Jordan Trae Meier....finally here!

Probiotics

When Bryan came to stay with us, he had a runny nose almost constantly. It seemed as though anything he put into his mouth or near his nose set off an allergic reaction and the un-ending cycle of his nose pouring, then drying up. And every trip outside ended up with stuffy eyes, runny nose, etc. Pink eye seemed to be at least a bi-monthly visitor to his immune system. He had battled chronic constipation since the day he came home from the hospital, and had recently been in the E.R., as the constipation became so severe he had to have medical intervention to help him with it. The kid simply could not catch a break. This on top of all his "major" medical issues...hydrocephalus, resulting in a shunt and hypotonia which causes him developmental delays in his gross motor skills. He rarely felt well an entire day, much less a whole week without something setting him back.

As soon as Bryan went back to see his old pediatrician here in Houston - after giving us instructions and medication to get everything else cleared up, she handed me 2 boxes of powdered probiotics and said, "Give this to him...it will change things".

Now, I have a dear friend who has been using supplements for a while - and if you know me, you know I am not a vitamin, supplement, type person. I've just never been one to take a lot of stuff...I rarely even take a tylenol. At this point, I was willing to try anything. And the fact that Bryan's pediatrician - who I absolutely love and trust more than any doctor we've ever encountered - not only recommended it but handed it out in her office - was enough for me to try it.

That was nearly two months ago. Immediately, I noticed Bryan was having regular bowel movements - at least once a day, which he has NEVER done previously. (Now once a day the majority of the time, at least every other day). Once he healed from what was going on at the time, Bryan has not had one bout with allergies, not even one runny nose. No pink eye. No ear infection. No cold, cough or bugs. And all of this while recovering from major surgery. This is the longest he has ever gone without some type of infection or complication.

While the probiotics have not changed Bryan's major issues, I believe they have enabled him to stay well throughout his recovery which has helped him become a little stronger every day. I'm sharing this because it seems lately I have heard so many LP parents out there discussing the latest bug their child has picked up - and if this has helped us I am hoping it will help you too.

If you are interested, please email me and I will give you more information on what we use - or just ask your pediatrician if it might be helpful to your child. I'm sure they can point you in the right direction. There is LOTS of research on the internet as well. It has changed Bryan's life so much that I had to share our experience with everyone.

Family, Friends and Faces

My "sick of the hospital" face....

My "seafood" face.....see....it's Goldfish...

*disclaimer - Grampa taught me this trick....YaYa says its not nice.

My "what! no more cake?" face....

My "YaYa always gives in...more cake!" face...

My "too much cake and punch - after baby shower" face...

How 'bout those adorable legs???

My Auntie Shel...who is teaching me Kung Fu.

My friend Collier....who teaches me about Scooby Doo....

My Tia Gretchen....who loves me more than Paula Deen cake.....

My Mommy and Me on Easter Sunday......'nuff said.

Boy, am I tired!

For those of you that don't know, Bryan is staying with us for a while so he can be closer to his doctors and get the medical care he needs to get on his feet....literally and physically. Bryan has been with us for 2 weeks now and we have been doing the follow up for his shunt and getting everything else switched to Houston. ENT, PT, etc. Right now the hunt is on for a great nanny to come in and help out my daughter Shelby, who is currently caring for Bryan while I'm at work (and doing a GREAT job of it). Shelby is due with her first child May 28th, so the clock is ticking away. I have an interview today with a young lady who is an early childhood specialist student in her junior year and she is planning her masters in OT. I'm really hoping she is the one.....

So, this week we put up 2, two, TWO cribs at our house, rearranged the entire place and babyproofed everything. Wow....talk about life changing. We absolutely love having Bryan with us. He is making great progress, finally, and is starting to gain some weight back and sleep through the night. He had some complications after surgery that would probably be considered minor, but all of it really got him down and he was weak, lost weight, and lost all of the skills he had recently aquired during his month or so with the PT. Hopefully he will be able to pick them all back up quickly...and reach our goal of walking by the end of summer.

Surgery Successful!!!

Whew. We got home Thursday night, and I have been so busy I completely forgot to update here. Just checked my email and Jennifer reminded we left a lot of people hanging...thanks Jennifer.

Surgery went very well.....only one minor issue...Bryan contracted THE FLU on the day of his surgery...we did not find out until Tuesday. He was more lethargic than he should have been and because of this they ran some tests and discovered the flu. Although he had a few days where I was very worried about him, he is doing great now.

We didn't do much for his bday yesterday, we still have an ice cream cake in the freezer...but we have had a great weekend of resting, watching cartoons and root beer floats. Bryan still wears down pretty easily, but right now his Grandpa is pushing him around the house in his new coupe car that we got him for his birthday and he is loving it!

Brandi will come back to Houston tomorrow to pick him up, then back here in 2 weeks for a follow up, then a month later for a CT scan. They went ahead and gave him a CT scan before left the hospital, as he was vomiting and they didn't know whether it was the shunt or the flu. The CT looked great...it was the flu.

You can already tell the shunt has made a difference. Bryan doesn't get tired of holding his head up for long periods, and his fontanel, which was bulging so much you could see his hair pulse with each heartbeat before surgery, is now soft and sunken like it should be. The veins around his forehead which were very prominent before are now much less so.

Bryan has 2 stitches in his stomach area and from my estimates about 7 in his head behind his ear. (Dr. Dauser said "a stitch or two"...so I was taken back a little when they changed his bandage to a clear one.) The shunt was hardly visible the first day, but as the swelling has gone down you can clearly see the valve behind his ear, and because his chest is so small you can see the tube under his skin on his chest cavity which runs down to his perinatal cavity. Once his hair grows back, it won't be noticeable on his head unless you know he has had the surgery.

Thank you to everyone for all your prayers, and for your patience waiting on my updates. Hopefully it is all downhill from here out. :0)

Surgery on Monday, Birthday on Friday

Surgery is Monday at 6 a.m. at Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston. Bryan should be out in a few days and back home in Ingleside in time for his birthday on Friday. A big THANK YOU to everyone for their prayers and support.

Will post on Monday as soon as the all clear is given. In the meantime, YaYa and Grandpa are headed to the Texas Hill Country for a few days of R&R before surgery on Monday.

Bryan and I went shopping for some new clothes for his birthday this week.

We found a couple of really cute hats for him. I snapped this pic on my camera phone.

Home from the Hospital...Birthday with Daddy

Word from Dr. Pauli today. We need a shunt. The pressure on Bryan's head is increasing and it either needs to be monitored internally with possiblility of a shunt later....or a shunt now as there is pressure on his optic nerves. We have contacted the neurosurgeon at TCH and are waiting on a schedule for surgery.

It has been a wonderful week of wagon rides, park visits, root beer floats, home cooked meals and PT. What a great week! This little boy desperately wants to walk on his own. Such determination. We cherish every moment with him and can't wait to see him running around on his own in the back yard.

Praying that surgery goes well and there are no complications so Bryan can get back to PT and keep up the progress he has been working so hard at.

Hope you enjoy the pics as much as we do. We had a little birthday party for Bryan and Casey the day he was released from the hospital as Casey will be offshore working for their birthdays.