5 Percent

in the last 12 months, i'm pretty sure i have had a complete, uninterrupted nite's rest about 5 percent of the time. now, i know you all have heard our ongoing drama with bridon, but i have some exciting news to share and to document, and didn't want to jump-the-gun a few weeks ago and jinx myself! when bridon finally had his allergy/blood testing done in january, the gi told me that these tests were 95% accurate (for milk allergy, gluten-celiac, thyroid, etc). apparently, we fell in the 5%! with the help of the 'special powder' he started moving things through and all of his test results turned up negative, so when i went to a follow-up visit in february everything should've been grand. but it wasn't. bridon still was upset a lot of the time, couldn't take naps, and would wake up during the nite. we decided to try pro-biotics and an acid reflux medicine for 30 days, and then schedule an endoscopy and colonoscopy if we didn't see any results...but that was to be very unlikely! mid-march, we were still having problems and the breaking point came a few weekends ago when he was up from 2-5 one nite, then 12-7 the next. that was it! i had the thought to wean him, and after prayer, and some family encouragement (thx!) i put him on nutramigen, a highly broken down, hypoallergenic, formula (it is $30 a can, so if you have coupons, send them my way!)and took all dairy products out of his diet. the first couple of days he didn't want the 'new' milk, but then he got the hang of it and has been doing SO much better! he still doesn't sleep through the nite, but we're working on that (he's in the middle of a cough and cold)! we also started seeing the foot zoner more regularly. i admit, i am still a skeptic, but i go for ben...and i do think the essential oils can help! i had the most swollen glands for a few days (part of my strange recurring sore throat- i know, what is wrong with our family?!) and i used peppermint oil several times a day until all the swelling was gone!

back to bridon...he is a brand new man in many ways! where was my happy baby the last 6+ months?! i told ben he has been robbed of his first year, and ben just said, "hello, maria, WE have been robbed of our 29th year!" so there you have it. i hope i have more good news to report later and i do know that the lord's hand is in all things, but you may never know why you face something until much later.

just an fyi, on another 5 percenter...if you read my blog last year, during the 3rd trimester of my pregnancy with bridon, i kept getting sick with really bad digestion/gas (trapped inside!) my ob put me on a pill called reglan. it made me crazy and narcoleptic (no lie)...i really thought i was going nuts. i happened to ask bridon's gi about it, and she said 5 percent of people have adverse side effects from the drug and she would never prescribe it to a pregnant woman. in some, it causes a ticking that never goes away! whew! i count my blessings i only almost had to go to the looney bin and i'm glad that's over. good old, 5 percent, apparently our family is destined to fall within it's lines!