Hi Everyone! Just wanted to give a short, quick update. So Liam is on antibiotics again, it seems his allergies flared up with the change in weather. Unfortunately what this means is that my thought that Liam's asthma was related to the recently discovered aspiration was wrong. We noticed Liam began having a runny nose sometime over last weekend, and this was multiplied after we slept with the windows open. Honestly, I didn't think this was a super big problem. My first instinct was to have the AC on since I knew this is always better for someone with allergies. However, my husband says to me "I would turn the AC on, but I need to buy a new air filter, unless you want to chance putting it on without replacing the current one." Well, here is one of the catch 22's. I went back and forth about it, and decided one night with the windows open couldn't be too much harm. Boy was I wrong! The next day Liam was super congested all day, and pretty much stopped drinking fluids. It doesn't help matters that his fluids need to be thickened... not comforting when your congested. I am also pretty sure his throat was sore from the post nasal drip. To top it off, if Liam didn't drink his fluids, we couldn't get his allergy medication in him...
When we woke up Monday, Liam's eyes were completely pasted shut with nasty green gook. Poor kiddo... The doctor told us it was definitely related to allergies, not bacterial/viral or contagious. So now we add 2 eye drops to the regimen 3 times a day for a week. The fun continues! By Monday night I resorted to letting Liam drink from a straw....I know, I know, it increases his risk of aspirating. But we were in a catch 22 between him not getting any fluids/medications- or maybe putting him at risk for some aspiration. Well, the straw didn't even work... out came the syringes. He was not happy, and mommy was really not happy since this really increases his risk of aspiration. By Tuesday am, Liam was extremely wheezy and had a croupy cough. I was able to clear it up mostly with albuterol but took him to see the allergy/asthma doc just to get her perspective.
When I was telling her about the prior week of events, I really focused on the fact that he stopped drinking from sippy cups/straws etc and I HAD to use a syringe to get his meds in him....expecting her to explain that this will exacerbate his asthma.....but she didn't. She told me we did what we needed to do and that is exactly what she would want since he needs his medications- he didn't seriously aspirate because his lungs were all clear in the office. I mentioned we DID sleep with the window open just one night since we needed a new air filter. She just looked at me, and her jaw practically hit the floor....oops! She told me NOT to do this again. Liam left with a new prescription for another 10 days of Biaxin as well as an allergy nasal spray to give him extra coverage when he gives us trouble taking medications. I was also happy to hear that once Liam turns two he can take a dissolvable allergra tablet!
We have had him on the medications as well as more nebs during the day. and immediately put the new filter in with AC on! Little man seems to be doing SO much better already! That's all for now, hope everyone is doing well!! Love to all!
Monday, May 19, 2014
Saturday, May 3, 2014
The definition of motherhood
The definition of motherhood can be summed up in one simple word: Love. Love that is infinite, unexplained, and indefinite. Why am I telling you this? Because something amazing has happened in the past two weeks in our home. Since we have found Liam was aspirating and have been thickening his liquids, he has yet to have even a little runny nose. Liam has not gone this long without getting congested since he has been born! It has been 16 days, and the change in our miracle baby is unbelievable! Now that he is less congested, and breathing easier, Liam has begun to communicate! My husband and I were hesitant to discuss the matter for awhile since we didn't want to get our hopes up or jinx ourselves, but it is very apparent at this time that a transformation has taken place. Just to give you a brief idea of what I mean, I will share about Liam's bedtime routine last night. I took Liam up to his room and changed him into his PJ's, and when I began getting him off the changing pad he became upset. I asked Liam, "what do you want?" Now before two weeks ago, I always asked Liam this question, but he never responded,...he knew what he wanted but was not communicating. Last night, Liam said "boc." I knew immediately what he wanted! Sometimes I let Liam play with the wooden blocks on his shelf that spell out his name, in order to occupy him while I am changing him, etc. As soon as I pulled two blocks down for him, he was content, and I rejoiced that we had a successful communication. To be honest, I wanted to cry like a baby! Next, I was rocking Liam for a few minutes to settle him down and reading him a book. All of a sudden, he said very clearly "down" and wiggled around to get down! I was amazed! I eventually got the little man to sleep, and he slept through the night with no problems.
This morning we had Liam's second feeding session with our Occupational Therapist from Good Shepard Rehab. Our occupational therapist, Gal, is amazing and comes to our home which is super convenient! We initiated feeding therapy to support us in our efforts to prevent Liam from aspirating while he is eating. The difference between last weeks session and this weeks session has been amazing. Last week, Liam was shoving food in his mouth, "pocketing it" in the sides of his mouth, and chugging from his sippy cup. While we were trying to coach our 15 month old on swallowing before getting more food and drinking in between bites of food, he threw wild tantrums and flung his sippy cup across the room. Needless to say, last week was very overwhelming! Gal explained Liam may have some sensory issues in his mouth, this means he may not "feel" the food in his mouth. With everything going in the right direction lately, this weeks session was a HUGE improvement! Liam took one piece of food at a time, and Gal's distraction techniques worked like a charm. Liam didn't pocket food, didn't throw tantrums, and was chewing his pieces of food up very well! One of the big changes that is making all of this possible is that Liam is better able to communicate! We have been trying for months to get Liam to communicate with sign language, since we weren't getting anywhere with words. We have been working on signing, "more" and "all done." Today, not only did Liam say "more" but he also used perfect sign language for the very FIRST time! I am so full of joy, and love for my little man that I am not sure what else to write. I have been watching Liam "struggle" since he was 11 months with communicating. I know all parents go through this...but I knew how smart he was and there was something holding him back- I cannot describe the joy I feel when I see him successfully communicating and the satisfaction that gives both of us, but also watch him develop and grow into the awesome little man he is!
For now, we will continue with speech therapy, feeding therapy, as well as physical therapy. We have Liam's annual review with Northampton County at the end of May, so we will see where things are at then. Our soonest appointment to see Dr. Kuchinski, Liam's developmental doctor, was the end of August. I was able to get us in to see her sooner in the feeding clinic the beginning of June- so we will see what her take is on all of these concerns.
Before I end, I want to reiterate that although we are making GREAT progress, we are far from done. In between writing this blog post, Liam's late am snack time was a complete debacle of tantrum throwing, pocketing food, and chugging milk. We have a long road to success, but I am so incredibly optimistic...all I feel is "love." My love for Liam is enough to jump any hurdle, climb any mountain, and overcome any obstacle, and I know we will get through it one day at a time. My little man is so amazing!
I hope everyone enjoys the beautiful weather, I will be out fundraising! Love to all <3
This morning we had Liam's second feeding session with our Occupational Therapist from Good Shepard Rehab. Our occupational therapist, Gal, is amazing and comes to our home which is super convenient! We initiated feeding therapy to support us in our efforts to prevent Liam from aspirating while he is eating. The difference between last weeks session and this weeks session has been amazing. Last week, Liam was shoving food in his mouth, "pocketing it" in the sides of his mouth, and chugging from his sippy cup. While we were trying to coach our 15 month old on swallowing before getting more food and drinking in between bites of food, he threw wild tantrums and flung his sippy cup across the room. Needless to say, last week was very overwhelming! Gal explained Liam may have some sensory issues in his mouth, this means he may not "feel" the food in his mouth. With everything going in the right direction lately, this weeks session was a HUGE improvement! Liam took one piece of food at a time, and Gal's distraction techniques worked like a charm. Liam didn't pocket food, didn't throw tantrums, and was chewing his pieces of food up very well! One of the big changes that is making all of this possible is that Liam is better able to communicate! We have been trying for months to get Liam to communicate with sign language, since we weren't getting anywhere with words. We have been working on signing, "more" and "all done." Today, not only did Liam say "more" but he also used perfect sign language for the very FIRST time! I am so full of joy, and love for my little man that I am not sure what else to write. I have been watching Liam "struggle" since he was 11 months with communicating. I know all parents go through this...but I knew how smart he was and there was something holding him back- I cannot describe the joy I feel when I see him successfully communicating and the satisfaction that gives both of us, but also watch him develop and grow into the awesome little man he is!
For now, we will continue with speech therapy, feeding therapy, as well as physical therapy. We have Liam's annual review with Northampton County at the end of May, so we will see where things are at then. Our soonest appointment to see Dr. Kuchinski, Liam's developmental doctor, was the end of August. I was able to get us in to see her sooner in the feeding clinic the beginning of June- so we will see what her take is on all of these concerns.
Before I end, I want to reiterate that although we are making GREAT progress, we are far from done. In between writing this blog post, Liam's late am snack time was a complete debacle of tantrum throwing, pocketing food, and chugging milk. We have a long road to success, but I am so incredibly optimistic...all I feel is "love." My love for Liam is enough to jump any hurdle, climb any mountain, and overcome any obstacle, and I know we will get through it one day at a time. My little man is so amazing!
I hope everyone enjoys the beautiful weather, I will be out fundraising! Love to all <3
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)