Solutions!

Leo finally had his appointment with the pediatrician on Monday. She isn't even slightly worried about him from an asthma or allergies point of view, she said he was growing far too well for anything major and the fact that his chest is always clear is a great sign.

She suspects that he has simply had a post viral cough that he has never been able to shift. She has prescribed a really low dose steroid inhaler to be taken twice and day and wants to review in 4 months. In the meantime, she has also sent a letter to the GP to authorise upping his dose if required and even prescribing a powder to reduce mucus production at night should this have no affect.

Let's hope this cracks it and we are done coughing! Problem potentially solved.

He decided to drop to one sleep a day in the last few weeks, growing up in every way. He was initially still doing the morning snooze and then refusing to sleep in the afternoon, which meant that he was absolutely shattered when I picked him up. He has now started doing a longer lunchtime snooze, which is better but he doesn't like to go to bed at 7 anymore. Problem sort of solved.

We have also been having a nightmare cleaning his teeth which I put down to tenderness. I decided to buy a baby electric toothbrush on the off chance this would improve efficiency. He loves it! There is a little light on it which he is fascinated by, and he finds the vibrations hilarious.. Problem solved.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

It's back to shifts we go.. Leo's latest cold has progressed into a good old cough again. I think we managed 3 weeks cough free, what more can we ask for?

We are having to actively sit up with him again too. The good news is, he's absolutely happy as can be all the time, so of that I am eternally grateful.

I also get to catch up on blogging (can't post pictures because of this ridiculous Internet connection) watch Netflix, the new Narcos is out, and of course.. Baby cuddles!

We also have his first molar, it's rushed through ahead of the scheduled order of growth too. I only happened to notice it whilst tackling a particularly tricky tooth brushing session, but it's one corner is definitely through. Gosh, so grown up!

The curse of insomnia

One thing having a baby has done for me is create me a problem I never imagined I would have; Insomnia.  It is possibly the most frustrating thing you could go through that isn't chronic pain or illness... Its like a slow torture; just you, the darkness and your racing mind.

Its not the breastfeeding time that has caused it as that at least had a structure to it, its been the night coughing that has done it.  We were doing so well, I think we managed at least 3 weeks without coughing and I had managed to get myself sleeping around 5 - 6 hours straight without stirring.

Alas, the latest cold has come with a cough in tow so its back to shift work between us.  The only problem there is that the cough wakes me up regardless of whether or not I am on shift.  We started with a great night tonight, he slept soundly from 18:30 to 00:01 without a peep and then his coughing started and I am on the midnight to 03:00 shift.  I had to get him out and sit him up for a bit whilst I was covered in Olbas, this really soothes him.  Unfortunately, there was plenty of brain fodder just sitting and waiting to be unleashed in the night and now I just cannot get back to sleep.  I have got up to have some toast and write this post instead.

We are potentially going to have bought a house by the end of this month if all goes to plan and that has given me huge amounts of exciting things to think about. I don't get time to think about them in the day as I am so busy, so they occupy the time between attending to Leo and working.. that basically is sleep time!

Finding the rhythm

I really feel like I'm starting to get back to grips with working. I'm way off being on form, but progress is progress no matter how small.

Diet is still not great, but considerably better than it was and I'm starting to remember the little tricks that I used when I first started cleaning up my act. The key this time is to not expect to be straight back to where I was latterly and really appreciate the process again, understanding it will come good soon is a requirement right now.

As a family I feel like we have also got a good rhythm going. Leo's nagging cough has basically gone, which is a huuuge weight off our shoulders. It hasn't gone if we aren't at home though, so I am keen to keep hold of our referral and run all the information past a specialist.

We had a great weekend, we spent a very soggy Saturday watching my boss racing rally cars. Leo was unperturbed by the rain, and as always, was engrossed in the activities around him from his carrier vantage point.






Sunday we went off supporting Tom at a local duathlon. He did amazingly well, despite any lack of training focus at all! We were very proud and Leo loved it all once again






Leo's 'I'm loving it' face

Of course, one of the best progressions in my life right now is being back on track with my fitness. My pain is very limited now and I can start to actually do stuff that makes me sweat. Bliss!! Now all we need to do is move house and destroy our new found flow mojo!

I think we got a woof!

And he's definitely walking! The woof is very much in the early stages, but I'm convinced it's there. He does it in response to a dog picture and when I do it.

Walking, hex gone from a couple of tentative steps one day and then the next, he's off! I always said I didn't think he would start before he knew he could nail it, he's not the reckless type!

He's has a run of cracking nights, I have currently sat up with him being very uncomfortable though #gottabehisteeth