What Have We Been Up To?
“Hi Everyone!”
So I thought since Quinn was 2.5 months old already that it was time for an update!!!
We have been super busy these last few months. I never wrote about Quinn’s first few weeks and birth, I almost wish I had, but everything was way too crazy. So I will start with that because to explain the rest you need to know the back ground.
Without going into too much detail, Quinn’s birth was a little tramatic. When I went into labor with him, he still hadn’t dropped. He had lots of excess amniotic fluid and so he never was able to drop into position. I was laboring and dilating and he still wasn’t budging. When they broke my water, he dropped, but when he dropped he was coming out face first instead of top of the head first like babies are supposed to come.
The dr informed me that I had to have a c-section but he got a second opinion. We figured out a way to avoid the c-section and Quinn came with no other hiccups. I was so excited to have him here and then he refused to eat. That refusal continued for the next 28 hours. During this time he continues to choke and gag on something. He even turned blue at one point in the hospital. We did everything we could for him but the choking continued and the nurses kept telling me that everything was normal when they ran tests. He ended up getting VERY close to loosing enough weight that they would have declared him failure to thrive.
After 28 long hours they decided to tube feed him. After they did that he threw up about half of what they gave him. They waited about 5 hours and then tried a bottle with him. Amazingly he took the bottle and kept it down. So we saw hope that it would work out. So I pumped and gave him milk in the bottle for the next 2 feeds. We then started the long process or teaching him to nurse. We went in stages to get him to drink from the bottle, then through a tube taped to my finger that we gave him milk while he sucked. then the tube taped to me so we gave him food while he sucked, then eventually with no tube at all.
It was work, but I am so grateful we did it. After he learned to nurse, he gained enough weight to leave the hospital. Through this time he continued to gasp for air. He held his breath often as he slept and had times when I would pick him up just to get him to breath. I was scared to death to have him sleep in his crib while I was a sleep. But I prayed a lot and slept with one eye open for the first week. He continued to have problems nursing. So I continued to make visits to the nurses at the hospital to get help with him. I also continued to watch the signs that kept coming that he had reflux and possibly other problems causing him to refuse to eat.
He would wake me up some nights with gasps of air and it started to happen at times when he fed. He would hold his breath and try to continue to eat. This would happen multiple times each time he ate. We took him to the dr and he was formally diagnosed for reflux. Since all of our kids have had varying degrees of it we were not surprised But this was the most severe case we have seen. We put him on medicines that didn’t seen to help much. We went through 2 different ones and doses. since he was so young the dosage couldn’t be exact and we had to wait for him to grow.
This time was horrible. He cried a lot and wouldn’t sleep well. I cried a lot along with him, a lot of times feeling very alone in all this even though there were tons of people helping and supporting me through it all. You see, as a mom you feel helpless as you watch your child suffering. You know there is nothing you can do to help them but inside your heart aches for them and you want so desperately to help. So your only option is to cry. Cry with them and be there holding them as they hurt.
We decided to try a dairy and soy free diet to see if it would help him. This seemed to ease the discomfort a bit so this is something I am still on.
As time went on we learned of a new battle as we switched his medicine again trying to find one that really helped him. Insurance. The insurance refused to pay for the prescription until we jumped through their hoops. So we started jumping. One thing, to the next as we worked to get them to pay for the medicine. After 2 weeks of battle we finally saw success! They agreed to pay for this medicine that is over $5 a dose and he had to have 2 a day.
After all that our little boy is FINALLY finding some relief. We are finally seeing him smile and be him. I never knew this little personality was in there because he was just in pain all the time and trying to make it better.
As I look back on this journey it is a little hazzy for me how I survived it all. I know it wasn’t myself that helped me get through it. And I know it wasn’t my husband either. It was Heavenly Father. I prayed a lot during this time. I read my scriptures and sang lots of hymns trying to calm Quinn down. I think I felt closer to him then I have in a while. It is funny how when you think you are alone you never really are, you just don’t ever see the others holding you up.
I can not tell you what a blessing Quinn is to our family. What a special spirit Heavenly Father has blessed us with. He is mellow and even tempered and so tolerant of his adoring sisters that smother the heck out of him at times. and I mean that literally. 😉
As a result of the feeling of so many blessings coming into our lives during this time, we have decided to spend more time as a family doing things without technology. Life is crazy at times, but we have promised to spend at least 1 hour of our week in complete detached time with just the family. I tell you this because I want to be accountable for one, but also because I think when life gets tough you really see what is most important. And I can tell you that my family is top of my list for importance. When all else is the world is going wrong, your families love is what will pull you through. And I fully intend to foster that love and let me kids feel it everyday!
