Leo, Our Little Lion Man

We had two ER visits in the span of a week. That sounds a lot more dramatic than it was, but it wasn't easy either. We've had canceled and rescheduled appointments in there. Today was our first day of therapy again after a bit of a break due to all the stuff getting taken care of. This blog post is a bit scattered because I wrote some parts of it and then another appointment or phone call happened. Please excuse the scattered thoughts. I don't want to rewrite stuff again and again. We have some appointments a bit up in the air. And we still have some questions moving forward from our last ER visit. But I hope this is a bit of a clarifying update. Thanks for being with us through it all.  I really don't want to sound dramatic. We really are doing well. So thankful for community and our God.  If you've been curious about how we're doing....this is a bit of it :) ER updates So we ended up having to take Leo to the ER again on Wednesday. It was a whirlwind. He had s...

I was writing another post and then we had a fairly eventful weekend! So, a post about other areas of our life is coming soon, but—in regards to this weekend: We had to take Leo to the ER on Saturday. He wasn’t breathing well, wheezing and coughing. I don’t mean to make this sound too dramatic. But yeah. He had a rough night Friday, a lot of mucus and very restless, but we hadn’t heard much coughing or stuff in his throat. However, he does this gasping/gulping thing when his reflux and congestion combine (my words, not a doctors 😉). So he was doing that but I was able to get it under control. Got him sleeping comfortably on me. But when he woke up from his morning nap, he was wheezing. And it was getting worse not better. He sounded like a squeaker toy. Made a couple of calls and drove to the ER. He wasn’t turning colors from lack of oxygen, but it was NOT a good car ride.  He got a steroid treatment there. We waited for a couple of hours to see if things got worse again. Then we ...

Yes. But... Now, I need to be really clear here that I know that expanding your family can be a very difficult topic for many people other than us. So many different situations can lead to pregnancy, childbirth, having kids, etc. being very difficult topics to talk about and/or go through. This post is by no means saying how others should handle or feel about expanding their family.  This is where we are at in our story. Yes, we want more kids. And just being able to say that is a lot of growth from where we were. I used to say “I don’t know” to this question and I just couldn’t picture it.  Right after Leo was born, I told God he had robbed me of having more kids. With Leo’s brain injury, no forewarning of it, and no explanation, I couldn’t fathom having more kids. I had just experienced one of the most empowering things in my life--labor--and was now wading through painful muck. I kept on replaying labor in my head. It genuinely felt a bit like I was going to wake up from a ...

     Pool therapy is so fun! Leo loves it. We got one of those innertubes that goes around his neck. It is the most free and relaxed I have ever seen his body. It's been so fun to see his body after spending time in the pool, too. The therapist asked me if he seemed any more relaxed after time in the pool. Well, the two times he spent his whole time in the pool with that innertube around his neck, he was so relaxed that evening. He has seriously slept so well after being in the pool. Some friends of ours have also said that we can come and enjoy their pool whenever we want! Such a kind answer to prayer. When Leo and I have free time and it's hot, we can hang out in the water!      We've also had one PT session at Schreiber and that was really fun, too. I feel like having therapy outside of the home has been fun in a way I didn't expect. After struggling so much with feeling like I have the responsibility for Leo's developmental outcome, the therapies outsid...

      I am floored. We had our first session of pool therapy--"aquatic" technically, I think--and it was amazing!      Let's just say I was stressed before getting there. I completely forgot about the concept of swim diapers until that morning. I never once thought about a towel. I was packing our car so that we could be out for the evening. I was also a bit stressed about the pool therapy as is. I do not go into the pool so he's working with someone else completely. I anticipated some push back from Leo, some not-very-happy Leo.  Watching your kid be distressed, knowing how you could help him calm down, and staying quiet to let him learn to work with people other than mom...difficult.      Anyways, all of that to say that I was stressed leading up to this session. However, 5 minutes into it I sat back delighted as could be, sipping my coffee and just watching. It's freeing to not be the one doing therapy with Leo. It's a sweet remi...

      Brad and I got away for two nights! We left on a Friday afternoon and came back that Sunday afternoon. We have left Leo before for just about 24 hours twice. But one of those was while he was in the hospital so it doesn't really feel like it counts. This was such a special little trip.     I have to brag on my husband a little bit. He picked our location, found our lodging, and planned what little of it we did plan. He was very intentional and attentive in communicating the value of the two of us having time together and getting away.      We are both so grateful for my mom and my sister, Phoebe. Mom watched Leo for the first 24 hours about and then Phoebe and her family took over. Leo spent Friday night at our house with Nana and D (the nurse) and then spent Saturday at my sister's house! It was so sweet to leave him in very capable hands. We wrote up about 3 pages of "instructions" and helpful things. Leo got meds and fed well and didn't p...