Category: Parent Talk
Hello everyone,
I just have a few questions about parenting and kids in general.
1. I have a two year old niece who can be very sneaky sometimes. how can you tell when your child is up to no good.
2. I am totally blind except for light perseption. If I were to have children, how would I tell if he/she is sick since I can't see?
3. I take medicines everyday for my pituitary gland because it doesn't function correctly, and medicines for my thyroid and for seizures. Since I take these medicines, is it safe to breast feed?
4. I can have children, I just have to take fertility treatments. If any of you have had to do this, what were your experiences? was it stressul?
I'm not planning on having children until I at least have a job and I'm out of college, but I just want to know these things. Thanks,
Leslie
Dear Leslie,
Being a blind parent to a sneaky toddler (I have a two-year-ol), is all about vigilence. You can't have a rambunctious,sneaky toddler in the room and expect to be able to listen to your iPod, fully watch a TV show, read a novel or talk on the phone without constantly having to interrupt what you're doing to go check out what the little dickens is doing. You always have to listen, listen, listen. If you hear something that doesn't sound right; crinly paper (that could be your phone bill being torn in to bits), water sploshing in the bathroom (there goes Junior putting Duplos in your toilet) and all kinds of other fun things. Lol. Anyway, enough joking... If you don't want to constantly be on all fours or bent over chasing a quick active little one, and you need to get things done, my strong recomendation is extreme child-proofing. We have 3 gates in our apartment; 1 for the kitchen which has been a God-send, one for our room so we can still hear the baby but keep the two-year-old out, and one on my son's room so he stays in at night. We keep our bathroom door shut at all times and when one of us is cooking, cleaning, showering, the other is usually in the room with the kids. They are never ever ever left alone. They are always withen earshot and running range.
Now to answer your next question:
If you have a baby/child and you can't see, knowing when/if the child is sick is just as hard to tell for a blind mom as it is for a sighted mom. Things like pain, sore throat, nausea and such are not detectable unless the little critter can adequately communicate which doesn't usually happen till about 2 and a half. Fever is a dead give-away that he/she's not feeling good; it could be something as minor as teething, but still something to keep watch over. We have a new talking thermometer on its way because our last one died, but those are good for taking the child's temperature and getting an accurate reading for the docs if they ask. Things like coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose diarrhea, vomiting and poor appetite are pretty obvious as well.
Your other questions I cannot answer as I've never taken fertility drugs and don't take your specific medications. I recomend talking to your doctor about those things if and when in the future you decide to have children. Hope this helped.
most medss you will be taken off of during pregnancy and nursing and alternatives can be found. you can usually look up online what class your perscriptions are on the fda website or even using google, but always talk to your doctor before going off any medications. as for sneaking around i's very careful listening, baby proofing, and expierience with what things your little one likes to get in to. If they like water well maybe that's not the best idea. distractions are beautiful things. No you can't tare up mommy's taxxes but here's a coloring book let's play with that instead. We can't color on the walls but we can color on this dry erase board. etc. My sister in law and cousin went through fertility treatments. They're expensive and no garentie that you will carry to term.
You guys have given some great answers. Nice and thorough there, Brandi. I don't plan to become a parent, but it's stil interesting to read this, because I have often wanted to know how blind parents do various things. I always believe blind people could be good parents, I just didn't know how some of the practicalities would work out, and this has given me a window into that.
Leslie, I know a little about your first two questions just from my experiences with my nieces. My middle sister and her daughter lived with me and my parents for the first couple years of my niece's life, and I often took care of her. You do have to be absolutely vigilant. When a child is being silent, you better go see what's up. Or when you ask what they're doing and they say, "Nothing," often it's the worst kind of something. LOL. Brandi gave you very sound advice there.
It was indeed sometimes hard for Nicole. (that's my sister), to tell when Madison, (that's my niece), was sick. When Madison was a baby, there were times she'd just cry and cry, and it was clear she was in pain from the sound of the cry, but there were no outward signs of sickness. I always felt so bad for her, that she couldn't tell us what was wrong, and so we couldn't do as much about it. I imagine sometimes it's even hard for pediatricians to tell, when there are no outwards signs, and the child is too young to communicate.
As for your last two questions, most definitely something you've got to talk to your doctor about. Especially to your questions about breast feeding with the meds you're on. No one here can, or should even try, to give you an answer on that. Only your doctor and/or a pharmacist would be trustworthy for that kind of info.
This is a very informative topic. good luck everyone, and thanks Brandi for the awesome info.
Interesting that you bring up meds. I recently started going to a new optholmologist, who put me on new eyedrops for my glaucoma. When I got home I did some research and noticed that the drops were dangerous to take while breastfeeding, so my next appointment I asked my dr. about that, because I don't want to do anything to hurt my future baby!
His recommendation was that because the drops were doing what they're supposed to, either take them as needed, or take them until I discover I'm pregnant and then stop right away.
In terms of meds and doctors, make sure that whatever doc(s) you see will partner with you; there's a fine line between them doing everything you say, telling you what to do, and walking you through the process. I'm thankful mine are good about walking me through the process.
Not much to contribue, but there ya go.
CM
I love this topic, nice answers, so informed me when I deside to have a kid with my wife.