A Solution

Emmett is doing the same. After the medications, there was no change in his condition. He was fussier, and that's about all, which made things a little more challenging at the end of this past week. His lack of positive reaction to the medication proves that he does not have asthma. That was encouraging, yet he is still wheezy, congested and wet coughing. Our Dr. thinks that he has reflux. She prescribed a reflux med, but that was the one that was making him fussy. So after the follow up on Friday, we are on a new medication that has less side effects.

Now, I love our new Pediatrician, but I really want to know if this is treatable with out the use of medication. (I meant to ask her, but forgot....she tends to offer more natural options before the Rx route, but this time she didn't.) I have read some things that say that positioning while nursing and making sure he is burped following a feeding can help, along with sleeping at a 30 degree angle, so that the stomach acid stays in the stomach. Any advice from anyone would be gladly taken! I am going to give it a week and see if changing things up helps. Afterwards, if there is no change, I will start the new medication. He will be on it until he is around age one if a more natural approach doesn't work, because that is when it tends to resolve itself.

We still have a allergy/immunology appointment set up for Monday. She also wants us to see a GI specialist. That may be a month out before we see them. We are both kind of questioning whether this is all necessary. Since it is affecting his lungs, it seems pretty serious, so that is why we have been more sensitive regarding this issue. We want him to get better......I mean he isn't really sick at all, he plays well. In fact today, he found a sword and started a duel with his brother. Was even protecting his sister from the sinister knight of Bachyerd. So ending on a more jovial note, enjoy the pictures of your little man. He is so yummy....so brave!

Emmett and Aidan mid-battle

Emmett defends the Princess Joanna

Breathing Issues

Well, today we decided to take Emmett to the Pediatrician. Since the end of August, he has had a wheezy, wet, productive cough going on. Pretty much non-stop. Since then he has cut 6 teeth and is in process of cutting 2 more. We passed it off as a "teething cough" at first, but it continued. Then we thought "it must be a cold now".....and finally, it was just time to take him in because it seems that though we were hopeful he would beat this junk, it's just not happening. He has also run a pretty consistent temperature of 99-100 degrees since the start of this.

I called this morning and got an afternoon appointment. Since it was last minute, we all went....the kids and I. Dr. Hogan's medical student came in to listen to him and check his ears first, then the nurse came in and took a pulse O2 and it was 83 which is low. Next Dr. Hogan came in and said it was way too low and she wasn't comfortable with it. She then told us that we needed to go to the hospital for yet another chest x-ray. (This would have been his third since birth.) She also added that if his pulse O2 wasn't 93 or above they would want to admit him into the hospital.

To say the least, I was taken aback. I didn't think he was that serious or I would have brought him in sooner! They gave him a breathing treatment and then checked his pulse O2 about 5-10 min. after. He got a score of 90 which made her much more comfortable, so we didn't have to go in. We did leave the office with a Rx for an oral steriod for the next three days, breathing treatments and reflux medication. We are trying to nail down what the cause is. We also have an appointment to see an allergist/immunologist on Monday to study him further.

The little man has had a rough start with his lungs. The Dr. seems to think he has had way too much going on being only an 8 month old. Our prayer is that it is something that we can deal with as naturally as possible and that steroid treatment will not become the only option. He is a happy baby boy, he get's cranky, but 6 teeth in 2 months....that would make me cranky!

Dr. Hogan also mentioned that it could be a milk or chicken allergy, so since he is nursing I am going to try and cut those out of my diet for a while and see if it helps. That should be interesting! Fruits and veggies here I come!! Oh, and I can eat my Oatmeal too! I'll give up anything to help the little man out....Please pray for a healthy little boy.

Love,

Hilary

The Church Camping Trip

We went camping with our church at Watson Mill Bridge State Park. This is the first year we have gone since Guy went to Iraq. The last time the Blaedow bunch came on this yearly trip, it was just Hilary, the kids, and Grammie and Papa Thomas. So it was a special treat this year to have Guy take off Friday from work so we could get there early enough to set up our tent before it got dark. The kids also got to enjoy some biking laps around the camp ground. This year the entire camp was Cornerstone Bible Church members, so everyone was watching out for all the kids. It was so much fun and just like a big family.

Unfortunately, we didn't get the camera out as much as we would have liked, but we did get a couple of snap shots so here they are to share.

Papa and Grammie Thomas and Becky White
at Saturday night dinner

Joanna and Emmett
helping daddy take down the tent

Silly Joanna

Happy Emme playing in the dirt

Guy taking down the tent

Chad White, Grace Kirkwood, and Emme
at dinner on Saturday night

Caleb and Aidan were on this trip as well, but they were busy riding bikes, playing in the woods building a fort, and splashing in a nearby stream. We will share some pictures of them at another event soon to come....we just struggled to grab a snapshot of the boys on the run....havin' fun!

"If you build it, they will come"

Hi all! Yep, that was my intention. To start this thing, so everyone could see what's going on in the Blaedow world. Sorry I have not be as forth coming with family info as I intended. I feel like this is my constant promise to all those who are at a distance from us, but I always seem to fail in getting it done. So here is another promise........I PROMISE TO GET BETTER AT SHARING WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR LIVES!

We love you all! I will hopefully get an update in tonight. It may be post dated so look at the post prior to this. Tonight is Scout night for the boys, all except Emmett of course. So once I get the little ones in bed I can share some recent photos.

Gotta get going. We are in the midst of a new school year and I need to get the morning started. Love ya'll!

Hilary