Poor Izzy. The hits just keep on coming. On Monday night after I picked her up from daycare I brought her home and noticed red bumps on her legs, thighs, and one on her hand. They almost looked like insect bites. I jumped on the internet to see what it could possibly be and they looked like Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease (not to be confused with Hoof & Mouth Disease in cows). But HFMD usually comes with fever and mouth sores- both of which she (thankfully) didn't have. We called the doctor that night but they didn't get back to us (grrrr). She was rejected from daycare because they had a few confirmed cases of HFMD so CP stayed home with her on Tuesday and took her to the doctor. I stayed home with her yesterday and we were told that as long as she didn't get a fever or the mouth sores she could head back to daycare. I guess HFMD is something that runs rampant in daycares, but it seems to mainly stay with kids and not jump to adults. Hopefully the red bumps go away soon and she never has it again!!
I know the argument that we are testing her immune system right now and it will only help her in the long run but it would be nice if she could have a few sick-free days or weeks sometime soon!
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I was contemplating just dumping the milk I pumped while I am away so that I didn't have to worry about traveling with it, but after speaking to another nursing/pumping mother at work who took a business trip for two nights away from her son, I may be rethinking my plan. She warned me that because the pump is less efficient, my milk production will decrease even though I won't be gone very long. Booooo. If that's true it may take a while (or maybe never?) to get my milk production back up to current levels....so maybe I should save it and fly back with it?
If I do go this route I need tips. I have plenty of BM freezer bags and will store then carry the milk home in those to save space (plus Izzy needs the bottles for daycare). I need to call the hotel to find out if i have a fridge in my room. If not, what do i do? The ice packs I use are not frozen solid by the time I get home from one day of work...let alone three days. What about keeping the milk cold on my flight home? Any tips or tricks?
This whole being-the-sole-provider-of-your-kid's-meals is stressful!! I'm not complaining because I am immensely thankful that I am able to do so, but there is definitely a lot of pressure.
8 comments:
Hotels will generally provide a mini fridge if you request it for medical purposes, which in this case, it is! (Think of the antibodies and whatnot it gives your baby.) Be careful with it though because I had it freeze some of my milk. TSA will let you through security (if you're flying) with breastmilk, but I always told them about it beforehand. I found milk bags let you carry more but bottles are way more leak-proof.
Hotels will give you a mini fridge if they don't already have one in the room. If it has the little freezer part you can keep your ice packs in there before your trip home. I would think an ice pack in an insulated bag would get you through a flight.
As far as supply, you should have an established enough supply by now that a couple days pumping shouldn't hurt it. When I started working, I dropped from 5 to 4 pumpings a day and it took a couple weeks for my production to go down a little. I'm not sure if it makes a difference that I exclusively pump or not. Everyone is different, but I really don't think your supply will suffer in only a couple of days.
I flew with frozen breast milk....the only way to keep it frozen is dry ice. I ordered these small dry ice bags off the internet and used a very good insulated bag to carry them on the plane. Just tell security and they will look through it, it was really not a big deal.
Yes the hotel should give you a fridge if you ask!
HFMD sucks if you catch it as an adult. Oli brought it home from daycare but never got it himself. He gave it to my husband who missed 2 weeks of work and was in horrid pain. The skin on his feet and hands blistered and then peeled in thick layers.
No personal experience on the travel pumping so I can't help there, but I want to say that I'm so sorry your little girl has had such a string of illnesses. Hoping with the warmer weather (soon? maybe??) the bugs at daycare will decrease significantly and she/you can catch a break!
Poor Izzy! Sorry it's been so rough...hopefully things get easier.
I hope Izzy gets better! Poor girl.
Poor Izzy. I hope she catches that break soon!
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