No, I'm not going to talk about my awesome dance moves, maybe in another post.
Lately I have been feeling funky. I hate this feeling because I feel stuck in my day to day routine and feel like I can't do anything about it. This cycle will just keep repeating itself everyday. I want to do something to breakout of the cycle.
My husband bought me Turbo Fire for my birthday this year. I did it for a month and it was great!! I love it. I felt great and it really worked in my schedule. Well, things happened that through me off my schedule and I haven't really picked it back up or put my schedule back in. I have a hypothesis, as my friend Buddy from the Dinosaur Train would say, that that's the reason why I'm feeling funky. Evey week I'll say I'll pick it up next week or start tomorrow but I never do.
I don't want to make anymore excuses!! I am starting back on my schedule and will be working out again. When I had a schedule implemented, Zeke was listening more, I got way more done in a day then I thought I could, and my attitude was happier. Everything thing about the scheduled life was positive. I hate that I got off track and stopped but NO more.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Allergy Update
For those of you that don't know, Zeke is allergic to wheat, eggs, and peanuts. We found that out a year ago when Zeke's allergist did a skin test because his eczema was crazy jacked up. It's under control now and his skin has never looked better. Well today was his year check up to see if anything has changed. My second mama, Jen, went with me for support. THANK YOU!!
The test itself is not painful, it's just super itchy. They scratch his skin with whatever he is allergic to, to see how bad of a reaction he will have or not have. They do it on his back so he can't reach it. I have to hold him chest to chest while they scratch and then wait 15 minutes. It's hard but I know it necessary.
As we are waiting they played a Bob the Builder movie to distract him from the itchiness. It worked pretty well. After the 15 minutes are up they come in and measure the size of the reaction and the pinkness around it.
She went over the results with us and his wheat allergy came back NEGATIVE!! Crazy, right?
His egg reaction was a little better then last year which is really good news too. His peanut is pretty much the same, I kinda figured that with the peanut scare we had last week.
I'm SO thankful that he has outgrown the wheat allergy! The allergist said she think he will grow out of the egg allergy too.....with time. YAY!!!! I couldn't ask for anything more.
So now we will slowly introduce wheat into his diet to make sure he is still good. It wouldn't make him stop breathing or give him trouble breathing, like the peanuts could, it would just flare up his eczema. So we will keep an eye on him.
I'm SO excited!!
One of the first things that I thought when she said the wheat was negative was, he can have a "regular" birthday cake next year! haha I'm silly I know this .....but it's true. I'm also excited because that wheat free junk is expensive!!!!!!
I pray next year his egg will be negative too. Who knows, maybe one day he will grown out of the peanut allergy....there is always hope.
The test itself is not painful, it's just super itchy. They scratch his skin with whatever he is allergic to, to see how bad of a reaction he will have or not have. They do it on his back so he can't reach it. I have to hold him chest to chest while they scratch and then wait 15 minutes. It's hard but I know it necessary.
As we are waiting they played a Bob the Builder movie to distract him from the itchiness. It worked pretty well. After the 15 minutes are up they come in and measure the size of the reaction and the pinkness around it.
She went over the results with us and his wheat allergy came back NEGATIVE!! Crazy, right?
His egg reaction was a little better then last year which is really good news too. His peanut is pretty much the same, I kinda figured that with the peanut scare we had last week.
I'm SO thankful that he has outgrown the wheat allergy! The allergist said she think he will grow out of the egg allergy too.....with time. YAY!!!! I couldn't ask for anything more.
So now we will slowly introduce wheat into his diet to make sure he is still good. It wouldn't make him stop breathing or give him trouble breathing, like the peanuts could, it would just flare up his eczema. So we will keep an eye on him.
I'm SO excited!!
One of the first things that I thought when she said the wheat was negative was, he can have a "regular" birthday cake next year! haha I'm silly I know this .....but it's true. I'm also excited because that wheat free junk is expensive!!!!!!
I pray next year his egg will be negative too. Who knows, maybe one day he will grown out of the peanut allergy....there is always hope.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
You Are What You Eat
Over the past week my husband and I have seen a couple documentary's that have impacted our lives forever....in a good way of course:) Food Inc. and Food Matters were the movies and I will say you need to check them out if you haven't already!
They have really opened our eyes to what we are not only putting in our bodies but our kiddos bodies as well. We are health conscious and have always wanted to be healthy but now we have these little ones to take care of and raise. We want to implement good healthy eating habits while they are young so hopefully they will continue to live that way for the rest of their lives.
We are starting down this healthier us road now. We want/need to take care of this one body God gave us. It is our temple.
I'm excited about this and so is Chris. We started this yesterday and I can say I already feel better. Crazy what 1 day will do for you. :)
My friend Crystal over at Veggieliciousmom has been posting some amazingly yummy recipes. My other friend Britney Warner has a great blog with healthy recipes too. Check em out......They inspire me to try new things.
I will share a couple things I have made so far:
Orange Carrot Muffins (Gluten Free of course)
3/4 C. Carrot Pulp
2/3 C. Honey ( I used orange blossom honey from the farmers market)
1/4 C. Orange Juice
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil ( I used olive oil because that's all I had)
2 egg whites ( Since my little man is allergic to eggs I used an egg replacer)
3/4 C. Whole- Wheat Flour ( I used rice flour)
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine carrot pulp, honey, orange juice,oil and egg whites. Mix well. Next add flour and baking powder. Mix until all ingredients are combined. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool for a couple minutes and enjoy.
They were SO yummy and great for breakfast/snack during the day. Zeke loved it so that's really all that matters:)
Strawberry Balsamico Dressing
1 C. Strawberry Juice
1 tablespoon Strawberry Pulp
1/4 C. Balsamic Vinegar
Mix all ingredients well and blamo you homemade salad dressing! So yummy!
I will post more along our journey of healthiness. I'm excited to get healthy....do you want to join me?
They have really opened our eyes to what we are not only putting in our bodies but our kiddos bodies as well. We are health conscious and have always wanted to be healthy but now we have these little ones to take care of and raise. We want to implement good healthy eating habits while they are young so hopefully they will continue to live that way for the rest of their lives.
We are starting down this healthier us road now. We want/need to take care of this one body God gave us. It is our temple.
I'm excited about this and so is Chris. We started this yesterday and I can say I already feel better. Crazy what 1 day will do for you. :)
My friend Crystal over at Veggieliciousmom has been posting some amazingly yummy recipes. My other friend Britney Warner has a great blog with healthy recipes too. Check em out......They inspire me to try new things.
I will share a couple things I have made so far:
Orange Carrot Muffins (Gluten Free of course)
3/4 C. Carrot Pulp
2/3 C. Honey ( I used orange blossom honey from the farmers market)
1/4 C. Orange Juice
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil ( I used olive oil because that's all I had)
2 egg whites ( Since my little man is allergic to eggs I used an egg replacer)
3/4 C. Whole- Wheat Flour ( I used rice flour)
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine carrot pulp, honey, orange juice,oil and egg whites. Mix well. Next add flour and baking powder. Mix until all ingredients are combined. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool for a couple minutes and enjoy.
They were SO yummy and great for breakfast/snack during the day. Zeke loved it so that's really all that matters:)
Strawberry Balsamico Dressing
1 C. Strawberry Juice
1 tablespoon Strawberry Pulp
1/4 C. Balsamic Vinegar
Mix all ingredients well and blamo you homemade salad dressing! So yummy!
I will post more along our journey of healthiness. I'm excited to get healthy....do you want to join me?
2 Big
It's official, I'm a mother of a 2 year old.
I can't believe my little man is growing up so fast. I wish I could give him a shot to slow down the growing:)Good thing he's tinier then most 2 year olds. He is so much fun to be around and I love playing with him. He says more words each day and starting to say 2 to 3 words together like, What do you want? He drags out the What part and makes me laugh. To see this little person ask me with a serious face, Whaaaaaaat do you want?
I also love how he prays with us. He closes his eyes and smiles waiting to here the word Amen. then says AAAAmen. Love it!! I feel like the terrible 2's will be at the Bryant house this year too. This parenting thing is no joke. I want my parenting to Glorify God, showing my little man about obedience and listening to me just like God wants us obey Him and listen to Him.
He is such a sweet boy. He loves his Dada so much!! Anytime Zeke hears the garage door open he yells Dada and runs to the door. He loves to go check the mail with Dada when he gets home too. They walk out together and Zeke likes to carry it in. He LOVES to push the garage door button. That is pretty much the only way I can get him to come inside from the car. Any time Zeke sees someone doing yard work or hears lawn equipment he says Dada.
Zeke loves choo choo trains and anything that moves is a choo choo. We're working on that one:)He has a crazy obsession with Elmo. He talks to him on "his" phone all the time. Makes me laugh to hear him talk to Elmo. Hi Elmo, hlsdkjhfihjcvsdhofbkjnnAKJH CNB;KN;DFJN KJFnfKBCDB. That's all I can understand, the rest is jiberish.
What makes me smile really big is his love for his sister EE (Evey)! They play together all the time and it blesses my heart. The first time Evey June smiled was at Zeke. She loves him and He loves her...I hope it lasts forever.
I am truly blessed with this awesome little man! So happy that he is MY son. I pray God will do big things through him.
I can't believe my little man is growing up so fast. I wish I could give him a shot to slow down the growing:)Good thing he's tinier then most 2 year olds. He is so much fun to be around and I love playing with him. He says more words each day and starting to say 2 to 3 words together like, What do you want? He drags out the What part and makes me laugh. To see this little person ask me with a serious face, Whaaaaaaat do you want?
I also love how he prays with us. He closes his eyes and smiles waiting to here the word Amen. then says AAAAmen. Love it!! I feel like the terrible 2's will be at the Bryant house this year too. This parenting thing is no joke. I want my parenting to Glorify God, showing my little man about obedience and listening to me just like God wants us obey Him and listen to Him.
He is such a sweet boy. He loves his Dada so much!! Anytime Zeke hears the garage door open he yells Dada and runs to the door. He loves to go check the mail with Dada when he gets home too. They walk out together and Zeke likes to carry it in. He LOVES to push the garage door button. That is pretty much the only way I can get him to come inside from the car. Any time Zeke sees someone doing yard work or hears lawn equipment he says Dada.
Zeke loves choo choo trains and anything that moves is a choo choo. We're working on that one:)He has a crazy obsession with Elmo. He talks to him on "his" phone all the time. Makes me laugh to hear him talk to Elmo. Hi Elmo, hlsdkjhfihjcvsdhofbkjnnAKJH CNB;KN;DFJN KJFnfKBCDB. That's all I can understand, the rest is jiberish.
What makes me smile really big is his love for his sister EE (Evey)! They play together all the time and it blesses my heart. The first time Evey June smiled was at Zeke. She loves him and He loves her...I hope it lasts forever.
I am truly blessed with this awesome little man! So happy that he is MY son. I pray God will do big things through him.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Food Allergy Scare
It’s been about a year since we found out what Ezekiel is allergic to and how bad it is. He’s allergic to peanuts, wheat and eggs. The peanut allergy is bad enough that I have an epi-pen with him at all times. It really scares me that I have to have this shot with my kid just in case he comes in contact with peanuts or ingest some because he could stop breathing. Ugh…it makes me sick just to think abut using it. We have had a couple scares since having the epi-pen but I have never had to use it. Benadryl is his best friend in situations where he starts to break out.
This morning was just like any other normal morning here in the Bryant house. Got up and started getting breakfast ready for Zeke. After he was settled I got my coffee and poured my cereal. Zeke was eating his food and spilled some on the floor so he got up to throw it away. He was taking a while to come back so I got up and saw that he was eating some of my cereal that I apparently dropped on the floor. I ran over and got it from him. Minutes later I noticed him itching his neck like crazy and he started to break out in a rash. Neck started to swell and his rash was spreading to his cheeks. I look at the cereal box and it was honey nut cereal. At the bottom it says sprinkled with PEANUTS!!! I start to FREAK! When I bought the cereal I wasn’t thinking and didn’t do a good job checking. All the honey nut cereal I have bought before were always almonds so I didn’t even think to check.
He wasn’t breathing funny or trying to breathe so I didn’t give him the epi-pen. I go to get the Benadryl but we didn’t have any more!! I’m starting to really freak and call Chris. He told me to give Jen Polk a call, who was headed my direction anyways, to see if she can pick some up. She is right in front of Publix as I called, Thank you Jesus!! She runs in and picks some up for me while I keep an eye on him. Breaking out in a sweat and having so many thought running through my head. Feeling AWFUL for having peanuts in my house and letting my kid get into it. Every situation was running through my head…epi-pen, 911, ambulance, hospital and even death. Crazy how fast thoughts come in your head and your brain takes you somewhere else.
Jen gets to my house and we gave him the Benadryl right away. At this point his one eye is starting to get splotchy, puffy and red. His eye ball is getting red too. I call the PED and he said you can bring him in or just wait and keep an eye on him. I choose to wait and with in the next few minutes his eye starts to get better Praise The Lord!! He’s slowly looking better as each minute goes by.
You would think that would make me feel better but I actually felt worse. Guilt is sinking in. I’m SO glad Jen was there for me! She said wake up calls aren’t bad.
Huh? My wall of caution was low and I allowed this in my home. When I first found out about his allergy, my wall of caution was super duper high. I didn’t care if I hurt someone’s feeling by not eating their food or not going some place because they have peanuts or cook with peanuty things. I wasn’t afraid to say something to someone about his allergies if they had peanut butter. I also was super scared for him that I didn’t really even go anywhere because Zeke got a reaction from a shopping cart one day. I’m sure a kid had something peanuty and touch the cart. I get it next and Zeke touches it then touches his eye. While I get Zeke out of the car I notice his eye swollen up. It looks like he got stung by a bee. The other eye starts to swell as well. I was always scared for him. So we spent a lot of time indoors where I was in control of what he was exposed too. As time went by my wall got lower and lower. It’s an inconvenience sometimes and I would just give in. Now I’m beating myself up for being so lax.
I guess this was my wake up call. Now I’m trying to find a balance in our life with the food allergies. It’s hard and I get so upset sometimes but then I think about my life and it could be A LOT worse! Other then the food allergies, our little man is perfectly healthy. While I was in the hospital with Evey for RSV, I would pass mothers and families with children with disabilities. My food allergy road is a lot different then theirs. It really opened my eyes and made me thankful for what God has blessed my husband and I with. 100% healthy children.
So for now I will just praise The Lord for not letting this little scare turn into something big.
This morning was just like any other normal morning here in the Bryant house. Got up and started getting breakfast ready for Zeke. After he was settled I got my coffee and poured my cereal. Zeke was eating his food and spilled some on the floor so he got up to throw it away. He was taking a while to come back so I got up and saw that he was eating some of my cereal that I apparently dropped on the floor. I ran over and got it from him. Minutes later I noticed him itching his neck like crazy and he started to break out in a rash. Neck started to swell and his rash was spreading to his cheeks. I look at the cereal box and it was honey nut cereal. At the bottom it says sprinkled with PEANUTS!!! I start to FREAK! When I bought the cereal I wasn’t thinking and didn’t do a good job checking. All the honey nut cereal I have bought before were always almonds so I didn’t even think to check.
He wasn’t breathing funny or trying to breathe so I didn’t give him the epi-pen. I go to get the Benadryl but we didn’t have any more!! I’m starting to really freak and call Chris. He told me to give Jen Polk a call, who was headed my direction anyways, to see if she can pick some up. She is right in front of Publix as I called, Thank you Jesus!! She runs in and picks some up for me while I keep an eye on him. Breaking out in a sweat and having so many thought running through my head. Feeling AWFUL for having peanuts in my house and letting my kid get into it. Every situation was running through my head…epi-pen, 911, ambulance, hospital and even death. Crazy how fast thoughts come in your head and your brain takes you somewhere else.
Jen gets to my house and we gave him the Benadryl right away. At this point his one eye is starting to get splotchy, puffy and red. His eye ball is getting red too. I call the PED and he said you can bring him in or just wait and keep an eye on him. I choose to wait and with in the next few minutes his eye starts to get better Praise The Lord!! He’s slowly looking better as each minute goes by.
You would think that would make me feel better but I actually felt worse. Guilt is sinking in. I’m SO glad Jen was there for me! She said wake up calls aren’t bad.
Huh? My wall of caution was low and I allowed this in my home. When I first found out about his allergy, my wall of caution was super duper high. I didn’t care if I hurt someone’s feeling by not eating their food or not going some place because they have peanuts or cook with peanuty things. I wasn’t afraid to say something to someone about his allergies if they had peanut butter. I also was super scared for him that I didn’t really even go anywhere because Zeke got a reaction from a shopping cart one day. I’m sure a kid had something peanuty and touch the cart. I get it next and Zeke touches it then touches his eye. While I get Zeke out of the car I notice his eye swollen up. It looks like he got stung by a bee. The other eye starts to swell as well. I was always scared for him. So we spent a lot of time indoors where I was in control of what he was exposed too. As time went by my wall got lower and lower. It’s an inconvenience sometimes and I would just give in. Now I’m beating myself up for being so lax.
I guess this was my wake up call. Now I’m trying to find a balance in our life with the food allergies. It’s hard and I get so upset sometimes but then I think about my life and it could be A LOT worse! Other then the food allergies, our little man is perfectly healthy. While I was in the hospital with Evey for RSV, I would pass mothers and families with children with disabilities. My food allergy road is a lot different then theirs. It really opened my eyes and made me thankful for what God has blessed my husband and I with. 100% healthy children.
So for now I will just praise The Lord for not letting this little scare turn into something big.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
I Love LOVE Stories!
When I was fourteen-ish I made the choice to live my life set-apart. I wanted to wait for God to bring the man who was going to be my husband into my life.
Not date.
I know that sounds crazy…and yes, it is crazy. I knew God had someone really special for me. Someone HE created just for ME. Why waist my time and feelings on anyone else? I wanted my heart to be fully his. Now, I will say that it was way easier said then done.
Every girl has that longing/desire to be loved. It’s a good thing. That’s the way God created us. When we take that longing/desire and place it in anything or anyone other then Jesus Christ, it fails. You get broken hearted and feel all alone. That’s why we need to make Jesus the lover of our soul. Keep him as our foundation and build off that.
While waiting I had ups and downs. Sometimes it was easy to surrender and other times it sucked! Seeing friends have boyfriends and dating looked so good because they had someone there with them. I felt alone at points but then I had to remind myself I wasn’t alone. The enemy was trying to creep in my head telling my lies. Replacing lies with truth was something I did on a daily basis. Reminding myself about the one prince God had for me, His princess. I am so loved and cherished by God. Not only was God preparing my husband, he was also preparing me. Looking back on it now, I am thankful for the choices I made.
4 years after I made that choice to pursue Christ with all my heart, I started to go to a church that my youth pastor started, Mosaic Church. While there, I met Christopher James Bryant and his super cool car ;) During the 4 years of waiting, whenever I met a new boy, I would ask myself if this was “the one”. Dork right!! Well, when I first saw Chris I thought the same thing. I told God I wouldn’t be mad if this was my husband. After months of going to Mosaic, Chris started hanging out with some of my inner circle friends. Shortly after that I found out how old he was and it pretty much squashed all my thinking of him being “the one”. He was 9 years older then me! How could he ever like me? I was 18 and he was 27.
A couple of more months went by and he asked to be my friend on Myspace!!!! Oh those were the days :) My heart was fluttering! Chris asked if I wanted to go to a Sun’s game with him. I of course said YES!! He also said he couldn’t get anyone else to go so he called me. That made me feel great….Nothing says husband like last resort! Hahaha
That was the beginning of us hanging out as friends. I was starting to get the feeling he was liking me. Again, heart fluttering! Chris asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with him because he wanted to talk. AAAHHHHH I was freaking out! A million things were going through my head and I’m thinking he’s going to tell me he likes me. Well long story short, he said he wanted to make sure we were…..JUST friends. Ugh…my hearts fell to my stomach. I felt so stupid. I put a smile on my face and said. “ Oh ya, we’re just friends!” I was super bummed but knew God had someone for me.
Couple more months went by and our “friendship” seemed to be growing. I was starting to like him. I could also feel something in him too. I knew we need to have another talk. We were outside of my second parent’s house and we both agreed that we like each other. He knew where I stood and respected that. I loved that! Shortly after that we were labeled.
Boyfriend and Girlfriend.
When we both told each other we liked each other, in my head that was him saying I could see you as my wife. He knew I didn’t want to date. I just wanted to be with the one God made for me. So by him saying that….I knew, He was the one. We started dating, officially, in December of 2006 and were engaged one year later to be exact. Engaged for 7 months and then tied the knot on July 27, 2008.
I love my love story not just because it’s mine but because God gets Glory out of it. He is the one who carried me through the years of waiting. Preparing my heart, as well as my husbands’ heart to be one. Go though this journey of life together, pursuing Christ with all we’ve got.
All that to say….I love my God….I love my Husband….I love the story we get to share together!
Not date.
I know that sounds crazy…and yes, it is crazy. I knew God had someone really special for me. Someone HE created just for ME. Why waist my time and feelings on anyone else? I wanted my heart to be fully his. Now, I will say that it was way easier said then done.
Every girl has that longing/desire to be loved. It’s a good thing. That’s the way God created us. When we take that longing/desire and place it in anything or anyone other then Jesus Christ, it fails. You get broken hearted and feel all alone. That’s why we need to make Jesus the lover of our soul. Keep him as our foundation and build off that.
While waiting I had ups and downs. Sometimes it was easy to surrender and other times it sucked! Seeing friends have boyfriends and dating looked so good because they had someone there with them. I felt alone at points but then I had to remind myself I wasn’t alone. The enemy was trying to creep in my head telling my lies. Replacing lies with truth was something I did on a daily basis. Reminding myself about the one prince God had for me, His princess. I am so loved and cherished by God. Not only was God preparing my husband, he was also preparing me. Looking back on it now, I am thankful for the choices I made.
4 years after I made that choice to pursue Christ with all my heart, I started to go to a church that my youth pastor started, Mosaic Church. While there, I met Christopher James Bryant and his super cool car ;) During the 4 years of waiting, whenever I met a new boy, I would ask myself if this was “the one”. Dork right!! Well, when I first saw Chris I thought the same thing. I told God I wouldn’t be mad if this was my husband. After months of going to Mosaic, Chris started hanging out with some of my inner circle friends. Shortly after that I found out how old he was and it pretty much squashed all my thinking of him being “the one”. He was 9 years older then me! How could he ever like me? I was 18 and he was 27.
A couple of more months went by and he asked to be my friend on Myspace!!!! Oh those were the days :) My heart was fluttering! Chris asked if I wanted to go to a Sun’s game with him. I of course said YES!! He also said he couldn’t get anyone else to go so he called me. That made me feel great….Nothing says husband like last resort! Hahaha
That was the beginning of us hanging out as friends. I was starting to get the feeling he was liking me. Again, heart fluttering! Chris asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with him because he wanted to talk. AAAHHHHH I was freaking out! A million things were going through my head and I’m thinking he’s going to tell me he likes me. Well long story short, he said he wanted to make sure we were…..JUST friends. Ugh…my hearts fell to my stomach. I felt so stupid. I put a smile on my face and said. “ Oh ya, we’re just friends!” I was super bummed but knew God had someone for me.
Couple more months went by and our “friendship” seemed to be growing. I was starting to like him. I could also feel something in him too. I knew we need to have another talk. We were outside of my second parent’s house and we both agreed that we like each other. He knew where I stood and respected that. I loved that! Shortly after that we were labeled.
Boyfriend and Girlfriend.
When we both told each other we liked each other, in my head that was him saying I could see you as my wife. He knew I didn’t want to date. I just wanted to be with the one God made for me. So by him saying that….I knew, He was the one. We started dating, officially, in December of 2006 and were engaged one year later to be exact. Engaged for 7 months and then tied the knot on July 27, 2008.
I love my love story not just because it’s mine but because God gets Glory out of it. He is the one who carried me through the years of waiting. Preparing my heart, as well as my husbands’ heart to be one. Go though this journey of life together, pursuing Christ with all we’ve got.
All that to say….I love my God….I love my Husband….I love the story we get to share together!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Evey's RSV Story
I'm feeling burdened to share this story. I am not a writer at all. I'm sure there are a million spelling errors.
When Evey was 4 days old, I noticed she was getting a really nasty nose and starting to cough every now and then. I thought, Oh great, my newborn baby has her first cold and she’s not even a week old yet. The next day she had more snot and you could hear her breathing through a stuffy sounding nose. I went out that day and bought an automatic nose sucker (which I HIGHLY recommend, best 20 bucks spent so far) because the bulb sucker I had wasn’t getting enough stuff out of her nose. That night she was really fussy and super stuffy. She was starting to gag and choke on her boogers. She woke up around 2:00am gagging and, what looked like to me, her trying hard to breath. I woke Chris up and we took her temp. It was 101.2 I was starting to get worried about her and was debating on a trip to the E.R. I called our on call pediatrician and she said it’s up to us if we want to go to the E.R. or wait until 9:00 that morning and let the Doctor see her. I was torn trying to decide what I should do. I wanted to go to the E.R. but it was in the middle of the night. We would have to call and wake up friends to watch Ezekiel and Chris had to be at work in a couple hours. I felt bad for him being up and losing sleep because he works so hard. I also didn’t want to be the over paranoid mom that brought their kid in for a cold and she would be fine. I decided to wait until 9:00 am to see her PED.
Evey and I didn’t sleep at all. Got to the PED's and they diagnosed her with RSV or Respiratory Syncytial Virus. My heart sunk to my chest because I have 2 friends who's babies just got out of the hospital with RSV. I didn’t really talk to them about there experiences but I did know it was one of the hardest things they have gone through at that point in their life. He told me I didn’t really need to go to the hospital with her and that he would set me up with everything they would do for her at the hospital, just with out all the poking a prodding. I did a breathing treatment with her there, got a prescription and some steroids for her and was back at home.
She is 6 days old now and getting worse as the day goes by. He did let me know that it gets worse before it gets better. She is looking pitiful and I just didn’t have a good feeling about it in my mama gut. Chris got home from work and I decided to call our PED again and let them know how I felt. She said to do another breathing treatment and give her a dosage of the steroid, wait 30-45 minutes and call her back. I did and nothing helped or got any better. I was really feeling like we needed to go to the E.R. so we call my second mom and dad to get Zeke and have him spend the night with them and we will let them know what is up.
We got to the E.R. around 10:30 pm and were put back in a room right away. They took her temp and it was 101 still. They also took her oxygen level and it was at 86. Obviously, normally your Oxygen level is at 100, so that freaked me out! They put her on oxygen.
At this point she is working really hard to breath. You can see her rib cage cave all the way in to take a full breath. Also, her neck was caving in at the bottom from her working so hard. She was breathing like she just ran a marathon trying to catch her breath. It was so hard to see my new baby that was just born 6 days ago having trouble breathing,coughing and then gagging on the mucus that is in her chest. She would gag and cough so much that she would stop breathing for seconds at a time. For me it felt like forever waiting for her to take her next breath. I know it was super hard for Chris to see her like that too. I was feeling completely helpless for my baby girl. This is not how I planned the first weeks of my baby's life to be.
Since she had a fever they wanted to make sure she didn’t have any other infections. The Doctor said he wanted to do a septic work-up on her. Now, just like you, I had no idea what the heck that was. So here is a breakdown.
This septic work-up typically includes a:
•complete blood count
•blood culture
•urinalysis and urine culture
•spinal tapp so that doctors can order an examination of the spinal fluid, including a spinal fluid culture
•chest x-ray (although this is often left out if the child lacks respiratory symptoms)
•stool studies if the baby has diarrhea
•viral test or culture, such as an RSV prep or flu test
Aaahhh right!! They did all of that accept the stool study because she didn’t have diarrhea. I was ok with all of them except the spinal tapp. It freaked me out and scared the poo out of me!! The doctor talked us into doing it because that was the only way to see if she had meningitis. I felt pretty confident she didn’t have it because one of the symptoms of RSV is fever. You can refuse it, but in the moment, I was just so scared out of my mind. I wanted my little girl to get better. He explained to us how it works and what will be done. Chris didn’t want to be in the room, I don’t blame him but I couldn’t leave my sweet girl. They laid her on her side all the way on the edge of the bed. The nurse held her in a C shape and I was there by her little head trying not to fall apart and praying that the spinal tapp would go smoothly. Then they needed to put in an IV for her antibiotics. They tried for an hour to get a good vein and poked her 3 different times. Her little arm and legs were bruised from that stupid rubber band thing they use to cut off the blood circulation. Got all of that done and we were waiting to be taken upstairs to her room.
Evey is still struggling to breath and at this point really hungry. She hadn’t nursed since 5:00 that day. Obviously when babies nurse they breath through their noses, but Evey couldn’t. She was rooting like she was hungry but anytime I tried to feed her, she wouldn’t latch on. It broke my heart. The only thing I could physically comfort her with wasn’t happening. I was super worried about her starving and then I was super worried about my milk supply. We finally get up to our room and they hook her up to the oxygen machine and up to the monitors. It monitored her oxygen level, respiratory rate and heart rate. They also deep suctioned her nose which was the craziest thing. It’s a nose sucker on steroids! They did a chest suction too which was a long skinny tube that goes from her nose all the way to her lungs and suck out the mucus. So gross and hard to see but what a difference it made. After they did that I wanted to try and nurse her since she could breathe a little better. I nursed her for like 3 minutes and 4-5 nurses come rushing in, pulling her off of me and checking her out. They said her oxygen level was really low and her respiratory rate was really high so they didn’t want me feeding her any more. WHAT?!?! I can’t feed my newborn baby? She got enough food to fill her belly I guess because she fell asleep right away. She didn’t sleep all day and was slap wore out from working so hard to breath.
Chris went home to get some sleep so he could go to work in a few hours. He left and I was, all alone, with my 7 day old baby, who looks so pitiful sleeping with wires all over her IV in her arm and an oxygen tube in her nose. I really have no idea how I felt because I had so many feelings. Scared for my little girl, guilty for letting her get sick, mad that God let this happen, scared she might not make it, feeling guilty/responsible for her not making it, felling bad for pawning my son off on other people, etc, etc. I was beyond tired so I just lost it. Bawling my eyes out over my little girl, Begging God to make her better.
I tried to sleep but I couldn’t. I had to make sure she was breathing. Even though she was hooked up to machines that would notify the nurses if anything was happening, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn't take my eyes off her. The what if’s filled my head nonstop. Morning came and I met the Doctor that would be taking care of us. I say us because he not only took care of my little girl he was there for me too. Informing me of everything they were doing and why they were doing it. He was the best.
They came in almost every 2-3 hours to suction out her nose but her breathing was getting worse. They brought in a respiratory therapist and they hooked her up to a high flow machine. What that is, is a machine that pushes the oxygen harder into her lungs so she doesn’t have to work so hard. It wasn’t breathing for her but it was helping her breath. They put her on the highest setting, which was a 6, and was on 4 liters of oxygen. They didn’t want her to have anything orally while on the machine because she could aspirate and choke. She didn’t have anything to eat for 5 days! She was on an IV so I wasn’t worried she was dehydrated. I was worried that she wouldn’t want or know how to nurse when she was able to. The worst part was when she was hungry and I couldn't do anything about it. It broke my heart knowing that I had everything she needed right here and I couldn’t give it to her.
On day 2 Evey’s IV went bad so they had to put in another one. That was crazy!! I don’t even know how many times they tried to get one in her. After an hour of trying, they finally got one in her foot. The very next day her IV went bad again! They had to call a special person to come and do it because they were having trouble, again. They lady got there 2 hours later and got it in only after2 tries. She was taping it off and as she was pulling away the tape got stuck on her glove and pulled the IV right out…..It was silent in the room for a minute. The lady, nurse, Chris and I all looked at each other. She felt SO bad you could see it all over her face. You have got to be kidding me I thought! I know she didn’t mean to. I couldn’t get upset with her. I did want to scoop my baby up and run away at that point though. Two days later at 6:00 in the morning, the nurse came in to give Evey her rounds of antibiotics and noticed her IV was bad again. This time I was so over the IV thing it wasn’t even funny. They called a nurse from the NICU to put in a new one. She was amazing!! Got it the first time and was super fast. I told her that if this happens again I only want her to do it!
Days 3,4 and 5 were her worst days there. They were my worst days there too. She was getting worse at one point and the doctor said if she continues to go that way she will be in the ICU on a breathing machine. My heart sunk. I thought right then and there that was not going to happen. I was mad at God for letting this happen to MY girl! She is band spanking new to this world, she doesn’t deserve this. She's just a little baby. Then I realized she is not MY baby but Gods baby. God blessed me with her and he can take her if he wanted to. I'm not in control of her life at all. Who am I to be mad at you, God? From that point on, I was beating on God's chest, begging him to make this little girl better. If she wasn’t going to get better, help me to be ok with that. Hold me in your loving arms. I knew I couldn’t do or get through this with out him. That is the truth for sure!
By day 6, Evey was still on the high flow machine. Not getting any worse but not any better either. They tried to bump her flow down one but she got bad right away. I just kept on holding onto God’s promises. He is my solid rock on which I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
I had been pumping the whole time and wanting to at least bottle feed her but they were still nervous about her choking. They let me give her pedisure an ounce at a time. She chugged it down the first time. I was so happy! My little girl still knew how to eat. It was 1 ounce every 4 hours at first then bumped up to 2 ounces every 4 hours. Finally on day 7 they let me give her some mama’s milk! She was eating 2 ounces every 3 hours. Sometimes I would lie and say it had been 3 hours when it had really only been 2 and feed her. She was hungry and I was going to give her what I thought was best.
Day 7, she was bumped down on the high flow machine and was responding well to it. Day 8, tried to bump it down some more but it was a no go. As soon as they bumped it down, she started working hard to breathe again. It was crazy. Waiting for her to get off the high flow was so hard. She was getting better but as soon as they bumped it down, she started working again. The high flow machine was at a 2, which is the lowest setting, and she was stuck there. Barely needing it but when it was gone she was breathing heavily. So frustrating.
Day 9 came and they took her off the high flow!! I was so excited because that was one step closer out the door. She was still on oxygen at this point but they were going to try and wean her off through out the day. They did and she was responding great to it.
Day 10 came and she was wire, IV and oxygenless! Before she could go home they needed to watch her for at least 12 hours to make sure she was truly ok to go home. She was still sick and would probably continue to be sick for another week. She didn’t need the breathing assistance though and that’s all that matters. By 6:00 that night we had our discharge papers in hand and packing up shop. We were going home!!
I’m so thankful for every Doctor, nurse, nurse assistant, friend and family member who brought food up to the hospital. You all made such a huge impact in my life during that time and I’m truly grateful for it all. I learned so much and grew in my walk with Jesus. For that I’m thankful and will share my story.
When Evey was 4 days old, I noticed she was getting a really nasty nose and starting to cough every now and then. I thought, Oh great, my newborn baby has her first cold and she’s not even a week old yet. The next day she had more snot and you could hear her breathing through a stuffy sounding nose. I went out that day and bought an automatic nose sucker (which I HIGHLY recommend, best 20 bucks spent so far) because the bulb sucker I had wasn’t getting enough stuff out of her nose. That night she was really fussy and super stuffy. She was starting to gag and choke on her boogers. She woke up around 2:00am gagging and, what looked like to me, her trying hard to breath. I woke Chris up and we took her temp. It was 101.2 I was starting to get worried about her and was debating on a trip to the E.R. I called our on call pediatrician and she said it’s up to us if we want to go to the E.R. or wait until 9:00 that morning and let the Doctor see her. I was torn trying to decide what I should do. I wanted to go to the E.R. but it was in the middle of the night. We would have to call and wake up friends to watch Ezekiel and Chris had to be at work in a couple hours. I felt bad for him being up and losing sleep because he works so hard. I also didn’t want to be the over paranoid mom that brought their kid in for a cold and she would be fine. I decided to wait until 9:00 am to see her PED.
Evey and I didn’t sleep at all. Got to the PED's and they diagnosed her with RSV or Respiratory Syncytial Virus. My heart sunk to my chest because I have 2 friends who's babies just got out of the hospital with RSV. I didn’t really talk to them about there experiences but I did know it was one of the hardest things they have gone through at that point in their life. He told me I didn’t really need to go to the hospital with her and that he would set me up with everything they would do for her at the hospital, just with out all the poking a prodding. I did a breathing treatment with her there, got a prescription and some steroids for her and was back at home.
She is 6 days old now and getting worse as the day goes by. He did let me know that it gets worse before it gets better. She is looking pitiful and I just didn’t have a good feeling about it in my mama gut. Chris got home from work and I decided to call our PED again and let them know how I felt. She said to do another breathing treatment and give her a dosage of the steroid, wait 30-45 minutes and call her back. I did and nothing helped or got any better. I was really feeling like we needed to go to the E.R. so we call my second mom and dad to get Zeke and have him spend the night with them and we will let them know what is up.
We got to the E.R. around 10:30 pm and were put back in a room right away. They took her temp and it was 101 still. They also took her oxygen level and it was at 86. Obviously, normally your Oxygen level is at 100, so that freaked me out! They put her on oxygen.
At this point she is working really hard to breath. You can see her rib cage cave all the way in to take a full breath. Also, her neck was caving in at the bottom from her working so hard. She was breathing like she just ran a marathon trying to catch her breath. It was so hard to see my new baby that was just born 6 days ago having trouble breathing,coughing and then gagging on the mucus that is in her chest. She would gag and cough so much that she would stop breathing for seconds at a time. For me it felt like forever waiting for her to take her next breath. I know it was super hard for Chris to see her like that too. I was feeling completely helpless for my baby girl. This is not how I planned the first weeks of my baby's life to be.
Since she had a fever they wanted to make sure she didn’t have any other infections. The Doctor said he wanted to do a septic work-up on her. Now, just like you, I had no idea what the heck that was. So here is a breakdown.
This septic work-up typically includes a:
•complete blood count
•blood culture
•urinalysis and urine culture
•spinal tapp so that doctors can order an examination of the spinal fluid, including a spinal fluid culture
•chest x-ray (although this is often left out if the child lacks respiratory symptoms)
•stool studies if the baby has diarrhea
•viral test or culture, such as an RSV prep or flu test
Aaahhh right!! They did all of that accept the stool study because she didn’t have diarrhea. I was ok with all of them except the spinal tapp. It freaked me out and scared the poo out of me!! The doctor talked us into doing it because that was the only way to see if she had meningitis. I felt pretty confident she didn’t have it because one of the symptoms of RSV is fever. You can refuse it, but in the moment, I was just so scared out of my mind. I wanted my little girl to get better. He explained to us how it works and what will be done. Chris didn’t want to be in the room, I don’t blame him but I couldn’t leave my sweet girl. They laid her on her side all the way on the edge of the bed. The nurse held her in a C shape and I was there by her little head trying not to fall apart and praying that the spinal tapp would go smoothly. Then they needed to put in an IV for her antibiotics. They tried for an hour to get a good vein and poked her 3 different times. Her little arm and legs were bruised from that stupid rubber band thing they use to cut off the blood circulation. Got all of that done and we were waiting to be taken upstairs to her room.
Evey is still struggling to breath and at this point really hungry. She hadn’t nursed since 5:00 that day. Obviously when babies nurse they breath through their noses, but Evey couldn’t. She was rooting like she was hungry but anytime I tried to feed her, she wouldn’t latch on. It broke my heart. The only thing I could physically comfort her with wasn’t happening. I was super worried about her starving and then I was super worried about my milk supply. We finally get up to our room and they hook her up to the oxygen machine and up to the monitors. It monitored her oxygen level, respiratory rate and heart rate. They also deep suctioned her nose which was the craziest thing. It’s a nose sucker on steroids! They did a chest suction too which was a long skinny tube that goes from her nose all the way to her lungs and suck out the mucus. So gross and hard to see but what a difference it made. After they did that I wanted to try and nurse her since she could breathe a little better. I nursed her for like 3 minutes and 4-5 nurses come rushing in, pulling her off of me and checking her out. They said her oxygen level was really low and her respiratory rate was really high so they didn’t want me feeding her any more. WHAT?!?! I can’t feed my newborn baby? She got enough food to fill her belly I guess because she fell asleep right away. She didn’t sleep all day and was slap wore out from working so hard to breath.
Chris went home to get some sleep so he could go to work in a few hours. He left and I was, all alone, with my 7 day old baby, who looks so pitiful sleeping with wires all over her IV in her arm and an oxygen tube in her nose. I really have no idea how I felt because I had so many feelings. Scared for my little girl, guilty for letting her get sick, mad that God let this happen, scared she might not make it, feeling guilty/responsible for her not making it, felling bad for pawning my son off on other people, etc, etc. I was beyond tired so I just lost it. Bawling my eyes out over my little girl, Begging God to make her better.
I tried to sleep but I couldn’t. I had to make sure she was breathing. Even though she was hooked up to machines that would notify the nurses if anything was happening, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn't take my eyes off her. The what if’s filled my head nonstop. Morning came and I met the Doctor that would be taking care of us. I say us because he not only took care of my little girl he was there for me too. Informing me of everything they were doing and why they were doing it. He was the best.
They came in almost every 2-3 hours to suction out her nose but her breathing was getting worse. They brought in a respiratory therapist and they hooked her up to a high flow machine. What that is, is a machine that pushes the oxygen harder into her lungs so she doesn’t have to work so hard. It wasn’t breathing for her but it was helping her breath. They put her on the highest setting, which was a 6, and was on 4 liters of oxygen. They didn’t want her to have anything orally while on the machine because she could aspirate and choke. She didn’t have anything to eat for 5 days! She was on an IV so I wasn’t worried she was dehydrated. I was worried that she wouldn’t want or know how to nurse when she was able to. The worst part was when she was hungry and I couldn't do anything about it. It broke my heart knowing that I had everything she needed right here and I couldn’t give it to her.
On day 2 Evey’s IV went bad so they had to put in another one. That was crazy!! I don’t even know how many times they tried to get one in her. After an hour of trying, they finally got one in her foot. The very next day her IV went bad again! They had to call a special person to come and do it because they were having trouble, again. They lady got there 2 hours later and got it in only after2 tries. She was taping it off and as she was pulling away the tape got stuck on her glove and pulled the IV right out…..It was silent in the room for a minute. The lady, nurse, Chris and I all looked at each other. She felt SO bad you could see it all over her face. You have got to be kidding me I thought! I know she didn’t mean to. I couldn’t get upset with her. I did want to scoop my baby up and run away at that point though. Two days later at 6:00 in the morning, the nurse came in to give Evey her rounds of antibiotics and noticed her IV was bad again. This time I was so over the IV thing it wasn’t even funny. They called a nurse from the NICU to put in a new one. She was amazing!! Got it the first time and was super fast. I told her that if this happens again I only want her to do it!
Days 3,4 and 5 were her worst days there. They were my worst days there too. She was getting worse at one point and the doctor said if she continues to go that way she will be in the ICU on a breathing machine. My heart sunk. I thought right then and there that was not going to happen. I was mad at God for letting this happen to MY girl! She is band spanking new to this world, she doesn’t deserve this. She's just a little baby. Then I realized she is not MY baby but Gods baby. God blessed me with her and he can take her if he wanted to. I'm not in control of her life at all. Who am I to be mad at you, God? From that point on, I was beating on God's chest, begging him to make this little girl better. If she wasn’t going to get better, help me to be ok with that. Hold me in your loving arms. I knew I couldn’t do or get through this with out him. That is the truth for sure!
By day 6, Evey was still on the high flow machine. Not getting any worse but not any better either. They tried to bump her flow down one but she got bad right away. I just kept on holding onto God’s promises. He is my solid rock on which I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
I had been pumping the whole time and wanting to at least bottle feed her but they were still nervous about her choking. They let me give her pedisure an ounce at a time. She chugged it down the first time. I was so happy! My little girl still knew how to eat. It was 1 ounce every 4 hours at first then bumped up to 2 ounces every 4 hours. Finally on day 7 they let me give her some mama’s milk! She was eating 2 ounces every 3 hours. Sometimes I would lie and say it had been 3 hours when it had really only been 2 and feed her. She was hungry and I was going to give her what I thought was best.
Day 7, she was bumped down on the high flow machine and was responding well to it. Day 8, tried to bump it down some more but it was a no go. As soon as they bumped it down, she started working hard to breathe again. It was crazy. Waiting for her to get off the high flow was so hard. She was getting better but as soon as they bumped it down, she started working again. The high flow machine was at a 2, which is the lowest setting, and she was stuck there. Barely needing it but when it was gone she was breathing heavily. So frustrating.
Day 9 came and they took her off the high flow!! I was so excited because that was one step closer out the door. She was still on oxygen at this point but they were going to try and wean her off through out the day. They did and she was responding great to it.
Day 10 came and she was wire, IV and oxygenless! Before she could go home they needed to watch her for at least 12 hours to make sure she was truly ok to go home. She was still sick and would probably continue to be sick for another week. She didn’t need the breathing assistance though and that’s all that matters. By 6:00 that night we had our discharge papers in hand and packing up shop. We were going home!!
I’m so thankful for every Doctor, nurse, nurse assistant, friend and family member who brought food up to the hospital. You all made such a huge impact in my life during that time and I’m truly grateful for it all. I learned so much and grew in my walk with Jesus. For that I’m thankful and will share my story.
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