Happy third birthday to a little miracle boy! We love you so much!

Since I last updated we've been through some really tough anniversaries. The one year mark of the day our lives were forever changed came and went. Unfortunately it wasn't the only one year mark. We had 2 long months of them. Sometimes we didn't think about them; other times we felt driven to find out what exactly it was we were doing a year ago. Sometimes we processed the memories; other times they were too big and they had to go back in the box. I'm still trying to figure out what is going to be the best way to get through all that junk in the box. Dig it all out really fast or pick one thing out at a time? If they would just stay in the box unless I invited them out they'd be fine in there. But sometimes they jump out and attack me. So something will have to be done sometime...

Here's one memory that I'd like to share, mostly because of how crazy it is when I think back on it. On Discharge from Rehab Day we loaded up our piles of belongings and turned our wheels toward home after a 2 month+ absence. Our first stop was the hospital cancer pharmacy to pick up 3 big bad meds - Ativan, methadone, and clonidine. I was used to these meds and didn't realize how bad they were until later. But it struck me as odd when the pharmacist asked me to answer a few questions on her little card reader. One of them was something like, "Do you need counseling from a pharmacist regarding your medication?" Counseling?? Yes I needed counseling but not from a pharmacist! We took our very sick little boy home that day (April 12) and I started the huge task of wading through when to give how much of which med. He was getting meds every 2-4 hours round the clock. Some of the meds were compounded differently for home than they were for the hospital, so the amounts were very confusing. I called back to rehab several times and even had a day when I accidentally way over drugged him. I felt terrible when I realized it! Thankfully it was just on the least scary drug, Ativan, and the only side effects were a very sleepy day. The other major problem we faced was that he kept desatting dangerously in deep sleep. But the Lord provided by sending me to Sunshine Trails our first full day home, where I met another sweet SN mom who allowed me to take off with her oxygen concentrator for about 2 weeks. That almost got us in trouble, but again the Lord provided in a special way. The concentrator got us through the first few nights until he improved enough to keep his sats up on his own. But the weaning process that first week was a huge mess. He had withdrawal symptoms that scared me and I didnt know who to turn to for help. So I called his family doctor, who we were scheduled to see in a few days anyway. I talked with a nurse and asked her to give his doctor a message. But when she heard the names of the meds he was on, there was a moment's stunned pause, then she said, "Can you hold for a minute?" Soon she came back on and said, "Can you bring him in this afternoon? The doctor wants to see him." That's when I really knew how big and bad these meds were, particularly methadone. But we kept working until, 2 months after discharge, he was completely weaned. Folks, it is only by the grace of God that I can say, this boy has been completely medication free from that day on! We have had challenge after challenge, most of which would cause a child to need medication. But God has been good! And his grace to us came in the form of natural remedies from doTERRA and a beautiful doTERRA family who has helped us through so many of those bumps! I am not lying when I say that God used doTERRA to keep all of us prescription free in the past year. Before we met doTERRA and Tevye, I was on a significant dose of an antidepressant, and we had discussed getting medication for Samuel as well. Now both of us have been through significant trauma and are still med free! The Lord knew we needed doTERRA and graciously provided. If anyone out there is picking up meds at a pharmacy, please know that there are alternatives and it is totally worth it! 

Tevye has had an incredible journey. On one hand it seems like a decade ago that his abrupt arrival changed our lives forever and threw us into a world we would never have chosen to enter. But when I reflect on his third birthday, I wonder how he could be 3 already, especially since he is not nearly there developmentally. His main areas of delay are speech and motor skills, with some dysfunction when it comes to eating. But there's good news! Yesterday was officially his last day of Early Intervention, since that service lasts only until he is 3. But in May we will start services with the BCIU, the program for 3-5. I was very unsure about this program as it requires the child to go to the IU and do therapy with a group. His history had me unsure if that was wise, especially since we did our best to keep him out of crowds this winter. I mentioned it at my rehab follow up and the doctor sent a letter to the IU stating that he is not medically able to be in crowds of children but should receive in home therapy because of his brain damage. That did the trick! We will be receiving 4 in home therapies biweekly, equaling to about an hour and a half per week. We are also doing Sunshine Trails again, which has been going very well so far this year! Last year we worked all summer just to get him on the horse. This time he rode without crying from the very first! 

Tevye is for the most part quite happy, although I'm guessing that we deal with more crying than most parents of children his age because of the frustration over communication. He loves trucks, diggers, books, his toy barn and animals, Tiger, banging on the piano, riding his little car outside, and playing with his cats. He loves bread, which inspired me to get a grain mill and learn how to make whole wheat sourdough bread because white bread of course stuffed him up. His favorite pastime is "helping" me in the kitchen. Some mornings he chooses eggs for breakfast. He pushes up a chair to the stove and instructs me in the fine art of egg frying. "Get pan. Buver in pan. Crack egg. Salt on egg. Pepper on egg. Get fipper. Fip egg. Chop egg. Get bowl. Daddy chair!" Yes, breakfast is always to be eaten in daddy's chair perched on a thick book. He also loves to stir and dump when I make granola or other food. He is still on a detox from Nutrition Wellness. He takes his supplements quite well in "Chocate milk", ripple milk with chocolate protein powder. 

I am happy to report that we did indeed accomplish a winter without a hospital stay! I used a lot of oils, we got 2 air purifiers, and we stayed home a lot. And our winter was basically illness free. I think one or more of us may have had a few sniffles a time or two, but no colds, flus, or viruses got us down! PTL! All told, our one year realities are pretty amazing. No medications, no more hospital stays, only a few delays. Truly the Lord's mercies are new every morning.