Update on Little Man and the rest of us :)

This past year with our Little Man has been crazy and unpredictable to say the least!  But we have come very far as to having answers!  I continue to praise the Lord for giving me my "mommy instinct" and insisting that something was indeed not right with my Little Man.  From as early as 3 weeks old, I told the doctors that something wasn't right.  "It's just colic"  "It's normal baby stuff"  "His breathing is just a variation of normal"  I would insist, "NO! something is wrong with my baby and I'm not stopping until we have answers."  11 months,  10 doctors including 6 current specialists, 5 trips to Milwaukee, 2 trips to Madison, countless trips to Marshfield, new furniture, new flooring, no pets, lots of different meds and many many prayers later, we have answers and great progress for our Little Man!!!   We did not give up; we did not take no for an answer; and I am incredibly thankful for that!  The Lord has been teaching us so much through this process.  Throughout most of this process, I was doing it alone-apart from God- not necessarily intentionally away from Him but I was.  I was worrying, losing tons of sleep (still do), becoming very angry, impatient, and frankly fed up with everything!  But this is the part where God's grace and glory shine!!!  One day, about 3 weeks ago, I went on a walk with my kiddos, yes a simple walk that changed the direction of my life!  I poured my heart out to our Lord, hit my knees, and met God face to face.  (I never understand what that meant until I experienced it myself.)  I confessed my pride, my anger, my disbelief, and my discontentment to our Holy God.  I asked God to change my heart, give me a new perspective on life, and mold me into the wife, mother, and woman he intended me to be!  I cannot express enough how freeing it truly is to give up my pride!  In the midst of my bondage to Satan, I didn't realize how much it controlled my being!!  Thank you God for saving me! Thank you God for changing my heart! Thank you for sending Jesus the Christ to forgive me of my sins! Thank you God my humility! Thank you God for your never changing Love and Grace!!!  Thank you God for my Life, my family, my babies, and even Little Man's struggles!  Thank you for providing doctors to care for my Little Man and answers to our Little Man's pain!   God is good all the time, in all circumstances, and in every "problem" we face!  God never leaves us!

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 
Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Now on to Little Man's progress...

He has been doing very well with the cats gone, new furniture, and no carpet in the first floor.  However, when the cold weather hit, we had to turn on our furnace.  Well, not so good for little man.  His breathing labored, his eyes puffed up, more doctor visits, and on and on it went... His allergy doctor decided it was time to see a lung doctor.  We were sent to Madison's children's hospital (which is by far the coolest children's hospital I have seen to date-I will take pictures next time)  to see a pulmonologist aka the lung doctor.  That place was amazing on how they handled my baby.  We saw a minimum of 6 medical staff; they talked with us, listened to our story and concerns, examined our baby, educated us on asthma, and gave us more medication to manage his asthma.  My son failed the written asthma test by a lot! He scored 30 and the minimum is 80.  He was diagnosed with moderate to severe asthma.  We were sent home with three new meds and a new spacer for his inhaler.  Praying this would help him improve, we came home. A few trips to the peds while he was sick, oral steroids, and homemade hepa filters followed.  Fast forward to today... Little man is doing very well on the new meds.  With his new asthma action plan; his breathing is less labored, he takes longer naps (still working on getting him to sleep through the night)  coughs far less-almost not at all!  We are also considering taking him off his breathing monitor because he is doing so well.  Please pray for him and getting the common cold.  He goes to code yellow in his action plan anytime he gets sick.  This means higher doses of meds and meds every 4 hours.  Please continue to pray for my Little Man and his asthma.  God is so good to my Little Man!

As far as the rest of his stuff goes...

Little Man's gluten free/egg free diet  is going very well. It's actually going very well for all of us.  Little Man doesn't hurt as much, doesn't get hives or throw up unless contaminated, plays well by himself, and loves to eat his food.  Little Peanut is also responding positively to the diet change. It took some time for her to get use to the new foods, but she adapted well.  She can now tolerate milk products since the gluten has been removed.  The doctor suspects she probably has gluten sensitivity as well.   SuperDaddy also is suspected to have the gluten problem.  He is almost a completely different person to talk with since he can think so clearly now (unless he is contaminated by gluten)  I have to stay gluten free/egg free since I am nursing Little Man yet.  Praise the Lord, Little Man is still getting my breastmilk, which is the best for him.  The breastmilk aids in healing his stomach from the gluten damage.  

His Port Wine Stain is still being treated in Milwaukee, WI.  He had his most recent surgery at the beginning of October.  The doctor says it is responding very well.  We do not know how many more treatments he needs.  His next surgery is December 7.  
  
His eye is still being monitored carefully every three months by his eye doctor.  Still no signs of glaucoma.   

Please continue to keep Little Man in your prayers.  Praise the Lord with us for these answers and Little Man responding well to the meds and treatments!  

Little Peanut is doing well.  I started working with her again on some "school" stuff.  We are working through the alphabet in a different order than normal.  This week we are learning the letter "L".  She is enjoying "preschool" a lot.  I enjoy teaching her.  I continue to Praise the Lord for helping me prioritize my time and share this time with my Peanut.  She is a typical 2.5 yr old pushing boundaries. SuperDaddy and I are looking to God for ways to show Peanut the right direction through discipline. We thank you for your prayers.


Here are Little Man's 11 month photos and some cute pics of Little Peanut...