It has been a most painful weekend. I seem to have an infection in my mouth that has lead to a migraine. My 4 year old, and I don't care what my doctor says, has migraines. My Doctor is repeating many of the same things that was said about me when they couldn't figure out what was going on with me at 2 years old. My son came home yesterday, he was with my husband looking a tractors, crying and hitting the side of his head. My husband informed me that he had been telling him that his head hurt for awhile. I have tried not to jump to conclusions. But when one has spent there entire life with migraines, it takes one look into the eyes of another inflicted person to "see" the migraine. I had thought that since none of my boys had shown any symptoms, that none have them had gotten this. I ran into town and bought some childrens Ibuprofen, 7up and reices pieces. Now why on earth would I buy the junk food? It is the only comforting memory I have as a child with migraines. If you have ever had one, or have had several, you know just how painful they can be. As a child I would go blind, have tunnel vision, break blood vessels around my eyes, have fevers, vomit, sensitive to light, sounds, smells, touch. As an adult I have learn to, well...suck it up and deal. I however can not be on a computer during one. I digress, as a child I remember my father giving me 7up and reices pieces (remember E.T. was so cool at the time) Of course it did nothing for the migraines, it did help the queasiness though. But just that memory, the only good memory of ever having migraines, came into play last night as I watched my 4 year old shrink away in pain. He needs such a memory. ( I have tried everything, from narcotics to herbs to be rid of migraines. Narcotics work only because they knock me out. Herbs have never worked. I take a couple IB's and go pass out. Sleep is the only thing that really helps. The IB brings that pain down to a level that is tolerable so that I can sleep)
We are now going to talk about cows. I have been silently reassuring myself that the low amount of milk we are getting is due to the fact that Mama is still nursing a calf. Once ma is weened, we will get the quantity that I had read about. My husband voiced is doubts last night. "My father says we should get a Holstein" my stomach and heart dropped. I have spent a year, reading and pinning for these Dexters. "Ya, know a real milk cow." I informed him that Dexters are real milk cows. "I know, you have told me, but I am getting tired of milking for so little." I told him that I too was having doubts about the quantity, but informed him that it will get better once Uma is weened. "It better."
So can any one with Dexters reassure us? How much milk on average does a nursing Dam give? We are not going to give up on our girls, that will not happen, but my husband really wants to pick up a Holstein dam, I want to stay with Dexters.
Even with all my pain, I did indeed "suck it up" and we drove posts around the potato bed. We should have fencing up around that area today. (even if I still hurt)
I received this award today from
Given55. With all this talk about migraines and working, and everything else that goes wrong around here, perseverance is something I know a tad about.
I am giving this over to
Crunchy Chicken for her work in Goods For Girls
A Posse ad Esse for his Urban chicken fight.
Ginny, from
Becoming because...you just need to go read her story. ( oh and Ginny I haven't slept since I started having kids)
Kentucky Hollers, she's just as bad as I am.
And then there is
Two Frog Home.
of course there is a large number of blogs I read that deserve this as well.
15 comments:
Dramamine is good for the nausea, as well. I have found, with my migraines at least, that anything works better if it will stay on my stomach. Dramamine, or a generic equivalent will help with that.
Lisa A
Oh, Lordy. I wouldn't want anything for the nausea. If it gets to the throwing up point, I usually start to feel *better* after I visit the porcelain god...
I often find that a cold compress over my eyes helps the pain get down to where I can sleep (which then helps). Sometimes they last, in some form, for a couple of days, though.
If it's any consolation, my dad had them and outgrew them. My brother probably got them as a kid -- especially when he didn't get enough sleep -- but he has outgrown them as well. My sister and I....not so much with the outgrowing. But maybe your son will!
Just a suggestion. Have you ever been tested for allergies? My husband has bad allergies and bad migranes as a child. It turns out the allergist believed there was a connection between the migranes and chocolate (for him, don't worry, it's probably not the same trigger for you) He quit eating that, lowered his caffeine intake and they came back only rarely. He now can eat chocolate and only rarely gets migranes. (Once every few years or so. He had them all the time from abourt age 4-18ish. Good luck, and I'm so sorry to hear about your son. Hope he's doing better soon, poor little guy!
I don't care what kind of cow you get, if you leave the calf with the cow, the calf will eventually take all the milk. My parents kept the calf in the barn in a pen; they'd call the cow to the barn and put her head in the stanchion at milking time; they'd turn the calf out and let it nurse the two teats on the other side while they milked two teats. Now eventually this gets rough. But it's one way to keep the calf from getting all the milk. Don't expect the cow to give her milk down unless the calf has started nursing, though. She'll only give it down for her calf, if she has a calf nursing.
I think Donna is probably right on the milking thing. We let Maggie free nurse on Baby and we only were able to get a minimal amount of milk (maybe a pint or a bit more). I didn't preservere and she is basically dried up now. We are looking into an Irish Jersey Bull to join the herd soon and the second time around I hope to be better equiped (i.e I need a stancion badly!).
As for the migranes, I, too, have experience and not pleasant one at that (as if it could be). I have had a bit of relief from the compress as well, but unfortunately I haven't found herbs to help me either. I always "give in" and take the strong stuff (can't do narcotics, but like the 500 mg tylenol). I hope your baby does out grow them-it must be horrible for a child to deal with migranes.
I had undiagnosed migraines as a tween. The tunnel vision and everything...I feel your pain. Of course it is a thousand times worse to see your son's pain than to feel it yourself. :(
You will not get much milk if the calf is nursing. Dairy farmers always remove the calf...some immediately, others after a few days. The calves get fed with milk replacer out of buckets and kept in calf hutches - which are like large dog houses - to keep their body heat close to keep them warm. People driving by often think they are veal calves. But veal calves are kept indoors, out of the sunlight. Dairy calves have hutches and little runs, or are tethered on chains like a dog.
I've had migraines since kindergarten, they weren't diagnosed until I was in college and my boyfriend literally picked me up and took me to the E.R.
Little kids definitely can have migraines. Your poor little guy.
For you (adult treatment), ask your doc about preventatives. I was on Topomax (5 mg) for a while, and the change was amazing. I went from 3-6 per month, to 1 every 1.5 - 2 months. I was practically dancing in the streets. There are other preventatives too, if Topomax doesn't work for you. You might also want to try Zomig ZT. (or imitrex or zomig), anyway, there are meds out there that help, you just need to stick with it until you find the right one.
For munchkin, that's harder. I don't know of any drugs approved for Migraines in kids. My mom used to have me use "home remedies", and these are the ones that worked.
1. Icy cold washcloth over the forehead and eyes in a dark room with a fan on low to drown out all other sounds, but the fan can't be blowing on the kidlet.
2. Soak the feet in hot water. As hot as he can stand it, and when that starts to not feel hot, add more hot. Seriously. He shouldn't be able to get his feet all the way in the water at first -- that's how hot. A degree or two below a temp that will burn. It draws the blood away from the brain, and down into the feet, relieving the pressure in the head, and easing the migraine. It works. In college, where I didn't have access to a tub, I'd soak my wrists.
(((hugs))) to you and your little boy.
Oh, and the cow trick about milking while she feeds the calf makes sense. When I pump and nurse M at the same time, I get a lot more milk than when I try to pump w/out her. :)
Good luck.
So sorry to hear about your little fella's migraines. A good friend of mine has migraines fairly often, and one of her sons had them from a very young age, despite what the doctor initially said. I do think his have gotten better over time, but they still pop up now and then. Your son is really fortunate you know exactly what he's going through and can have insight into how to help get him through them.
((((((((( hugs to you both! ))))))))))
Lisa A. I don't know if I have ever had it or not. I have had so many things over the years. Now I just no what is more comfortable coming up.
Biana, I will go into the Doctor is they last 3 days. I do that easily, sometimes 2 days on 1 day off, then back again. The cold compress use to work, but it depends on the type of migriane I am having. My boy refused one all together. My favorite trick though is a very hot shower, with me sitting in the tub, allowing the shower to massage my head. My grandmother had them, my father had them and niether out grew them. I have had them since birth, was told I would outgrow them, but instead developed new ones. ~sigh~
Farm mom, yes, I have been tested for everything. The dignosis of migraines came after everything else was negitive. They gave me a list of things not to do, but as a child, ha! like I would follow those. My migraines are set of by excitmenet, stress, humidity changes, hormone changes, ok just about anything aburpt changes. Working too hard, looking at the computer too long....
Donna, thank you!!!!
Gina, we are getting about a pint. So this make us both feel better. Good luck on the stanchion. I don't like narcotics. Have been taking them on and off since I can remember. I try to stay away from them. But now I tend to abuse IB. But at this point I am a little dessperate.
Whirled, my husband mentioned he has seen those calf runs before. I think we will keep Uma on Mama. Things will get better once she is weened and we can start doing a rotation of, pregnant, nursing, milking. Oh and can you email the exact date of your opening, or at least your aim date, so that I can make some plans. Thank you.
Rebecca, as a child I was given everything from penicillian to an opiate, fun fun. I have tried preventitives, but they don't work for me. I have 3 different types of migraines. Most preventiitives work only for clusters, and for me, they only work for 7 days then I have a rebound migraine. I am hopeful that his are only one kind and he doesn't have them very often. Thank you for the advice.
Robbyn, thank you. My neurologist had 12 kids, 11 had migraines. They outgrew them. I know that it is possible for that to happen. They thought I would as well. But no...
My sympathies for the little man. I'll hope he will out grow them even though you did not.
I hope you feel better soon too.
Poor baby will pray for him.
I echo the last sentiment: prayers are comin' your way!
Thanks for the award, Phelan! So kind of you. So sorry about your little guy's migraines - so very tough to have that much pain (for you, too).
Well, I milked a dexter cow for a year, and we got about a gallon a day. That wasn't planned though; she was more on the meat-type side of things, and I was only milking her because her calf had died a few hours after birth.
On another cow related note, our cows kept producing milk, and letting their calves drink it, for a long time. Like, for a year and a half, typically more. So they were good producers.
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