It’s Just Jennie!

Relief? Not Really.

jennie — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:53:30 +0000

About a month ago, Reese’s allergies flared up again and I couldn’t get them under control. He has been so miserable! After the first fifteen days of the itching eyes, running nose, and red splotches all over his face I called the pediatrician. Usually, I can give him Claritin or Benadryl for a few days and it settles down. I was nervous that he was going to get a sinus infection or an ear infection. She put him on Amoxicillin and after ten days it didn’t even touch it. On week three, he woke up with a puffy eye and then the next morning the second eye started swelling. I was so frustrated! I called the allergist and they fit me in that day. We scheduled allergy testing, finally. I was so nervous about the testing. I just knew my baby was going to be allergic to Andre and I really didn’t want to get rid of our beloved dog. Monday we went for his big day and I dragged my mom along with me to help with Reese. He hates doctors and I am getting a little too big to hold him down. He was tested for pets, dust mites, trees, grass, seafood, and nuts and he responded negative to everything! I was relieved for a moment. But what is giving my child such a fit? The Dr. said it could be viral. Like when he gets a cold or fever it flares up his allergies. Honestly, I was really disappointed that he didn’t test for any food allergies to items Reese currently has had. Reese has never had seafood or peanuts on account that our pediatrician recommended waiting until he was older since he had a tendency to have allergies. I just wonder if maybe something we are feeding him is causing reactions. So we are back to square one. We are giving him Claritin every morning and just watching him. We have a steroid that we can give him incase of more breakouts or swelling. I am so tired of Reese being so miserable! I now have a better understanding of what my mom, my mother in law, Amanda, Tia, and all the other moms out there have felt as they watched their children suffer and struggled to find answers. Please pray for Reese that we can get over this little flare up and he can be my sweet, happy child that sleeps at night! We are so tired!

On a positive note, Caffrey is now scheduled to be delivered on Friday, June 1 at 7:45 am! Yay! We are so close to seeing our sweet boy’s face!

My sweet Caffrey

jennie — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:29:03 +0000

Rich and I just got back home from seeing a high risk Dr in Mobile. I know you may be reading this and saying, What?! I haven’t really been spreading the news. So unless you hear from my mom or my mother in law often, you are probably in the dark. It’s not that we tried to keep our situation a secret, it’s just too stressful for me to talk about. I apologize to all my love ones who are hurt we didn’t call, text, or blog about Caffrey. Before I get in to the details, let me assure you that our sweet baby boy is fine. Now you can breathe. When we went in for our 20 week ultrasound, the Dr noticed a “speck” on the left valve of Caffrey’s heart. It is called an echogenic cardiac focus. It looks like a bright spot on his heart in the ultrasound. The Dr. assured us that this is a very common occurrence and that we would check it again at our next appointment. Honestly I didn’t think too much about it until a few days before our appointment. Then some lovely people started calling and checking on us letting us know that they were praying for Caffrey. Usually this would have given me a peace but all of a sudden I thought wow this could be something! Now don’t get me wrong. I am so thankful for those prayer warriors around me! That is what has held me up this past week! At our appointment the focus was still there. I was hoping it had disappeared which is very common. The Dr still assured me that everything was fine but she had to go over the possibilities with me. This focus could be a sign of a genetic disorder like Down Syndrome or Edwards Syndrome. Or it could increase the baby’s chance of a heart defect. She told me that if she was carrying this baby, she wouldn’t be concerned about it. Of course at the same time she informs me that we need to go see a High Risk Dr in Mobile to get a better ultrasound. I don’t know about you but the words High Risk Dr and don’t stress do not belong in the same sentence! I love and trust my Dr but because she referred us, I became an emotional train wreck. I cried the whole way home and most of the next day. The thought of my sweet baby being in pain or having difficulties really broke my heart. My head told me all the right things; God is control, He will give us the strength to deal with whatever sickness Caffrey has, We love this child no matter what. You know, those things we tell other people when tough times happen. I also started replaying the conversation with my Dr over and over trying to convince myself he was perfectly healthy. But at night, my mind seems to play out the worst possible outcome. So this morning we woke up and had to wait until noon to leave. We were both so stressed out. Our appointment wasn’t until 2 and it couldn’t come fast enough. Of course we waited forever to see the Dr. They didn’t take us back for the ultrasound until 3:30 and then the tech left to get the Dr and we waited another 20 minutes. I also have to share with you that sitting in a waiting room at a High Risk Dr is scary. A room full of pregnant women waiting to check on their baby is probably one of the worst experiences ever! A young man and his son were waiting on his wife and when she came out in tears and tapped him on the shoulder I almost lost it! I followed her out the door and he just embraced her she cried. I started to tear up to and then I got terrified. So the conclusion for Caffrey is good. The focus isn’t that bright which is a great sign. The Dr pretty much told me we could expect another healthy bratty boy. He checked Caffrey’s brain and face for signs of Downs and his feet and hands for Edwards Syndrome. He looked perfect! He has a perfect heartbeat, perfect weight, and is moving around like a Gartman boy should. I am exhausted tonight. I guess the stress this has put on me has taken a toll and I can’t hardly move. I feel relief and peace but my body hasn’t caught up with my heart. I am so thankful for all of you who have been praying for us. Those prayers have carried me today. I am so thankful for Caffrey. I am so blessed to be allowed to be his mother. And even though this was so stressful, I was so thankful to watch him play on the ultrasound machine today. It was the best glimpse we’ve gotten of our little man and boy is he beautiful!

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Reese’s Winterwonderland Birthday

jennie — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:40:40 +0000

I had so much fun planning Reese’s Birthday party! Rich thought I went a little overboard but like my daddy always said, ” Birthdays are the only holidays that celebrate you!” I was just celebrating Reese! We had a huge turn out! The fellowship hall was packed!I had lots of help to make my little man’s day special. My Mother in Law made his beautiful cake, Rich made Reese’s smash cake and helped decorate, Jake and Diana provided the balloons and helped decorate, and my mom kept the boys so we all could work. It was perfect! And of course, the pictures were provided by Diana!

The Big Announcement

jennie — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:28:38 +0000

Bad Memories Resurfaced!

jennie — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:33:01 +0000

Thursday was Reese’s third reaction to something unknown. The first was the Wednesday before Christmas which landed us in the Emergency Room. An epinephrine shot and a dose of steroids later, we were sent home with a bottle of steroids to give “as needed”. We haven’t been able to figure out what triggered his reaction. It literally happened out of the blue. Earlier this week, he started to break out and we gave him benadryl and steroids and it went away. But Thursday his eyes were completely swollen shut and the medicane didn’t seem to affect it. I honestly just wanted to cry and hold him all night! We have been having these issues with him since he was about seven months old. We would let him try a new food and if it touched his skin, he would break out in red splotches on his face and neck. They would just go away after awhile and after consulting the Doctor, we would give him a small dose of Benadryl. It happened again when we started whole milk. After a few weeks, it stopped. He would only get them if the milk touched his face. He also will break out randomly during the day while playing, napping, or if he gets upset. Only the three times have we seen it spread to his body and result in swelling. Our Pediatrician referred us to an allergy Doctor just in time for a big reaction. Honestly we were just assuming he had sensitive skin and maybe eczema. After waiting to see the Allergist for three hours, we didn’t get the answers I was hoping for. (side note: children should not have to wait that long at an office!) Our instructions are to give him Claritin everyday and steroids for three more days. We have another appointment in two weeks and then we will go from there.

The part that is so frustrating is that this whole scenario is all too familiar to both Rich and me. Rich started having severe allergies and asthma at 12 months and it lasted most of his childhood. At age 10, I started off vomiting at school everyday. Then one night I spent the night with a friend and woke up feeling strange, looked in the mirror only to see my fave totally deformed. My eye was completely swollen, my cheeks looks as if I had a jumbo jaw breaker in each side, my lips were touching both my nose and my chin, and my nose was stretched across my face. It started a whirlwind of ER visits and allergy test. I remember begging my mom not to send me to school in the mornings because I was so embarrassed of how I looked. We got the swelling under control by the end of middle school.

Watching Reese Thursday night brought back all those memories to us. Friday morning when I got Reese out of bed and his eye was still swollen shut, made me so uncomfortable. I just looked at him and remembered how it felt when I woke up that way. It was worse because he can’t express his discomfort to me! Rich and talked about how we now know how scared our moms must have been. It’s even more difficult for us because we truly understand his pain. I guess, God gave him the perfect parents. We can show empathy towards him and we have knowledge in how to handle it because of our experience. Unfortunately, you are never quite ready to see your child this way! My prayer is that we figure this out quickly and it doesn’t take years for us to find the best way to manage his reactions. I thank all of you for your sweet prayers! I am not sure how people get through situations without faith and prayers from friends and family!