Bo has been having reflux on and off since he was only 3 months old, but since November it really ramped up to almost once an hour. We increased the thickness of his wedge to a medical wedge with 7" height, added a cool mist humidifier to his sleeping environment (thanks, Yee Yee-Ma!), and had the Zantac increased in his bag. So his episodes have decreased both in volume and frequency in the night from a high of 12x/night to 3-6x/night (a little more than we are used to). We were at the end of our ropes at its worst. The walking dead, really. And now just the sleeping paranoid.
I'm terrified of going to sleep earlier than midnight, because waking up to a coughing and gagging baby causes an almost visceral shock of pain in my head and heart. I'd rather be exhausted and awake when it happens. But then, I spend the better part of my day panting from the sleepiness and terror. God knows the last thing I need to do is have him get pneumonia in the middle of flu season.
And between weaning himself, teeth slow to break-through, kidney stones and dehydration, Bo has developed the oral aversion we anticipated with dread. One step forward and two steps back is what it feels like sometimes. I know that he's relatively healthy and developing, and in the grand scheme it really is more like two steps forward, one step back. But it doesn't always feel that way. Whereas before he would suck down an ounce of milk or slurp up a half an ounce of yogurt or rice cereal, now it's all we can do just to get him to taste things.
On a happier note, his days are filled with walking with assistance, playgroups and a ramp-up of at-home visits. He goes to playgroup with some local babies on Wednesdays (usually in the morning), visits the disco (discovery) center and visits the babies there on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, goes to the playgroup for FIT (families, infants and toddlers) sponsored by the school district at the school adjacent to our neighborhood Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, gets a visit from his visiting nurse on Sunday mornings, goes to feeding clinic Monday afternoons, drops into one of the 2 libraries closest to home at least once in the week, and has either his teacher or physical therapist visit each week (they alternate weeks) and gets a visit from speech therapy and occupational therapy every 6 weeks or monthly. He goes to see his specialists in Grand Rapids every other month. Most days there are at least two things going on and on the weekends we stay busy with visiting or getting visited by family. And always, there are the books. The Wheels on the Bus is the current favorite.
We are so rich. Rich with family, love, blessings... Family chosen and given.
