Well...where do I start? We have a LOT to talk about. I think I'll touch on a few things tonight, and over the next couple days I will post about specific things we've done these past few months.
First of all, I'll share the latest with Hadley. She's had a rough past 3 months. I can't remember if I've posted about this, but Hadley was diagnosed with asthma several months ago. Her asthma is triggered by respiratory infections - like a virus - and can progress quite fast into a situation where she has very labored breathing. We have a nebulizer that we give her albuterol through. Well, over the past couple months it just seemed like she was constantly on the albuterol. So, with our pediatrician's advice, we decided to start Hadley on a preventative daily steroid (Pulmicort) to help stabilize her susceptibility to asthmatic events. We made this decision because cold & flu season was barely even beginning and Hadley was constantly suffering. In fact, Hadley was the same weight at both her 12- and 15-months appointments - - only 17 lbs, 5 oz. That caused her to actually slip off of the growth charts and place her in the negative three percentile. Our doctor wasn't too concerned because children often plateau when they've been ill, and later their growth will spike to catch up. What also led to this was a 2 week GI bug that was intermixed with the asthma. So, 2 weeks ago she went downhill again. Unfortunately the preventative steroid didn't help too much because Hadley once again started to cough, which indicated her asthma was triggered, and within a couple days she became super tired and had rapid, shallow breaths. We ruled out pneumonia with a chest x-ray, and since the albuterol wasn't helping, the doctor placed her on an oral steroid, Prednisone. Thankfully, it worked, and after one week she is back to her old self! She is playful, happy, and NOT coughing!! Praise the Lord! Thank you to everyone who lifted up Hadley in prayer. I believe God can heal her 100% of the asthma, and we won't stop praying for this. Our doctor has now increased the dosage of Hadley's daily preventative medication, so we'll take it a day at a time. Oh, and did I mention that a couple weeks ago we were at HEB and I look down to see her hands completely swollen, and red with white spots? Turns out she had some type of a contact allergic reaction. Is there anything else this little girl has to endure?! It's been a roller coaster!
So...that was a lot to read! Here's what else is going on in Hadley's world:
1. She is getting super good at attempting to repeat words we tell her. Eli's favorite thing is to follow her around saying, "Hadley, can you say 'tree'? Hadley, can you say 'horse'? Hadley, can you say 'cup'?" You get the picture!
2. When you ask her a question and her answer is yes, she replies by opening her mouth really wide and loudly whispering, "Yeaaah"
3. She has definitely added the word "no" to her vocabulary, which is accompanied by the shaking of her little head. (But she is so darn cute it's hard not to laugh!)
4. She is the cutest little peanut...She still doesn't fully fill out a size 4 shoe and wears size 6-12 months in BabyGap!
5. She has 12 teeth.
6. Although she is definitely more strong willed and spunky than Eli was at her age, she is following in her big brother's footsteps when it comes to having a tender heart. Today, for example, Eli was crying about something and she got a concerned look on her face and walked right over to him with her arms stretched open wide for a hug. Seeing them hug is my favorite thing.
7. She loves to be swung around by her Daddy.
8. She loves to pretend to write and color. Any pen, pencil, or crayon can become her favorite toy. She also loves to imitate her mama by tapping her little fingers on my keyboard.
9. She is getting better at doing her breathing treatments. It's so funny to see her hold up the mask to her face and just sit there while I read a book to her. Big brother Eli likes to help with this too.10. Her giggle will melt your heart.
Well, I think I'd better get to bed...more to come tomorrow!
8 comments:
Ashley, I am so sorry to hear what little Hadley has been through over the last few months. I hope that she continues to get better; we will definitely keep her and your family in our thoughts and prayers. She is so stinkin cute!
i hate hearing all of that!!
but i'm so glad she's getting better.
and i am so glad that big brother is so sweet to her.
you should be so proud!
they are precious.
Sorry to hear about Hadley. We can sympathize with you. Claire has asthma too. She coughed all of the time, so much that she would break the cappilaries around her eyes. We had many sleepless nights because when she would lay down she couldn't breath. Have you had her checked with an allergist? We took Claire and found out that even though it would get much worse with colds, it was actually mold induced. She has been on Flonase at night and 1 puff of Flovent (inhaled steroid) in the AM and it has practically cured her. If we miss a day of Flonase we are in for it. Anyway, I'm just rambling. She is so cute and it will get better soon. We should get together soon.
Oh sweet Hadley; I just hate that y'all are going through that but know you will make the right decisions for her.
I can't believe Hadley has been through so much. We will pray for healing of her asthma. She is so precious and sweet.
Poor little Hadley. =( we have a nebulizer for Jaeden too. She had bronchiolitis 3 times and pnemonia once last year. It's so hard to watch your baby suffer. We're believing that Hadlet is healed and whole in Jesus name! Love you guys!
We will definitely be praying for Miss Hadley.
So sorry to hear about Hadley. Poor baby girl. I'm glad she is getting better and will keep her in my prayers. Her and Eli are so sweet...
Glad you are back to blogging! We have missed you. :)
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