I keep thinking of these lovely posts that will be so uplifting or thought provoking and I get humbled into reality by the sound of retching in the other room. I don't have any uplifting response lately to vomit. I hate it. I hate working so darn hard to get food in and it comes out in seconds. It's disgusting and if I never cleaned vomit again it would be too soon. But my plans have been way laid by this adorable little guy who likes to vomit and then grin from ear to ear. I don't even know how I would know he was sick with something serious because he throws up regularly every day! He's thrown up 3 times today! I have tried to slowly stretch his stomach by adding a few more ML to his bottle but he just won't keep it down. Can you imagine how much he would weigh if he kept all of his food inside??? I keep thinking he's on the road to bulimia/anorexia and he's wearing out his esophagus. He's going to eventually hate food cuz he gets to taste it twice.

And then I see this sweet little face, sucking on his thumb, and I can do another day like this all over again.

My week didn't go as planned but really, what else in my life has really gone as planned? And I don't say that with any sarcasm at all (wink).

After planning another trip to VA to do 9 therapy sessions with our ABM therapist, we left after only one. Why is that? Because Liam has only been "sick" 3 times since we left the NICU almost 1 year ago and all three times have been when we are in VA!

I'll explain...Liam was having a great time on his car ride, cooing and giggling. We stopped at a freezing KFC near the NC/VA border where it took 30 minutes from the time I got in my line until my food arrived. The KFC was so cold that the dude cleaning the place was wearing a coat! But Liam was a trooper. I brought his high chair in (he can't sit up so a regular one doesn't work) and I strapped him in for dinner. He ate his freezing cold peas (our food was cold before we could finish it, it was really that cold in there) and we packed him up for the last leg of the trip.

After arriving at our hotel, Liam woke up and played for a bit before falling back asleep at around midnight. By 5 AM Liam was running a 101 fever. I couldn't believe it! Less than 6 hours in our hotel and he was sick! Come on, Lord! I am trying to give Liam opportunities to help his gross motor development and everytime I try Liam has to get sick?

I went ahead and took Liam to the 9 o'clock session and warned Carla that Liam was sick again. Liam seemed to do well with it even tho he was fighting off something and I anticipated coming back for our afternoon session. Liam had other things in mind and decided that he would up the ante and get his fever higher than he ever has before (103) and since he couldn't relax and fall asleep he was wearing himself out. I cancelled the afternoon session and decided to wait it out and see how Liam did through the night.

Liam didn't get any better and continued to suffer from a high fever even while on tylenol. After staying awake with Liam off and on through the night I decided that I wasn't going to waste the money on therapy when Liam clearly didn't feel up to it. And I wanted to be closer to my Dr because he'd never had a fever that high. It's hard to take care of a sick baby when you're not in your own home.

So, after waking my mom and my girls and repacking the suburban, we got on the road by 7 Am and headed back home to NC. All that day, I kept Liam off Tylenol and he was running about 99. By that evening, while we were comfy in our own home, Liam got better and better and woke up the next day as his normal happy self.

What do you all think? I stay in the same hotel each time I've gone and Liam was not sick on any of the three previous trips before we arrived. Yet shortly after arriving he is running a fever. Is it the hotel air? Liam not traveling well? Or a sign from God? What am I missing? This is so strange!

Please-

Please- read this article. It is so disturbing in so many ways and I can't begin to comment on all of it right now. My son is a surviving 23 weeker. And what I think disturbs me the most is that "both" sides of the debate are aghast at the behavior. I can't understand why the left is "aghast"! Instead of killing the baby by tearing it from the womb and dismembering it, this baby died from it's early birth. Did it die a less than heroic death because it wasn't dismembered? That's the lefts view?? I don't understand society anymore...


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488644,00.html

And I don't mind a healthy debate but look at this situation from a clear, open mind. How on earth is a child killed by being thrown away any less humane than being dismemebered? They are the same thing.

Ahhh- Liam has had such a good week. And it's only Wednesday! I was so proud to show him off to Cathy yesterday morning because she hadn't seen him lifting his body off the floor. She loved it- as I knew she would, because she just introduced this skill to him! I counted this morning while he held his head up and arms straight off the floor and it was for over a minute! Thats really amazing because he couldn't do that even two weeks ago. I can't tell you how happy I am!

We saw the neurologist yesterday and the appointment went well. Dr. B said that Liam looked really good, will continue to have problems for a bit with head control and that she won't assign a name to his version of CP for a long time because there's no reason to, not sure yet what he has and because it won't make a difference anyway. For anyone who isn't aware, CP (cerebal palsy) is a broad term for the inability for the brain to properly talk to the muscles. There are several types of CP and they all range from mild to severe.

We are headed to VA tomorrow and will be visting with our ABM therapist. I have mentally commited to two more trips and will reevaluate the therapy after that. Please pray with me that we will be able to see differences in Liam after doing the 9 therapies this weekend. I have wondered if Liam is too young to benefit from it but since he is now pushing up off the floor I am hoping we can help him make some new muscle/brain connections and get him on a learning curve!