dominant" throughout the whole interview. At the end, we told her that we had just hired Lady C, but of course, given our recent experience, we might need a nanny in a few weeks (or days). Tante M told us that she would wait until this coming Sunday, in case Lady C didn't work out. Our impression of Tante M was that she was a very capable lady but that we might have issues with her dominant personality (i.e. fighting with me, for example).
Lady C showed up at 8P. She thoughtfully brought us a few cucumbers. We were all excited and had high hopes for Lady C... How cool would it be if Kayleen and Wesley could start speaking Spanish! Yay!
Relative's Baby Visit
My parents and I decided to visit Baby Kel and Pakme today. Baby K was 3 months old, only 3 months younger than Wes, but Wes looked soo...much bigger than him. Pakme could only hold Wes for a very short time hehe... Below are some fun pics from the visit...
Monday, September 15, 2008
Nanny-Part V
I interviewed a few people for the nanny yesterday and today. Yesterday, one person came from the Pennysaver Ad. She was a petite Mexican lady, 42 years old--let's call her Lady C. Had experience as a long-time nanny for 2 family. She also brought a folder filled with pictures of her and the kids she took care of and the 2 letters of recommendations. Wow, very organized, professional, and impressive! We really liked her.
David and I then went to the agency and interviewed two ladies. Both of them did not want to sleep with me and the baby in the same room. Well, we didn't have any other room in the house, soo...they were out. Today, another person came from the Pennysaver Ad. She was a lady from Guatemala, 43 years old, and very heavy set. She brought a friend (who also actively participated in the interview, which I found annoying), and asked whether it would be ok to watch the Spanish novela (soap opera). Hmmmm....not sure about that. We could just picture her strapping Kayleen and Wes on their chairs, while she watches that when we're not home!
Sadly, even though we received over 30 messages of interest from the Pennysaver, only 2 were worthy to be interviewed. Many of them did not speak English, some were too young (19 yrs old!) or too old (67 yrs old!), some already found a job, and some did not want to live-in (even though I clearly specified that in the ad...hmmph!).
Basically, the only choice we had at that point was Lady C. I called her refence, which was a local family with 2 children. The lady I spoke to raved about Lady C, which made me feel very happy. I called Lady C right away to extend the offer and she accepted--yay!! She will come tomorrow night and start work on Wednesday. Please oh please...let her be the one!!!
David and I then went to the agency and interviewed two ladies. Both of them did not want to sleep with me and the baby in the same room. Well, we didn't have any other room in the house, soo...they were out. Today, another person came from the Pennysaver Ad. She was a lady from Guatemala, 43 years old, and very heavy set. She brought a friend (who also actively participated in the interview, which I found annoying), and asked whether it would be ok to watch the Spanish novela (soap opera). Hmmmm....not sure about that. We could just picture her strapping Kayleen and Wes on their chairs, while she watches that when we're not home!
Sadly, even though we received over 30 messages of interest from the Pennysaver, only 2 were worthy to be interviewed. Many of them did not speak English, some were too young (19 yrs old!) or too old (67 yrs old!), some already found a job, and some did not want to live-in (even though I clearly specified that in the ad...hmmph!).
Basically, the only choice we had at that point was Lady C. I called her refence, which was a local family with 2 children. The lady I spoke to raved about Lady C, which made me feel very happy. I called Lady C right away to extend the offer and she accepted--yay!! She will come tomorrow night and start work on Wednesday. Please oh please...let her be the one!!!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
F&B Wedding
My mom and I attended a wedding of my old church friend at the Arboretum in Pasadena. It was fun because we got to dress up for the occasion. Did you like my haircut? I didn't do it for this event but it's the first time I took a picture of it :) David, my dad, and Iie A Pung (who did our hair & make-up) stayed home to take care of the kids (hehe...). It was a beautiful wedding! There were tons of peacocks roaming around the place. The bride & groom were cute. They did a swing dance type of routine for the first dance. The food was delicious. It was Chinese food from Newport Seafood (yum, yum). One interesting thing to note about the food....they have a whole section of vegetarian food. I didn't try those but they had interesting names such as Peking Duck-less, Mongolian Beef-less, Soy Salmon, etc. I also met my friend from long time ago, whom I haven't seen for probably 10 years. She was with her husband and son. Below are some pics from the wedding. We missed the whole ceremony so these are only from the reception.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Nanny-Part IV
So we are "nanny-less" AGAIN as of today :( I really liked Nanny #4--she was efficient, learned fast, was good with the kids, understands English, and was quite a nice person. I started to get quite comfortable with this nanny. In fact, I started to think that she was getting to the level of my old beloved nanny (i.e. able to multi-task, be trusted with 2 kids, etc.).
Well, enter the "weirdness" factor....AN OBSESSIVE BOYFRIEND. Let's call him PB, short for "Psycho Boy". No, I'm NOT exaggerating...You must read on to agree that this person deserves this nickname. I met PB on the day we hired our nanny at the agency. He seemed normal enough so I didn't think anything of it. In fact, I was kind of happy because he is this Mexican guy and has that Latin connection with David.
I guess PB kind of freaked out that he wouldn't be seeing my nanny for 2 weeks since she was supposed to be off every other weekend. My nanny did admit (after I hired her) that this guy is a VERY jealous person. He is jealous with E V E R Y B O D Y (real and imagined). If someone at the store looks at my nanny, he is jealous. If my nanny is talking to ANY guy (whether old or young), he is jealous. When David heard this, he nearly laughed becasue the lady isn't exactly a beauty queen. Anyway, she also admitted that PB was abusive toward her (i.e. had beat her, etc.)--umm...why she was still with him is a question that she really couldn't answer. If she weren't that good of a nanny, I probably would've let her go because I seriously didn't want to get involved. But I wanted to give her a chance and really hoped that this problem wouldn't be a hindrance to her good work thus far.
So, anyhow, PB obsessively started calling my nanny on her cellphone (like every 20 minutes), and when she didn't answer, he started to call my house, even at 10:30 AT NIGHT when the kids were sleeping (what the @#$!#$?!!)
Below are a few examples of my conversation with PB... I was seriously getting upset for having to talk to him so often. My nanny asked me to do that because PB did not trust her at all and wanted "proof" that she was telling the truth by having me validate it for him. What a dysfunctional relationship!@#$
1. Could he please drop off some "important" stuff for her? Like the $1.25 bus card that he bought for her and just HAD to give it to her that day. Umm...NO!!! My policy is not to allow people dropping by on and off to our place, unless it's critical and cannot wait until the nanny's time off. Honestly, he only wanted to do this to check up on her (my nanny told me that). And I sure as heck DID NOT want some psycho guy to be coming over my house!!
2. How about phone calls, he asked? I said, sure, but within reason. I told him that I had to let the other 2 nannies go because they were doing too many personal phone calls during work hours. He can call her AT HER CELLPHONE at night (after work) or in the morning (before work). And PLEASE DO NOT CALL MY HOUSE ever again if my nanny doesn't answer his calls--I made that quite clear to PB. I also told my nanny that if he did that again, I would have to let her go.
3. How about allowing my nanny to go out at night? H*LL NO! See reason #1. This is a LIVE-IN position. She was WORKING here, not hanging out at her friend's house, for goodness sake!
So we had a few days of "quiet" time without PB interfering with our routine. My nanny called him at 5AM every morning and 9PM every night and talked for 2 hours each time.
Until yesterday...I went with the kids and my nanny to Corona to pick up my parents. My nanny gave a call from PB to me because apparently he didn't believe that she was there with me. He accused her of going back to work with her old boss (whom he was very jealous of; the old boss is like my nanny's SON's age for goodness sake!). I grudgingly talked to PB and I thought that was that. When we were going home in the evening, I got a call from David who was home from work saying that he saw a plastic bag of stuff at our door (like soap, shampoo, etc.). I knew immediately that it must have been PB who dropped that stuff off.
PB confirmed that it was indeed him who did that and claimed that he just wanted to drop by so he could inform my nanny of the bus schedule since she was leaving for the weekend the next day. David and I were sooo..angry!@# We explicitly told this guy that he was not to come to our house and he did. He did this blatantly, and he knew that we were not home. At that moment, we decided that it was just not safe to keep this nanny around. What if PB showed up while we were out (the nanny with the kids) and asked to come in? This lady had not been able to stand up for herself so far and it was doubtful to us that she would anytime soon. It was also obvious that this psycho had no regard whatsoever to whatever we asked him not to do.
So we told the nanny that today (Friday) was to be her last day. I was going to take her home to her daughter's house at 5PM. I told her how sorry I was to do this because I really, really liked her. I also told her that I was very concerned for her safety. One of my previous coworkers actually got killed by her abusive husband last year and left her 3 young kids abandoned :( My nanny just cried and kept saying that she was sorry for all the trouble PB had caused us.
I decided to call my nanny's daughter, just to make sure that she knew of the dangerous situation her mom was in. I had met her daughter when I picked up my nanny on her first day of work. It wasn't until I talked to her daughter that I got the shocking full story...She said that she had tried several times to help her mom get away from PB, however, her mom KEPT COMING BACK to him (Huh?! Eeekkk....!!). One time, her mom just sort of disappeared (no phone calls, no notifications) while she was working as a nanny elsewhere. Her daughter was very worried, tore through her belongings, found PB's address, and asked the police to bring her mom home. PB and her mom showed up at the daughter's place for about 5 minutes, then left again TOGETHER. Police couldn't really do anything because the mom claimed she had not been harmed and then willingly left with PB again. Another time, the daughter picked her mom up from PB's house (more like tried to rescue her). When she locked her car doors to prevent her mom from running back to PB, her mom actually threatened to jump out of the moving car @#$%! The daughter even brought her father from Indonesia to try and talk some sense into her mom, but her mom ran away from her home and stayed with PB. She even offered to bring her mom back to Indonesia, and was willing to leave with her for good (in case PB threatened to hurt her family), but her mom refused! So basically, the daughter said that she really couldn't help her mom because the mom didn't want to be helped! Eeeekkksss.....after hearing this story, I was really glad that we had already decided to let her go. It is obvious that this nanny was also "problematic" herself (to say the least!). David says that some women are drawn to guys like PB like a moth to a flame. I guess that she's a good example.
So this morning, my nanny received calls from PB. She let the phone ring and ring (about 20 times) and completely ignored it. PB then called my house, which I ignored because I really didn't want to speak to this psycho any longer. David had just left home for work when all of a sudden, PB SHOWED UP AT OUR FRONT DOOR!!!
I just knew that he has been stalking my house for a while (proven by his earlier phone calls). I didn't open the door, of course, and spoke to him from the office window. He was very belligerent and demanded us to call "his wife" out. I told him that he was not welcomed here and for him to leave immediately. He kept saying that since she no longer worked for me, he had the right to take her with him. I was sooo...scared. For all I know, he was carrying some sort of weapon in his backpack. I threatened to call 911, and he threatened me back and said that he was the one who would call 911 if we didn't want to call "his wife" out. He immediately ran to the sidewalk after this (I guess because he didn't want to "trespass" to my property). At that point, I was sure that I wanted to kick the nanny out ASAP. She came out to speak to him briefly, went inside to pack while quietly crying, signed some paperwork to get her salary for the 11 days she worked for, then left bringing all of her bags with this psycho. He didn't even have a car (poor trash!) and they walked together to the bus stop.
I immediately called the nanny's daughter to inform her of the situation. I was just so grateful that my parents were there, and not just me and the kids. David was furious when I called and told him what happened. He was sure that PB waited until he left for work. Anyways, I'm glad that it ended that way. It certainly could've been worse! So, back to the drawing board to find a good and decent nanny (again) (sigh.....).
Well, enter the "weirdness" factor....AN OBSESSIVE BOYFRIEND. Let's call him PB, short for "Psycho Boy". No, I'm NOT exaggerating...You must read on to agree that this person deserves this nickname. I met PB on the day we hired our nanny at the agency. He seemed normal enough so I didn't think anything of it. In fact, I was kind of happy because he is this Mexican guy and has that Latin connection with David.
I guess PB kind of freaked out that he wouldn't be seeing my nanny for 2 weeks since she was supposed to be off every other weekend. My nanny did admit (after I hired her) that this guy is a VERY jealous person. He is jealous with E V E R Y B O D Y (real and imagined). If someone at the store looks at my nanny, he is jealous. If my nanny is talking to ANY guy (whether old or young), he is jealous. When David heard this, he nearly laughed becasue the lady isn't exactly a beauty queen. Anyway, she also admitted that PB was abusive toward her (i.e. had beat her, etc.)--umm...why she was still with him is a question that she really couldn't answer. If she weren't that good of a nanny, I probably would've let her go because I seriously didn't want to get involved. But I wanted to give her a chance and really hoped that this problem wouldn't be a hindrance to her good work thus far.
So, anyhow, PB obsessively started calling my nanny on her cellphone (like every 20 minutes), and when she didn't answer, he started to call my house, even at 10:30 AT NIGHT when the kids were sleeping (what the @#$!#$?!!)
Below are a few examples of my conversation with PB... I was seriously getting upset for having to talk to him so often. My nanny asked me to do that because PB did not trust her at all and wanted "proof" that she was telling the truth by having me validate it for him. What a dysfunctional relationship!@#$
1. Could he please drop off some "important" stuff for her? Like the $1.25 bus card that he bought for her and just HAD to give it to her that day. Umm...NO!!! My policy is not to allow people dropping by on and off to our place, unless it's critical and cannot wait until the nanny's time off. Honestly, he only wanted to do this to check up on her (my nanny told me that). And I sure as heck DID NOT want some psycho guy to be coming over my house!!
2. How about phone calls, he asked? I said, sure, but within reason. I told him that I had to let the other 2 nannies go because they were doing too many personal phone calls during work hours. He can call her AT HER CELLPHONE at night (after work) or in the morning (before work). And PLEASE DO NOT CALL MY HOUSE ever again if my nanny doesn't answer his calls--I made that quite clear to PB. I also told my nanny that if he did that again, I would have to let her go.
3. How about allowing my nanny to go out at night? H*LL NO! See reason #1. This is a LIVE-IN position. She was WORKING here, not hanging out at her friend's house, for goodness sake!
So we had a few days of "quiet" time without PB interfering with our routine. My nanny called him at 5AM every morning and 9PM every night and talked for 2 hours each time.
Until yesterday...I went with the kids and my nanny to Corona to pick up my parents. My nanny gave a call from PB to me because apparently he didn't believe that she was there with me. He accused her of going back to work with her old boss (whom he was very jealous of; the old boss is like my nanny's SON's age for goodness sake!). I grudgingly talked to PB and I thought that was that. When we were going home in the evening, I got a call from David who was home from work saying that he saw a plastic bag of stuff at our door (like soap, shampoo, etc.). I knew immediately that it must have been PB who dropped that stuff off.
PB confirmed that it was indeed him who did that and claimed that he just wanted to drop by so he could inform my nanny of the bus schedule since she was leaving for the weekend the next day. David and I were sooo..angry!@# We explicitly told this guy that he was not to come to our house and he did. He did this blatantly, and he knew that we were not home. At that moment, we decided that it was just not safe to keep this nanny around. What if PB showed up while we were out (the nanny with the kids) and asked to come in? This lady had not been able to stand up for herself so far and it was doubtful to us that she would anytime soon. It was also obvious that this psycho had no regard whatsoever to whatever we asked him not to do.
So we told the nanny that today (Friday) was to be her last day. I was going to take her home to her daughter's house at 5PM. I told her how sorry I was to do this because I really, really liked her. I also told her that I was very concerned for her safety. One of my previous coworkers actually got killed by her abusive husband last year and left her 3 young kids abandoned :( My nanny just cried and kept saying that she was sorry for all the trouble PB had caused us.
I decided to call my nanny's daughter, just to make sure that she knew of the dangerous situation her mom was in. I had met her daughter when I picked up my nanny on her first day of work. It wasn't until I talked to her daughter that I got the shocking full story...She said that she had tried several times to help her mom get away from PB, however, her mom KEPT COMING BACK to him (Huh?! Eeekkk....!!). One time, her mom just sort of disappeared (no phone calls, no notifications) while she was working as a nanny elsewhere. Her daughter was very worried, tore through her belongings, found PB's address, and asked the police to bring her mom home. PB and her mom showed up at the daughter's place for about 5 minutes, then left again TOGETHER. Police couldn't really do anything because the mom claimed she had not been harmed and then willingly left with PB again. Another time, the daughter picked her mom up from PB's house (more like tried to rescue her). When she locked her car doors to prevent her mom from running back to PB, her mom actually threatened to jump out of the moving car @#$%! The daughter even brought her father from Indonesia to try and talk some sense into her mom, but her mom ran away from her home and stayed with PB. She even offered to bring her mom back to Indonesia, and was willing to leave with her for good (in case PB threatened to hurt her family), but her mom refused! So basically, the daughter said that she really couldn't help her mom because the mom didn't want to be helped! Eeeekkksss.....after hearing this story, I was really glad that we had already decided to let her go. It is obvious that this nanny was also "problematic" herself (to say the least!). David says that some women are drawn to guys like PB like a moth to a flame. I guess that she's a good example.
So this morning, my nanny received calls from PB. She let the phone ring and ring (about 20 times) and completely ignored it. PB then called my house, which I ignored because I really didn't want to speak to this psycho any longer. David had just left home for work when all of a sudden, PB SHOWED UP AT OUR FRONT DOOR!!!
I just knew that he has been stalking my house for a while (proven by his earlier phone calls). I didn't open the door, of course, and spoke to him from the office window. He was very belligerent and demanded us to call "his wife" out. I told him that he was not welcomed here and for him to leave immediately. He kept saying that since she no longer worked for me, he had the right to take her with him. I was sooo...scared. For all I know, he was carrying some sort of weapon in his backpack. I threatened to call 911, and he threatened me back and said that he was the one who would call 911 if we didn't want to call "his wife" out. He immediately ran to the sidewalk after this (I guess because he didn't want to "trespass" to my property). At that point, I was sure that I wanted to kick the nanny out ASAP. She came out to speak to him briefly, went inside to pack while quietly crying, signed some paperwork to get her salary for the 11 days she worked for, then left bringing all of her bags with this psycho. He didn't even have a car (poor trash!) and they walked together to the bus stop.
I immediately called the nanny's daughter to inform her of the situation. I was just so grateful that my parents were there, and not just me and the kids. David was furious when I called and told him what happened. He was sure that PB waited until he left for work. Anyways, I'm glad that it ended that way. It certainly could've been worse! So, back to the drawing board to find a good and decent nanny (again) (sigh.....).
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Water Baby
We went swimming at my parents new house in Corona again this past weekend. How Kayleen loves the water....! She kept laughing and screaming in delight. She also kept swallowing the water (sigh)... If we could only keep her this happy all the time!! Will need to swim as much as possible before the summer is over.
Another successful solid
This time we tried banana and Wes liked it! He is also liking the soy formula, although he is starting to smell a little like the soy formula hmmmm...., not sure if I like that. I think I'll lessen it a bit since my production is going back up.
Sweet giggles
Wes is about to turn 6 months in about a week. I just love this age... He is very interactive, yet is still so much of a baby. Sweet and innocent. None of that tantrum and attitude stuff! The best part is his giggles. How I want to savor this stage.... Check out this video of him.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Little Miss E
I had the pleasure of photographing Little Miss E again on 9-1-08. She is getting even cuter as she gets older :) Love that beautiful, bright color tutu on her! This time, I also got to photograph the R family as they are waiting for their new arrival. Isn't Mrs. R just beautiful?! Emma is getting a sister soon! Cannot wait to take pictures of her as well! Well, M&M, enjoy this sneak peek!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Nanny- Part III
I submitted the "nanny wanted" ad for Penny Saver last week before I hired our current one. The Penny Saver came out yesterday, and I've been having non-stop calls from people. I literally have 30+ messages from people who are interested in the position, and I was very specific in the ad (disclosing all the requirements and salary information). I plan to do phone interviews with these people in case the current nanny doesn't work out. Amazing....I should've gone this route from the very beginning!!
Solid food
Due to the recent allergy episode, I'm starting Wes on solid food. I was hoping that it will make him fuller and not needing as much milk. I fed him rice cereal by Gerber yesterday. I think it went relatively well. His tongue kept pushing out the food but at least he didn't throw up or getting weird rashes. Most of the food ended up on his bib so I fed his regular milk right after. Will try this again on a daily basis until he gets used to it.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Allergy
We got quite a scare yesterday! I decided that it was time to introduce formula to Wes since my milk production has been going down a bit. I figured it would be fine since he had taken formula when he was a newborn with no problem. I gave him a 4 oz bottle and of course, he didn't like it. He kept spitting it up and fussed. I was prepared for this since Kayleen did the same, and she even threw up the first time I gave it to her.
All of a sudden, I started noticing that his chin (where a lot of the formula was spilled on) was turning red. I mean REALLY red with white bumps. Then I noticed the skin around his eyes started turning red, with white bumps, and swelling up. My mom checked his body and we saw red patches on several places. I was quite alarmed by this point. We stopped the feeding, quickly got a hydrocortisone cream and applied it on his chin. The white bumps disappeared in a few minutes but the reds remained on his face and body. I called the Nurse Advice line and they suggested giving him a liquid Benadryl (1/2 tsp) immediately, and called for a doctors appointment. My mom tried to put him to sleep at this point and I went to the store to pick up the Benadryl. When I returned, my mom reported that he had vomitted once. We gave him the Benadryl, but within seconds, he vomitted again, so we gave him another dose. I noticed at that point that his eyes were getting smaller (because of the swelling), his face was quite pale, and his lips were turning bluish. I quickly called the doctor and fortunately was able to get an immediate appointment.
On the way to the appointment, Wes threw up again all over the car seat. When we got to the office and as we waited for the doctor, he threw up again all over the floor, and at this point, he started to tremble. Again, his face was very pale, swollen, and his lips were bluish. I really panicked and asked them to PLEASE have the doctor see him NOW!! The doctor checked him and found out that everything was normal (oxygen level, temperature, and pulse). He did notice the rash, swelling, and tremble. Interestingly enough, Wes did not cry this whole time. He was just observing everything as the doctor and nurse examined him.
At the end, the diagnosis was that he "may" be allergic to the formula and may also be developing a stomach flu (huh?). The doctor said that he may be developing a fever as well, thus the tremble. If he is above 100 degree F, I am to give him Tylenol. He also suggested us sticking to breast milk vs. formula (you think?!) and if I really can't provide him with enough breast milk, we can "try" the soy formula. I don't think he was convinced that Wes had an allergic reaction! By this time, Wes looks fine. His swelling had gone down (probably because of the double dose of Benadryl) and he had no more rashes. So we were dismissed.
I fed him with his regular breast milk before we went home, then he fell asleep. He continued to sleep well, and was his regular smiley self by evening. He never did develop a fever, and I am thoroughly convinced that it was purely an allergic reaction vs. a stomach flu! I will be doing everything I can to increase my supply but I will try the soy formula as I really need to find food alternative for him. Kayleen did not have this problem so who would've thought that it would happen to Wes?
I knew that I love this little guy before this whole episode, but I never knew how INTENSE it was until I felt his little body trembled in my arms and saw how pale his face was. I felt very scared and helpless at the same time. Thank you God for making him well again!! I love you, Wes, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE dont' scare mommy like that again!!!
All of a sudden, I started noticing that his chin (where a lot of the formula was spilled on) was turning red. I mean REALLY red with white bumps. Then I noticed the skin around his eyes started turning red, with white bumps, and swelling up. My mom checked his body and we saw red patches on several places. I was quite alarmed by this point. We stopped the feeding, quickly got a hydrocortisone cream and applied it on his chin. The white bumps disappeared in a few minutes but the reds remained on his face and body. I called the Nurse Advice line and they suggested giving him a liquid Benadryl (1/2 tsp) immediately, and called for a doctors appointment. My mom tried to put him to sleep at this point and I went to the store to pick up the Benadryl. When I returned, my mom reported that he had vomitted once. We gave him the Benadryl, but within seconds, he vomitted again, so we gave him another dose. I noticed at that point that his eyes were getting smaller (because of the swelling), his face was quite pale, and his lips were turning bluish. I quickly called the doctor and fortunately was able to get an immediate appointment.
On the way to the appointment, Wes threw up again all over the car seat. When we got to the office and as we waited for the doctor, he threw up again all over the floor, and at this point, he started to tremble. Again, his face was very pale, swollen, and his lips were bluish. I really panicked and asked them to PLEASE have the doctor see him NOW!! The doctor checked him and found out that everything was normal (oxygen level, temperature, and pulse). He did notice the rash, swelling, and tremble. Interestingly enough, Wes did not cry this whole time. He was just observing everything as the doctor and nurse examined him.
At the end, the diagnosis was that he "may" be allergic to the formula and may also be developing a stomach flu (huh?). The doctor said that he may be developing a fever as well, thus the tremble. If he is above 100 degree F, I am to give him Tylenol. He also suggested us sticking to breast milk vs. formula (you think?!) and if I really can't provide him with enough breast milk, we can "try" the soy formula. I don't think he was convinced that Wes had an allergic reaction! By this time, Wes looks fine. His swelling had gone down (probably because of the double dose of Benadryl) and he had no more rashes. So we were dismissed.
I fed him with his regular breast milk before we went home, then he fell asleep. He continued to sleep well, and was his regular smiley self by evening. He never did develop a fever, and I am thoroughly convinced that it was purely an allergic reaction vs. a stomach flu! I will be doing everything I can to increase my supply but I will try the soy formula as I really need to find food alternative for him. Kayleen did not have this problem so who would've thought that it would happen to Wes?
I knew that I love this little guy before this whole episode, but I never knew how INTENSE it was until I felt his little body trembled in my arms and saw how pale his face was. I felt very scared and helpless at the same time. Thank you God for making him well again!! I love you, Wes, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE dont' scare mommy like that again!!!
Nanny- Part II
We found a nanny--yippee! One of my relatives met her at church and told her about us. She is Indonesian, in her early 50's, and been in the US for about 2 years. She speaks English (yay..David can actually communicate with her :)). She lives here with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson about 15 minutes away from our house. So far...
1) It's Day 3 and she has not told me that she wanted to quit
2) She doesn't hold Wes like a sack of potatoes
3) She remembers our kids' names (GREAT SIGN!)
4) Kayleen hasn't warmed up to her yet but at least she doesn't yell "Mommy, please help, Mommy" when she's around
5) She doesn't have a strong preference for 409 as the cleaner of choice
6) She is not ssslllooowwww...... She is calm (which is good for my "sometimes" high-strung tendency) but she is efficient
7) She doesn't have BO. In fact, unlike the other nannies, she truly "gets" that she shouldn't use perfume, wear scratchy clothing, or wear jewelries when she is working (all of which are NOT recommended when you work with babies!)
Basically, so far so good :)
1) It's Day 3 and she has not told me that she wanted to quit
2) She doesn't hold Wes like a sack of potatoes
3) She remembers our kids' names (GREAT SIGN!)
4) Kayleen hasn't warmed up to her yet but at least she doesn't yell "Mommy, please help, Mommy" when she's around
5) She doesn't have a strong preference for 409 as the cleaner of choice
6) She is not ssslllooowwww...... She is calm (which is good for my "sometimes" high-strung tendency) but she is efficient
7) She doesn't have BO. In fact, unlike the other nannies, she truly "gets" that she shouldn't use perfume, wear scratchy clothing, or wear jewelries when she is working (all of which are NOT recommended when you work with babies!)
Basically, so far so good :)
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