The past few days have involved:
- A move from CHTC Guest House (simple) to Alumni House (beautiful and very modern). Our Alumni House room is more childproof, which allows us to give Thomas more freedom to crawl around, which he really enjoys. Alumni House also has a microwave and a fridge / freezer which we seem to be able to use, at least for a little bit of stuff, though I'm not altogether clear how much use might be overstepping bounds of acceptability in doing so.
- Life without cell phones. Our service was canceled last weekend and we have spent a lot of time this week trying to get it reinstated. After the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks in which cell phones played a prominent role, India requires a lot of documentation to get a SIM card (copies of passports, passport-sized photos, proof of address). Apparently our documentation wasn't appropriate, so our service was cut off after someone looked through our paperwork. We have to be in touch with the place we bought our phones in Chennai in order to get it sorted out. It is a bit of a headache. On the plus side, getting the documents to the original cell phone store (3 hours away) by courier only cost 18 rupees, about 40 cents!
- The malfunction of our all-important travel fridge. Hypotheses are either an electrical surge or just poor product design. A fuse blew at the same time as the fridge went out. Our new room has more outlets, which allowed us to plug in food-related items likely to condense water in a separate outlet from electronics items. However, we are therefore not using a surge protector on some items.
- The malfunction of our travel kettle. It no longer turns on reliably; the button seems to be stuck somehow. We therefore can no longer cook or easily store food for the moment!
- A baby who seems to be undergoing a so-called "sleep regression," which according to parenting blog lore often occurs at around 8-9 months. This means that he is up again every 2-3 hours, sometimes more often, and cries unless he nurses back to sleep. This means he is more likely to wet our bed, which is where he ends up sometime around the 3rd or 4th awakening. I'm really tired.
- A baby mouse/rat(?) running around our new room yesterday morning! At one point it slipped right under the door, and then came back in, so it probably came from outside.
- Thomas inventing games, which is absolutely adorable. He started playing peek-a-boo with John a couple of days ago by pulling up on the edge of the bed so he could see John and laughing, then getting back down, then pulling up again and laughing - over and over for a good 10-15 minutes! Needless to say, John had a hard time working with all that cuteness directed at him. And then yesterday morning Thomas took one of his teething rings and threw it as far away as he could (generally just a couple of inches), crawled over to it, picked it up and threw it again, crawled over to it, etc. This also lasted for a good 10 minutes or so.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Traveler's diarrhea, take 2
Perhaps this is slightly premature, but it appears (based on one data point, plus a fussy day today) that Thomas has another case of TD. This makes illness #3 in the past three weeks. I must say that I'm a little discouraged. It's already really hard work to keep him fed & reasonably safe, even with deciding to cut a few corners to maintain sanity (e.g., we lately have just been airdrying the jars we use to feed him rather than boiling them in the tiny batches allowed by our small kettle).
Part of the difficulty is that there are so many potential sources that it's hard to narrow down where we should focus. Is it the many (easily at least 10, often more) people who touch his hands and face any time we go out? Though we say no these days when people try to take him from our arms, it is essentially impossible to keep people from touching him without feeling extremely rude. Is it the not boiling of jars? Is it feeding him from our plates on occasion? Is it something in the way I prepare his food? (I try to be really careful.) Is it the way our clothes are washed? (In a river, if I understood correctly.) It's just hard to know.
Meanwhile, we have lots of azithromycin syrup, so hopefully that will do the trick if necessary. But I would also welcome any wisdom and/or prayer if you have any. I won't be hasty and don't feel urgent about this decision just yet, but part of me does wonder whether staying the full time is really a good idea for our little guy.
Part of the difficulty is that there are so many potential sources that it's hard to narrow down where we should focus. Is it the many (easily at least 10, often more) people who touch his hands and face any time we go out? Though we say no these days when people try to take him from our arms, it is essentially impossible to keep people from touching him without feeling extremely rude. Is it the not boiling of jars? Is it feeding him from our plates on occasion? Is it something in the way I prepare his food? (I try to be really careful.) Is it the way our clothes are washed? (In a river, if I understood correctly.) It's just hard to know.
Meanwhile, we have lots of azithromycin syrup, so hopefully that will do the trick if necessary. But I would also welcome any wisdom and/or prayer if you have any. I won't be hasty and don't feel urgent about this decision just yet, but part of me does wonder whether staying the full time is really a good idea for our little guy.
Baby feeding, part 1
We came to India with a stash of ~20 assorted jars of Earth's Best organic baby food, one box of Earth's Best multigrain cereal, and a container of HappyBaby organic vegetable puffs. As planned, we went through most of the baby food jars during our two weeks of travel in Maharastra, and towards the end began transitioning to making our baby food on the go.
Baby-friendly foods that are readily available here:
Fruit - bananas, apples, watermelon, papaya, oranges
Veggies - carrots, potatoes, green beans (though they're sometimes tough), parsnips, eggplant, an green summer-ish squash, 1 orange winter-ish squash (called 'pumpkin' here, though not what we call pumpkin), beets, okra
Starch - white rice, 'idli' (a steamed rice cake, slightly sourdough-ish), a variety of flatbreads (naan, chapatti, paratha), pasta (in the international section of grocery stores)
Protein - yogurt, eggs, packaged cheese, and occasional fish or chicken off our plate if it isn't too spicy
Seasonings - garlic, baby onions, fresh coriander (i.e., cilantro), and other herbs I haven't yet identified. Salt and various peppers would be available too but I'm mostly steering clear of these!
Some of these stretch the definition of baby-friendly. We haven't yet fed Thomas everything on the list but he has taken quite well to some of the unusual stuff, including plain idli (Indians try to sweeten it for us, either with honey or milk with sugar & coconut), eggplant, and plain yogurt. Allergenic foods like eggs and fish were once considered off-limits for babies but recently it has been concluded that there is no evidence that delaying the foods prevents allergies, so we've given them to him -- especially since good protein sources are harder to come by than the other items. Dahl (lentils) would certainly be readily available but if bought/prepared for us it is very salty and often spicy, and I haven't yet tried making it in our electric kettle. I also still need to explore what other beans & legumes might be possible.
Aside from the few items that can be served plain (bananas, idli, rice, yogurt), here is the routine:
Step 1: Fruit & vegetable prep
Fruit and vegetables get washed in a three-step process. First, a soapy scrub to remove any dirt & debris. Second, a 20-minute soak with 1 tsp veggie wash (bleach works) in 5L water. Third, a rinse with bottled water. I generally wash enough fruit and veggies for a few days and then keep them in our produce bowl.
According to Stauffer et al (J Travel Med 2002), even raw, unpeeled produce can be considered safe for consumption after this process. We actually do boil and/or peel everything we give him for chewing and digestion reasons, so the three-step wash isn't strictly necessary for travelers diarrhea prevention for now, though it will be if we get to the point of any raw veggies while here. But I like to wash things to remove potential pesticides as well, and I just feel better having clean produce to work with.
Step 2: Food prep
The tools are shown, except that I forgot to include the vegetable peeler we brought from the U.S. We peel and then chop veggies or apples into small pieces, then boil them in just enough water to cover in our 0.5-L electric kettle. The kettle has an auto-shut off feature so sometimes we have to keep pushing the button in order to keep it (nearly) boiling. Then, if we want a puree we put it through the hand-crank food mill, or otherwise we just mash it with a fork. We generally do some of both: he seems to digest the pureed foods better, but he enjoys finger foods so we give him some small pieces at times as well. If we are making enough to store we put them in the baby food jars we saved from the beginning of the trip.
Step 3: Storage
One of the best items we found to bring was a small six pack-sized refrigerator. Without kitchen access there really would be no other way to keep from having to prepare food for Thomas at every meal, and there would also be no way to store breastmilk. The fridge generally stays stocked with a few boiled eggs and various jars of apples and vegetables. We haven't yet found a small enough container of yogurt to fit in here but hopefully we can include that as well. We tried to keep a carton of milk for late-night cereal for us, and it fits but it unfortunately doesn't really leave enough room for Thomas' stuff. The cereal here is mostly all very, very sweet anyway.
The only downside of the fridge is that when they come to clean our room they hit a switch outside the door that turns off all the electricity to the room. It is easy enough for us to turn back on, but we have to be aware on days that we aren't at home and make sure that we use that food immediately (it does stay pretty cool with the insulation of the fridge) or toss it soon after.
Step 4: Wash dishes
This happens in the same bucket used for washing the fruit.
Baby-friendly foods that are readily available here:
Fruit - bananas, apples, watermelon, papaya, oranges
Veggies - carrots, potatoes, green beans (though they're sometimes tough), parsnips, eggplant, an green summer-ish squash, 1 orange winter-ish squash (called 'pumpkin' here, though not what we call pumpkin), beets, okra
Starch - white rice, 'idli' (a steamed rice cake, slightly sourdough-ish), a variety of flatbreads (naan, chapatti, paratha), pasta (in the international section of grocery stores)
Protein - yogurt, eggs, packaged cheese, and occasional fish or chicken off our plate if it isn't too spicy
Seasonings - garlic, baby onions, fresh coriander (i.e., cilantro), and other herbs I haven't yet identified. Salt and various peppers would be available too but I'm mostly steering clear of these!
Some of these stretch the definition of baby-friendly. We haven't yet fed Thomas everything on the list but he has taken quite well to some of the unusual stuff, including plain idli (Indians try to sweeten it for us, either with honey or milk with sugar & coconut), eggplant, and plain yogurt. Allergenic foods like eggs and fish were once considered off-limits for babies but recently it has been concluded that there is no evidence that delaying the foods prevents allergies, so we've given them to him -- especially since good protein sources are harder to come by than the other items. Dahl (lentils) would certainly be readily available but if bought/prepared for us it is very salty and often spicy, and I haven't yet tried making it in our electric kettle. I also still need to explore what other beans & legumes might be possible.
Aside from the few items that can be served plain (bananas, idli, rice, yogurt), here is the routine:
Step 1: Fruit & vegetable prep
According to Stauffer et al (J Travel Med 2002), even raw, unpeeled produce can be considered safe for consumption after this process. We actually do boil and/or peel everything we give him for chewing and digestion reasons, so the three-step wash isn't strictly necessary for travelers diarrhea prevention for now, though it will be if we get to the point of any raw veggies while here. But I like to wash things to remove potential pesticides as well, and I just feel better having clean produce to work with.
Step 2: Food prep
The tools are shown, except that I forgot to include the vegetable peeler we brought from the U.S. We peel and then chop veggies or apples into small pieces, then boil them in just enough water to cover in our 0.5-L electric kettle. The kettle has an auto-shut off feature so sometimes we have to keep pushing the button in order to keep it (nearly) boiling. Then, if we want a puree we put it through the hand-crank food mill, or otherwise we just mash it with a fork. We generally do some of both: he seems to digest the pureed foods better, but he enjoys finger foods so we give him some small pieces at times as well. If we are making enough to store we put them in the baby food jars we saved from the beginning of the trip.
Step 3: Storage
One of the best items we found to bring was a small six pack-sized refrigerator. Without kitchen access there really would be no other way to keep from having to prepare food for Thomas at every meal, and there would also be no way to store breastmilk. The fridge generally stays stocked with a few boiled eggs and various jars of apples and vegetables. We haven't yet found a small enough container of yogurt to fit in here but hopefully we can include that as well. We tried to keep a carton of milk for late-night cereal for us, and it fits but it unfortunately doesn't really leave enough room for Thomas' stuff. The cereal here is mostly all very, very sweet anyway.
The only downside of the fridge is that when they come to clean our room they hit a switch outside the door that turns off all the electricity to the room. It is easy enough for us to turn back on, but we have to be aware on days that we aren't at home and make sure that we use that food immediately (it does stay pretty cool with the insulation of the fridge) or toss it soon after.
Step 4: Wash dishes
This happens in the same bucket used for washing the fruit.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
30 years
Mostly today I just feel incredibly grateful to be where I am: for an amazing husband and terrific son, for wonderful family and friends (yes, you!), for the opportunity to do work I enjoy -- in short, for all that God has done in the past decade. Life gets better and better, praise God.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thank you, John.
Hand-washing cloth diapers is one thing. But hand-washing the batch from Thomas' bout with travelers diarrhea is another thing altogether. Talk about taking one for the team: I owe you, big time.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thomas updates
Here is what the little guy is up to these days:
- Crawling, for real now, though not particularly quickly yet -- but getting faster every day.
- Making the saddest, loneliest face and breaking into tears whenever Dad or Mom heads towards a door. If we actually go through the door, he crawls towards it, crying. This was especially sweet & sad when he was first crawling because he was so slow. Poor guy! And poor Dad -- home during the day and has to decide to let Thomas cry any time he wants to use the restroom.
- Getting from all fours to sitting. Which helps with . . .
- Pulling up, on chairs, suitcases, or whatever else we can find to keep his play area interesting.
- Laughing. Of note this week, Dad doing push-ups and seeing himself on top of mom in the mirror (i.e., on my shoulders) are both hysterical.
- Eating pretty much anything we give him. He has been quite an adventurous eater! But more on this later.
- Grinding his three teeth together (two lower, one upper). This gives me the willies.
- Babbling away, especially when other things are quiet. Early morning and during prayers and sermons at church are some favorite times.
- Smiling at strangers. He makes a lot of friends everywhere we go.
And, on health matters: Thomas was completely healthy for the first two weeks. Then, beginning in Chennai, he developed first an upper respiratory infection and then a little bout of travelers' diarrhea. The URI was most likely RSV: cold symptoms which worsened after a few days into bronchiolitis with development of a low-grade fever, and it's the season for it here. And the TD was worrisome, but never got too bad, and lasted for only a few days rather than the average 18-30 days it generally lasts in infants (!) thanks to a timely dose of azithromycin syrup. We did whip up a batch of oral rehydration solution and gave him a few sips, but it thankfully turned out to be basically unnecessary.
- Crawling, for real now, though not particularly quickly yet -- but getting faster every day.
- Making the saddest, loneliest face and breaking into tears whenever Dad or Mom heads towards a door. If we actually go through the door, he crawls towards it, crying. This was especially sweet & sad when he was first crawling because he was so slow. Poor guy! And poor Dad -- home during the day and has to decide to let Thomas cry any time he wants to use the restroom.
- Getting from all fours to sitting. Which helps with . . .
- Pulling up, on chairs, suitcases, or whatever else we can find to keep his play area interesting.
- Laughing. Of note this week, Dad doing push-ups and seeing himself on top of mom in the mirror (i.e., on my shoulders) are both hysterical.
- Eating pretty much anything we give him. He has been quite an adventurous eater! But more on this later.
- Grinding his three teeth together (two lower, one upper). This gives me the willies.
- Babbling away, especially when other things are quiet. Early morning and during prayers and sermons at church are some favorite times.
- Smiling at strangers. He makes a lot of friends everywhere we go.
And, on health matters: Thomas was completely healthy for the first two weeks. Then, beginning in Chennai, he developed first an upper respiratory infection and then a little bout of travelers' diarrhea. The URI was most likely RSV: cold symptoms which worsened after a few days into bronchiolitis with development of a low-grade fever, and it's the season for it here. And the TD was worrisome, but never got too bad, and lasted for only a few days rather than the average 18-30 days it generally lasts in infants (!) thanks to a timely dose of azithromycin syrup. We did whip up a batch of oral rehydration solution and gave him a few sips, but it thankfully turned out to be basically unnecessary.
What we're up to
Dec. 27 - Jan. 11: All Angels trip
We began our time here with a two-week trip led by the rector of our church, Milind Sojwal, who is from India and began his ministry in Maharashtra in the Church of North India. Our group of 14 flew into Mumbai and took an overnight train to Nagpur, city of Milind's former diocese. We worshiped with Milind's old parishes there and in nearby Chandrapur, and visited various diocesan projects, including a mission hospital, rural and women's empowerment programs in nearby the tribal villages, a boarding school for village kids, and perinatal outreach in the slums of Nagpur.
Another overnight train brought us to Pune, where we spent our time learning about the amazing work of Deep Griha Society, the organization founded and run by Milind's aunt. After earning her M.D., Dr. Neela Onawale began her medical practice as an outreach to poor patients out of her home. As deeper issues underlying her patients' medical problems became apparent -- malnutrition, lack of educational opportunities, the low status of women -- she gradually developed programs to meet the needs that she saw. Now Deep Griha works in three slums in Pune and has two rural projects; offerings include feeding programs, education, day care, HIV/AIDS outreach, and traditional medical clinical services. It is an impressive place, one which I would highly recommend for volunteering or charitable giving.
Jan. 11 - 15: Chennai
After the All Angels trip, John, Thomas and I flew from Mumbai to Chennai and stayed at the home of former All Angels parishoners Matt Scott and Sandra Seaborn and their children Sophie (3) and Stephen (7), recuperating from our Maharashtra leg's ambitious itinerary and gathering necessary supplies for the rest of our stay. January 14 was Pongal, a Hindu harvest festival and the biggest holiday of the year in Tamil Nadu. We celebrated by spending the day at a swimming pool with Sandra and her kids. Thomas loved his first pool experience!
Jan 15 - ?: Vellore
We are now in Vellore, in the southeast of the country, where Christian Medical College is located. I am working with endocrinologist Dr. Nihal Thomas on several projects, which I will describe in more detail later. Our plane tickets home are for May 1, but we only have housing reserved at CMC until March 1; we may extend our time in Vellore, or may head back up north when the temperatures go up in March-April, or may decide to go home earlier. John, meanwhile, is watching Thomas during the days and hoping to get some work done on his dissertation during naps, evenings, and weekends.
We began our time here with a two-week trip led by the rector of our church, Milind Sojwal, who is from India and began his ministry in Maharashtra in the Church of North India. Our group of 14 flew into Mumbai and took an overnight train to Nagpur, city of Milind's former diocese. We worshiped with Milind's old parishes there and in nearby Chandrapur, and visited various diocesan projects, including a mission hospital, rural and women's empowerment programs in nearby the tribal villages, a boarding school for village kids, and perinatal outreach in the slums of Nagpur.
Another overnight train brought us to Pune, where we spent our time learning about the amazing work of Deep Griha Society, the organization founded and run by Milind's aunt. After earning her M.D., Dr. Neela Onawale began her medical practice as an outreach to poor patients out of her home. As deeper issues underlying her patients' medical problems became apparent -- malnutrition, lack of educational opportunities, the low status of women -- she gradually developed programs to meet the needs that she saw. Now Deep Griha works in three slums in Pune and has two rural projects; offerings include feeding programs, education, day care, HIV/AIDS outreach, and traditional medical clinical services. It is an impressive place, one which I would highly recommend for volunteering or charitable giving.
Jan. 11 - 15: Chennai
After the All Angels trip, John, Thomas and I flew from Mumbai to Chennai and stayed at the home of former All Angels parishoners Matt Scott and Sandra Seaborn and their children Sophie (3) and Stephen (7), recuperating from our Maharashtra leg's ambitious itinerary and gathering necessary supplies for the rest of our stay. January 14 was Pongal, a Hindu harvest festival and the biggest holiday of the year in Tamil Nadu. We celebrated by spending the day at a swimming pool with Sandra and her kids. Thomas loved his first pool experience!
Jan 15 - ?: Vellore
We are now in Vellore, in the southeast of the country, where Christian Medical College is located. I am working with endocrinologist Dr. Nihal Thomas on several projects, which I will describe in more detail later. Our plane tickets home are for May 1, but we only have housing reserved at CMC until March 1; we may extend our time in Vellore, or may head back up north when the temperatures go up in March-April, or may decide to go home earlier. John, meanwhile, is watching Thomas during the days and hoping to get some work done on his dissertation during naps, evenings, and weekends.
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