Which cough treatment?

Well, unfortunately Tália has been coughing all night. Oh no! The sudden cold weather has not helped. So now I'm thinking what do I do? Do I give her medication or do I go the natural route. I prefer natural but I don't want the medication going to her chest and at times prevention is better than cure. However after searching CaLCOUGH Tickly (the medicine I have at home for 3months+), online, I don't get much info and have found out that Calcough Chesty (different but same company) was taken off supermarket shelves so I am not going to risk it. I have looked up individual ingredients and it seems ok but it just makes me nervous. So I guess its echinecea, fresh fruit and ginger and some honey, lots of relaxing music and chants and a cosy warm home.


Well at least it means a day in for me - a day to be able to both work with Tália here but also to catch up on my research. I am doing lots of research at present. I have decided that we do need to do a muscle biopsy - everywhere I look and read, the signs are there. I think I'm going to be knocked over backwards with the signs soon so I guess I don't really have a choice.

I am fed up of no diagnosis and waiting - I need to be more proactive and now I am going to try all different kinds of things. I know her best and I need to trust my instincts. I am reading a fantastic book by Jenny McCarthy entitled 'Mother Warriors' and in one of the chapters one of the mum's ( Michelle Woods) says,

'You have to be able to have enough hope and to believe in yourself enough to combat that and go home at the end of the day and say, Ï know I am Right.¨ You have to be strong to look at them and say, Ï know my child better than anybody else and I will be able to heal this child¨. You have to be able to stand up to criticism. Anybody who's ever done anything great has had to do that. I think that a lot of us who have healed our kids know that you have to put up with a lot of crap to be able to do it'.






What a woman - and she has healed her child! It is true what she says - we need to be able to stand up to people - what you think is best does not necessarily coincide with what your pediatrician thinks is best. Each human being is different - we are all different shapes and sizes - how can one cure fit all? I am piecing together the jigsaw and I refuse to let anyone stop me. Time to move.

Possible Muscular Disorder

In my gut I was worried and in September / October this worry increased. Talia was improving but very slowly. Her weight was a problem but that was not the only thing disturbing me. I was still doing weekly visits to Hospiten usually accompanied by my mum and dad for support as my husband needed ot run our business ( Hamilton Homes) and keep it going. he lost me as an employee so had lots on his hands. My parents and I would make a morning of it - grab a coffee and chat while I would breastfeed little Talia.

We tried so hard to give her a top up with formula but she refused the bottle. I am still trying and she is still refusing. This scared me as she seemed to gag. I worried that she had some degenerating muscular disorder that affected the sucking reflex yet she could easily latch on. At 3.5 months, we introduced cereals to her diet as we discovered that she would take a spoon - feeding times were painful as at first it would take her up to 3 hours to take 6oml of milk with cereal. I would wander whether she wasted away more calories from feeding and would keep turning to the breast.

At 3 months we gave her the rotavirus oral vaccine -Rotarix. The rotavirus is a vomiting and diarrhea bug responsible for many child hospitalizations. It was recommended to me as this kind of bug is dangerous and life threatening to most kids but to Talia that effect would be increased due to her low weight. However this seemed to take a toll on her body and for two to three weeks she was very weak - she seemed to take a step backwards and lost her appetite. Since then I have stayed away from vaccines - I think her body weight is too low to cope with them.

At four months her vomiting improved, although she still had lots of wind. My husband and I were worried as she seemed to have such a weak and frail body - she barely kicked or moved and her hands and arms seemed limp - it was time to take things further and our paediatrician was of the same opinion. Mum´s at school were noticing that she was falling behind and begged me to get other opinions. I did not want to panic as a mum´s connection with her child is strong - what hope did Talia have if I lost the plot. My Hospiten paediatrician was very positive and kept me going at this time although we mutually agreed that it was time to search further and get specialist advice

We would swing in roundabouts - she would have good and bad days - on good days I was sure everything would be fine - perhaps I was just paranoid and on bad days, she would barely move - once mum put her down on the sofa, her hand got caught behind and she did not flinch. We were scared as some basic reflexes did not seem present. Thanks to the positive input and support of my family and husband and kids we all have just kept going and always positively and Talia is a very happy baby. Despite this agony - she is such a pleasure to be with and seeing her with her sisters who so adore her makes me so happy.