Birthday party

Thanks so much to everyone who came to Ben's birthday party! He had lots of fun!

Blowing out the candles:


Dig in:


Presents:


More presents:


What was left of the cake:

Ben is 2 today!

Today is Ben's birthday...he's 2! We were going to have his birthday party yesterday but because both boys were still a little under the weather, we decided to postpone it until next weekend.

Here he is blowing out the candle:



Enjoying the frosting:


Really enjoying the frosting:


He has been so excited for his birthday. He can't say "th", so instead of birthday, he says "burpday". He's so precious.




Ben was a scheduled C-section...thank God. He weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. He was born at 8:07 a.m. on March 16, 2007. I was nervous even though I had been through it all before with Danny and rightly so...my OB was literally pushing on my chest to get him out because he was so big. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him. He had a full head of blonde hair and he was so round and pink. Danny was so skinny when he was born and he was jaundiced, so he wasn't that gorgeous pink color.

Almost immediately, Ben started showing signs of reflux. The second night in the hospital, he started gagging, choking and turning blue. Kevin and I were constantly grabbing him and helping him breathe. I had to ask the nurses to watch him that night because I couldn't sleep at all. Honestly, every hour or so, he would gag and choke.

He also growled like a little bear. All night long when he was put down on his back, he was trying to clear his little throat. When the breastfeeding really got underway, he started spitting up...a lot...every feeding. Projectile and out his nose.

He had an upper GI which showed reflux and a hiatal hernia. Somehow, through all of that, we nursed for 10 months or so and by then, the reflux had settled down a lot. Now, he doesn't show any signs of having trouble with it, but I do think he has some food allergies which may have contributed to the early reflux.

He is an angel and I can't help myself from smiling at him all the time. I am so thankful to have such a sweetheart for a son...I can't wait to see how his life will turn out.

Baby girl

We had an ultrasound earlier this week (in the midst of Ben's hospital stay--I don't even want to rehash that awful ordeal).

Here are some pictures of our little girl:


Profile:


Foot:


Hi, Mom!


We are just absolutely thrilled to be having a little girl! Please pray for a healthy baby!

Guessing Game

Having a baby and trying to figure all of its needs is SOOOO hard. Especially before he/she can carry on a conversation with you. Even then it can sometimes be a guessing game.

I have suspected for a long time that Ben has some allergies to something he is eating/drinking. We are going to start seeing a pediatric allergist. I think he's allergic to milk/dairy. I thought he might be sensitive to milk while I was nursing him...so much so that I wrote it in his baby book over a year ago. Things that I have read about dairy allergies really seem to apply to Ben. I read a checklist of eight symptoms yesterday and Ben has six of them. The ones that really stood out are: abnormally red cheeks, bouts of constipation/diarrhea and constantly clears throat. Those of you who have seen Ben a lot or who have seen pictures have no doubt noticed his bright red cheeks. He goes through times of constipation followed almost immediately by diarrhea and vice versa. He has always (from day one) cleared his throat...he used to sound like a little bear growling.

A couple of other things I read said that kids with dairy allergies love and crave dairy almost like an addiction. This is definitely the case with Ben. He asks for milk a thousand times a day. If he sees me take a piece of cheese out of the refrigerator, he runs around excitedly screaming, "Cheese...yay"! And, when I give him even one piece of cheese, honest to God, he becomes constipated despite all the wonderful fruits and vegetables he eats.

I also suspect peanuts and peanut butter. His cheeks have cleared up considerably since I stopped giving him peanut butter a few weeks ago. Originally I was annoyed by the peanut butter scare, but now I see it as a blessing.

I think these allergies are what make him susceptible to so many colds, infections, and viruses. What I read said that immune systems are weakened when the body is fighting off allergies.

I am praying that we will figure this out. Ben is such an angel...I can't bear to have him suffer with this stuff anymore. I have just been thinking that as he grew up a little he would grow out of some of these problems he has, but it's just not happening.

I was relieved to find out that they do a scratch test, not shots or pin pricks for dairy. I will keep everyone posted after we have the allergy testing done. Please pray for Ben.