No More Vaccinations.....

at least for a while. Maddox had his DTaP today and had a pretty bad allergic reaction to it. Thankfully I had an appt scheduled for myself right after his shot, so we were at the Dr.'s office when the reaction started.

About 5-10 minutes after his shot, Maddox started coughing, sneezing and blowing his nose. And I mean really sneezing. Sneeze after sneeze after sneeze. The nurse and I were'nt sure if it was a reaction at first or not, or if there was something in the air (a lot of construction is going on around the clinic), but then his little face and ears turned bright red and the coughing got worse and so did the sneezing. She got the Dr. and he listened to his heart and lungs and felt Maddox wasn't going into anaphalatic shock, but was definitely having a reaction. We gave him Benadryl. And the Dr had the nurse get the nebulizer and epinephrine ready..just in case.

Then, he got redder and redder and started getting a couple hives on his stomach, and hives all around the injection site. He was scratching everywhere and his whole body was turning red and blotchy. The Dr. came back in and we gave him another dose of Benadryl, but his heart and lungs still sounded good (thankfully). By this point, Maddox is inconsolable and getting hard to hold. He is screaming and crying and thrashing and that went on for over 30 minutes. The Benadryl must have started kicking in then, because he started calming down, however his body was still red and becoming covered in hives and was puffy. (the picture at the top is if Maddox when he was starting to feel a lot better and when the reddness was going away. I think you can still see some of the reddness. He seriously looked like a tomato, or at the very least like someone with a severe sunburn...he was redder than that little cup on his highchair tray)

The Dr and nurse kept coming in and checking in on us, and we ended up staying about 2 hours. Our Dr called the allergist who said the worst of the reaction would have happened by then, so it was safe to go home.

So, i took our little red, blotchy boy home. I called the allergist to ask how long we could expect Maddox to be all red and congested and they said probably 1-2 days, but couldn't guarantee anything. Then they prescribed prednisone to help with the reaction. When we were at home, his little lips had a bluish tinge to them and the allergist said that was due to swelling around the mouth. His little fingers and toes had a bit of bluish tinge as well.

Maddox then ate a little bit and fell asleep in my arms and as soon as he fell asleep, the reddness, blotchiness, and hives all went away. It was amazing. My mom came over and stayed with him as I went to pick up the prescription.

He did well the rest of the day, but this evening he started sounding congested again, so I gave him more Benadryl. I am hoping not to have to give him the steroid, but if he is congested tomorrow or red or hivey, I will.

All in all, too much of an exciting day for me. I was so scared. I have never seen him so red or uncomfortable and the fact that Benadryl didn't help right away really scared me. I am soooo thankful I had an appt for myself right after, or the reaction would have hit in the van on the ride home. I really didn't think he would react to this vaccine. I had him tested for Prevnar earlier this month, and it was negative and he had 2 half doses of Prevnar and did fine. Both the DTaP and the Prevnar had casamino something or other in them and that was the concerning ingredient, but because he did so well with the Prevnar, the allergist felt he would be fine with the DTaP, and I thought that as well.

When we do start up the vaccines again (and who knows when that will be) I think I will have him tested for every single one of them and have them given in half doses. Maybe that was the difference between the Prevnar and DTap. Who knows.

Our nurse and Dr were so nice and wonderful though. My appt was one that was squeezed in, in the first place and so was Maddox's. But the Dr came into our room between every patient and listened to Maddox's heart and lungs and our nurse was in about every 10 minutes checking in on us. When I made my appt, the scheduler had said "this will be a quick appt, I am squeezing you in, the Dr is full for the day"..haha...make that a 2 hour appt.

So, I canceled working tomorrow, so I could be home with Maddox because he will probably be reacting tomorrow. Man, sometimes these allergies suck. I really hope he outgrows this sensitivity someday soon. I struggle because I just want to keep him safe all the time, and I just can't. I really researched this vaccination, went to the professionals, changed his vaccination schedule, and he still had a really bad reaction. It's frustrating.

But I suppose the point in parenting isn't keeping my children safe from everything...I really can't, but trusting God with Maddox and Mason and trusting He will get us through whatever we go through is what I need to do. And He did today. And everything ended up being OK and Maddox was not seriously harmed and we were surrounded by medical professionals with all the necessary equipment to help Maddox. Still, I really wish Maddox would outgrow these allergies soon.

Rummage Sales and Lessons

see all the squirrels sitting around the cage eating our birdseed?
Mason dragged this over to stand on to fill the birdfeeder for the birds. It was very sweet to watch.

Our little friend the skunk. He was pretty friendly

This is where he loves to have his snack. The computer and globe have to be on the talble for him to eat.
He put this crown on and made sure it was over his eyes and began trying to whack balls with the club.

I love when God teaches a lesson and blesses me all at the same time and the whole process happens almost immediately (usually it is a "many years process").

Today I went to a rummage sale with the boys. (I really just need to accept the fact that little Maddox is not wired for rummage sales.) I found this great one with a lot of clothes in Mason's size and I was sooo excited because his size is hard to find at sales. Well, Maddox was just having a hard time and we ended up leaving (after I bought a Land's End sweatshirt in new condition for .50 for Mason). I ended up carrying our screaming, kicking, shrieking child almost upside down because he stiffened up his little body and raised his arms above his head as straight as he could so I had nothing to grab onto. He was angry!! And everyone knew it. The best part was that he was screaming "ooowww!!!!!!!"

Well, I got all crabby and was griping to myself about the whole thing; how I missed out on great deals, how are we going to afford a bunch of clothes for Mason, and blah, blah, blah.

Then, I just felt like God said "I've got it covered", and I was able to just give it to him, and trust that he would get clothes for Mason and we would be all right.

Craig got home from work at 3:15, and I knew the rummage sale went until 4:00 and it wasn't too far from our house, so Mason and I went back to the sale. They were starting to close up and told me to take whatever I wanted for free!!! I couldn't believe it! We were able to get quite a bit of clothes for Mason, including 3 pairs of jeans..which is just a miracle to find used jeans in his size in good condition...and the rest of the clothes were in like new condition as well.

Sooo, if I hadn't had to leave, I would have had to pay for the clothes, and I probably wouldn't have been able to get as many. I love that!

Finances are always so hard for me. Especially in these times. I really stress out about money and how much is in the account and bills, and I just wish I didn't. I love how God can use a measley rummage sale to help me learn how to trust Him in this area.

But wait! There's more!

(the pictures have nothing to do with the post, just thought I should have some pictures, and I just love these two guys!)

for those of you who have been on FB following our adventures of the week

We went to the Dr today for my nagging cough to get some new antibiotics. When we got home, we still hadn't heard from the telephone company, and we still didn't have phone service. I called the phone company and as they were looking into it, there was a knock at the door. It was the telephone repairman! Hooray!!! (thankfully we had got home when we did. And the only reason we were home at that time, was because Maddox was having a terrible time at the rummage sales..but I digress)

Well, I was not expecting anyone, and we had a late start in the morning and had to blow out of here soon after waking up...so my house was a disaster. And I mean true disaster. Last night Maddox had tossed all his Cheerios, raisins, and Puffs all over the floor, and I was too tired to care and sweep them up, the kitchen was full of crumbs on the floor and counters, our garbage can was overflowing to the point of garbage spilling onto the floor.

We had bins and junk all over the house. There wasn't a space left empty. Toys were strewn all over, there was a dirty diaper on the floor (leftover from this a.m.), clothes for Mason to try on were piled around the living room, Maddox was running around in just a shirt and diaper eating and spilling cheerios and Puffs all over and Mason was wearing shorts that are waaaay to small for him, but he just wanted to wear them for one last time.

SO, I let this man into the house and he has to walk through all this carnage because he came to the Kitchen door. And as I show him to the basement door, I hear the crunching sound of cheerios and puffs under our feet. He navigated his way down our basement stairs (that were full of stuff, seriously, there is a teeny little path down the stairs).

He asked me if I could turn the light on where he needed to work, but I had to tell him that the light doesn't work there.

When he was done down there, he needed to see all of our phone jacks. Well, one of them is in the toy room. The floor is littered with toy cars and other small items, so he had to slowly and carefully make his way into and out of that room. Then he needed to see the jack in our bedroom. Fabulous!!! Yesterday I had emptied out the clean clothes baskets onto our bed so I could use the baskets. All of those clothes had been carefully kicked to the floor last night. Lots of undergarments were in those baskets, most of them mine, lying all over the floor for him to step over.

I led him through the maze of bins and toys and clothes in our living room, hurdled the baby gate at the foot of the stairs and, and took him upstairs. I was dying inside. When we got to the bedroom, I remembered I had brought a box of cookies up there last night after cleaning for some quiet time alone and then I saw a moldy cup of tea from a few nights ago. Books were strewn all over the floor and I could barely walk through the room.

Our phone jack is a piece of work in that room. It is on this looooong wire not attatched to anything. We just shove it behind the bed and we really don't use it. So I pull this monstrosity out and he just looked at me wierd. I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders and told him that if I had known he was coming I would have picked up a bit.

Then we headed downstairs to the phone jack in the living room. I told him "Just one more obstacle course to get to the jack" and then I couldn't find it behind all the junk. When I finally found it, he said.."Maybe you could plug it in for me" (he needed to plug in his phone jack tester thingy-majingy).

Then he said all was working fine and got the heck out of there. I didn't even get a slip of paper or anything. All I heard was the crunching of Cheerios under his feet as he fled the scene...I mean left our house.

Yes, that was quite fun. But our phone is working again, and that is the main thing. I was really embarassed though, so it was a good experience for me to go through. I was able to let go of what he thought of me and just rest in what God thinks of me and leave it at that. God knows what kind of day it was yesterday and what kind of morning we had today, and understands, and just really doesn't judge me by how clean my house is. And that is all I need to know. Seriously, when the creator of the whole entire universe loves me unconditionally and cherishes me, why should I worry about what some stranger may think of me because of a messy house? God is good!

We had some negatives!!

Negatives for allergies that is!! Maddox tested negative for soy, wheat (Oh thank you God for that one!! Thank you!!!!) and for his Prevnar vaccination.

We have NEVER had so many negatives...ever...at a visit!! It was glorious!!!! Maddox had a 1/2 dose of the Prevnar, and didn't have any reactions! Glory Day!!

And I was soooo thankful for the wheat. I was actually very nervous about testing him for that one, because I was afraid it was going to be positive....but it wasn't!!!!! I was able to give all this over to God shortly before we left, but I just couldn't before that for some reason, and I don't understand why. He continually shows me He can handle anything and everything and that He is walking with me through all of life, and yet I still struggle with it. I guess I am a slow learner. Good thing He is patient!!

Ok, my font obviously changed and I can't change it back. What is up with that?

Well, I am about to take some Robitussin with Codeine (however you spell it) and will hopefully sleep tonight. Just wanted to share the great news!!

This is the day Mason rode his bike without training wheels for the 1st time

I just love this picture of Mason. He is waiting for candy to be thrown at the 4th of July parade
His hat is waaay to big, but he loves to wear it, and I have always loved his profile. He has such an apple face.
Smelling his toes!

Looks like a little convict :) ButI don't think any bars could hold this little guy.

Where has the time gone?

Wow! I didn't blog at all in July!


Before I start getting caught up, I need to thank everyone for the kind and encouraging words about the food allergies. I feel that way about the allergies about every few months or so, but it only lasts a day or two...thankfully.

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since then though. July was a blur. Fun, cold, and busy. We had 2 weeks off for vacation in the beginning of July, so that was nice. I don't even know really what to write. Think I will just post a few pictures, and then blog later on tonight. Mason and Craig are camping, so it's just me and the little guy and he is napping right now, and I feel like I should be napping too. First Big bubble he ever blew

Took out the drawer from our new rolling cart and sat in it.

Loves watching the birds, squirrels, chipmunk, neighbor's dog, and rain

Mason, Nanni, and Nic's fort

Drinking from a leaky hose