Beautiful started Basketball for a home school team. Her first game was snowed out last night:( She spends a lot of time on my itouch texting friends, listening to music on her ipod, and in general being a teenager:)
Buddy is LOVING the snow. He takes Superman out for snowball fights and we went sledding last weekend. We are also enjoying playing board games:) He discovered Larry the Cable Guy on netflix. I had heard something negative about him in the past so never allowed it to be watched. However, watching a grown man with a voice like "Mater" is irresistibly hilarious lol!!
Superman is enjoying the snow too. He and Buddy spend hours and hours together building huge lego "bases" and making totally creative things.
Grace just had her second retest. Her numbers continue to improve and she was able to be taken off of 6 of the supplements. We have added one more to see if we can get increased focus and decreased hyperactivity. We have added back all foods (except meat) and for the most part are having good success. The foods like peanut butter and cheese that she is not supposed to have we are allowing in small quantities without any known adverse effects. We have always reduced sugar with the kids like juices due to cost and the adverse affects of sugar. However, I am now discovering that this practice has been bad. All of the kids have had low sugars (including myself!) and we are seeing improvement with adding juices and more fruits into the diet.
Faith's congestion is still present but not to the degree that it was. Her biochemistry numbers were significantly improved on her retest as well and one supplement was stopped. We are hopeful for increased healing of her body and for the breathing problems to be gone. She originally had high blood sugars, but once we properly hydrated her they are low too.
JJ has had the most improved symptoms and the least improved biochemistry on the retest - go figure! He slept through the night 5 nights in 1 week, then went 2 weeks very grumpy and not sleeping through the night again. In talking with a friend we figured out it was probably due to weaning him. So, I stopped that and...his is back to his cheerful self AND sleeping through the night! However...he is sick again. With the congestion he is still eating and has not spiked a high fever. So, despite being sick he does appear to be on a better trajectory than he went on all summer when the congestion would start. He is just the sweetest little kid!!! He drags out all of my lids, bowls, containers, food out of the cupboards and stacks them, or carries them around the house, or puts them in a box and pushes them around the house. Since starting the supplements and his appetite increasing his weight has gone up almost 2 lbs and he has grown almost 2 inches! That means that he can drag things out of high drawers, things closer to the center of the table, and can get his leg up to climb on things that are higher than he could 2 months ago lol!
I, too, have had low blood sugar. I am realizing now all of the long lasting implications of this. First, it makes me have headaches. When I have headaches I am grumpy (sadly true) and I eat more. I now weigh more than I ever have except when pregnant:( I have enjoyed a week of being headache free now that I am understanding the correlation between when and what I need to eat (increased juices and fruits) to stave off the headaches. Apparently once those blood sugars level off I should be able to lose some weight too as my metabolism will increase. Bonus! I keep getting told that my "numbers" indicate that I need more rest. Go figure...
I am mostly done with Christmas shopping. Beautiful is a little harder to shop for but she has kindly given us a list of wants:) Now to finish end of year tax preparation, paying bills, menu planning with all of the foods we can and cannot eat, home school, cleaning, work, projects, cleaning, Christmas program, basketball stuff, and have I mentioned cleaning? At the end of the day I mostly feel like I cleaned up messes all day.
I am considering a "good to have done" but not "urgent" task to complete this weekend. We'll see if I can make some progress on it or not:)
Friday, December 9, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thanksgiving Traditions
Our family enjoy tradition, like most families do. Thanksgiving really marks the beginning of the Christmas season in our family. I am bummed that blogger is not uploading my pictures to show you some of the adorable pics that we got of the kids this year. We made lefse yesterday and Beautiful had lots of fun being the "Flour Queen." This, of course, means that there is a huge mess for me to clean up afterwards...but the kids have a blast:) Today we set up the Christmas Tree. I have been pondering lately how well I know my children. It is amazing how long you can live in close proximity with people and not really know them. I have been trying to "study" my children lately and really know their personalities. I watched them put up the tree and had fun learning more about them.
Beautiful - she really didn't care about putting up the tree at all. She just wanted to have Christmas music on to sing and dance around. Yep, 14 year old girl:)
Buddy - he really wanted the tree up. I was in the middle of trying to get paperwork caught up and he had that tree up before I got done. He was all about getting the lefse going too. He is all about "this is how it is supposed to be so get it checked off the list." I worry sometimes that he doesn't enjoy process, just completion. But, alas, he is just like his mother...sigh...
Superman - he loved watching the ornaments go on the tree. He is very sentimental about the things that have been given to him and they are dear to his heart. I'm sure that has something to do with having nothing from the first 3 years of his life - and being able to remember that he has nothing to remember those years by. All day he couldn't wait to put the ornament on the tree that made last year in preschool.
Grace - she was totally taken in by the excitement and the sparkling lights, tinsel, and ornaments. She was insistent about "helping." Of course, she was singing and dancing with her big sister!
Faith - she was more willing to watch the process and be a part of it. Singing and dancing is also a big part of how she experiences life and she belted out Christmas songs with the rest of us.
JJ - He just could not (and can not) get enough of the ornaments. He wants to be right there in the tree touching and exploring this new sight! He is very, very curious:)
I was thinking last night as I was playing the piano with my family gathered around singing Christmas Carols about the many things of which I am thankful. I am so glad that my Grandparents paid for me to take piano lessons, for my parents making me keep taking piano lessons, for my wonderful piano teacher, and for the gift of a piano as a wedding gift from a dear friend. I am so thankful that all of my family WANTS to stand around the piano and sing. I am blessed by a cohesive family unit that, despite time constraints, varied personalities, and plenty of us to go around, we actually want to spend time together:) I love our family:)
Beautiful - she really didn't care about putting up the tree at all. She just wanted to have Christmas music on to sing and dance around. Yep, 14 year old girl:)
Buddy - he really wanted the tree up. I was in the middle of trying to get paperwork caught up and he had that tree up before I got done. He was all about getting the lefse going too. He is all about "this is how it is supposed to be so get it checked off the list." I worry sometimes that he doesn't enjoy process, just completion. But, alas, he is just like his mother...sigh...
Superman - he loved watching the ornaments go on the tree. He is very sentimental about the things that have been given to him and they are dear to his heart. I'm sure that has something to do with having nothing from the first 3 years of his life - and being able to remember that he has nothing to remember those years by. All day he couldn't wait to put the ornament on the tree that made last year in preschool.
Grace - she was totally taken in by the excitement and the sparkling lights, tinsel, and ornaments. She was insistent about "helping." Of course, she was singing and dancing with her big sister!
Faith - she was more willing to watch the process and be a part of it. Singing and dancing is also a big part of how she experiences life and she belted out Christmas songs with the rest of us.
JJ - He just could not (and can not) get enough of the ornaments. He wants to be right there in the tree touching and exploring this new sight! He is very, very curious:)
I was thinking last night as I was playing the piano with my family gathered around singing Christmas Carols about the many things of which I am thankful. I am so glad that my Grandparents paid for me to take piano lessons, for my parents making me keep taking piano lessons, for my wonderful piano teacher, and for the gift of a piano as a wedding gift from a dear friend. I am so thankful that all of my family WANTS to stand around the piano and sing. I am blessed by a cohesive family unit that, despite time constraints, varied personalities, and plenty of us to go around, we actually want to spend time together:) I love our family:)
Sunday, November 20, 2011
His Grace is Enough
I have been contemplating grace lately - I am thinking about how I am feeling a lack of grace from people coming my way...and how I have been less than gracious to others.
Lately I have felt misunderstood. Our choices, as expected, look different on the outside to people who do not understand, or take the time to understand, our family. This has felt lonely. I have felt very few people pressing in to really "know" our family (nor have I had the time to cultivate relationships at this season of life). However, God has gently reminded me that many, many times my husband and I have not shown others grace either. Most poignantly I recall our dear friends whom we misunderstood both in their Faith and in their family size. They, I know, felt misunderstood by us. Yet, they were our biggest cheerleaders when we came to faith and have always been supportive of our family being larger than "2.2 children." They handled our lack of grace towards them maturely, and now it is my turn to handle this well.
I've had this blog post rolling around in my head for some months now, and decided to finally take the time to share it.
When people don't understand why we would have SIX! children...His grace is enough
When people don't understand why "only six???"...His grace is enough
When I think "what was I thinking?!?!?!?!...His grace is enough
When people don't understand what parenting children with prenatal "stuff" is like...His grace is enough.
When I am heartbroken and at my wits end about how to parent/teach children who have prenatal "stuff"...His grace is enough.
When people don't understand what parenting children who have seen terrible things is like...His grace is enough.
When I have no idea what the best parenting intervention is for kids who have deeper wounds than I can comprehend...His grace is enough
When people think we need to be more strict in our parenting...His grace is enough
When people think we need to be less strict in our parenting...His grace is enough
When people don't understand what parenting our teen/preteen is like...His grace is enough
When I don't understand our teen/preteen...His grace is enough
When people think we need to be in a certain Christian "box" that we are not maintaining...His grace is enough
When I feel inferior because I can no longer maintain my previous beliefs about the "Christian Box"...His grace is enough
When people look disapprovingly at us because we don't put the baby in the nursery at church because every time he goes he gets sick...and he never wants to be away from us...His grace is enough
During long nights when he doesn't want to be away from us and sleep by himself...His grace is enough
When people think "Oh no..."they" are coming with all those kids this is going to be hard"...His grace is enough
When I think "Oh no...we can't possibly do that because of the children's misbehaviors"...His grace is enough
When I have said "don't do _____________!!!!" for the 5987th time and it happens again 2 minutes later...His grace is enough
When God has told me "Don't do that" for the 5987th time and I do it again...His grace is enough
When others "talk" about how I need to be doing "more" in ministry, etc...His grace is enough
When I feel like there is not enough time to do well all of the things I want to do well...His grace is enough
When I am overwhelmed and climb into my hole and am totally unproductive except for replenishing my brain...His grace is enough
When I think about the trajectory that each of my children are on and worry...His grace is enough
When I think about the trajectory of this culture/world and the logical conclusions...His grace is enough
When other accuse me of the good I should have done and didn't...His grace is enough
When I know the good I ought to do and don't do it...His grace is enough
When I contemplate the endless array of decisions that need to be made: keep foster care license of not, go on a family vacation or not, to do housework or to just "be" with the kids, to cook something healthy for supper or to eat left overs, put money toward retirement...or college fund, read a book or take a nap, go on a date with my husband and regroup or save the headache of coming home to chaos, spend time with a friend to get a bit of replenishing or with a child and pour out more of myself I am in need of being reminded that His grace is enough.
Because His grace is enough... "I" am enough for I am a child of God, created in His image for His glory. While I am a pathetic vessel riddled with pain, insecurities, selfishness, and sin I am enough for Him. I am loveable...I am loved. Not because of who "I" am but because of who "He" is...because...His grace is enough!
Lately I have felt misunderstood. Our choices, as expected, look different on the outside to people who do not understand, or take the time to understand, our family. This has felt lonely. I have felt very few people pressing in to really "know" our family (nor have I had the time to cultivate relationships at this season of life). However, God has gently reminded me that many, many times my husband and I have not shown others grace either. Most poignantly I recall our dear friends whom we misunderstood both in their Faith and in their family size. They, I know, felt misunderstood by us. Yet, they were our biggest cheerleaders when we came to faith and have always been supportive of our family being larger than "2.2 children." They handled our lack of grace towards them maturely, and now it is my turn to handle this well.
I've had this blog post rolling around in my head for some months now, and decided to finally take the time to share it.
When people don't understand why we would have SIX! children...His grace is enough
When people don't understand why "only six???"...His grace is enough
When I think "what was I thinking?!?!?!?!...His grace is enough
When people don't understand what parenting children with prenatal "stuff" is like...His grace is enough.
When I am heartbroken and at my wits end about how to parent/teach children who have prenatal "stuff"...His grace is enough.
When people don't understand what parenting children who have seen terrible things is like...His grace is enough.
When I have no idea what the best parenting intervention is for kids who have deeper wounds than I can comprehend...His grace is enough
When people think we need to be more strict in our parenting...His grace is enough
When people think we need to be less strict in our parenting...His grace is enough
When people don't understand what parenting our teen/preteen is like...His grace is enough
When I don't understand our teen/preteen...His grace is enough
When people think we need to be in a certain Christian "box" that we are not maintaining...His grace is enough
When I feel inferior because I can no longer maintain my previous beliefs about the "Christian Box"...His grace is enough
When people look disapprovingly at us because we don't put the baby in the nursery at church because every time he goes he gets sick...and he never wants to be away from us...His grace is enough
During long nights when he doesn't want to be away from us and sleep by himself...His grace is enough
When people think "Oh no..."they" are coming with all those kids this is going to be hard"...His grace is enough
When I think "Oh no...we can't possibly do that because of the children's misbehaviors"...His grace is enough
When I have said "don't do _____________!!!!" for the 5987th time and it happens again 2 minutes later...His grace is enough
When God has told me "Don't do that" for the 5987th time and I do it again...His grace is enough
When others "talk" about how I need to be doing "more" in ministry, etc...His grace is enough
When I feel like there is not enough time to do well all of the things I want to do well...His grace is enough
When I am overwhelmed and climb into my hole and am totally unproductive except for replenishing my brain...His grace is enough
When I think about the trajectory that each of my children are on and worry...His grace is enough
When I think about the trajectory of this culture/world and the logical conclusions...His grace is enough
When other accuse me of the good I should have done and didn't...His grace is enough
When I know the good I ought to do and don't do it...His grace is enough
When I contemplate the endless array of decisions that need to be made: keep foster care license of not, go on a family vacation or not, to do housework or to just "be" with the kids, to cook something healthy for supper or to eat left overs, put money toward retirement...or college fund, read a book or take a nap, go on a date with my husband and regroup or save the headache of coming home to chaos, spend time with a friend to get a bit of replenishing or with a child and pour out more of myself I am in need of being reminded that His grace is enough.
Because His grace is enough... "I" am enough for I am a child of God, created in His image for His glory. While I am a pathetic vessel riddled with pain, insecurities, selfishness, and sin I am enough for Him. I am loveable...I am loved. Not because of who "I" am but because of who "He" is...because...His grace is enough!
Friday, November 18, 2011
JJ's Funniest Temper Tantrum...to date
In hindsight this was the funniest temper tantrum story our family has experienced - proving that even the 6th child can do something new lol!! However, at the moment we were kind of in shock as to what was going on. Our bathroom is kind of triangularly shaped. JJ has a preference for items in each corner...my husband and I can only cover 2 corners at a time! JJ really, really likes the toilet brush. Do you have a kid like that? Beautiful was our only other kid who liked the toilet brush. I remember once we left her with my mother and strongly suggested she watch her closely but, "if you can't find her...look in the bathroom." Sure enough, mom lost her...and she was in the bathroom.
But I digress. At 11:30 last night we are getting ready for bed and JJ was as energetic as he always is at that time of night. I sat JJ down in the bedroom and he made a BEE LINE for the toilet brush in the adjoined bathroom. My husband anticipated this and got to JJ at the time he had lifted the toilet brush above his head. Well, Beautiful had just cleaned the bathrooms yesterday so we had a wet mess. My husband grabbed the toilet brush and said "no." He then proceeded to grab a towel to clean up. This all took about 2 seconds and I was coming around the corner to help.
At that time JJ was in the "inhale deeply so you can let out a really loud scream to make absolutely sure that the whole house knows how you have been wronged by having your favorite toy taken away from you" phase. He was doing this while running across the bathroom. I came around the corner with the odd thought "why isn't he screaming - he always screams when he is mad?" in time to see him run into the wall and fall flat on his face on the rug. My husband and I are pretty sure that he essentially held his breath so long that he fainted. We picked him up and he didn't even have the loud, long scream. He looked a little dazed so I just sat and held him. Today he has a bit of a scratch on his forehead where he ran into the wall.
So, while I know it must have been a bit traumatic for him, having his favorite toy taking away and being utterly misunderstood about the fun one can have with a wet toilet brush and all, in hindsight it was pretty funny!!
But I digress. At 11:30 last night we are getting ready for bed and JJ was as energetic as he always is at that time of night. I sat JJ down in the bedroom and he made a BEE LINE for the toilet brush in the adjoined bathroom. My husband anticipated this and got to JJ at the time he had lifted the toilet brush above his head. Well, Beautiful had just cleaned the bathrooms yesterday so we had a wet mess. My husband grabbed the toilet brush and said "no." He then proceeded to grab a towel to clean up. This all took about 2 seconds and I was coming around the corner to help.
At that time JJ was in the "inhale deeply so you can let out a really loud scream to make absolutely sure that the whole house knows how you have been wronged by having your favorite toy taken away from you" phase. He was doing this while running across the bathroom. I came around the corner with the odd thought "why isn't he screaming - he always screams when he is mad?" in time to see him run into the wall and fall flat on his face on the rug. My husband and I are pretty sure that he essentially held his breath so long that he fainted. We picked him up and he didn't even have the loud, long scream. He looked a little dazed so I just sat and held him. Today he has a bit of a scratch on his forehead where he ran into the wall.
So, while I know it must have been a bit traumatic for him, having his favorite toy taking away and being utterly misunderstood about the fun one can have with a wet toilet brush and all, in hindsight it was pretty funny!!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Grace's new journey: week 6/7
It has been over 2 weeks since my last update. It is hard to fit blogging in with everything else. Essentially we continue to have progress.
Grace: The good news: Her digestive issues have improved to the point that we have introduced dairy products again...with no symptoms! For the first time in her life having sour cream, ice cream, cream cheese, etc does not result in her running for the bathroom. It is exciting:) Her hyperactive behaviors are improving. She still requires much behavior management but she is essentially off of the Ritalin. We are noticing for the first time now, because of the lessening in her hyperactivity/impulsivity, how much her concentration/focus is affected. We always knew that she was unable to focus well, but now it is more apparent. It seems that now when we are attempting to discipline her behaviors she is less angry and more...possibly remorseful.
Faith: We are 2 weeks into the supplements with her. We have not noticed any improvement with her. We also stopped her allergy shots at the same time so that is compounding her issues right now. She is congested, coughing, and has a runny nose all of the time. We are waiting for the retest to see how she is doing. She has some other foundational issues to get cleared up so hopefully once those are better we will see some improvement in the congestion.
JJ: Along with Faith and Grace having head colds and coughs (Faith's is by far worse, it always is), JJ had a cough and congestion. Usually that is followed by a fever, refusing to eat, and weeks later we finally end up putting him on an antibiotic. However, this time within a few days his cough cleared up and while he is still congested in his head it is his "normal" rattle when breathing (he has never breathed totally quietly all the time). He only had one day that he decided to eat minimal foods. He is drinking and eating 2x as much as usual and has gained 1 lb in the past month! So, we are considering that he is significantly improving as well. And, as a bonus...he is sleeping better! He has slept 12 hours for the past 3 nights - 1 straight through and 2 only getting up once for a bottle then back to sleep. His appetite has probably tripled - and that is likely a factor in his sleeping better - since he is eating more at a meal:)
Myself: I have been waiting around "something" to feel different. I have wondered since my symptoms were less specific what/if I would notice anything. I was looking at a specific symptom set and didn't really think I noticed anything (like more energy, etc). I have had some improvement specific to my issues, but am probably the most surprised that I have less pain in my back. That, of course, is a very pleasant surprise as I have learned to just live with the chronic pain as it is MUCH better than it used to be but there is not a minute that goes by that I am not experiencing some level of discomfort.
Our menu has change dramatically. There is a lot of food we don't eat anymore and a LOT of foods we have added that we never considered before. Millet, grits, green drinks, almond milk, etc. I am learning to hid veggies in soups. Since the kids are on vegetarian diets we are more creative about meals - being a farmer's daughter and my husband is a hunter we have always been all about meat. But...we are learning. Yesterday I made fruit leather and today I made homemade yogurt. Yep...times are changing at our house lol! I am thankful for a friend's blog www.heavenlyhomemakers.com. When in doubt...I check it out!
.....
Grace: The good news: Her digestive issues have improved to the point that we have introduced dairy products again...with no symptoms! For the first time in her life having sour cream, ice cream, cream cheese, etc does not result in her running for the bathroom. It is exciting:) Her hyperactive behaviors are improving. She still requires much behavior management but she is essentially off of the Ritalin. We are noticing for the first time now, because of the lessening in her hyperactivity/impulsivity, how much her concentration/focus is affected. We always knew that she was unable to focus well, but now it is more apparent. It seems that now when we are attempting to discipline her behaviors she is less angry and more...possibly remorseful.
Faith: We are 2 weeks into the supplements with her. We have not noticed any improvement with her. We also stopped her allergy shots at the same time so that is compounding her issues right now. She is congested, coughing, and has a runny nose all of the time. We are waiting for the retest to see how she is doing. She has some other foundational issues to get cleared up so hopefully once those are better we will see some improvement in the congestion.
JJ: Along with Faith and Grace having head colds and coughs (Faith's is by far worse, it always is), JJ had a cough and congestion. Usually that is followed by a fever, refusing to eat, and weeks later we finally end up putting him on an antibiotic. However, this time within a few days his cough cleared up and while he is still congested in his head it is his "normal" rattle when breathing (he has never breathed totally quietly all the time). He only had one day that he decided to eat minimal foods. He is drinking and eating 2x as much as usual and has gained 1 lb in the past month! So, we are considering that he is significantly improving as well. And, as a bonus...he is sleeping better! He has slept 12 hours for the past 3 nights - 1 straight through and 2 only getting up once for a bottle then back to sleep. His appetite has probably tripled - and that is likely a factor in his sleeping better - since he is eating more at a meal:)
Myself: I have been waiting around "something" to feel different. I have wondered since my symptoms were less specific what/if I would notice anything. I was looking at a specific symptom set and didn't really think I noticed anything (like more energy, etc). I have had some improvement specific to my issues, but am probably the most surprised that I have less pain in my back. That, of course, is a very pleasant surprise as I have learned to just live with the chronic pain as it is MUCH better than it used to be but there is not a minute that goes by that I am not experiencing some level of discomfort.
Our menu has change dramatically. There is a lot of food we don't eat anymore and a LOT of foods we have added that we never considered before. Millet, grits, green drinks, almond milk, etc. I am learning to hid veggies in soups. Since the kids are on vegetarian diets we are more creative about meals - being a farmer's daughter and my husband is a hunter we have always been all about meat. But...we are learning. Yesterday I made fruit leather and today I made homemade yogurt. Yep...times are changing at our house lol! I am thankful for a friend's blog www.heavenlyhomemakers.com. When in doubt...I check it out!
.....
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Buddy
Yes, as long as the other kids are all needing changes in their diets/lives...why should we leave out Buddy lol! The long of it in short story form: When we went to the dentist last time we found out that Buddy has "tongue thrust" problem. We were recommended to put him in Myofunctional Therapy. After pondering that for 2 months we have decided to get him started on that today. We had a 1 hour initial assessment. Wow, I had no idea about speech/language issues or swallowing issues, etc. Buddy met the classic symptoms for "tongue thrust" problems. Since I had no idea about these things and am finding they are pretty common, I thought I would attempt to share this with you, without embarrassing my son in the mean time.
Before you read on, swallow. Notice where your tongue goes. It is supposed to press against the top of your mouth and not against your teeth. Well, Buddy's tongue doesn't even TOUCH the top of his mouth when he swallows, it only pushes forward against his teeth. That is leading to spaces between his teeth and a deformity with the roof of his mouth that is affecting his breathing and will only increase if not corrected. When a person swallows the food is supposed to go over the tongue, the soft palate at the back of the roof of the mouth is supposed to raise up and the uvala (whatever that sticky down thing is at the back of your throat ) is supposed to move backwards to close off the nasal passage while eating/drinking. Buddy's doesn't even move. That makes is much harder to swallow. In fact, he just puts food in and it goes right down his throat - especially liquids.
Here is the kicker...Buddy is an EXTREMELY picky eater. We found out today that kids with this problem are picky eaters because they simply cannot swallow many textures of food due to the way their mouth is not working properly. We had decided early on that the battle to get him to eat was not worth it. I am now VERY glad that we did not make that a battle because it was far more than a strong will...it is actually a structural problem with swallowing. He has taken a lot of grief over this for the years (and won't even go to camp in the summer due to food issues). We (and amazingly he is too) are very excited that he supposedly will be able to eat more foods soon!
Finally, when one's tongue and mouth is not working properly one does not enunciate as well as one should. We have always complained to Buddy that he is a mumbler. Soon, he should not be mumbling:)
So, for the next 14 - 18 weeks we get to drive to the next down over every week and have him do 30 minutes of swallowing (and other things) therapy. After that will be every 3 weeks, 6 weeks, etc until at the end of a year he will hopefully be cured.
Because life ALWAYS throws us curve balls and every time we think we are treading water something else happens to dunk us again:) It is all good, and it makes me trust and totally rely on God because I certainly can't do any of this in my own power.
Before you read on, swallow. Notice where your tongue goes. It is supposed to press against the top of your mouth and not against your teeth. Well, Buddy's tongue doesn't even TOUCH the top of his mouth when he swallows, it only pushes forward against his teeth. That is leading to spaces between his teeth and a deformity with the roof of his mouth that is affecting his breathing and will only increase if not corrected. When a person swallows the food is supposed to go over the tongue, the soft palate at the back of the roof of the mouth is supposed to raise up and the uvala (whatever that sticky down thing is at the back of your throat ) is supposed to move backwards to close off the nasal passage while eating/drinking. Buddy's doesn't even move. That makes is much harder to swallow. In fact, he just puts food in and it goes right down his throat - especially liquids.
Here is the kicker...Buddy is an EXTREMELY picky eater. We found out today that kids with this problem are picky eaters because they simply cannot swallow many textures of food due to the way their mouth is not working properly. We had decided early on that the battle to get him to eat was not worth it. I am now VERY glad that we did not make that a battle because it was far more than a strong will...it is actually a structural problem with swallowing. He has taken a lot of grief over this for the years (and won't even go to camp in the summer due to food issues). We (and amazingly he is too) are very excited that he supposedly will be able to eat more foods soon!
Finally, when one's tongue and mouth is not working properly one does not enunciate as well as one should. We have always complained to Buddy that he is a mumbler. Soon, he should not be mumbling:)
So, for the next 14 - 18 weeks we get to drive to the next down over every week and have him do 30 minutes of swallowing (and other things) therapy. After that will be every 3 weeks, 6 weeks, etc until at the end of a year he will hopefully be cured.
Because life ALWAYS throws us curve balls and every time we think we are treading water something else happens to dunk us again:) It is all good, and it makes me trust and totally rely on God because I certainly can't do any of this in my own power.
JJ, Faith, and I join the ranks...
Since we are seeing such promising progress with Grace, we decided that we would have JJ, Faith, and I tested as well to try to get us on track.
Faith has a lot of congestion issues and we have had to have her on the nebulizer a lot due to wheezing and lung issues. She was on allergy shots which we have decided to discontinue at this time. There were some labs of hers that were much worse than Grace's. For example, her sugars are very high as well as her salts. The biochemist said that if she were a 50 y/o woman she may be concerned about heart attack. So, we are now working to minimize sugars and salts and significantly increase fluids. She is also have supplements that are to help her allergy congestion. We'll see how it goes!
JJ also needs many more fluids. We already knew that since he does not like to eat or drink. We are going to need to be creative about how to get the couple of supplements into him, in particular because he is low in several minerals. Overall we are attempting to help him with some digestive enzymes and similar things to want to eat more, digest his food better, and hopefully gain wait and be less congested. The biochemist said that many times people think they are lactose intolerant due to congestion from dairy products, but it is really a calcium deficiency. So, we are adding liquid calcium to his diet and switching him from goat's milk to raw milk.
And, myself. I initially felt quite guilty about spending the money to get tested before the rest of the kids were tested and maintaining. But in talking about it with my husband we decided that I need the energy and mental focus to be able to parent and implement these changes well so I should go ahead now and do it. I was surprised that the labs showed things that I thought I just needed to live with, such as peri menopausal symptoms I've dealt with for 11 years. So, in addition to the fact that I have low blood sugar just like JJ and Grace, labs about my concentration/focus were also poor (I knew that too lol!) I also have toxic levels of Magnesium - probably due to the multivitamin that I take (she does not agree with multi-vitamins anyway). So - I am off of my multi-vitamin. She also had some options for my chronic pain issues and to help the inflammation/pain from my herniated disk. We'll see how that progresses.
So, all of us get to do some changes together. Other than that we all have different needs and need different foods/supplements. I'll get a daily calendar together to make sure everyone is getting what they need when they need it, figure out how to make the teas and other drinks to help get in the minerals/vitamins that we need, and look forward to our re-tests in a month to see our progress! I, in particular, am looking forward to less pain and more energy and focus:) It is much less overwhelming this time around even though we are adding 3 diet changes compared to 1. Hopefully in a month or 2 we will get the other 4 in the family tested and...then be super healthy lol!
Faith has a lot of congestion issues and we have had to have her on the nebulizer a lot due to wheezing and lung issues. She was on allergy shots which we have decided to discontinue at this time. There were some labs of hers that were much worse than Grace's. For example, her sugars are very high as well as her salts. The biochemist said that if she were a 50 y/o woman she may be concerned about heart attack. So, we are now working to minimize sugars and salts and significantly increase fluids. She is also have supplements that are to help her allergy congestion. We'll see how it goes!
JJ also needs many more fluids. We already knew that since he does not like to eat or drink. We are going to need to be creative about how to get the couple of supplements into him, in particular because he is low in several minerals. Overall we are attempting to help him with some digestive enzymes and similar things to want to eat more, digest his food better, and hopefully gain wait and be less congested. The biochemist said that many times people think they are lactose intolerant due to congestion from dairy products, but it is really a calcium deficiency. So, we are adding liquid calcium to his diet and switching him from goat's milk to raw milk.
And, myself. I initially felt quite guilty about spending the money to get tested before the rest of the kids were tested and maintaining. But in talking about it with my husband we decided that I need the energy and mental focus to be able to parent and implement these changes well so I should go ahead now and do it. I was surprised that the labs showed things that I thought I just needed to live with, such as peri menopausal symptoms I've dealt with for 11 years. So, in addition to the fact that I have low blood sugar just like JJ and Grace, labs about my concentration/focus were also poor (I knew that too lol!) I also have toxic levels of Magnesium - probably due to the multivitamin that I take (she does not agree with multi-vitamins anyway). So - I am off of my multi-vitamin. She also had some options for my chronic pain issues and to help the inflammation/pain from my herniated disk. We'll see how that progresses.
So, all of us get to do some changes together. Other than that we all have different needs and need different foods/supplements. I'll get a daily calendar together to make sure everyone is getting what they need when they need it, figure out how to make the teas and other drinks to help get in the minerals/vitamins that we need, and look forward to our re-tests in a month to see our progress! I, in particular, am looking forward to less pain and more energy and focus:) It is much less overwhelming this time around even though we are adding 3 diet changes compared to 1. Hopefully in a month or 2 we will get the other 4 in the family tested and...then be super healthy lol!
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