The Silver Lining

Starting at midnight Tristan was up multiple times last night. No fever, no runny nose, but with his extremely sensitive gag reflex he threw up three times from all of the rolling around in bed. Mom and Dad got next to no sleep and the final wake up call was at 5:00 a.m. Tired and frustrated with his gagging I think I said, "Tristan, please stop!" about 6-7 times as I watched him gag and heave. In case you think I am an insensitive ogre of a mother overlooking that her son might be ill, I assure you this is an every morning occurrence; just not normally at such an early hour in the morning.


We got Tristan up and he was being a "Scooter Brown" (a phrase from his late Great Granny). Nothing made him happy and all he did was lay on our loft floor complaining in the gibberish tone that only a 16 month old can do. Gene had to head to church to prepare for the worship services. Desperate for a change in attitude, I decided to take Tristan for his wagon ride around our subdivision. A stroll around the neighborhood is one of Tristan's favorite activities. As a matter of fact he goes from a  child who is upset, crying and moody into an absolute silent child when in the wagon. He sits there quietly, looking around and takes in everything on our little walks. Truthfully, I was not too excited to go on this walk. My bed was calling my name and the soft pillows were singing me a lullaby.


But then I saw the sunrise...and as we were strolling through my neighborhood, even Tristan seemed to noticed the orange glow in the sky. My first sunrise with Tristan. A year ago we were sitting in the Cardiac ICU awaiting the count down to the second open heart surgery. Back then I could have never imagined having the ability to put Tristan in a wagon without EKG leads, IV pumps, and O2 taped to his face. Everything got put back into perspective. My annoyance with the 5 a.m. rising melted into appreciation and gratefulness.  God saw all three of us through last year's ups and downs and gave me this morning.


Psalm 118:24  This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.




And incase you are wondering......It's 9:30 a.m. and Tristan is now sound asleep.

Napper Time!

I am convinced the world would be a better place if everyone got a 2 hour siesta every day. Less tempers flaring, less road rage, a little more kindness, and a lot more patience.  My mother can contest that I was a child who decided naps were not needed at an entirely too young of an age.....I think I was around 2 years old. Luckily, Tristan has not followed in my footsteps----yet.  Now I wish someone would make me take a nap. There would be no twisting of these arms I assure you. Every Sunday afternoon I practically beg Tristan to take a nap that lasts longer than one hour. So if you get a chance to take a nap---take one for me. I could use one.

The weight is on!

17 lbs and 14 oz. That's what the scale showed on Friday when we took Tristan to the GI doc.  Pediasure 1.5 appears to be doing the trick---almost a little too well, might I add. In six weeks, Tristan gained over 2 pounds. Sound fantastic, but as always the cardiac issue always creeps up in our minds. Is the weight gain real weight? Or is it edema (water weight) from the decrease in Lasix? After our last Cardiology appointment on August 10, he went from 6mg of Lasix twice a day to 7mg only once a day. That is a big difference! The fear is that the extra fluid could make it difficult on Tristan's heart. Luckily, we don't see any puffiness in his eyes, hands, or feet so we don't think it's water weight. Truly beautiful words after a complete stand still from 9-12 months of age: WEIGHT GAIN.

Unfortunately, since Speech Therapy has ceased....we are sort of on our own until Tristan gets into the Feeding Disorder Program at Bethesda Hospital in Boynton Beach. We've been told it can take a long time to get in...lovely. On a brighter note, Tristan is back to sitting in his high chair and eating approx. 4 oz of level 2 (pureed) food. For a while he was even refusing that. Sometimes I wish I hated to eat food as much as Tristan does.....