Great poem for Moms (and Dads)

My sweet son!

We've been back in Germany for a week now.  Jet lag has really taken its toll on us.  I am even less a fan this time around.  I finally slept through the night for the first time last night.  It feels like we have a newborn on our hands all over again.  I'm just so thankful we had a safe trip, were able to see some of our family and friends, and we got some great care for Caden.  God is great, as always, and us going to visit the States this time around was worth it, even if our wallet is thinner, and we're sleep deprived.

I'm reading a book called A Love That Multiples by Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar.  They have 19 well-behaved, Christ-like children, so I thought why not pick up their book.  I have read several parenting books and love learning about how people parent.  Even though we only have one child, I felt like they would have some great parenting advice since they are very experienced.  Which by the way, really is a good book.

In the book, Michelle shares a poem called Love.  This poem hit home with me and made me want to frame it.  I knock myself out trying to have everything in "order" and "clean" and still have time to have fun with Caden.  I'm not a super mom and so it was refreshing to read this and realize I'm not alone, even though I only have one child - which believe me, one child keeps me plenty busy.  This poem reminded me of what is most important, which is of course love.

Love

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love--I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker.



If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love--my children learn of cleanliness, not godliness.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.


Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.

Love wipes away the tears before it picks up the toys.


Love is present through trials.


Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.


As a mother there is much I must teach my child,

but the greatest of all is...LOVE.

Herbstfest (Fall Festival)

Caden on our walk home - it got late!

Today was a busy day. We went to Caden's friend, Joey's birthday party this morning, then this evening we went downtown to Heidelberg to the Herbstfest - Fall Fest. It seems like there is almost always a festival in Germany going on somewhere. We took the strassenbahn downtown, which Caden loves. Thankfully our city has a strassenbahn (street car) that takes you straight to Heidelberg.  It's only about a 5 minute walk from our house.  This was the first time we left the stroller at home to attend a festival in Heidelberg.  When we got downtown, we kind of wished we had it.  It was packed!  It reminded us of the Christmas Markets.  Everywhere you stepped you feel someone on you, which is really too crowded for us.

We had a good time, despite having to "fight the crowds."  I ate fish and chips and Collin had sausage. Caden ate some of each of ours. We ended our fun evening getting ice cream on our walk home.

Waiting for the Strassenbahn in Heidelberg

Shoulder-to-Shoulder, very crowded!

Collin and Caden at our table

Marisa at the table

Answers! Biopsy results and why Caden is anemic

We went to feed the ducks yesterday

We finally got answers today!  We got the biopsy results which showed that Caden has allergies in his stomach and colon.  The doctor prescribed Prevacid which reduces acid in the stomach so it can heal (also used to treat GERD) and Pentasa which is an inflammatory and heals inflammation.  Most likely the inflamation was caused from allergies and possibly a virus he got last winter that never healed. 

We found out on Wednesday that one of my grandmother's has a blood disorder which causes anemia.  Since Caden's anemia is so severe, we asked to be referred to a hematologist (some specialists you have to be referred to).  With lots of persistence, thank you, Collin, we got a last minute appointment today.  We had to drive to Grapevine but lucked out and saw Dr. Beam, who is a great doctor.  After he saw the lab and biopsy results he agreed to see us.  Caden's allergies has caused him to become anemic.  When your stomach and colon are inflamed, it can prevent iron from being absorbed in your body.  Therefore, we need to find out what his allergies are from, continue the iron supplement, and that, along with the Prevacid and Pentasa, will help him get better.  Once we get back to Germany, we'll need to get his blood checked to make sure his body is absorbing the iron.  If so, then usually within a month of taking iron supplements, his iron levels should be back to normal.  Then we are to continue for two additional months with the iron supplement and his iron storage should be restored.

We also think we discovered another reason why he's throwing up but are not certain.  The main source is of course allergies. We have eliminated cow milk from his diet (he's been mostly drinking almond milk for the past month anyway).  The hematologist said that cow milk is a poor source of nutrition and can cause anemia, especially in children.  It also causes problems in people who are allergic to it, which most likely Caden is.  Also, Caden ends up throwing up at least once during days he drinks cow's milk.  Sometimes right away, sometimes later in the day.  He's gone a week without cow milk and has already only thrown up once. Thankfully Caden loves almond milk which has more nutrients anyway.  Besides allergies, he may have asthma, which is another possible reason he throws-up so much.  We don't know for certain but it does run in my family.  He gets eczema extremely bad in Germany and after running around a lot you can hear a little whizzing.  Some children vomit a lot when they have asthma when they are young.  Please say a prayer that if he does, it's not severe.  

These past three weeks we were hoping to relax and mainly enjoy seeing family and friends.  However, it seems like it's been more of a medical trip than anything else. We have had one medical appointment after another.  We are just so thankful that we have answers and know where to go from here. We both really like Cook's Children and thank God that we were able to come home to take care of Caden.  We are looking forward to returning to Texas for good.

Thank you again for all your prayers.  We feel very fortunate to have been able to receive the expedited care we received. We are very thankful that he doesn't appear to have anything real serious. Also, that while trying to figure out the cause of his vomiting, we discovered another problem that we are able to fix.       

Caden's scopes were a success!

Today has been a long day!  We woke up at 4:30am and Caden was already awake.  He was playing in my sister's old room, where he's sleeping.  I guess he knew he needed to be up!  We arrived at Cook's before 6am, like they said to do.  We went to the back around 6:45am and they took him in the operating room for the endoscope and colonoscopy around 7:45am.

Caden did very well.  I was worried about the anaesthesia since he has never had it before.  The doctors and nurses did a great job.  I was very impressed with Cook's Children.  The hospital was beautiful.  I told Collin that if anything was to ever happen to Caden, I'd want him to be taken care of at Cook's in FW, not in Germany.  There is a HUGE difference in medical care and facilities.  Caden has been to the children's ER in Germany, twice, and the surgery ER once.  And of course I gave birth in Germany.  Don't get me wrong, the Germans are in general very healthy people.  There are also some wonderful doctors there.  However, the facitilites are so much nicer in the States, at least in Texas.  Also the waiting rooms are more comfortable and they have food.  Where we are in Germany, there is either no food available for people waiting and not staying at the hospital, or it is very little and not very good.  Cook's had a great selection of food, including a Chic-Fil-A!  I mean, how awesome!!  Also, the nurses were so nice.  I loved how I could understand EVERYTHING they said.  They were also very good with Caden.  There were even toys to play with in the patient room and there were lots of books in the waiting room. The doctors, both the gastroenterologist who did the scopes and the anaesthesiologist were not from the US but their English was very clear.  When someone explains things in your native language, especially medical things, that makes things so much easier.  I felt like we were in good hands.

The great news is that Caden's esophagus and stomach look normal.  The only concern is the doctor saw a number of lymph nodes which he said is not too uncommon in young children, but also could be a sign of allergies.  We will know more once we get the results of the biopsy back.  The bad news is, we still do not know why Caden is vomiting so much and the full cause of his anemia. Most likely it is food allergies. I will probably go back to keeping a food diary and writing down everytime he throws-up.

I hated that Caden had to go through this procedure.  But as his parents, we felt this was the next best step to take given our situation.  If he was not so anemic, we probably would have waited on this.  We are just glad they didn't find something awful.  Thank you all again for keeping us in your prayers.  They were not able to check for mechanical issues because of the anesthesia.  The best test for that would probably be the barium test, which is what they originally wanted to do first until they found out he was so anemic.

Here are a few more pictures from the hospital. 

Waiting in the waiting room

Granddad reading Caden the framed book on the wall



He was a little worried before the procedure.



We had some smiles and laughs before the procedure

Preparing for Caden's procedure

My handsome boy!

It is now almost 8:30pm in Texas.  Caden is asleep and we made it a full day with no solid food.  Thank you for the prayers so far, I think they really helped today.  He drank 4 cap fulls of MiraLax in 16 oz. of watered down juice this morning within 20 minutes.  He had 4 hours to drink that.  Then over the next 30 minutes he drank 8 oz. of Gatorade.  I gave him a Popsicle for breakfast too and he tried green jello, which he did not like.  I don't like jello either.  I basically offered lots of liquids today and little Popsicles.  I am so impressed with the quantity of foods offered here - in Germany we don't seem to have as many options.  For example, there are some cute, little Popsicles that are slow to melt, that are perfect for a young child.  I also bought clear apple/carrot juice that said it had a serving of fruit and vegetables in every glass.  

Popsicles, yummy!

Around 11am the first explosion happened.  MiraLax is a strong laxative.  Caden has never had a laxative before and has never needed one.  He has 1-3 bm's everyday.  Sadly he threw-up his dinner last night so his stomach was pretty empty.  But the first explosion scared him and was a mess.  Thank you Dad and Cathy for helping clean up.  Thank you Collin for helping clean and bath him!  He pooped so I took him upstairs to change him.  While I was getting the diaper he walked around the corner and watery poo flowed out of him.  It dripped down his legs and was uncontrollable.  He cried, I wanted to cry and throw-up.  I called downstairs, "help, help!"  I picked him up and took him to my sister's bathroom (he's sleeping in her old room), and put him in the tub.  I took off his diaper and his shirt.  It was a BIG mess! 

Homemade wagon

Thankfully that first one was the worse of it.  My step-mother went through 1.5 cans of Spot Shot.  It was bad and the poop was all over their carpet.  My dad steam cleaned the carpet and helped pick it up.  But we made it.  Caden enjoyed playing in the bath and Collin watched him while my dad and I ran to Wal-Mart.  We bought overnight diapers and more Spot Shot. 

Building a fort with Opa

Caden drank chicken broth for lunch and ate another Popsicle and drank some lemonade.  I blended some lemonade with ice to make a slushy for him.  He didn't like the beef broth.  He played for several hours outside with the water which is a great place to be if you're having uncontrollable bowl movements.  He probably drank 7-8 glasses of clear liquids today, plus 2.5 cups of broth, and around 5 mini Popsicles.  Considering the situation, he did great!  He's such a great boy!  When I was putting him to bed tonight he finally asked for Almond Milk.  I told him he couldn't have that but offered him Gatorade, juice, lemonade, or water.  He wanted lemonade.  So back downstairs we went.

Caden's appointment is at 6am tomorrow at Cook's Children downtown, we will get there around 5:45am.  Our doctor, Dr. Cantu, is sick.  So another doctor is performing the endoscope and colonoscopy.  His name is Dr. Ogunmola.  His medical record is clean and he has been practicing in Texas for 7 years.  We're praying all goes well and we figure out what is wrong with our sweet son.  We love you, Caden!  Thank you for all your prayers.  We greatly appreciate it.

Prayers for Caden

Please say a prayer for Caden.  The doctor had us take in some of Caden's stool to a lab in Monahans and wanted us to do another blood test.  So we did this on Thursday.  Yesterday, we found out that Caden is very anemic and the doctor in Fort Worth wants us to double Caden's iron supplement.  He also wants to do an endoscopy and colonoscopy to see what is going on with his stomach.  By doing a colonsocopy they can do a biopsty and test for allergies and other things.  Thankfully they can do this as one procedure.  However, I'm the typical scared and worried mom.  I hate that Caden is going to have to go through this.  I'm sad that this was not discovered sooner in Germany.  I don't like our healthcare situation there.  The Germans are great doctors but very natural about things, which can be good.  But not if something is seriously wrong with your child.  We go back and forth between going to a German doctor and going the an Army doctor on base.  It's almost impossible for us to see a doctor on base but thankfully we have been able to get Caden in for his well-baby appointments.  Usually it's with a nurse practictioner.  I'm praising God that we're finding this out now, though.  It's strange that we take him to a gastrologist and find out he's extremely anemic before finding out why he throws-up so much.

Collin and I have been researching like crazy to confirm this is the best step to take for him.  We have to change our flight from Midland, at a cost, and miss out on 3 additional days we could spend with his family.  Sadly, his family is the main reason we came to visit during this time.  If it wasn't for them we would not have come on this trip.  Overall I believe God is looking out for us.  If it hadn't been his mom's plea for us to come see them, we would have waiting until Thanksgiving.  If we had waited that long who knows how bad Caden would be.  We are just sad that we don't have more time with them.  It really makes you want to move back to the States so we can be closer by.  I have come to really dislike international flights.  I dread them.  They are expensive, uncomfortable, and adjusting to the time difference with a young child make it miserable.

We are leaving tomorrow for Fort Worth.  The most difficult thing is giving Caden an all liquid diet on Monday.  It is going to be so hard not to give my child something to eat.  Thankfully, Tuesday's appointment is early in the morning and he can eat shortly after it.  I read online that children bounce back very quickly from this.  The benefits seem to far outweigh the risks.  But I still ask for lots of prayers.  I could not sleep last night because my thoughts kept returning to Caden's health.  Also the wild dogs and train kept me awake.

I am glad we were able to come in town, am sad that we have to leave west Texas early, but am hopeful that we will be able to find out what is going on with our precious and sweet son.  Thank you.

Caden throws-up, a lot!

We're now in west Texas visiting Collin's parents.  It's so good to see them and we are enjoying our visit.  However, Caden continues to throw up, a lot!

The short version is the vomiting has caused Caden to become a little anemic. I am crushed! Absolutely crushed and feel like a failure. We try so hard to give him a balanced diet but when he throws up almost everyday and sometimes multiple times a day, most nutrition is lost. Please pray for him. The background and how we're handling this is below.

The excessive vomiting starting around Thanksgiving last year. For Thanksgiving we went to Paris and thankfully he didn't throw-up on our vacation there. But once we got home he threw up everyday, multiple times for over two weeks. We took him to the doctor it seemed like every few days and they did some tests. He caught a virus and had an infection. They did some blood work and gave him some medicine. After a few months of this, he stopped throwing up everyday. Although, sometimes he does throw-up everyday of the week. So the problem is not completely solved, we are just better prepared now. We keep a bowl on every floor in case he throws up. There's not necessarily any one thing that triggers this. At his 18-month well baby and 24-month well baby the doctors said he's growing fine and is verbally advanced for his age. Since he exceeded the 24-month assessment and is gaining weight, the doctor didn't seem to think there's a concern, especially since he doesn't have a fever. She said, sometimes kids get upset and they feel it in their stomachs, other kids just throw-up. Caden is very smart and sensitive and happens to be a child that throws-up.

Since we were coming to the U.S., we decided to try and get another opinion from a doctor here. Sadly, we couldn't find a pediatrician to see us but we're referred to a specialist. The appointment lady told Collin twice that she wouldn't give us an appointment since we lived overseas. Thankfully, Collin finally got us an appointment with a pediatric gastroenterologist. I really like this doctor. I'm so sad that we have such limited time and have to do several tests in such a short amount of time and are unable to get certain things tested. We started with blood, urine, and stool tests. His stool and urine are fine but we found out he is a little anemic. I am so sad about this! I want to cry! I'm not surprised since he throws up so much but it is heartbreaking to hear that your two year old is anemic. Especially, when I try so hard to give us all a balanced diet. We had to turn in some more stool today so they could do a hemocult stool card (to check for blood in his stool). The doctor wanted us to take his blood again to make sure Caden is making enough red blood cells. We hated for them to take more blood because he's so little and they seem to take so much. We were told to give him an iron supplement (ferinsol) for 30 days. I was reading about anemia and the importance of getting enough iron. He was breastfed for the first year of his life (never had formula which is fertified with iron) and at 9 months he got 3-day fever and was really sick. They checked his blood then and his iron levels were fine - of course he loves Cheerios which are fortified with iron. At 12 months when they typically check iron levels they said since he was fine at 9 months, they didn't need to do any blood work, which we were glad about. Caden eats really well, most vegetables and every fruit but melons. Since we primarily don't eat meat, the doctor told us to give Caden two servings of red meat a week and that, along with the vegetables, should give him enough iron. He also eats iron-fortified cereals. Of course if your child throws up most of the good meals, then most of the nutrition is lost.

I'm glad we are back in Texas and close to specialists and able to get this checked out. We are enjoying family and Caden loves all his extended family and friends. Once I find out the test results I'll let you know. Please say a prayer for Caden. Just this morning, I took him down the street to the park. We were walking and he stopped to throw up. Most of the time it is very random. He threw up yesterday after lunch in the parking lot of Red Lobster. We're just at a loss for what is causing this and hopefully will find out soon. Thanks for reading this long post and for your prayers.