The Goose and Carrot July Edition

[Lougle]

All welcome, and everything disappears after 90 days.

Good the calendar is helping @Lougle

I might be able to do a meet up @TheGoodCat

DH is returning tomorrow and DD leaving for France. DS has come upstairs for the freezer a lot in past couple of days whilst DD and I have been upstairs. At first he crept really quietly but I saw him and the cat gave him a I am judging you look. Now he isn't subtle at all. The cat keeps trying to be with DS for a few hours late evening as DS cooks meat and wanders the garden when its dusk and lit up by the dandelion lights. Looks very exciting.

Oh geez DD2 just said to me tonight after i Commented her breathe smelt like she was thirsty & needed a drink …”just realised mum I’ve not had a wee since last night!” I’ve had her wearing my Garmin all day so we could monitor her heart rate as it’s tracking high & we’ve not sure if the meds are impacting it too much & and I had reminded her to drink this morning & put a glass of water next to her lunch and dinner sigh if she can’t do the basics how the flip can she cope going back to FT college in 12mths time I just can’t see it happening. Just hoping she doesn’t get a uti it’s been so hot here today, but she had zero headache or even noticed. So now put yet another set of reminders in my phone for tomorrow to check she’s drunk something every two hours & had a wee and cancelled my day in the office sigh.

@Beachgosling have you tried a sports top bottle? DD didn’t drink until we switch to a bottle that gave her sensory feed back and now she is super hydrated without promoting.

@Tulipandmagnolia it would be lovely to see you! I never lead on these things as it’s easier for me with 1 DC to juggle I will wait until the geese get momentum and fit it.

Thanks @TheGoodCat she did like the squeeze sports bottle for a while but she just forgets and despite constant reminders doesn’t drink. It’s hard because the adhd meds had transformed her life but we’ve noticing more side effects now that are impacting sadly it’s always such a balancing act.

@Beachgosling it would be pretty unusual, even if she hasn't been drinking today, for her not to produce enough urine that she would pee in 24 hours. Like seek medical attention unusual. The human body usually produces 0.5ml/kg/hr on average, so even if she's, say, 50kg, she should have produced about 600ml of urine since last night, and roughly 150-300ml should give an urge to pee. ADHD meds can reduce thirst signals but the body is usually quite good at shouting when it gets to the point of severe dehydration.

Do you genuinely think she hasn't passed any urine since yesterday evening? If you do, she needs to see a doctor.

@Beachgosling it is a balancing act. College might be very doable, it’s the not knowing and the wondering about the how it all fits together. Not getting signals to hydrate etc is different to capacity to get in a routine to attend college. Transition to college is the hurdle, I wonder if your DD2 is feeling this as mine has ramped up anxiety around returning to study but also has the feelings for seasons changing. The main thing is that hopefully you can establish that DD2 is not ill but dehydrated, I hope tomorrow brings relief.

The Eclipse tomorrow is bringing an air of anticipation here. The reporting of birds worrying and the sky going dark is what DD reports as pretty standard feelings.

she was just holding it all she had a big wee before having a shower in the evening she said. It’s just really bizarre i haven’t needed to remind her of “go to the loo” for a long time apart from if we are going out for a long drive somewhere I’ll say it in passing as we are leaving “have you been”. It’s just so frustrating every time we appear to be making a step forward in life skills I realise how big the gap still is at times. I do think it’s the adhd meds causing some issues, which is so sad as they have been so so life changing in other aspects we would both be gutted if she had to stop as it’s transformed parts of her life (& mine ). She said yesterday I really don’t want to stop taking them mum. I’ve already said we will have two days off and reset I want to track her heart rate today without them.

I remember clearly the last big eclipse 25years ago as i was standing on a cliff top and it is the birds behaviour that i clearly remember all flying around pre-“sunset” then the eerrie quiet. We will hopefully get a good view here. The bbc website had a really good short feature with cool graphics that DD & I looked at yesterday. She’s likes the techie side of the graphics and how they make them.,

We were told the ADHD meds could reduce thirst as well as appetite. When DS was first on the meds we found the appetite thing and learned to give him a big breakfast and a big tea. Maybe check on drinking first thing/at tea time?

It would be lovely to see you too @TheGoodCat

DD has left for France and DH is returning today should be back in a few hours.

Just heard re planning application for shed / summerhouse and they have requested a site visit on Friday afternoon and said we don't need to be there and will be 10 minutes to get idea of location. I've said its fine but better if we are there as wandering silkies and wandering DS.

That's not too bad, house and garden are fairly good at the moment but gives us a day and a half to do more gardening and also clean downstairs bathroom which we were planning on anyway. Though she's given a whole half day for visit and more precise would be helpful. But good it starts at 1.30pm so we can get lunch done first. I was concerned DH would not have any energy after his French trip but says he's fine - he did a fair bit of driving about 28 hours over 6 days and had collected DD previous day but the rest was relaxing.

Both DD1 and DD2 wouldn’t drink left to their own devices. With DD1, we give her milk and biscuits with her meds in bed, to stop that first hunger drop attack. Then we give her a drink at every meal, and half way between meals. She has another drink with her evening meds. We have to prompt her to drink between meals. She and DH run much hotter than me, so they are always complaining it’s too hot, and sweating far more than me. Both of them need to drink more than me, although I have to keep well hydrated for a health problem.

DD2, even when she’s breastfeeding, might not have had a drink all day by 4 pm. She would never use school toilets, so she didn’t drink at school - I guess she got used to it. Also, her sensory processing is a bit strange - so, it could be something to do with that? For instance, she can’t stand her nails being level with the top of her fingers? She has to have long nails? Likewise, she can’t cope with gloopy liquid medicines, whereas food textures don’t bother her.

DD1 is diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, but she has the common problems like loud noise, hand driers, clothes labels (as a child), hot baths, etc.

The trouble is while DD1 has obvious learning disability and challenging behaviour, it’s easier to tell her to do something and she’ll do it, most of the time; whereas DD2 is obviously mentally ill, but much more articulate and able to argue back, deflect, and lie.

DS stopped drinking and eating at school but on reflection I think it was to do with bullying around the toilets so avoiding them.

He also really likes the Belvoir Elderflower or Lime Cordials and milk in industrial quantities of any type though he's lactose intolerant.

She has written into her EHCP all staff to remind her to drink and eat but of course they never did it’s always been a sensory issue she just doesn’t notice. So we have over the years relied on time prompts to drink plus at meal times but today I have literally every hour gone “have you had a drink” nope / I stood there saying have a drink, reminded her twice to go wee she ignored me until I refused to move as she was hyper focused on something. She’s an intelligent 15 at some point she has to take some responsibility for looking after her own basic needs when she is capable of doing it whether it’s an alarm in her phone, or pop up on her computer she needs to find a system that works for her.. I’m just frustrated as my energy bucket is low with too many demands and I can’t seem to drop the rope on anything at the moment without consequences arrhh. I almost need her to experience what sitting in a hot stuffy overflowing A&E would be like for 12hours to hammer home the repercussions of not drinking for her to take notice. My poor mum has sat with my dad waiting to get an emergency catheter change in those conditions more than once until early hours as our A&E is overrun with holiday makers this time of year it’s extra chaotic.

Both DD2 & DD3 wouldn't drink at school when they were in mainstream school. DD3 also wouldn't eat.

@Beachgosling over time if reminders from electronics would help, have a look at Brain in Hand. Does your area have a community nursing team who will deal with catheters? Sometimes patients aren’t always told about these teams and I don’t know why.

DS2&3 need reminding to eat and drink enough. DS1 doesn’t take in enough fluids orally and relies on his gastrostomy.

I forget to drink if I don't build it into my day. I now carry a water bottle like some sort of demented toddler and make myself drain it several times a day. I am irrationally irritated by how often I have to pee as a result BUT kidney stones are down, diabetes in remission and for the most part joints are not as intolerably achey. It's part of my concerted effort to be well and I think quite impactful. I find it easier to hit my hydration target with a sports lid (the ones you suck, they probably have a proper name).

I have a mouse in my kitchen. I think brought in by a cat since it was out in the middle of the day and there have been no mouse droppings but it's gone to ground under the sink and I can't get it out. Why is my life like this? Why don't I get to be the one who doesn't have a mouse in her kitchen??

I have a draft email where I update how many ml I have drank that day, calories that day and minutes of exercise. It's like I am a car but works for me as think in numbers a lot.

@Tulipandmagnolia I use My Fitness Pal for that, although there is a hiccup. It used to be partnered with Pacer, so my steps were automatically entered into MFP too. However, there is no longer an agreement, and I can’t work out how to enter steps, as opposed to minutes of walking.

I spend a lot of time, thinking about numbers, because that is the nature of accountancy. I dread to think how many invoices and bank statements I have looked!

Clients used to be astonished if they were talking about an invoice for £3,000 and we’d say, don’t forget the VAT of £600. They’d say “How do you know that?”Answer, when you’ve looked at countless invoices for £3,000, we don’t even have to think what is 20% of that. We just know.

@Wellzizizbetter commiserations. Can you shut the door and let it be lulled into false security. Apparently, zoos put out mousetraps completely bare and unset, then leave them for some time. The mice get used to them being there, run over them, pee on them, etc. Then a couple of weeks later, they go back in and set the traps. Mice run over them as usual and that's that.

DD2 has a new goal to drink a whole bottle by 3pm, and another by 9 pm. The bottles with lines for each hour could be helpful?

We have survived DD2's birthday. It turned out to be a really busy day and DD2 found it too much, really, but she battled through.

@Lougle happy birthday to DD2! 🌟

Happy birthday to DD2 @Lougle

I'm the same @LathkillDale and have Excel spreadsheets as well.

Did 3.5 hours in garden with DH.

lougle happy birthday to DD2.

Sympathy to everyone coping with the extreme heat.

I would love a meet up. 😁

Thank you both.

Your garden must be absolutely stunning @Tulipandmagnolia . You spend so much time out there.

Today was a bit mad. I got up at 6.15am, slapped a coat of Zinsser Gardz on the utility wall and ceiling, finished decorating DD2's cake, spent 30 minutes at our local Sainsbury's, waiting for the baked goods to be put out, then breakfast and presents. Then I spent 30 minutes mowing the lawn so that we could put our gazebo up. Out to the garden centre, then 2 sets of visitors.

I don't know how I managed to bake a cake because our kitchen and utility was in chaos, with the dishwasher pulled out, so dishes piled high, and we'd run out of hot water. But I got it all tidied and cake finished.

DH has worked really hard replumbing the utility and moving electrical cables, so the dishwasher is back in place and he just needs to fit the worktop and plumb in the new sink. I'll try to paint the walls and ceiling tomorrow morning before the day of appointments starts.

Happy birthday DD2 @lougle hope today the post social hangover isn’t too much of a crash.

Well we sat in a field with the glasses last night watching the eclipse & persuaded DD2 to come with DH & dog. It was all abit meh but we had fun just chatting & was nice that DD relaxed. It’s hard making a teenager do anything when they really don’t want to. But she did wee & drink today as normal but didn’t take her adhd meds and I had to be on it all day sigh, her average resting HR was 90 on the garmin. So it’s at the high end but with in normal range for a teen. It’s just tricky as the rest of us are all much fitter and our resting HR are all in 50 -60 range so I’m trying to work out what’s her normal and what impact the meds are having. She’s not overweight or unfit but does have low BP.

Can DC take those tablets for lactose intolerant people, before he drinks milk?

Someone in our family is Chinese and is lactose intolerant. They take them before having milk. Milk is not a part of the diet for the Chinese and many are lactose intolerant, as adults.

@Lougle Happy Birthday to DD2! 🎂