Poor weight gains.... again

This weeks weight gain was very poor. It was only 80g. Last weeks was much better, at 210g. So, we're now at 6.88kg. That's still in the bottom 3 percent for babies. *sigh*
It could be worse. It could easily have been a negative gain (that is, a loss).

Isabella has decided that she doesn't sleep

Isabella is... unsettled... for want of a better word.
It's been a year now since Ian was arrested for what the local constabulary allege was signs of physical abuse on Bella.
It's also (approximately) 6 months since Ian has been allowed to move back in, and still, Bella is unsettled.
2230 tonight, I finally convinced her to sleep. Rather, I convinced her to stay on her bed, no playing, and be quiet.
And this has been happening for 12 months now.
I'm at the end of my rope, and I don't know what to do... I can't keep doing this, and the counsellor was as useful as a bull with tits (or a cow without...)
*sigh*

A further update on the elimination diet

So, I got rid of it.
Effectively, there was a while there where Margaret was loosing weight, which kind of defeated the purpose of said diet. After all, we were looking for reasons for why she wasn't gaining appropriate weight. (At some point, I'm going to get a copy of her growth chart, and scan it in, and post it on here)
I have the doctors and paediatricians okay on this one, so it means full diet is back.
So, daily food intake is 25omL bottles (four of), 1 to 2 weet bix each breakfast, morning tea is either avocado or yoghurt, lunch is left overs from last night (today, it was ham steaks, peas, and potatoes. Peas are a favourite, for some reason), afternoon tea is either avo or yoghurt (which ever she didn't have for MT), and dinner is what we have (tonight, its grilled chicken breast, with colcannon and peas).
Back to weekly weigh ins, too.

Katharine's 6th birthday party, and gift cake

Well, it was a huge success, even if it wasn't at a park, as originally intended.
The kids loved it, I heard a rumour of a sleep over between Katharine and Akasha, and the cake was everyone's new favourite design.
See pics for more details :)

Update on the elimination diet...

We've almost finished week 3.
Margaret has finally started liking rice, potatoes, and pears.
Next week, we introduce sweet potato, and go back to the dietitian.
Here's the problem, though.
She's now losing weight. 40g in a week, to be precise.
:/
I think I need to push the paeditrician to sort something out. More tests or something.
Oh. And vomiting weekly, and fevers with it.
I'll try and touch base again on Friday.

The elimination diet starts tomorrow.
I'm ringing the dietitian this afternoon to let her know, and to confirm the start date, foods, etc.
My understanding is 3 weeks of rice, potatoes and pears (and EleCare formula) before introducing the next food (sweet potato).
We do know its not a gluten intolerance, btw. The blood preindicators for coeliacs came back at less than 1, and the positive results are greater than 7. That's vaguely reassuring, though an easy(er) answer would have been nice. :/
I'll keep you updated.

and on another subject/child

This is the second time we've had to write a letter like this.

I'm also going to forward this to both the Federal and State ministers for transport. Enough is enough :/

Rex,

I am writing to you as an extremely concerned customer, and parent.

My ten year old flew from Lismore to Sydney with you on Saturday as an unaccompanied Minor, as he does every school holiday.

Booking Reference: B A W V I Q

Flight: ZL333

Scheduled arrival time 02:05pm

Date: Saturday 11^th October 2008

The flight was delayed, with a new arrival time of 2:40pm but it is what happened after that that is of concern.

Buses were continuously arriving with passengers, and as there were several flights due in at similar times it was hard to tell what passengers were from what flight. But I was aware of other people waiting near me for passengers from Lismore.

Time passed and by 3pm I was getting very worried as my son was no where to be seen, and I could not find anyone else still waiting for passengers from the Lismore flight.

By 3:15pm I was terrified that something has happened to my son.

Then shortly after this a man who looked like one of your ground crew, exited the secure area near gate 46 and walked in my direction being followed by my son and a young girl. He looked at me as I was looking at him, and he said “You alright” I nodded and he walked off without a care in the world.

He did not ask if I was one of the two children’s parent.

He did not check ID

He did not say anything to or even look at a lady nearby, who I assume was the girls parent.

This is the second time this has happened, below is an email from November 2006 describing the same scenario. I did receive a reply at the time, but do not have it with me at the moment. The last time this happened I was told in writing that you had spoken to a staff member, and this would not happen again.

According to the government website http://www.kids.nsw.gov.au/kids/check/employerguidelines.cfm

All staff who work with children need to have a police check.

Are your ground staff approved to work with children? Have they had a police check done?

Where was the captain or your cabin staff? When My Son Boards the plane in Sydney he always leaves with the captain.

In summary I don’t see how I can send my child with your airline again knowing that he could end up left in Sydney Airport by himself, or with a stranger so easily.

Second guessing point

I'm at second guessing point.
See, I had Margaret at pathology today.
She had a sweat chloride test and bloods done. I also had to give them 2 fecal samples, and apparently, 24 hours worth of urine tests. They can be happy with one urine sample (which I'll be giving them tomorrow), and the second fecal sample is still to be delivered.
Anyways, crux of the story.
She screamed blue murder when they were doing the blood test. I felt so guilty for pushing them, now.
And now, I'm asking myself is there anything I could have done differently?
What if I hadn't worked up until 37 weeks?
What if I hadn't worked in a pub?
What if...? (getting the idea?)

*sigh*

Margaret has been referred to a paediatrician

Earliest the paed has any openings is February.
Something needs to be done about rural health in AU.

I took Margaret back to the GP today. She's had a bit of a cough and vomit thing again.
She's still weighing in too small (still less than 6 kg, and she's nearly 9 months old :/ )
I've got a referral for bloods, urine and stool samples, and they want to do a pertussis swab. Its not likely to be pertussis (she's been immunised), but still... better safe than sorry, I guess.
I've also got a referral for a paediatrician. This paed is connected to an immunologist, speech therapist, and dietitian, and even better, is totally covered by medicare.
I'll keep you updated.

I'm back

and I'm not happy (surprise surprise)
Bubby girl is sick. and I have a migraine.
Sick bubby + sore mummy = cranky household

I need sleep...
I need for Katharine and Bella to go to sleep before 10pm, each night. Though, in fairness, they were asleep at 9 pm last night, probably because of Earth Hour.
I might just need to think about that...

So, first post

I'm using this because I'm sick of the pretentious poseur-ish "I have more friends than you" that is LJ.
I like this because it doesn't seem to be as much of a popularity contest.

Anyways, better let you know, already had drama related to this blog.
Its already been blocked once fore being spam. And given this is the first post, that either makes me teh ubergeek, or it means that bloggers spam detection software needs examining. ;)