The past few weeks seem to have flown by in a complete blur.  So much has happened and I have been completely swamped down with appointments, illness, back to school chaos .... and all with a new baby in tow.

My blog has been completely neglected.
There are so many posts that I want/need to write, and for that I can only apologise.


But here I am ..... back with you all, and determined to get my blogging mojo back.

The kids are now back to school and seem to be settling in well, and we are starting to find a routine with Bubba, but it has been a bumpy road along the way.  We have had problems with rashes, feeding, snuffles and a swollen tummy .... and that is just the baby.  There is probably too much that has happened to bring you up to date with it all, but it just seems as though it has all come along at once.
The short version of it all is that we are keeping an eye on Bubba as he is showing signs of the dreaded reflux and also appears to be having some problems with his tummy/bowel.  He doesn't open his bowels very often and his bowel sounds are sluggish.  On top of that he also has a swollen tummy.  The doctors are happy for us to observe his progress for another week before they think about starting him on any medication, but if his tummy gets any bigger or he becomes more uncomfortable then we have to go straight back.
We are increasing his fluids between feeds to try and help speed up his bowel and we are also trying things like baby massage to try and ease his discomfort.  If there is no improvement after a week then the doctors will decide what to do for the best.

Bubba enjoying some time in his swing

On top of all of this there seems to be something wrong with pretty much all of the children at the moment :

CJ has been referred for an assessment of her feet and ankles
They turn in when she walks, and the ankles look bent when she is standing still.  It affects the way she walks and runs and also costs us a fortune in footwear as all of her shoes wear down on one side.

Roo has been referred to the hospital to have a fasting blood test for diabetes.
She has been seen by the GP due to having urinary problems and behaviour problems.  She constantly needs to go for a wee and is unable to hold it, causing her to wet herself several times a day.  This can be rather embarrassing for her, especially now that she is back at school, but we have made her teachers aware of the problem so that they can allow her to go to the toilet as soon as she needs to.  Because of this, coupled with her atrocious behaviour (which I wont even try to get in to right now) they have decided that it would be a good idea to rule out diabetes as a cause of the problems.

Little Man has been complaining of tummy pain for a few months now.
At first the doctors told us that it is most likely caused by swollen lymph nodes in his tummy and to just treat with pain relief as and when needed.   I did this, but it has continued.  They have now taken a urine sample to rule out infection and if that comes back clear then I am going to ask them to send him for an ultrasound.  I am not happy with the way he is.  He is suffering with the pain on and off every day, and is also not 'himself'.
You know when you just know that something isn't right?? (or am I just being a paranoid parent?)

Squidge has a lump in her breast.
It has been there for a little while, and we just put it down to hormones ..... but it has started to get bigger.
We took her to the GP a few weeks a go and they said that it could be caused by the fact she is on soya milk?!  If I'm honest I don't really understand the reasons behind it ..... but we stopped the soya milk to see if it would help, and it hasn't.  The lump is still there.  If anything it has gotten bigger, so she is having it re-assessed next week.

Add to that my mastitis and possible abscess, and I'm sure you'll understand why I haven't been around for a while.

Here's hoping things start to calm down soon.

Missy x