I see a lot of blog posts about things you need (or don't) when having a baby. Some of them are good and useful, but somewhat based on the assumption that your baby will be the eat, sleep, change, basically non-fussy type of child. If in fact you find yourself with one who is slightly more challenging to care for than that, then this post is for you! (by the way, I really don't like the phrase "is he/she a "good" baby?".....while some babies definitely require more care than others for various reasons that in no way makes them "bad". Just sayin'.) Ok, so moving on, here in no apparent order are some items or tricks that we've found extremely helpful when dealing with all 4 of our kiddos. Oh, and for the record, our first one cried way more than he slept. Literally. And our other 3 haven't been too far behind that so let's just say we have lots of experience with fussiness around here. ;-)
Skipping over the rather obvious necessities like diapers, wipes, and clothing.....this is some of our favorite go-to stuff when getting ready for another little one:
Exercise ball: nope, this isn't to get mom back in shape after the birth (although it kind of has that added benefit) but it IS perfect for bouncing a crying baby to sleep. Or just bouncing period if they need soothing like all of ours did. Trust me, you will quickly become a pro at it if the need arises! (as a side note, when our first was born we didn't know of this little trick and used a straight back wooden chair to bump back in forth in for soothing. Yes, you did read that right. Our carpet had permanent indentions afterwards. You do what you gotta do, you know?)
White noise: this can be water running from a faucet, the vacuum cleaner, a blow-dryer, a noise machine, OR best of all this great website/app that we found with child #3. I kid you not, y'all, this really works not only to help the babies calm down but also to drown out other noise as well so if they ever do eventually go to sleep then they won't get woke right back up. I've spent many days bouncing and listening to this as loud as it would go. Yes, it can get a little annoying after awhile but it is way better than a screaming baby. Trust me.
Probiotics: this is something we didn't know about with our first 2 but that has been great for the last ones. Our babies are born with huge stomach/digestion issues (which is probably where a lot of the crying comes from) so giving them these help to soothe that. Here's the brand we like best which has even been proven in a medical study to help with colic. You can find it online or at several pharmacies and health food stores as well.
Pacifier: I know there are different opinions on this and that's fine! Everybody has to do what works for them or decide what their own preference is. For us, we love pacis around here! Our babies with all their health issues/pain just need some extra soothing and pacis seem to help them so much. There are all different kinds and it may take a little while to figure out which one works best for each baby so don't give up if they don't seem to like a particular one at first!
Those are my top favs for things to do with fussy babies, but here's a few more things we also used with some or all of them that helped with reflux/stomach/allergy issues: colic calm gripe water, chiropractor adjustments, homeopathics, essential oils, propping a contour pillow sideways on a regular one....the baby lays in the contour and can't roll over and is at an angle to help them not choke as bad too! Genius, huh?
That's about all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there are more things we tried but after a year or more you tend to forget stuff from lack of sleep. haha Hope this helps someone else who may find themselves at a loss for what to do with an overly fussy baby. The hardest thing can be feeling like no one really understands so let me just assure you that you are not alone! On top of all of this my babies also all eventually ended up on special formula, they all had tons of allergies and reflux, there was more than one day that I cried right along with them because I didn't know what else to do, and it just took time, patience, flexibility and lots of help to make it through it. So hang in there! You can do this.
If there's anything you would add that worked for you please feel free to do so in the comments! Or if you are going through the sick and crying baby phase at the moment and just need to vent then by all means do so. We will totally get it and not judge at all. I promise. :-)
Tyra
(linked up over here at My Joy-Filled Life and here at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home)
Showing posts with label allergies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label allergies. Show all posts
November 1, 2013
June 5, 2013
30 Day Health Challenge
Due to our multiple allergies we already have a pretty strict diet, but I've been looking at different ways lately to change it up even more in hopes of healing some of our issues and possibly toning down some of the sensitivities we have. I found something called the Whole30 which eliminates pretty much anything that can cause inflammation or sensitivities for most people. There are a couple things I don't agree with about it, one because it's based on the Paleo diet whose beliefs come from an evolutionist viewpoint that I think is totally wrong and two because I don't honestly think everything that they've chosen to eliminate is really bad for you and some of the things they recommend we are allergic to. So of course as with anything else we have to take that into consideration and make the diet into something that works for us. The idea for us is to just try to calm down our reactions as much as possible and hopefully heal our gut/digestion issues enough that when we add back other foods they will be easier digested and not cause sensitivities. It's something that seems doable for the 30 days but not something we think is necessary all the time. Anyway, that's a little background of the what/why of the idea so now here's the basics of how we're doing it.
Starting this past Monday we eliminated all grains, dairy, legumes, soy, processed foods, additives, sugars (even natural ones), and basically anything else unhealthy you can imagine outside of those things. Some of it we already didn't eat anyway and some of it is new, but needless to say it. is. hard. Basically we are eating meats, eggs, most vegetables, fruits, nuts, and good fats (like coconut and olive oil). Yep, that's it. Sounds fun, huh? :-) If you're wondering what that looks like in an actual day of meals then here's a few things we've tried so far: eggs, breakfast meat, and fruit, turkey breast and veggies, natural beef hot dogs and sauerkraut, hamburger steak with green beans, chicken wings and steamed broccoli, fried plantain and eggs with fruit, etc. We've also done some freshly made juices and smoothies as well as some "jello" made out of juice and gelatin (which is really good for you!). It's day 3 and we are hanging in there so far but I'm starting to see some detox and withdrawals in all of us I think so who knows how the rest of it will go!
In addition to eating changes we are also trying to focus on doing some exercising each day and working on spiritual/character issues as a family. As much as we want to be healthy physically, we want our hearts to be in good shape even more so! Spending time together playing and talking has happened a lot this week and not doing much media throughout the day. All these things are a work in progress and require not only diligence to keep at it but also patience while adjusting to something new. Let's just say that we are far from perfect around here! We are hanging in there though and hoping for some good results/rewards at the end!
I will say that the past couple weeks have been rough for all of us physically and our family isn't getting good sleep most nights. That in itself is super challenging and can become overwhelming after a while since exhaustion makes everything else so much harder. Our outdoor allergies are at the all time worst right now so it feels like we are just being hit with a lot at the moment. Prayers for strength and grace are so appreciated as we try to have wisdom in deciding what's best for everyone on this health journey. Thanks for reading and I will hopefully be able to give some updates as the month progresses!
Starting this past Monday we eliminated all grains, dairy, legumes, soy, processed foods, additives, sugars (even natural ones), and basically anything else unhealthy you can imagine outside of those things. Some of it we already didn't eat anyway and some of it is new, but needless to say it. is. hard. Basically we are eating meats, eggs, most vegetables, fruits, nuts, and good fats (like coconut and olive oil). Yep, that's it. Sounds fun, huh? :-) If you're wondering what that looks like in an actual day of meals then here's a few things we've tried so far: eggs, breakfast meat, and fruit, turkey breast and veggies, natural beef hot dogs and sauerkraut, hamburger steak with green beans, chicken wings and steamed broccoli, fried plantain and eggs with fruit, etc. We've also done some freshly made juices and smoothies as well as some "jello" made out of juice and gelatin (which is really good for you!). It's day 3 and we are hanging in there so far but I'm starting to see some detox and withdrawals in all of us I think so who knows how the rest of it will go!
In addition to eating changes we are also trying to focus on doing some exercising each day and working on spiritual/character issues as a family. As much as we want to be healthy physically, we want our hearts to be in good shape even more so! Spending time together playing and talking has happened a lot this week and not doing much media throughout the day. All these things are a work in progress and require not only diligence to keep at it but also patience while adjusting to something new. Let's just say that we are far from perfect around here! We are hanging in there though and hoping for some good results/rewards at the end!
I will say that the past couple weeks have been rough for all of us physically and our family isn't getting good sleep most nights. That in itself is super challenging and can become overwhelming after a while since exhaustion makes everything else so much harder. Our outdoor allergies are at the all time worst right now so it feels like we are just being hit with a lot at the moment. Prayers for strength and grace are so appreciated as we try to have wisdom in deciding what's best for everyone on this health journey. Thanks for reading and I will hopefully be able to give some updates as the month progresses!
April 6, 2013
Sickness, Allergies, and a Last Minute Trip
Between passing around colds off and on the past couple months and then getting hit with spring allergies (yes, they come early here in the south) we just haven't been able to get over the congestion and coughs. Especially the little ones have had a hard time with it, which of course means so have I.
Going to the ocean has always helped my allergies clear up a lot so after a particularly rough weekend I had the brilliant idea to pack everyone up and head to the beach! (which all of you with small children know is easier said than done. ha!)
After lots of work and a few loooong hours of driving we made it down to Destin and was able to stay for about 3 days.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the instant cure-all I was hoping for but it was beautiful there and the kids had so much fun! It was already a little more crowded than we expected for early March so we avoided the beach during the mid-day hours since we prefer not to see that much skin. Getting out in the morning and evening was great though.
Darcey loved it and asks almost every day to go back. I'm seeing another trip to the beach in our future if she has anything to say about it! :-)
Here's a few pics of the trip for you to enjoy. If you haven't been to Destin, FL before, I highly recommend it for the white sands and clear waters. It is SO beautiful!
Going to the ocean has always helped my allergies clear up a lot so after a particularly rough weekend I had the brilliant idea to pack everyone up and head to the beach! (which all of you with small children know is easier said than done. ha!)
After lots of work and a few loooong hours of driving we made it down to Destin and was able to stay for about 3 days.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the instant cure-all I was hoping for but it was beautiful there and the kids had so much fun! It was already a little more crowded than we expected for early March so we avoided the beach during the mid-day hours since we prefer not to see that much skin. Getting out in the morning and evening was great though.
Darcey loved it and asks almost every day to go back. I'm seeing another trip to the beach in our future if she has anything to say about it! :-)
Here's a few pics of the trip for you to enjoy. If you haven't been to Destin, FL before, I highly recommend it for the white sands and clear waters. It is SO beautiful!
October 31, 2012
Rather Overdue Update {with some keeping it real randomness too}
With all of the craziness life has provided us the past few weeks blogging quickly went way down on the list of priorities. But I know some of you have wondered if we're still alive and kicking so I'm gonna try to do a quick update on how things are going around here. I'll probably be sharing the good, bad, and everything else in between. With lots of honesty thrown in for good measure. {deep breath} Here goes...........
~ I can't believe Daxton turned 2 months old last week. Sometimes it seems impossible that it's been that long since he was born and other times it seems much, much longer.
~ To answer the question of whether he has allergies/health issues like the other 3, the short one would be yes. Not as bad in some ways but enough that he requires a lot of extra care and it's pretty impossible to take him out anywhere.
~ Although determined to make breastfeeding work this time around, it just didn't. Without going into tons of details we made the hard decision for me to stop around 3 weeks. And I still struggle with it. Lots.
~ For those who have never experienced life with a sick baby or one who for whatever reason just struggles with not sleeping, hurting a lot, crying, etc it can be difficult to understand what it's like. But please believe me when I say it is one of the hardest things ever to deal with. It leaves you feeling tired, hopeless, discouraged, frustrated, and with any other number of emotions you can probably imagine. Multiply all that with the fact I've experienced it 4 times over and you know exactly what I've been feeling the past few weeks.
~ Don't get me wrong. Not every day is as bad as some. And not every minute of those days' are either. I'm thankful more than I can say for every good time of him sleeping while laying down or just being able to lay for a few minutes without hurting and crying. I'm doubly grateful that in comparison to 2 of the others he doesn't cry constantly for hours on end regardless of what we do. That may sound crazy but it's true.
~ The older kiddos are struggling to adjust to this "new normal" since Daxton requires so much care, which of course means they get very little a lot of days. The most heartbreaking thing I've ever felt was Darcey grabbing me around the legs while I was holding a crying Daxton and saying, "I miss you, momma." Let's just say that Daxton wasn't the only one crying after that! Once again, every single day isn't that way but the ones that are tend to be rather difficult.
~ On a lighter note, Daxton has grown like crazy and is so big already! He has been wearing 3 months size clothes for a few weeks now (and even a couple 6 mths things) and size 2 diapers as well. From all appearances he looks perfectly healthy and is seriously a happy, fun baby when not in pain or feeling bad. Love seeing his sweet smile and hearing him "talk" and laugh out loud!
~ We hadn't been able to figure out who exactly he looks like until I found an old baby picture of Blake I didn't realize we had. It is the spitting image of him! I can't wait to see if that will change or if he'll stay a daddy look-alike when he's older.
~ Once again a big part of our days tend to be spent on an exercise ball since bouncing seems to settle Daxton down the best. As tiresome as it can get sometimes it is hands down better than some of the stuff we tried with the first 2.....before we knew an exercise ball would work! Some other things that come in handy these days are Colic Calm, various homeopathics for allergies and stomach issues, probiotics, a bouncing seat, the swing (sometimes), chiropractic visits, propping him up to sleep(when he's able to lay down), and chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Oh, wait, that's for me not him! lol
~ I'm beyond thankful that Blake is so good at helping out, both with the baby and around the house. I would definitely not be able to to make it without his help! My parents, especially my mom, have also been great at giving us a break, bringing food, or taking the older kids out places since we can't. I would probably be out of my mind (um, more than I am normally?! haha) if I'd had to do everything on my own since Daxton was born.
Okay, so I'm sure there's more I could write but my tired brain has thought of all it can at the moment. Let me just add that although there have been some dark, hard days for me in the past few weeks, I know that most of all it's been God's grace that has brought me through it. And even in the midst of all my questions and doubts and yes sometimes anger, at the way things are....He's been faithful. Prayers for grace and strength are still appreciated for the future. And wisdom for the decision about all of our health issues. It's hard not to worry and just trust that things will be okay, but I know that's the best thing to do so I'm trying extra hard to learn how! Now I'm really done for now. Hopefully I'll get back to blogging more often one of these days. Until then just know that life in 4-D is never dull for sure! :-) Oh, and enjoy this photo of our newest little cutie....
~ I can't believe Daxton turned 2 months old last week. Sometimes it seems impossible that it's been that long since he was born and other times it seems much, much longer.
~ To answer the question of whether he has allergies/health issues like the other 3, the short one would be yes. Not as bad in some ways but enough that he requires a lot of extra care and it's pretty impossible to take him out anywhere.
~ Although determined to make breastfeeding work this time around, it just didn't. Without going into tons of details we made the hard decision for me to stop around 3 weeks. And I still struggle with it. Lots.
~ For those who have never experienced life with a sick baby or one who for whatever reason just struggles with not sleeping, hurting a lot, crying, etc it can be difficult to understand what it's like. But please believe me when I say it is one of the hardest things ever to deal with. It leaves you feeling tired, hopeless, discouraged, frustrated, and with any other number of emotions you can probably imagine. Multiply all that with the fact I've experienced it 4 times over and you know exactly what I've been feeling the past few weeks.
~ Don't get me wrong. Not every day is as bad as some. And not every minute of those days' are either. I'm thankful more than I can say for every good time of him sleeping while laying down or just being able to lay for a few minutes without hurting and crying. I'm doubly grateful that in comparison to 2 of the others he doesn't cry constantly for hours on end regardless of what we do. That may sound crazy but it's true.
~ The older kiddos are struggling to adjust to this "new normal" since Daxton requires so much care, which of course means they get very little a lot of days. The most heartbreaking thing I've ever felt was Darcey grabbing me around the legs while I was holding a crying Daxton and saying, "I miss you, momma." Let's just say that Daxton wasn't the only one crying after that! Once again, every single day isn't that way but the ones that are tend to be rather difficult.
~ On a lighter note, Daxton has grown like crazy and is so big already! He has been wearing 3 months size clothes for a few weeks now (and even a couple 6 mths things) and size 2 diapers as well. From all appearances he looks perfectly healthy and is seriously a happy, fun baby when not in pain or feeling bad. Love seeing his sweet smile and hearing him "talk" and laugh out loud!
~ We hadn't been able to figure out who exactly he looks like until I found an old baby picture of Blake I didn't realize we had. It is the spitting image of him! I can't wait to see if that will change or if he'll stay a daddy look-alike when he's older.
~ Once again a big part of our days tend to be spent on an exercise ball since bouncing seems to settle Daxton down the best. As tiresome as it can get sometimes it is hands down better than some of the stuff we tried with the first 2.....before we knew an exercise ball would work! Some other things that come in handy these days are Colic Calm, various homeopathics for allergies and stomach issues, probiotics, a bouncing seat, the swing (sometimes), chiropractic visits, propping him up to sleep(when he's able to lay down), and chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Oh, wait, that's for me not him! lol
~ I'm beyond thankful that Blake is so good at helping out, both with the baby and around the house. I would definitely not be able to to make it without his help! My parents, especially my mom, have also been great at giving us a break, bringing food, or taking the older kids out places since we can't. I would probably be out of my mind (um, more than I am normally?! haha) if I'd had to do everything on my own since Daxton was born.
Okay, so I'm sure there's more I could write but my tired brain has thought of all it can at the moment. Let me just add that although there have been some dark, hard days for me in the past few weeks, I know that most of all it's been God's grace that has brought me through it. And even in the midst of all my questions and doubts and yes sometimes anger, at the way things are....He's been faithful. Prayers for grace and strength are still appreciated for the future. And wisdom for the decision about all of our health issues. It's hard not to worry and just trust that things will be okay, but I know that's the best thing to do so I'm trying extra hard to learn how! Now I'm really done for now. Hopefully I'll get back to blogging more often one of these days. Until then just know that life in 4-D is never dull for sure! :-) Oh, and enjoy this photo of our newest little cutie....
August 13, 2012
Our Little Worker!
Due to him having so many outdoor allergies, there's a lot of things Dathan just isn't able to do. Yard work with his daddy has always been one of them, but after a few treatments and recently seeming a little better with reactions we decided to let him give it a try. He is loving being able to help out and his favorite part so far? Push-mowing! The crazy boy even requested that Blake not finish the yard with the riding mower on Saturday so he can do it himself tomorrow. What a great little worker! :-)
I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pictures of him doing such a great job and thought I would share them since they're just so cute. He does still wear a mask and glasses to help with the allergy stuff and between that and taking a quick shower and his homeopathics he hasn't had any serious problems so far. Yay! Hoping he's able to continue helping out with it since he is having so much fun. He's even mentioned having his own little yard business eventually. So glad he's wanting to work hard like that.......now if I could just get him this excited over cleaning his room! lol
I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pictures of him doing such a great job and thought I would share them since they're just so cute. He does still wear a mask and glasses to help with the allergy stuff and between that and taking a quick shower and his homeopathics he hasn't had any serious problems so far. Yay! Hoping he's able to continue helping out with it since he is having so much fun. He's even mentioned having his own little yard business eventually. So glad he's wanting to work hard like that.......now if I could just get him this excited over cleaning his room! lol
July 17, 2012
Everyday Randomness
I didn't really have anything in particular that I could think of to write about at the moment (pregnancy brain?) so I figured I would just share some of what we've been up to lately.
Various doctors appointments for allergies, the dentist, and pregnancy check-ups seem to take up alot of our time lately! Most of it is needed obviously but sometimes it can be stressful to always be on the go. I'm hoping to slow down some in the next few weeks to have a break before the baby gets here.
Trying to get in some school days so that we can take off after Daxton comes without getting behind. Between not feeling good and staying gone alot that's been hard to do though! Oh, well, I'm convincing myself not to stress about that one and trusting that we'll get done what we need to when we need to. (okay, so I'm not always thinking that way about it but I know I should!)
Got to attend a fun baby shower for a sweet friend last week. Delancey was able to go as well and had a great time. We did a little shopping (mostly for groceries!) afterward and it was nice spending time with just the big girls for a change. Although Darcey is getting old enough that she really wants to be included more too! She may be referring to herself as "the baby" since we talk about Daxton alot these days but she totally thinks she's as big as the other two anyway.
The older kids and Blake got in free to watch the local baseball team play Saturday night. They had a blast while me and Darcey hung out here at home taking it easy.
For whatever reason my pubic bone starts popping out of place during later pregnancy and has since the very first time. Needless to say this is painful when it does it and combined with my hip trouble can pretty much get me down if it's bad. It did that early Sunday morning so I had a fun day for sure! Thankfully I had a chiropractor appointment already set up for Monday so was able to get adjusted. Lots of soreness and my hips still giving me a hard time today though. Hoping it will get better soon so I can actually walk around easier!
The kids and I visited my parents for breakfast and a swim before seeing the chiro on Monday so that was alot of fun. I had lots of contractions that night though so maybe a little too much fun swimming?! lol Actually, I think I'm just at that stage where things are getting started early which isn't unusual for me. Now if I just wouldn't do it for SO long and go over the due date! Contractions for weeks on end can get pretty tiresome after awhile.
I guess that's about it with the randomness for now. Oh, I almost forgot about being surprised with the news that some homeschool friends want to give me a baby shower of my own in a couple of weeks! So excited and thankful that they would do that. I'll be sure to share more details on that later though. For now I'm gonna head to bed and see how much sleep I can get. :-)
Tyra
Various doctors appointments for allergies, the dentist, and pregnancy check-ups seem to take up alot of our time lately! Most of it is needed obviously but sometimes it can be stressful to always be on the go. I'm hoping to slow down some in the next few weeks to have a break before the baby gets here.
Trying to get in some school days so that we can take off after Daxton comes without getting behind. Between not feeling good and staying gone alot that's been hard to do though! Oh, well, I'm convincing myself not to stress about that one and trusting that we'll get done what we need to when we need to. (okay, so I'm not always thinking that way about it but I know I should!)
Got to attend a fun baby shower for a sweet friend last week. Delancey was able to go as well and had a great time. We did a little shopping (mostly for groceries!) afterward and it was nice spending time with just the big girls for a change. Although Darcey is getting old enough that she really wants to be included more too! She may be referring to herself as "the baby" since we talk about Daxton alot these days but she totally thinks she's as big as the other two anyway.
The older kids and Blake got in free to watch the local baseball team play Saturday night. They had a blast while me and Darcey hung out here at home taking it easy.
For whatever reason my pubic bone starts popping out of place during later pregnancy and has since the very first time. Needless to say this is painful when it does it and combined with my hip trouble can pretty much get me down if it's bad. It did that early Sunday morning so I had a fun day for sure! Thankfully I had a chiropractor appointment already set up for Monday so was able to get adjusted. Lots of soreness and my hips still giving me a hard time today though. Hoping it will get better soon so I can actually walk around easier!
The kids and I visited my parents for breakfast and a swim before seeing the chiro on Monday so that was alot of fun. I had lots of contractions that night though so maybe a little too much fun swimming?! lol Actually, I think I'm just at that stage where things are getting started early which isn't unusual for me. Now if I just wouldn't do it for SO long and go over the due date! Contractions for weeks on end can get pretty tiresome after awhile.
I guess that's about it with the randomness for now. Oh, I almost forgot about being surprised with the news that some homeschool friends want to give me a baby shower of my own in a couple of weeks! So excited and thankful that they would do that. I'll be sure to share more details on that later though. For now I'm gonna head to bed and see how much sleep I can get. :-)
Tyra
June 25, 2012
Grace and Glory
It seems like most of my posts lately have a similar theme. Lots of allergy issues for everyone, pregnancy stuff, lack of sleep, and me being super tired from it all. But alas that is just life at the moment for us I guess. My emotions tend to be all over the place some days, but I'm trying to work on the times I feel totally overwhelmed and remind myself that it will get better and that until it does we'll make it. The only problem is that I also know it's been worse before so I tend to let fears of that sneak in and discourage me even more. Ah!
I'm also trying to remember that most importantly is me seeking the Lord for help and grace to get thru these hard times. Days that I do that are definitely much better than the ones I forget to. I've been thinking alot about those verses in 2 Corinthians that says, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Now let me just say that I have not fully arrived at the "gladly glorying in my infirmities part" most days. But I am learning more about His grace and want more than anything to lean more on His strength when I'm weak. My hearts' desire is to show my children that we can trust and praise Him during the hard times as well as good and pray that I'll let His power rest upon me so that they can see more of Him and less of me.
I hope maybe these verses might help someone else who is struggling today. Regardless of what comes our way let's just focus on His grace in our lives and choose to glory in the hard times with gladness that we can have His power on us. Now I'm off to try and do just that with the rest of my day!
I'm also trying to remember that most importantly is me seeking the Lord for help and grace to get thru these hard times. Days that I do that are definitely much better than the ones I forget to. I've been thinking alot about those verses in 2 Corinthians that says, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Now let me just say that I have not fully arrived at the "gladly glorying in my infirmities part" most days. But I am learning more about His grace and want more than anything to lean more on His strength when I'm weak. My hearts' desire is to show my children that we can trust and praise Him during the hard times as well as good and pray that I'll let His power rest upon me so that they can see more of Him and less of me.
I hope maybe these verses might help someone else who is struggling today. Regardless of what comes our way let's just focus on His grace in our lives and choose to glory in the hard times with gladness that we can have His power on us. Now I'm off to try and do just that with the rest of my day!
June 15, 2012
Pregnancy Update Week 30
Linking up again with Sarah for the pregnancy updates. Be sure to click through the picture above to read about other stories!
~ I'm 30 weeks and 1 day. (although I should probably change that since I really think my due date is later and I tend to go over anyway!)
~ Had my first official check-up with the midwife since we decided to switch care. Everything looked great with the baby and Blake and I were both impressed with how they answered our questions, etc. Very excited to be having another "homebirth" experience!
~ Not sure about weight gain since I really don't keep up with it much here at home. I'm measuring right on schedule baby wise though. Although, according to alot of
~ I'm struggling with not feeling good alot of days. Not really sure how much is pregnancy related and how much is from our allergies. We have MCS and they are spraying the crops around here lately so it's throwing us for a loop! My blood sugar is still a challenge most days although I'm managing to keep it in a pretty good range. I'd rather not have the added stress of having to eat so strictly but I know it's good for me and the baby right now. I know things really could be alot worse health wise so I'm trying to be thankful for that rather than focus on the bad.
~ Glad to be in the 3rd trimester and SO ready to be finished with the pregnancy and meet this little guy! The kids are excited as well, with Delancey requesting that she be allowed at the birth since we're using a midwife. We aren't too sure about that part though! I'm thinking she would do okay til the end and start freaking out over my other-worldly screams during pushing. haha Not sure what the actual plan for the kiddos going with us will end up being but I guess we have a few more weeks to decide.
~ In answer to this week's discussion questions: we have decided not to have any more biological children after this one. Between my health and the health problems all of our babies/children deal with it is huge struggle to add pregnancy on top of all of that. With us also trying to homeschool we feel that I can better care for everything, including the 4 children God's already blessed us with, without continuing to have more. I know alot of people feel that means you aren't trusting God, accepting His gift of children, or even are actually disobeying His commandment but we choose to look at it like being responsible for the gifts we have rather than allowing the fear of doing wrong be the only reason we have more. Also, the whole "be fruitful and multiply" and "having a quiverfull" ideas are kinda debatable in my opinion since there's no actual number mentioned....amoung other things. But that's probably a discussion for a whole 'nother post! :-)
That's all for now though. Please be praying for our health as me and the other 3 children are having a hard time right now. That also causes me to worry about the health of the baby when he's born since we tend to have alot of issues right from the start. Trying to trust that God will take care of it all!
Tyra
May 1, 2012
Catching Up
Life has been busy, busy around here and I just realized I haven't posted in a whole week! We traveled to KY for a camp meeting last Wednesday and got home on Friday night. It was nice to be in the services and hear some great preaching, but I have to admit the trip was a little rough for me. The kids did good on the drive back and forth, especially Darcey who is at that age where sitting still for long is never fun. Dathan's allergies have been a pain lately though and causes some emotional/spiritual problems for him as well so dealing with that was harder when away too. He actually got ready to come back home earlier than we had planned and I can't say I blame him since I know how bad he was feeling! We were glad we took the trip but more than glad to get back home. :-)
Saturday morning I went to a pregnancy class that was put on by a local therapy place. It was fun and very informative, plus they told me I should ask my doctor to write a prescription for therapy to help my chronic neck/shoulder pain and some hip problems I have that get worse when pregnant. Definitely looking forward to trying that and hopefully getting some help!
The rest of Saturday we spent with my parents eating out to celebrate my mom's birthday and then just visiting at their house. We were all super tired from the trip but it was nice to have a relaxing day just taking it easy.
Through the night found me sick with a bad allergy attack so needless to say I didn't rest which ended up for a rough day Sunday. I think the week just caught up with me too after being around so much I was sensitive to, eating different, etc. My dysautonomia had kicked in several times so that had my pretty wiped out too. I mostly just laid around and tried to feel better while Blake helped out with the kiddos. Thankfully he wasn't preaching anywhere and we just had our own devotions here so I could rest.
Today was starting back into a new week with doing a little around the house and getting some school work this morning. My check-up with the OB was this afternoon and I was a little anxious but also ready to find out if there was any change with the placenta previa. Thankfully it has totally moved and everything looked great! Praising the Lord for answering prayers in that area. I appreciate everyone else who prayed as well. And although God had really helped me with it and given me peace over trusting Him, it's still a relief to not have to worry about it anymore.
Tonight we drove over where my Momaw lives and visited with her and my aunt for awhile. We hadn't seen them recently so it was good to enjoy spending some time with them. Finally made it home and got all the kids washed up and into bed. I grabbed a minute to get on here and update but I'm gonna head that way myself now!
I'll probably do another pregnancy post soon with more specifics and hopefully update a couple more times before we leave to go out of state again this weekend. (yes, we are crazy for taking two trips this close together! haha) In the meantime, prayers for all of our health and especially mine and Dathan's would be greatly appreciated. We really need the Lord to help us with some things that we're struggling with! Thanks so much and now I really am going to bed. :-)
Tyra
Saturday morning I went to a pregnancy class that was put on by a local therapy place. It was fun and very informative, plus they told me I should ask my doctor to write a prescription for therapy to help my chronic neck/shoulder pain and some hip problems I have that get worse when pregnant. Definitely looking forward to trying that and hopefully getting some help!
The rest of Saturday we spent with my parents eating out to celebrate my mom's birthday and then just visiting at their house. We were all super tired from the trip but it was nice to have a relaxing day just taking it easy.
Through the night found me sick with a bad allergy attack so needless to say I didn't rest which ended up for a rough day Sunday. I think the week just caught up with me too after being around so much I was sensitive to, eating different, etc. My dysautonomia had kicked in several times so that had my pretty wiped out too. I mostly just laid around and tried to feel better while Blake helped out with the kiddos. Thankfully he wasn't preaching anywhere and we just had our own devotions here so I could rest.
Today was starting back into a new week with doing a little around the house and getting some school work this morning. My check-up with the OB was this afternoon and I was a little anxious but also ready to find out if there was any change with the placenta previa. Thankfully it has totally moved and everything looked great! Praising the Lord for answering prayers in that area. I appreciate everyone else who prayed as well. And although God had really helped me with it and given me peace over trusting Him, it's still a relief to not have to worry about it anymore.
Tonight we drove over where my Momaw lives and visited with her and my aunt for awhile. We hadn't seen them recently so it was good to enjoy spending some time with them. Finally made it home and got all the kids washed up and into bed. I grabbed a minute to get on here and update but I'm gonna head that way myself now!
I'll probably do another pregnancy post soon with more specifics and hopefully update a couple more times before we leave to go out of state again this weekend. (yes, we are crazy for taking two trips this close together! haha) In the meantime, prayers for all of our health and especially mine and Dathan's would be greatly appreciated. We really need the Lord to help us with some things that we're struggling with! Thanks so much and now I really am going to bed. :-)
Tyra
March 16, 2012
Hanging in There! {I think}
It has definitely been some more week around here! Allergies galore and what must have turned into something viral maybe for at least a couple of the kiddos. Poor Darcey had a high fever for a couple days and has just felt rotten. Everyone else has the coughing, congestion, and runny nose as well. We all still sound horrible today but the kids at least seem to have more energy and are feeling better. I'm sure it will take awhile for all the yucky stuff to totally clear up.
I can't believe how early it's gotten so warm here and caused all the spring allergies to kick in this year. They are already way worse than normal! But seriously, 80 degree weather at this point in March is just slightly unusual....even for the south. I'm definitely hoping they don't last the entire season since we've already been dealing with them for a few weeks now. Talk about a miserable few months! I may be tempted to escape to the ocean somewhere for awhile since I always clear up there. :)
Between sickness, pregnancy, and lack of sleep, things have been just a little helter-skelter. To say the least. Crazy days, long nights, and a messy house have kinda gotten on everyone's nerves. It's no wonder we named this blog what we did! :) But in the middle of all the craziness have been the good moments too. Sweet snuggling with our baby girl, drawing pictures with our awesome artist son, and a lovely back-rub from our middle girl after she heard me mention it was hurting. And best of all, answered prayers and the grace of God....that we are so undeserving of!
So yeah I think the title of this post was right. Rough as it's been, we're definitely still hanging in there! :)
I can't believe how early it's gotten so warm here and caused all the spring allergies to kick in this year. They are already way worse than normal! But seriously, 80 degree weather at this point in March is just slightly unusual....even for the south. I'm definitely hoping they don't last the entire season since we've already been dealing with them for a few weeks now. Talk about a miserable few months! I may be tempted to escape to the ocean somewhere for awhile since I always clear up there. :)
Between sickness, pregnancy, and lack of sleep, things have been just a little helter-skelter. To say the least. Crazy days, long nights, and a messy house have kinda gotten on everyone's nerves. It's no wonder we named this blog what we did! :) But in the middle of all the craziness have been the good moments too. Sweet snuggling with our baby girl, drawing pictures with our awesome artist son, and a lovely back-rub from our middle girl after she heard me mention it was hurting. And best of all, answered prayers and the grace of God....that we are so undeserving of!
So yeah I think the title of this post was right. Rough as it's been, we're definitely still hanging in there! :)
March 7, 2012
Some Things We Do For Allergies
As most of you probably know we are a family with allergies. Lots of allergies. I can't think of much out there that one or the other of us haven't reacted to at one time or another. On top of a variety of things we're sensitive too, there's also a variety of ways we react. Yeah, it's not just your average runny nose kind of thing. (which we do as well and is frustrating too....but sometimes preferable to other reactions) I won't get into alot of details there but suffice it to say we deal with this stuff on a daily basis around here. And while it can be hard and rather overwhelming at times, we've managed to learn a few things over the years that seem to help keep them a little more under control. All of which are natural alternatives to meds since we just happen to be overly sensitive to those as well. :)
This list will by no means be exhaustive but maybe it will help give someone else a few useful ideas on dealing with allergies too. So here goes......
Homeopathics, Herbs, etc.
~ Heel/BHI brand: We like to use the tablets since they easily melt in the kids' mouth. They have lots of different things to choose from though. Our favorites are the allergy tabs, body pure tabs (which help with environmental/chemical allergies), and sinus tabs. You can sometimes find them at health food stores but we usually order from this site to ensure we get what we want. allnaturalusa.com
~ KingBio brand: This is liquid that you spray straight into your mouth. (another easy one for the kids!) My mom stumbled across this at a health food store last year and I've used it (mostly in fall or winter) ever since. The main one we've tried is the regional/seasonal allergy....it's a formula made specifically for different areas of the usa, according to the particular allergens there. Awesome! I also just ordered some for chemical/food allergies that I'm hoping helps tone those down for us some as well. Here's the website if you want to check those out. www.kingbio.com
~ Native Remedies: This is a brand that we've used several different products in (besides just allergy stuff) and have liked pretty much all of them I think. The two we like best for allergy attacks are the SOS hista drops and the Allergiclear tablets. They can be taken together and really seem to head off an attack rather well. Some products are for all ages (you can adjust the dosage) and some are only adults so make sure you check that out if you decide to order. Here's the website for their products. www.nativeremedies.com
The first two companies are mainly homeopathics while the last one uses herbs as well. All the products are natural, safe, and we've never experienced any kind of negative side effects to anything we've tried. (which is saying alot since we react to everything! lol) You can also safely take them while pregnant (altho obviously there are some herbs that you can't) so that's an added bonus for me at the moment!
I had planned to share some other things we do around the house as well but I think since this post ended up being a little longer than I thought that I'll save that for another time. Hope you enjoyed learning this info and be sure to check back for future posts on this subject! :-)
This list will by no means be exhaustive but maybe it will help give someone else a few useful ideas on dealing with allergies too. So here goes......
Homeopathics, Herbs, etc.
~ Heel/BHI brand: We like to use the tablets since they easily melt in the kids' mouth. They have lots of different things to choose from though. Our favorites are the allergy tabs, body pure tabs (which help with environmental/chemical allergies), and sinus tabs. You can sometimes find them at health food stores but we usually order from this site to ensure we get what we want. allnaturalusa.com
~ KingBio brand: This is liquid that you spray straight into your mouth. (another easy one for the kids!) My mom stumbled across this at a health food store last year and I've used it (mostly in fall or winter) ever since. The main one we've tried is the regional/seasonal allergy....it's a formula made specifically for different areas of the usa, according to the particular allergens there. Awesome! I also just ordered some for chemical/food allergies that I'm hoping helps tone those down for us some as well. Here's the website if you want to check those out. www.kingbio.com
~ Native Remedies: This is a brand that we've used several different products in (besides just allergy stuff) and have liked pretty much all of them I think. The two we like best for allergy attacks are the SOS hista drops and the Allergiclear tablets. They can be taken together and really seem to head off an attack rather well. Some products are for all ages (you can adjust the dosage) and some are only adults so make sure you check that out if you decide to order. Here's the website for their products. www.nativeremedies.com
The first two companies are mainly homeopathics while the last one uses herbs as well. All the products are natural, safe, and we've never experienced any kind of negative side effects to anything we've tried. (which is saying alot since we react to everything! lol) You can also safely take them while pregnant (altho obviously there are some herbs that you can't) so that's an added bonus for me at the moment!
I had planned to share some other things we do around the house as well but I think since this post ended up being a little longer than I thought that I'll save that for another time. Hope you enjoyed learning this info and be sure to check back for future posts on this subject! :-)
September 5, 2011
This Crazy Life!
I decided that considering all the stuff that's gone on the past couple of weeks that I haven't gotten around to blogging about yet I could just do a post where I list them randomly on here. If I can remember them that is! Okay, so in no particular order and as few details as possible, here goes....
~Dathan lost his 6th tooth while using a snorkel in the pool at my parents house the other day. That kid seriously has the most hilarious stories to tell about every.single.one! But for times sake I won't get into all of them at the moment. :-)
~I had the privilege of volunteering at the Choose Life ministry in Huntsville for the first time last week. It was thankfully not busy so I could get the hang of things a little and I look forward to helping out again in the future! If you don't know anything about that place you should definitely check out the link.
~Directly related to the story above is the part before going there when I was running late getting home to get ready and got locked out of the house because I was driving another car and didn't have my own keys. I had been working outside and was a mess so I was hoping and praying to get in somehow rather than drive over there sweaty and stinky! (I figured that would be the end of my volunteering! lol) After climbing over the privacy fence in a skirt and praying that no one was watching me in that rather unladylike endeavor the back door had thankfully been left unlocked so I was in luck. Hallelujah! I arrived there right on time and at least semi-clean I think. ;-)
~We had an awesome after birthday party for Dathan so he could make use of his cool new army stuff. I think there ended up being about 15 kids here between the 4 families that came so that's pretty impressive! It was a crazy but fun night complete with a campfire and homemade s'mores. Yum! The only two drawbacks were me totally forgetting to make any pictures and one of the little girls who came falling off the swing and breaking her arm. Thankfully it isn't serious but we're hoping that next time we can do without that part of it!
~After being at my parents to help with a yard sale for a couple of days I realized that my severe cat allergies I developed as a child are still exactly that. SEVERE. I'm about 99% sure that being around the kittens she found caused me to start having asthma symptoms and let me tell you I have a new found understanding of just how bad and scary that stuff is! I'm still not back to normal and wondering if I need to make a doctors trip just to get checked out. I guess it could always be worse in the future if I don't. Prayers about that would be greatly appreciated!
Well, I know there's much more that's gone on but I guess that's enough for now. (there's only so much this sleep-deprived momma brain of mine can come up with at one time.) Of course throw in the every day normal family stuff that gone along with all this and it's pretty much been exactly what the title says....CRAZY! But it's our life and we love it (mostly). Even on the days when we really do feel like we're at our "whits end"! :)
~Dathan lost his 6th tooth while using a snorkel in the pool at my parents house the other day. That kid seriously has the most hilarious stories to tell about every.single.one! But for times sake I won't get into all of them at the moment. :-)
~I had the privilege of volunteering at the Choose Life ministry in Huntsville for the first time last week. It was thankfully not busy so I could get the hang of things a little and I look forward to helping out again in the future! If you don't know anything about that place you should definitely check out the link.
~Directly related to the story above is the part before going there when I was running late getting home to get ready and got locked out of the house because I was driving another car and didn't have my own keys. I had been working outside and was a mess so I was hoping and praying to get in somehow rather than drive over there sweaty and stinky! (I figured that would be the end of my volunteering! lol) After climbing over the privacy fence in a skirt and praying that no one was watching me in that rather unladylike endeavor the back door had thankfully been left unlocked so I was in luck. Hallelujah! I arrived there right on time and at least semi-clean I think. ;-)
~We had an awesome after birthday party for Dathan so he could make use of his cool new army stuff. I think there ended up being about 15 kids here between the 4 families that came so that's pretty impressive! It was a crazy but fun night complete with a campfire and homemade s'mores. Yum! The only two drawbacks were me totally forgetting to make any pictures and one of the little girls who came falling off the swing and breaking her arm. Thankfully it isn't serious but we're hoping that next time we can do without that part of it!
~After being at my parents to help with a yard sale for a couple of days I realized that my severe cat allergies I developed as a child are still exactly that. SEVERE. I'm about 99% sure that being around the kittens she found caused me to start having asthma symptoms and let me tell you I have a new found understanding of just how bad and scary that stuff is! I'm still not back to normal and wondering if I need to make a doctors trip just to get checked out. I guess it could always be worse in the future if I don't. Prayers about that would be greatly appreciated!
Well, I know there's much more that's gone on but I guess that's enough for now. (there's only so much this sleep-deprived momma brain of mine can come up with at one time.) Of course throw in the every day normal family stuff that gone along with all this and it's pretty much been exactly what the title says....CRAZY! But it's our life and we love it (mostly). Even on the days when we really do feel like we're at our "whits end"! :)
June 26, 2011
Comparing Reflux Journeys
I don't think I ever got around to posting alot of specifics about Darcey's health issues. So I figured now was as good a time as any! I also thought that it would be nice to tell you how similiar yet different our experiences were with Dathan and Darcey...and how strongly I believe the way we handled his and her treatment is what made all the difference. This might be a long one so consider yourself forewarned! :)
Starting with Dathan's story and trying to just hit the highlights, he started having symptoms of reflux before even leaving the hospital. We didn't know it at the time because they blamed it on him swallowing fluid but it just continued getting more severe as the days went on until it was obvious it was something serious. He had problems breastfeeding(and I had problems I've always wondered what could have caused them that I won't even began to go into here!)to the point of me stopping at about 3 weeks. By this time he was crying alot and not sleeping well. One thing led to another until he was in constant pain, screaming most of the day/night, and never sleeping unless he was held by someone...and even then very little. This was all being monitered by our pediatrician of course and we had already tried more than one medicine, formula change, etc with no good results. Then when he was about 6 weeks old he had been awake crying for at least 2 days before falling asleep so soundly that we were actually able to lay him down. I kept checking on him as I got ready to visit the chiropractor and was surprised that he seemed to be going deeper and deeper asleep....since normally he'd only stay asleep for a few minutes before waking up crying again. It had been a few minutes since the last time I'd looked in on him and this time when I bent over to see if he was breathing I realized he wasn't and his face was already turning blue. Needless to say it was the scariest thing I've ever experienced. This was followed by 3 hospital stays and numerous doctors visits to specialists while they all tried to figure out why he was having the apnea spells. (through numerous horrible tests that I won't even try to go into details for on here) They never came to any conclusions and continued trying out different meds that not only didn't help but caused problems themselves. It wasn't until he was about 8 months old and we saw a naturopathic doctor and found out about his severe allergies that we realized all of his issues were stemming mostly from that. Unfortunately I think all the things we had given him combined with months of exposure to so many allergens had made him so sick that even after changing as much as possible and seeing some improvement he still was so very sick. There was hardly a night went by that he didn't wake up crying, he had reactions to something pretty much every time we went anywhere, and if he ever ate anything he was allergic to it was really bad. To be honest, he still has alot of health issues to this day, which still greatly affect his sleep, emotions, energy, etc. But I do know that being strict about what he eats, giving him homeopathics, going to the chiropractor and just trying to limit his allergy exposure helps so much.
But now let me tell you about our experience with Darcey. I think you'll be amazed at the difference! She was so like him as far as symptoms go pretty much from the start that it was scary. (literally) Before very few days had passed she was already crying alot, having trouble eating and sleeping, and just generally showing signs of being in pain. Since we'd been down this road before(mostly with Dathan as far as the reflux but in some ways Delancey as well with the severe allergies)we automatically decided to try different things other than the medical route this time. Those included homeopathics, probiotics, special formula, seeing a naturopath for acupressure treatments pertaining to the allergy/stomach issues, and basically just keeping her away from things that we knew she'd probably have an allergy to. We also saw a pediatric gastoentologist who assured us that we were doing all possible to help her and that there was technically no proven medicines to help babies with these sort of problems. And as we had already found out before...could possibly even make matters worse. She still had terrible crying spells, sleepless days and nights and had to be held most of the time for several weeks, but we gradually started seeing changes for the better. And until then we bounced countless hours on an exercise ball, used white noise almost constantly, and learned multiple ways to stack up pillows to help some or all of us to get a little rest. :)
So in review, the natural treatments didn't provide a quick fix as in healing Darcey overnight, but then again neither did the medicines we tried for Dathan. And I can honestly say that 8 months into her life there is a huge difference between how she is feeling and acting than there was with him. Not to mention that she didn't suffer any of the side effects or reactions that he had to all that time. Hands down I would definitely recommend trying any or all of the things that we did if you have a baby who is suffering with health issues after birth.
So there's our story if you're still hanging in there to read it! :) Hope you enjoyed and that maybe some of the info can be passed along and help others. I know some people think that how we choose to do things is crazy, but only you can know your own kids and what works best for them. Since we've been down both roads with the same problems and had such drastic results then I can confidently say that natural treatments are the best for us!
Starting with Dathan's story and trying to just hit the highlights, he started having symptoms of reflux before even leaving the hospital. We didn't know it at the time because they blamed it on him swallowing fluid but it just continued getting more severe as the days went on until it was obvious it was something serious. He had problems breastfeeding(and I had problems I've always wondered what could have caused them that I won't even began to go into here!)to the point of me stopping at about 3 weeks. By this time he was crying alot and not sleeping well. One thing led to another until he was in constant pain, screaming most of the day/night, and never sleeping unless he was held by someone...and even then very little. This was all being monitered by our pediatrician of course and we had already tried more than one medicine, formula change, etc with no good results. Then when he was about 6 weeks old he had been awake crying for at least 2 days before falling asleep so soundly that we were actually able to lay him down. I kept checking on him as I got ready to visit the chiropractor and was surprised that he seemed to be going deeper and deeper asleep....since normally he'd only stay asleep for a few minutes before waking up crying again. It had been a few minutes since the last time I'd looked in on him and this time when I bent over to see if he was breathing I realized he wasn't and his face was already turning blue. Needless to say it was the scariest thing I've ever experienced. This was followed by 3 hospital stays and numerous doctors visits to specialists while they all tried to figure out why he was having the apnea spells. (through numerous horrible tests that I won't even try to go into details for on here) They never came to any conclusions and continued trying out different meds that not only didn't help but caused problems themselves. It wasn't until he was about 8 months old and we saw a naturopathic doctor and found out about his severe allergies that we realized all of his issues were stemming mostly from that. Unfortunately I think all the things we had given him combined with months of exposure to so many allergens had made him so sick that even after changing as much as possible and seeing some improvement he still was so very sick. There was hardly a night went by that he didn't wake up crying, he had reactions to something pretty much every time we went anywhere, and if he ever ate anything he was allergic to it was really bad. To be honest, he still has alot of health issues to this day, which still greatly affect his sleep, emotions, energy, etc. But I do know that being strict about what he eats, giving him homeopathics, going to the chiropractor and just trying to limit his allergy exposure helps so much.
But now let me tell you about our experience with Darcey. I think you'll be amazed at the difference! She was so like him as far as symptoms go pretty much from the start that it was scary. (literally) Before very few days had passed she was already crying alot, having trouble eating and sleeping, and just generally showing signs of being in pain. Since we'd been down this road before(mostly with Dathan as far as the reflux but in some ways Delancey as well with the severe allergies)we automatically decided to try different things other than the medical route this time. Those included homeopathics, probiotics, special formula, seeing a naturopath for acupressure treatments pertaining to the allergy/stomach issues, and basically just keeping her away from things that we knew she'd probably have an allergy to. We also saw a pediatric gastoentologist who assured us that we were doing all possible to help her and that there was technically no proven medicines to help babies with these sort of problems. And as we had already found out before...could possibly even make matters worse. She still had terrible crying spells, sleepless days and nights and had to be held most of the time for several weeks, but we gradually started seeing changes for the better. And until then we bounced countless hours on an exercise ball, used white noise almost constantly, and learned multiple ways to stack up pillows to help some or all of us to get a little rest. :)
So in review, the natural treatments didn't provide a quick fix as in healing Darcey overnight, but then again neither did the medicines we tried for Dathan. And I can honestly say that 8 months into her life there is a huge difference between how she is feeling and acting than there was with him. Not to mention that she didn't suffer any of the side effects or reactions that he had to all that time. Hands down I would definitely recommend trying any or all of the things that we did if you have a baby who is suffering with health issues after birth.
So there's our story if you're still hanging in there to read it! :) Hope you enjoyed and that maybe some of the info can be passed along and help others. I know some people think that how we choose to do things is crazy, but only you can know your own kids and what works best for them. Since we've been down both roads with the same problems and had such drastic results then I can confidently say that natural treatments are the best for us!
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