JJ Update: He is doing great!

I have not updated on JJ in awhile.  He has been doing so well I thought it was time to update:)  As you can see he and his big sister have a blast together.  They like hanging out, laughing, and wrestling.  Well, JJ like to wrestle with EVERYONE!  He also likes "football" so not only will tackle us all of the time but throws things frequently...not something we are particularly excited about lol!

Throughout JJ's life we have had 3 primary goals:
1) get him to breath normally
2) get him to eat and gain weight
3) get him to sleep better

Well...
Breathing:  why is he better?  Remember back when we went to Mazatlan, Mexico in Feb 2012?  We found out that he breathed perfectly.  We came home, bought a very expensive air purifier, and found that it improved his breathing as long as he did not leave the house:)  Last year we were unable to take him outside at all - if we did he needed a nebulizer treatment.  This year...not a single nebulizer treatment!  Remember when we did that funky and weird allergy intervention weird thing?  Well, that seems to be the only intervention that is consistently different (the air purifier helps inside but would not account for him being able to be outside).  We wondered if because we are in such a drought if it was just the absence of molds from wetness.  However, when we went to MN, which has had plenty of rain and wetness this year and it rained while we were there, he did not have any problems at all.  In Aug/Sept when my husband and oldest son started having some fall allergy issues, JJ did not!  Faith also had these treatments.  She also has not needed any nebulizer treatments although she is having some congestion this fall.

Eating/Drinking:
JJ has made it to 28 lbs, which is the 50th percentile!  He has never been above the 10th percentile so we are thrilled!  The first 18 months of his life he gained weight one month and lost weight the next.  Makes for slow progress.  In the past 6 months he only lost weight once!  He is also in the 25th percentile for height:)  His mom is 5'5" and his dad is 5'10" so we don't expect him to be a super tall guy...but that is the same height of my husband and I and our oldest is pushing 6 foot and her brother is close behind lol!

JJ is a very, very picky eater.  We have not really cared what he eats as long has he eats.  JJ has considered a "meal" to be 2 - 3 bites of a food.  Even at that, he has required that my husband or I eat the food first (kind of like a food tester for a king lol!).  He has preferred to sit on our lap and just sample a bit of what we are eating (thankfully in the past 2 weeks he is now insisting on being in his highchair- yay!!)  He likes foods like rice, raw tomatoes, cranberry juice, sliced ham/turkey, and grape nuts.  He is an odd duck.  He does NOT like breads.  It is very funny that now that he is starting to talk, when he is hungry his word for "food" is "pizza."  As that food is a family favorite (although not for JJ) he is used to hearing the word so uses it for all food lol!  Some people may think that we are not doing a good job of requiring him to eat/try all foods, etc.  Well, after almost two years of this kid not gaining weight we were willing to have a picky eater...if just to have an eater!

Another oddity of JJ is that he really does not like sippy cups...at all.  He wants a bottle and it must be of milk.  It has been pretty recent that he will drink anything other than milk, and that is only cranberry juice.  Even at that he drinks maybe an once or two.  We keep his bottles filled in the fridge so he can just go and get them at will (just like another kid having their sippy cup always available).  He has learned that he drinks two bottles at a shot now so will just grab two from the fridge and go double fisted:)  He will drink from a straw so we are trying to transition with that.  This is a new problem for me as my babies all went from nursing to the cup at 11 months with no bottle.  Even Grace, who was exclusively bottle fed obviously, gave up her bottle very easily.  We are learning that even though he is the 6th kid, there are many, many firsts!!  Thinking of weaning him from the bottle makes me worry that he will lose weight again so we are just holding off...  We spend $100 a month on raw milk for our family and much of it goes to JJ.  It must be working as he is gaining weight and he wets through his diaper almost every night - we are SO HAPPY about this!!

Sleeping:
In the past 2 months JJ has been sleeping better with most nights him sleeping most of the night.  In the past 3 weeks this has improved to him sleeping all the way through the night 6 of 7 nights a week!  He has also never been a napper - he may fall asleep in our arms at some point in the day (usually way to late in the day)...or not.  Most days he never napped.  He fell asleep sometime around midnight and woke late morning (after being up with us several times in the night for comfort).  In the past 3 weeks he consistently goes to sleep 2:30ish and takes a 2 - 3 hour nap.  He still doesn't go to sleep until midnight but wakes between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m.  What has not changed is that we still have to put him to sleep.  We lay on the bed with him and he drinks his bottle, hangs onto us, and falls asleep.  Oddly enough he will fall asleep within 15 minutes for his nap but at bedtime it usually takes an hour...

Embarrassing Quirk:
Probably JJ's most embarrassing quirk is his attachment object.  I think I have made it pretty clear that he prefers to be held, cuddled, not put down, not be left alone, and always in the company of my husband or I.  Well, other than his pacifier he has never attached to an "object" other than us.  In the TBRI training this was a key part of attachment and bonding.  I nursed JJ until he was 16 months old.  He was not excited about being weaned.  Before that, he would hang onto my shirt collar when nursing or falling asleep.  Once weaned he decided that did not give enough guarantee of my closeness so went for my...bra strap.  Yes, the child prefers my shoulder bra strap over a blanket, stuffed animal, or any other object. There are times where I can distract him, but he continues to be a very fearful child so when in public, and thus afraid, he goes for the attachment object...Yes, the embarrassing things we as parents put up with to give our children security lol!  I am currently trying to put a rubber hair band around my shoulder outside of my shirt to get him to hang onto that.  He is not very interested. So, I continue to put him to sleep at bedtime and nap time (he will let my husband put him down for nap but not bedtime) as I am the one with the bra strap.  Gotta feel loved lol!  Again, at this point we are just so happy that he is consistently going to sleep that we are not going to rock any boat.  He has no ability to self-sooth at all.  This will be something we will need to get figured out.

Going to others:
Another huge praise has been his willingness, well, not willingness but tolerance is probably a better word, for going to nursery and Sunday School.  I am so thankful for his Sunday School teachers that told me I could just leave and let him cry.  He remains pretty stand offish but at least he is going and not screaming the entire time:)  Nursery is a bit different in that there are different caregivers every week.  We had Faith stay in there with him 4 times.  Now he goes, unhappily, but goes.  Today when I handed him over to the caregiver (a sweet friend of mine) he clung to her and put his head on her shoulder.  I was thrilled he was accepting comfort from someone else!  There is also a man at church who has taken JJ under his wing and JJ will go to at times.  Good things!

Talking:
Finally, JJ is beginning to talk.  He doesn't have a large expressive vocabulary to use words to name things.  Yet, he is able to get his point across well to us between sign language and words.  He mimics almost everything that we say.  He will point to things and get them if we ask - showing he is doing well with receptive language.

JJ is, after 25 months, finally starting to make consistent gains.  He is an absolutely adorable child and I adore him.  His smiles, his laughter, and his boyish sillyness keep our family in stitches.  We have a few rough edges to work out like him throwing things, "talking" over us when we are trying to talk (essentially yelling "words" while we are talking to be sure he is the center of attention, and hitting when angry.   Oh, and thinking of potty training at some time...in the future...distant future lol!

Allergy Journey Update

It has been awhile since I have updated about allergies.  We have been experimenting with a new intervention and wanted to hold off a bit to see if it was maintaining its helpfulness.  As I have talked about in the past we have tried a wide range of treatments in the past.  We have used chiropractic adjustments, supplements I have read about, traditional medical testing resulting in allergy shots for inhalant allergies and elimination diets for food sensitivities, traditional medication, UA testing with a biochemist to learn what the body needs in order to better process out toxins (that resulted in more supplements and dietary changes), and the current, very non-mainstream, procedure.

BACKGROUND:
We have seen improvement with some kids with some interventions and some kids with other interventions. 
Faith (inhalant allergies) improved at the beginning with allergy shots but about 2 -3 months into it she regressed back to terrible congestion.  It affects her sleep and is affecting her concentration more and more.

Grace (food sensitivities with some inhalant along with ADHD) improved initially with DHA and probiotics but it was inconsistent.  The elimination diet helped initially from the traditional allergy physician, but she was sensitive to so many things that we could not maintain it well.  That told us, however, that food allergies definitely play a part in her ADHD issues.  In sheer desperation we finally put her on an ADHD medication and we keep it as low of dosage as possible.  That has been helpful but we worry about the long term effects of it.  We then started the biochemist process and that has been very helpful.  We have learned that her kidneys and liver were not processing toxins, and have worked to improve that.  We are improving her digestive processes.  This process, coupled with the ADHD medication, helped behavior noticeably.  However, as her behavior lessened we discovered just how pervasive the concentration/focus issues were for her.

JJ's issues are inhalant allergies (although we are learning there are some food/digestive issues too) and they were not helped well by anything that we did.  He developed RSV 12 months ago after battling congestion since he was born.  He was hospitalized for for hydration.  Since then he never went longer than 6 - 8 weeks before being on another antibiotic.  His congestion doesn't drain well and then becomes a sinus infection.  He has a minimal appetite when he feels this way (understandably) and gains weight one month just to lose it the next.  The biochemist supplements  were very difficult to get into him, but did increase his appetite some.  We quit them for several months due to the fight of getting them into him.  When we went to Mexico we found that he breathed NORMAL for the first time.  We came home and bought a $900 air purifier that was very effective for in house allergens...until the hot temps made the pollen outside explode.  At that time he got very congested when outside (how can one avoid being outside lol!).  We started the supplements again (just 2 - Lymph and Soft Tissue) with a strong effect.  He actually likes those mixed in cranberry juice as long as the other supplements aren't in it:) 

THE PRESENT:
We were getting ready to pursue the traditional skin testing for JJ and weekly shots.  A friend suggested this alternative.  Then two other people from different "circles" for me suggested this alternative as well.  To say that I was reluctant and skeptical was an understatement.  It involves "technology" that also includes muscle testing.  I really don't like muscle testing.  I stay far away from muscle testing.  I see absolutely zero science behind muscle testing.  In fact, I am deeply concerned for spiritual issues related to muscle testing.  However, very reluctantly, we thought that we would try it and see if we could make one last ditch attempt to avoid weekly shots.  We prayed a lot...then we took the plunge.

We have had a total of 9 treatments for Grace and JJ, and 6 for Faith to date.  Supposedly it is one treatment per sensitivity - forever.  No going back for many treatments for the same thing, etc.

Grace: Wow.  We are seeing huge improvement in her focus and concentration.  Have we stopped the ADHD medication? No. Some days I try 1/2 to see how it goes.  Her digestive process was also "treated" and we are seeing additional improvement with that. 

Faith:  Wow.  Her constant congestion is improved.  She is still congested and we can hear her breathing all of the time, but the sneezing "mess" is gone.

JJ:  Wow, wow, wow.  Inhalant allergies:  Last year at this time if we took him outside in the stroller for a walk, etc he would not sleep that night due to the congestion.  He now sleeps through the night at least 6 out of 7 nights. Last night was even 11 hours even after being outside for hours playing!!!  He and Faith have not had any nebulizer treatments at all when last year they were daily treatments. No more sneezing/runny nose.  No more constant coughing.  I can still hear him breathing but it is about 50% of what it was.  He has gained weight for 2 months in a row.  He actually sleeps deeply for many consecutive hours rather than waking every couple of hours and needing to be held to fall back asleep.  He has not been on an antibiotic since right before we left for Mexico in February. 

Food issues: He is eating like a champ.  That was almost instantaneous when his digestive issues were treated.  His main source of nutrition has been raw milk since he will not give up the bottle and won't eat much.  He will not eat a WHOLE banana whereas before he would spit out one bite.  The foods he is eating is increasing.  He will eat an actual portion of food rather than just a few bites.  He actually gets "hungry" and asks to eat.  One weird thing that makes no sense to us is that he will actually drink cold milk right from the fridge now.  That was also instantaneous.  We have been warming his bottles for 20 months or he just would not drink them.  All in all we are very impressed with this. too.

Fear issues:  While JJ has been with us since birth, he has a very heightened fear response similar to a person with PTSD.  Hence the constantly clingyness, total fear of strangers, and our inability to leave him in church nursery or with babysitters.  While we still cannot do those things, overall it is very, obvious to us that his fear response is significantly diminished.  At the home school conference we thought since he afraid of strangers he would stay right with us like EVERY OTHER social event we have been to.  Ha!  He delighted in running off and checking out fun things his eye level as long as people did not engage him.  Not fun lol!  He will go into nursery and actually play with kids now (as long as we DON'T leave!) whereas before he would just cling to us in fear.  He has actually even smiled at a couple of strangers!  I have even stopped the supplements for the past 3 days to see if we can get him off of those altogether while maintaining the gains.

Time will tell if these improvements are long-term.  However, we are very encouraged and excited about the current status of things. We understand that many of our kids' issues are due to prenatal insults and thus the neurology of their makeup cannot be changed.  However, we also strive to help them be as healthy as they can be with the areas of their lives that can be changed.  We are very thankful to God that He put people around us to step up and tell us of this option or we would probably be giving weekly shots by this time.  So, I want to pass this option on to you in case you check it out and find it may be an alternative for you:)  It is called AAT - Advanced Allergy Therapeutics.  You will find articles that say it doesn't work.  You will find testimonials that say it works great.  We are tentatively watching and waiting to see if the improvements "hold."  But for now, we are so thankful the we tried!

With this said, we also tried this "treatment" for some non allergy related things that she said it could help.  We have not seen any improvement with those things.  But...that is for another post:)

jj and temper tantrums

JJ has some mean temper tantrums. He is the only kid we have had that has been quite like this. In the past couple of months he gets really angry and hits, bites, scratches, kicks, etc. He is inconsolable during those times. We have mulled over possible options:
1) Sin - yep, probably the biggest reason
2) Allergies - he is often scratching the top of his head (even as a baby he would do this, we thought he was doing it due being angry but now we realized that when he allergies are bad his head is so congested that he is pulling on his hair to get some relief).
3) language - he is doing well with learning sign language, and is even making up a couple of his own signs for things. He only has about 10 or less words at 19 months. He uses "up" for both "up" and "down." It is cute:) Anyway, I know that he gets frustrated with us not understanding him. He signs "more" for any kind of food. That obviously is a broad range and since he is so picky it is not like we can give him just anything!
4) hungry - I'm sure that with the congestion he doesn't taste and smell food to make him want to eat it. He will eat limited foods and even then only a few bites. His tummy is probably upset much of the time from drainage from his head.
5) lack of sleep - this kid has always had problems with sleep. We know that most of it is due to the congestion and not feeling well. However, he is still tired even if he won't sleep. It is like when he gets close to that just about to fall asleep stage he can't quite get to it. He is, on this new supplement, sleeping longer as it helps his congestion.

We are thankful that we have gone about 2 months without being on an antibiotic! I do think that things are getting better, especially with all of the pollen alerts, etc that we are in and he has not developed a sinus infection. We are hopeful for the new testing/intervention the end of this month and what it might be able to offer. If it does not help...then we aren't any worse off than where we are now:) The biochemist option has also provided significant relief...but probably bringing us from a "10" to a "6/7" for level of issues.

Hoping that if he feels better...we can reduce some of the temper tantrums. I'm getting a little tired of being scratched up! However, this too will pass. I keep reminding myself that one day I will be lonely and bored...this is only a season and one day I will miss it so much!

Allergies, sleep, etc

Well, of course as soon as I post that things are going better...they are not lol!
JJ's allergies were terrible (along with the rest of the country) when the weather got beautiful and the pollen counts when through the roof. He stopped sleeping for awhile again at night (he has quit naps about 5 days a week - the days he does nap he then stays up until after midnight although normally he doesn't go to sleep until 11:30 anyway). We have found another supplement combination that is working as well as the Claritin did AND has him sleeping through the night (once he actually GOES to sleep). So we typically get sleep from midnightish until 5:30ish or possibly later before he wakes to be cuddled and falls back to sleep).

Faith's allergies have also been terrible. Neither of them can find much relief. We checked into allergy shots and out of pocket they would be about $3.50 day for a year for one kid. We have been told about another alternative medicine option for allergies that we have decided to proceed with the end of this month. We are cautiously skeptical, but hope that it will be better than taking two children to the doctor every week and listen to them scream from a shot. This option, in theory, will only require a limited number of visits.

Grace's behavior also goes up and down. We say over and over to ourselves in the morning, "wait for the meds to kick in, wait for the meds to kick in." Mornings are tough. But, once the meds kick in life proceeds... She is showing quite a talent for art kind of things so we are trying to tailor her day around coloring, drawing, etc. I wish we could help her attention span so she can grasp academics better...she tries so hard...

I wish that we knew what was trustworthy and what was not so we knew for sure what to do and what not do.