Wait for now

So, we decided to hold off on the tubes for now. It truly didn’t make sense to me to do it now when the possibility of the tubes falling out in the thick of winter was there. I sure don’t want to have to do a 2nd set of tubes. So, if he needs them later, we’ll cross that bridge then. But, he is doing great right now. He did have a random illness of some sort last week. I think it was probably some upper respiratory virus/sore throat kind of thing. He went to bed on Tuesday night and had been so happy that day! He woke up at 9 something and ate again. Then, he woke up crying around 4 or 5 in the morning and had a fever. He was sad, but would not eat. So, I just rocked him for a while (gave him Tylenol at this point, too) until he went back to sleep. He nursed ONE time on Wednesday for his afternoon nap. The rest of the day, the ONLY thing he took in was water and breastmilk by spoon. It was a REALLY long day. I watched his diapers carefully and made sure he was staying hydrated, which he did (of course, the tears showed he was still hydrated, too).

He still didn’t nurse for bedtime and all through the night. I was hurting, as I don’t respond to the pump well this go round for some reason, so one side of me was getting very pained! I was foreseeing mastitis in my near future. His fever broke around 8:30 or so on Wednesday night, so that was good! He woke up sometime early in the morning and I spoon fed him water, which he was so pleased about. However, after a bit, he gag/coughed and vomited it all up. ~Sigh~ However, he wanted more water, which I gave him because he needed it. So, he did it all again (including the vomiting). At this point, I woke Stephen up and asked for help. I went and warmed up some breastmilk to try that, and he only took a little of it. He wanted water over breastmilk. Stephen ended up rocking him for a long time and putting him back to bed.

I figured we’d have a long day ahead of us on Thursday, but when he woke up, he was GREAT! He nursed upon awakening (my body was uber pleased!) and was happy all day long. No fever, ate well, and happy as could be. So, whatever it was, it left as quick as it came. That was the first time I had to feed any of my children liquid by spoon, so it was an experience, but I was so glad he would at least take it that way.

Anyway, that was that. He does have a cold or something right now. Has had a snotty nose/cough for a few days. Of course, everyone in the family has had the same. So, to be expected. :-s

We have started some other things, too. I got some probiotics for all of us to start. Ridley is taking this. I figured more than any of us, he needs them with as many antibiotics he’s been on. Abs and Colbs are taking these. Stephen is taking these. And, I am taking these. We have a natural grocer nearby, which is where I went to get probiotics. One of the employees there helped me in getting these different ones for each member in the family. So, we’ll see how they help!

We also continue to do the osteopathic manipulation treatment (OMT) on Ridley. It’s like a little massage. The other 2 like to have their massage every night at bedtime, too. It’s so funny b/c they both giggle through the whole thing! It’s pretty humorous.

Also, we are trying a 10 day trial of no dairy in our house to see if it has any bearing on the health in our family. It was easy to rid Ridley of dairy since he didn’t have it anyway outside of yogurt (except of course what he gets from me nursing). So, me, Colby, and Abriella are going without dairy. Seeing if it helps with any eczema issues that exist, Colby’s chronic cough (which they always say is caused by “allergies”), and Stephen’s persistent issues with congestion/allergies/skin issues. I’ve read lots of stuff and thought it might be worth a shot. Stephen hasn’t joined us in the endeavor yet as he wanted to finish off the cow’s milk that we had in the fridge. However, we have switched the kids and myself over to almond milk. Stephen says he actually prefers it over cow’s milk, so we’ll probably switch over once our other milk is gone. The kids really like it, too! I love that it has more calcium in it than cow’s milk, and it’s lower in calories, too. It is really very close in taste to cow’s milk. Anyway, we’ll see if it helps anything. It’s amazing how much dairy permeates our food.  This is one website I’ve read about going dairy free. Of course, that site is filled with very passionate people regarding the benefits of dairy free. We’ll see. We love us some good ole cheese around here, so the evidence for us to do without will have to be pretty strong. However, we can easily change some things and likely will, i.e. the milk.

Anyway, that’s where we are for now. Waiting to see how Ridley does as we enter spring and summer. Praying he can avoid tubes completely!

We are on spring break this week. I enjoy it as much as the kids as I needed a break too! We are almost done with our first year of schooling for Abriella. We will continue with Providence Preparatory School next year. God has blessed us with that avenue of schooling!

Alrighty, that’s all for now!