I decided to change my WordPress theme to the Twenty Fourteen theme that comes with a clean install. I wanted to check it out, explore it a little, see how easy it was to manipulate it and my blog is the best starting ground I can thing off. So! New theme! And as always, when I put in a new theme I have to do a bullet list so I can tweak the bullet styling how I like it!
- I feel like I’ve been run over by a damn truck. Both of my kids have had some sort of started-with-allergies-but-never-had-a-fever cough going on for about a week. Nikki’s has been significantly worse than Wes’s, but they’ve both had it. I kept her home from school on Friday because she was exhausted, not having slept well all week. And then yesterday it just got a lot worse. Like, sounds like she is actually going to cough up a lung. She starts these coughing fits she can’t stop and is just miserable. At one point do you take YOUR kid to the doctor for a fever-less cough? I know things like bronchitis and walking pneumonia exist and don’t usually have fevers, but I also have a pediatrician that sometimes makes me feel stupid for bringing my kid to the doctor, so I’d like to know your litmus test. When does a cough warrant a doctor’s visit?
My husband did a local Olympic distance triathlon for the FIFTH TIME yesterday. People who have met him in the last two years just assume he’s always been fast. But he has NOT. He’s always been athletic, that comes naturally to him, but he started off at average. Or even below average if you like at his first marathon time of 5:07 (It’s now down to 3:14). The first time he did the Rocketman in 2010 he did it in 2:58:59. Yesterday? 2:15:40. He placed first in his age group, which is a HIGHLY competitive age group. If he had gotten that 2010 time this year? He would have been 18th out of 25. THAT’S how big of a jump he’s made. Which, to me, is way more awesome than just always being fast. So proud of that guy.- Nikki did another Kid’s Triathlon this weekend but in “open water”. It’s a chlorinated man-made pond, but it still freaked her out because it’s dirty and not shaped like a rectangle with clearly marked sides. She also was worried about sighting and making sure she swam the right way. But she did it fine! Even though she was way more terrified of that 50m than of the 400m the weekend before. Fears are a funny thing.
- I missed another long run this weekend. It is very hard this time of year when my marathon training picks back up but Donnie’s triathlon training is still in full force. Ironman training is a 12+ hour a week commitment and when you work full time, have kids in sports, and like to sleep sometimes, it’s hard to work another set of training around that. We’ve worked out the morning runs okay mid-week, but the weekends are still a struggle. Especially because, this time of year, no one wants to run at noon. I could have run Saturday afternoon but that was NOT happening! I had a friend who did 16 miles on the treadmill this weekend. That’s another option, if I had a treadmill, but that sounds like a fate worse than death to me. SIXTEEN MILES on the treadmill? BLURGH.
Okay. That’s it. Still doing my “post every morning” challenge so if you missed the awesomeness that was this weekend, check it out. Right now I think here is a “previous entry” link at the bottom of this entry’s page, but I’m hoping to add other ways to navigate archives as well while I dig into this theme a bit.
Happy Monday!
I can’t stand more than 3-4 on a treadmill. I’m so slow that it took me two hours to run ten miles yesterday, 16 on a treadmill would never ever happen. (My first ten miles and I promptly burst into tears!)
I have a picture of my first 10-mile run! I still remember it! SO COOL! Also, 10 hours in two hours is not slow. That’s a 12-minute mile. That’s not slow at all! That’s a 2:38 half-marathon time approximately and the “cutoff ” is 3 hours! That’s at 13:45 mile I think. You’re FAST compared to that! (To me, cut off times are where “slow” becomes an issue. If you can make a cutoff time? You’re fast. Because cutoff times are my barometer in every race.)
If no fever and no wheezing, eating and drinking normally, our doctor’s rule of thumb on the cough is call when it has lasted ten days…. then he usually tells me to give it another four. Without fail, the cough disappears right at day 14. 🙂
If it affects her sleep like that, I’d say it warrants a call to the nurse at least, she can help determine if she needs to come in. I used to have a pediatrician like that, when I found a GP for myself that I liked, I started taking my whole family to him.
The triage line at our pediatrician’s office told me a noisy cough with no other symptoms is not a concern until two to three weeks; that it can really linger. That said wheezing or a tight, barky cough need to be seen immediately. And, coughing fits that won’t stop would warrant a trip in for me. I’d want someone to listen for a rattle.
If you think it’s allergy triggered, I have bunches of suggestions. (I have really bad allergies.). You really don’t want to let it settle in and turn into something nasty. You’re probably already doing lots of these, but here’s my check list. Prop her up on pillows to sleep elevated, so it doesn’t build up during the night. Rub Vicks Vaporub on her chest and cover with a warm towel. (I generally do this at night.) If the air in your house is dry (which seems unlikely in August, but), use a cool mist humidifier. Make sure she’s drinking a ton of water. Dab a drop of mint essential oil on the tip of her nose. (More than a drop or under her nose will burn. But, just a drop on the tip of my nose really helps clear my passages.) Reduce dairy products. A steamy shower will help if she’s trying to cough anything up. Creomulsion is my favorite medicine for just a dry cough, but is hard to find now. Hot water with lemon and honey is also very soothing to a dry cough.
Poor kid. I hope she feels better soon.
That’s awesome!
Wow…I am a turtle compared to that 🙁
Allergies! Yes! We have them and just like those symptoms described. My pediatrician finally settled on a small dose of liquid Zyrtec for my 6-year-old and that fixed it! No more ear infections and no more persistent, hacking cough. If a fever is present, then that is another issue.
You’ve probably already taken her in, but if you haven’t, I’d suggest you make an appointment. My daughter also had terrible allergies when we lived in Virginia; after many sleepless nights/missed school days, she was finally put on prescription allergy meds and an inhaler for the coughing. It made such a difference for all of us!
I still suck at running but I am walking more with the buggy and feeling better for it. It’s still only 1 or 2 miles a day but it a making a difference especially post surgery. Am I ever going to run anything longer than for the bus. Who knows but if I can shift the remaining 10lbs ish to my weight target then hopefully extra exercise might come easier.