Is it Spring?

I know I am among many when I say that it can't become Spring soon enough!  Although I feel in my family times is rushing by far too fast, I am so over this winter season.  The gray days, the cold (and icy) temperatures, and the lack of blooms around is beginning to get to me.  Brett has literally been working around the clock recently due to terrible road conditions around our state.  I know there are many that are without there spouses on a regular basis because of work schedules, but it's just not something that I'm used  to, and when I'm already feeling down and depressed, it's just not a good combination!  I have felt very overwhelmed with work and mommy responsibilities that I have felt even more alone.  I have easily forgotten that I may feel alone in a physical way, He is with me.  I got a sweet Valentine from one of my students, a bracelet with Psalm 145:18 engraved in it.. "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth".  My prayer life and daily reading as been minimal, to be very generous, and it is showing.  I needed that reminder that we are never alone, and even when down in the dumps and overwhelmed, He will here my cry, He will see me through.  And He will bring the Spring!!

This little one is growing too fast, and that too makes this mamma a little sad

 a couple weeks ago we took a surprise trip down to Greenville one Sunday morning.  We walked to church while Mr. Ronnie was giving announcements, he was so surprised and tickled to see us, he couldn't finish :) mission accomplished ;)  We couldn't leave lunch without putting a few balls

 and after lunch we had some driving practice in Pops & Meme's back yard

From Jan 17 - February 17 John William has been on Augmitten for his lungs.  For most this doesn't cause any sleep side effects, but for this one it does.  If we give him his second dose after about 4:00 he will wake up sometime in the middle of the night.  Just wanting to play.  Crazy I know, but we've done our own trial test, and this is the only conclusion we can come up with!  So many mornings this is what my bed looks like.  Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE sleep..

No matter if he keeps me up all night or not, I love this little Valentine!

after not seeing Brett for the entire week, we were able to celebrate Valentine's Day by going on a date to one of our favorite local spots, Five.  They said there would be a 2 hour and 45 minute wait.  Normally we would have walked right out, but Meme was with John William, and we were just looking forward to time together no matter where we were.  We ended up only being there about an hour and half total with a delicious meal.

speaking of meals… John William isn't a picky eater, he'll eat just about anything. When HE wants to.  Lately he hasn't wanted to eat anything. Accept ketchup.

Going back to the augmitton.. We got off of it last Sunday, and by Wednesday we were back at the pediatrician with cough, congestion, green snot everywhere, and fever. *Sigh*

We did a chest x-ray, and while it looks MUCH better than our previous x-ray before our procedure at Children's and our month of antibiotic, but there was still junk in there.  His poor lungs just loves to catch infection.  So we are back on the medicine for 2 more weeks and the nebulizer is our good friend again.  I'm hoping this will get all the junk good and gone before spring allergens come in full bloom!

Even though he's sick, I do enjoy a nice day at home with my boy.  Especially when he loves such classics as these!!

I hate to complain, because I know this too shall pass, and there will be days when I long to have this time back.  So I will vamp up my time with God, enjoy my family when we are all together, and look forward to the warmer days that are near.

John William's Lungs

Well I haven't posted in 3 months.. I've just about decided to give the blog up, but I love reading others!!  I want so bad to keep it up and print at the end of the year as a scrap book for our family.. but I have failed.. oh well- better luck this year??

I know I only have a few readers,  but for those that were wondering I will fill you in on John William's lungs and recent visit to Children's Hospital.  December 2012 brought our first round of pneumonia, and to be honest, the 'junk' (as we like to call it) has yet to leave his lungs.  March of last year we had our first visit to the Pulmonary Clinic at Children's hospital and have gone back every 3 months for routine checks.  They decided John William has Middle Right Lobe syndrome which is common in young children and it is basically when the 'junk' just stays localized in that one area.  The week of Thanksgiving John William spiked a high fever along with coughing.  I took him the very next morning these symptoms started and sure enough the x-rays showed all the junk in there and we decided he had pneumonia and after results from a nose swab we found he had RSV.  We got over it after about a week, but then found ourselves back at the pediatricians office the week of Christmas with the same symptoms.  We were treated with antibiotics once again.  We had our normal Pulmonary clinic check up scheduled for January 9 and they of course knew about our most recent bouts with the pneumonia.  Our doctor decided he wanted to do a bronchoscope to go into his lung to get a better look at his airway passages, chambers of lungs, as well as getting some of the 'junk' out to get cultures on it so we'd know specifically what this junk was.  We had the procedure set for the next week in hopes he wouldn't get sick within that one week.  Of course John William stays pretty congested and has a wheeze on and off most of the time.  The day before our procedure I just knew he was going to spike a fever and we'd have to postpone.  Thankfully, even though he started acting as if it was sure enough coming, he didn't.  We were at Children's thursday morning at 6 to prepare for his 8:00 procedure and were hoping to be home by about noon.  We gave John William one last breathing treatment before they took him back to try and clear things so they could get in without any problems.  They took him back and about an hour later the doctor came in telling us everything went great.  He actually said he was shocked at how clear his airways were because of how he always sounded and due to what his lungs look like.  They explained that he has something called Malacia in his middle right lobe, which is where the cartilage is weakened in that area so that part of his lung his more floppy so it makes it that much harder to get the junk out.  There is nothing you can do for this other than get whatever the infection is in there out, and it should cure itself.  He said we would know what the infection was in a few days.  He was to be in recovery for about 30 minutes to an hour.  They called the room we were waiting in about an hour later saying that John William was fine, his oxygen just wasn't going up so they were going to keep him a little longer.  This was a side effect we were warned about.  Because he keeps a wheeze and has the lung issues anyway his oxygen level varies.  Children's likes your number to be above 92 before they let you leave, and he was staying about 88.  About 30 minutes later they called us back and told us his levels just weren't staying up so they were going to admit him so he could stay on the oxygen and wanted to  make sure it would stay up as he slept.  This was something I wasn't prepared for, so my heart sank a bit.  However I knew we were in great hands and in the best place we possibly could be in.  I'm definitely one of those better safe that sorry kind of people so I was on board 100%.  There are many many sick children at this hospital, and it is very humbling to see.  I am so thankful that for the most part John William is a very healthy boy, but walking around the corner to see your baby with tubes in his nose helping him breath is hard on a mamma- or at least on this mamma.
We got into our room and got John William to take a nap.  He started the morning at 2 liters of oxygen and by late afternoon we were on half a liter.  For a little boy that likes to just be put in his crib with the door closed, it was a long night getting him to sleep.  He sleeps much like a helicopter spinning around, this made his oxygen tubes come out, so there was about 4 times in that night that the buzzer went off because his oxygen was getting too low as he was sleeping.  We'd get it back in and he'd be fine.  When morning came the doctor took it out to see what would happen, and he would just hang out at a level of 89.  We were now on .25 of a liter- not much, but he seemed to like it.  They decided to give him some steroids to boost him up.  That made all the difference.  About an hour after that he was able to keep his oxygen at 91- even while sleeping!  we got to the magic 92 number and he stayed there the rest of the afternoon fluctuating from 91-94.  This was a good thing!  We found out that he is growing a bacteria in his middle right lobe ( a really long H word) and for that we are on a month of antibiotics, plus prednisone steroid, and his normal asthma inhaler, and breathing treatments.  We are home and doing much much better!!!!  We are very thankful for Children's hospital and all of their care.  The doctors and nurses are wonderful along with the facilities.  Again, there are many very sick children there, especially on the 10th floor pulmonary unit, we are so blessed to be on the mend.

Before the procedure.

Pops brought him a ball, which made him very happy!!

Oh how I love this little boy!

Hey!  He loved sitting in the big window.  Looking down 10 stories was a bit scary for me!  Notice he has his tube over his nose…  He surprisingly only did this about 4 times!

Sleeping.. with no oxygen!!

Coloring in the big window.  We had a great view of the new Birmingham Barons new baseball facility. 

Once we got the word we could go home, we got comfy, and he was out.  Ahh, relieve!  Thankful to the wonderful nurses and doctors.  And now thankful to be home!  We go back in April after we've taken antibiotics for a month and then off a month to see that hopefully the bacteria is gone and hasn't decided to grow back!

Clinic #6

Also known as the Pulmonary Clinic at Children's hospital in Birmingham, is a place we have come to know.  And we are thankful for that.  Last March we noticed John William was having chronic bouts with pneumonia, after looking at all his x-rays we noticed that the spots in his lungs were really not healing (especially the spots on his right lung).  We got checked out and he has something called "Middle Right Lobe Syndrome", something apparently common in young children, along with talking about him having asthma.  This is all treatable, so that we are thankful for.  When we went back in May his lungs were looking better (spots still there, but not worse) and we were told in August he could begin to be congested again with constant mucus.  And like clock work, August 1st approached, and there was the snot!  He hasn't had any other symptoms, so I knew it was just his allergies, and because he has the spots on his right lung that act like sponges he just tends to hold the congestion and mucus a little better than others.  We had our scheduled visit to clinic 6, and I was thankful for that.  After looking at x-rays it still shows those little sponges on the middle lobe of right lung, but the Dr. said they hadn't worsened to a point of concern- that's a great thing, especially since he has been so congested!  He suggested along with his inhaler steroid he also take Singular daily to help with his allergens.  We will go back in January so long as he doesn't catch any lung infections (Pneumonia) this fall/early winter, which he is at higher risk for.  We will just pray that we will avoid that this season and we'll have a clear check up in January!

the exam room tends to get a little silly as we wait!

our nurse let John William check his oxygen levels!

these 2 are best buddies

for being such a trooper he got a prize when we got home

and he loves it!

Basketball in my living room.. makes me feel like a mommy of a big boy.. and I love it!

Sweet John William

Oh, how much we love our precious baby boy, and can't believe he is about to be 1 year old!!  The past 3 months have been a little crazy around our house due to a sick little boy.  We've struggled with ear infections and the uncomfortableness and fever that goes along with it, but also some pneumonia has been thrown in the mix.  Right before Christmas we took John William to the Dr. to see about some wheezing and congestion he had along with fever.  He had an ear infection at that time, and chest X-Rays showed he had a bit of pneumonia, so we got on antibiotics and he got fixed right up.  Throughout January and February we struggled with his ears, but we made it through it!  In the beginning of March we went back to the Dr for fever, and he had some wheezing again.  We went for more chest X-Rays and they showed that he had a congested area in the same place as it was in December... along with a double ear infection.  We got on medicine and pulled the nebulizer back out.  For about a week John William was back to his normal happy self eating and playing, but then the fever and wheeze returned.  So back to the Dr we went.  --We LOVE our Doctor and doctors office here in Tuscaloosa by the way!!!-- Another chest X-Ray showed the same pictures as we'd been seeing before.  We wanted to make sure he hadn't aspirated something, there wasn't anything in his lung that wasn't suppose to be, or to see if it was something called "Middle Right Lobe Syndrome" so our Dr. set us up with an appointment with a Pediatric Pulmonary specialist in Birmingham, we are so blessed to be so close to such a great resource that is Children's Hospital! .  Of course the week before John William's appointment I let myself worry and stress over the '"what it could be" and Brett forbid me to get on the internet to diagnose our sweet boy myself.

We had our appointment yesterday and the X-Rays showed that his lungs have cleared very well already!  Thanks of course to many prayers on John William's behalf.  The Dr. said that what he's experiencing and the very small collapsed spots in his lung could be Atelectasia, caused from the lingering effects of a Respiratory Viral Infection he could have started back in December or it could be allergies/asthma.  The Dr. was very insistent to not call it asthma, but to just say he had some symptoms/characteristics of it along with a history of it in our family.  The one definitive thing he said was, that there was not any foreign objects in his lungs-- which was my main concern and fear.  Praise the Lord for that.  We will go back to Children's on Monday to see the ENT to talk about tubes, and the ENT and Pulmonologist may compare notes and see about doing a scope of the lungs if necessary.

This week, a week where we reflect on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus I'm amazed at God's love.  His love that sent Jesus to live on Earth only to be crucified, for sinners like me.  He sent his son, that he loved, knowing the outcome.  It's hard to fathom.  This week I struggled just giving John William up to God to totally heal.  I let worry, stress, and fear take over.  I forgot that God loves John William way more than I do, and He has a perfect plan for our him and our family, just as He had the perfect plan for Jesus.  Thank you God for love and your healing power.  Thank you for your plan even when we may not understand it.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10