big day ahead of us.

So, I'm writing this post with the selfish intent of asking for your prayers. Today both Claire and Gabe have doctor's appointments that I'm referring to ask the "turning point." I'm planting my butt in a chair and not leaving until they each have a referral: Claire to the GI doctor for her terrible reflux and Gabe to the ENT for his ears.

See, Claire has had awful reflux since she was born. At three days old she was started on medication. NOTHING HAS HELPED. She is miserable, constantly crying, and spits up often. She spits up about every 3-4 minutes, 24/7, if that gives you an idea of what it's like at our house right now. She even chokes in her sleep from it. She now is very congested (another symptom of reflux) and I'm very unhappy with how NOT aggressive her primary care doctor is treating her. She is going on three months old and I'm terrified it's going to permanately damage her esophagus if she doesn't get help. Since Gabe had bad reflux as well, I doubt it will be a problem to get her seen by the specialist.

*update: Claire's appointment went totally different than expected. She is still gaining about an ounce a day, and is up to 11 lbs 3 oz. So, her weight gain has been exceptional. Apparently breast milk is very basic so it neutralizes the stomach acid, so we don't have to worry about it hurting her esophagus. If we switch to formula we will re-evaluate. At this point, she is below the therapeutic dose of prevacid anyway, so we are going off medication for a week. If her reflux stays the same, we will keep her off medicine for as long as tolerable. If it gets worse, we will double her dose of prevacid and send her to the GI. I'll update as soon as we can tell which direction it is going...

Gabe's referral is going to be a little more tricky to get. He is pretty delayed in his speech. He had a hearing test done that he passed but in order to pass, all he had to do was look at the speaker where the noise came from. Each speaker had a light up toy on top of it that lit up each time there was noise coming from it. Um, yeah, of course he will look toward the toys when they light up. He has a double ear infection right now that I am SURE is not his first. He has cried each time his ears have been looked at since he was 9 months old. The doctors usually say they can't get a good look because he has ear wax packed in there. Well, clean it out then! I feel the poor child has been suffering ear infections that haven't been treated and it's causing a speech problem. When he does speak, it sounds like he is either deaf or under water. His vowel sounds are very loud and drawn out. He is constantly hoarse. The name he has for objects sounds NOTHING like the actual name (for example, if you ask him to say "shoe" he says what sounds like "tiss." Not even close to the real word, and he says it every single time. I truly believe that's what it sounds like to him.) I want him to be seen by a doctor who deals with ears every day. I know if he got tubes, it would make a world of difference.

*update: Gabe goes for a speech therapy evaluation May 24. We are going to give him two months or so and see if he makes progress, once therapy starts. If not, then we will discuss an ENT as he will be closer to 2 years old by then. We'll see! Hoping it helps and Gabe is just a stubborn, physical guy... 


So, there's our saga for the day. Check back later for an update... and in the meantime, pray for us if you can :)