Getting Better

Today was better than yesterday. Owen perked up around 10:00 this morning. Wanted to play. I even let him crawl around a bit without the arm splints. this can only happen when he can have my 100% attention though. We even did a little PT time with his AFO's on today. I think he liked feeling active again. Also, wearing the splints might have an added bonus... He tries so hard to get around with them on. If he keeps his belly off the floor, he could actually crawl. I keep trying to show him this fact. Maybe he'll catch on. :)

Called the ENT about his ears. the nurse talked to our doctor. yes, we have A doctor now! He said to just continue the vinegar flushes and ear drops until the 18th when we see him. I am glad he didn't start him on an antibiotic, since I am doubtful it would do any good. And I feel better knowing Dr. Ulm is comfortable waiting until the 18th to see him. So we'll see how it goes. Please pray that the vinegar can cut through the goop so the drops can work. Boy was it not fun to hold him down for that today. I just feel like he's been through enough. He's never going to let me touch his head again after all this.

Owen still doesn't want anything to do with the sipper. I think he really wants his bottle. He cries for most of his feeding wandering where the bottle is. We've been tube feeding him in the bouncy seat (which we dug out of storage), hoping that once he is back in his highchair and back to normal foods he will still have pleasant associations with the highchair and eating. Let's keep all the unpleasantness to the bouncy seat.

We gave him some chocolate pudding at supper tonight. He did pretty good, but didn't like me rinsing his mouth with water afterwards. Had to eat the pudding off the side of the spoon and we could only put it to his lips. Made a mess but loved it. Didn't understand why he couldn't have any of the food we were eating though. We fed him the pudding in the highchair.

Last night when Liam came in from church and saw me holding Owen he came over and pointed at the arm splints and said, "Is Owen starting over?" I asked him what he meant. He said, "He's one now, but is he going back to zero?" So cute. I realized he remembers when Owen wore these arm splints before and it was when he was just a baby (age zero). "No, Owen isn't starting over, but he has an owie in his mouth so he has to where these on his arms so he won't touch it. And we can't touch his mouth either."

Liam has been testing what I mean by "don't touch Owen's mouth". scared me to death a few times today. Then at supper tonight Liam asked if Owen's mouth will ever get better. How do you explain how long 6 weeks is to a 4 year old?

Tomorrow a friend and I are going to a cleft lip and palate seminar at Riley. Even though they're forecasting snow may start coming in the afternoon, we're still planning on going. I really want to be there, and the weatherman has pulled a fast one on me one too many trips to Indy in a row. So even if I have to drive super slow, I think it will be worth it. Please pray for safe travels. I am hoping the snow will just miss us. God has been so gracious to protect us for over 40 trips to Indy and back.

I've gotten a good view of the roof of his mouth a few times now. It is amazing! Number one, he HAS a roof of his mouth! There is no dressing or gauze. There are two ridges of... stitches I guess. And two "trenches" on either side along the inner gum line. I am not so sure what the trenches are. I am guessing that is where they "took" tissue from to fill the gap. But the one looks pretty deep. Does it just look that way because the center is swollen? Is it open to his nose? (I doubt it.) Will it always be there? Because then he'd definitely be getting food stuck up there. I guess I must wait until Monday for answers to these questions. Either way I am completely amazed when I look in there. My sister Kim will be home on spring break and volunteered to watch the kids. So that was super nice.

One more thing... Owen snores now. Snorts and snores. He never ever did before. He didn't have a palate after all. The resident said it may subside once the swelling goes down. We'll see. It is pretty obnoxious. Last night I almost kept him in bed with us so I could monitor his arm splints, but I knew Eric and I would get no sleep with Owen sawing logs in between us. I was so nervous he would get out of the splints. We took everything out of his crib and made sure his splints were on tight. He did great. He was frustrated that he couldn't roll over, but figured out how he could lay on his side so he could nuzzle his diaper cloth. The splints were still on this morning. He napped in his crib today too. I think it is somewhat of a comfort to him. Something that is "normal".

Well, that's all for now. Pray for Eric tomorrow as he has all the kids.