Aellyn has been really sick for a few days now. She has bronchiolitis which is inflammation of the bronchioles - small airways leading to the lungs. It is caused by a virus and, in about 50% of cases, that virus is Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). I love my pediatricians non-chalant, no-fear approach. He said that bronchiolitis can be caused by a number of viruses including rhinovirus (common cold) but that RSV has a good agent and marketing department because it ends up on the cover of parenting magazines.
Regardless, the point is that RSV is not an "illness" but a virus that can cause illness, like pneumonia or, in our case, bronchiolitis. Because it is a virus there is no treatment (like antibiotics for bacteria). We basically have to wait for Aellyn's immune system to defeat the virus and in the meantime ensure she can breathe!
Here is a video of Aellyn yesterday morning. This might look scary (and trust me it was from a mom perspective) but I'm posting it to show one of the major signs of bronchiolitis. Notice her throat "caving in" with each breath - this is called retraction.
She is taking breathing treatments with a nebulizer and Albuterol and Pulmacort. She also got a steroid shot yesterday (her first shot since we don't vaccinate and didn't do vitamin K at birth). Today she is back to sounding like she has a chest cold. No more retraction and short, labored breaths. She slept well last night as did we. And she's is eating a nursing again. Yesterday was the first time Aellyn didn't want to nurse since the second she was born (that girl loves the boob!).
The nebulizer is not a good time for anyone. She basically screams in misery the whole time. I feel so sympathetic with parents who have colicky babies! Aellyn has never really had to cry before for any time (the car seat being the big but rare exception). Pete mentioned that he can't imagine hearing her cry like that in her crib! Also, I would NOT have slept a wink the past few nights without cosleeping. I was so tuned in to her breathing with her right next to me and she got the comfort of knowing mom was there if a particularly bad cough startled her awake. I simply can't imagine it any other way.
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Welcome to the March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage green!
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month we're writing about being green — both how green we were when we were young and how green our kids are today. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
I'm a big fan of dystopian fiction. One of my favorite books is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It was written in 1931 but is a downright erie looking glass into our future. There are many factors in the "utopia" of Huxley's World State to ponder (babies are "decanted" in hatcheries and then brainwashed into their caste at Conditioning Centers), but one value important to their society is conspicuous consumption. The are all taught from infancy to repeat the refrain, "Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches." Fixing something is a pariah when you can just buy something new to replace it.
This is something I think my parents' generation was better at than mine. They didn't call it "green" but "frugal." However the result was the same. They were infinitely better at holding up the REDUCE and REUSE sides of the "3R's" waste management-cycle triangle while we often pay penance through more and more recycling - as long was we don't have to, heaven forbid!, curb consumption.
The 3Rs of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle are actually a simplification of the waste management hierarchy, shown below. As you move up the pyramid you see "more favored" options that are more impactful on overall waste management. I will admit that recycling has become (thanks to wonderful community recycling programs) a false panacea of the environmental movement. Even the least "tree-hugging" of my neighbors set out recycling each week (in part because there is a monetary incentive to do so). I'm not saying recycling is bad - not at all - it is very important but only in conjunction with other tools.
I vividly remember my mother darning socks every morning. Darning. Socks. I buy new socks long before my socks have holes! She put an incandescent lightbulb in the toe (or heel) of the sock to help position it and stitched up the hole. The stitches were very fine and thus comfortable and extended the life of our socks by at least double! My parents did this for frugality but the "green" impact is enormous.
What is the sock made of? How were the materials grown? By whom (and fairly?)? Where was it manufactured? How do they treat their workers? How much fossil fuels were required to ship it to the store where you bought it? If you are being frugal and pick up a pack at Walmart it almost certainly came from China (80% of Walmart products do) and was shipped thousands of miles via ship and freight (low point-of-sale cost/high external cost).
Our reliance on cheap, disposable goods in endemic. According to Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin, in her article
Built to Trash, 70% of the US economy is consumer spending. I'm not really trying to slam Walmart. We are all aware of the pros and cons of shopping there and sometimes hard economic times call for bending our desire to shop local.
One of the ways we could offset some of those issues is by getting the most out of the product. My mom and dad's generation (and their WWII generation before them) extended the lives of their goods as a matter of course. Today we have to choose to do it and sometimes re-learn the skills to do so.
In that spirit, here is how to darn a sock! They have this special "egg" thing you can buy but, since you are hopefully converting to all compact fluorescents, you can keep (reuse) a burnt out incandescent bulb around for darning and forgo (reduce) the need for a one-task darning egg!
My mom sewed often. She made us clothes (a great way to reduce and be frugal) but she also repaired clothes stretching their life and her dollar. Tears along seams are easy to mend. New buttons (mom always had a huge button tin) were always sewn on in a few minutes.
She is actually quite talented (she once made a Barbie-sized skirt with a kick pleat!). I'm not sure of myself enough to make clothes from scratch yet (though I have fun with felt play food) but I am going to start reviving my mom's habit of mending instead of ending! Not only will I save money and feel good about moving up the pyramid of waste management but my daughter will see me being industrious! That is definitely an abundance of riches in the stitches!
O, Brave New World!
Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants.
(This list will be updated March 9 with all the carnival links.)
My Momma Was a Hippie — Jessica at This is Worthwhile is continuing her Earth Momma mother's way of honoring nature by taking her child outside every day. (@tisworthwhile)
The Force that Drives the Water Through the Rocks — Shana at Tales of Minor Interest remembers her first spiritual connection with nature, granted to her through her father's care for the spirits of the earth.
Through Green Tinted Glasses — Thomasin at Propson Palingenesis realized her family didn't so much choose green as it chose them, since not being green would have cost a lot more.
Green or Die! — NavelgazingBajan at Navelgazing remembers berating her family for not turning off the faucets — and notes that her efforts to save the planet for another 20 years must have worked.
Getting Dirty — Molly at Molly's Place is inspired by her mother's camaraderie with nature. She's going to get back in touch with the real food cycle, as opposed to the "shrink-wrapped nutrition" you can buy. (@KPMolly)
greener pastures — The Grumbles at Grumbles and Grunts has a list of ways she's transitioning from green living as a novelty to green living as a lifestyle. (@thegrumbles)
We Walked Softly — Starr at Earth Mama wrote a beautiful post about how her parents instilled a love of and respect for Earth and nature in her, and how she is passing that gift on to her own children.
A great collection of my favorite parenting books and children's books about topics of interest to natural living, assisted reproduction, and issues like breastfeeding and co-sleeping.
