5 Months, 5 Months, 5 Months!

**** This was written on June 1, 2019.

To say this month was anything short of incredible is an understatement. I have seen God show up in ways I have never witnessed firsthand. The moment I found out Lowery was headed to our house, I got down on my knees and started praying for him. I didn't even know his name, what he looked like, if he was healthy, or his particular circumstances. I prayed for his physical, mental and emotional health and most of all his future in life and in our family. I knew very little about him but I did know our life was about to change.

While the transition from 2 to 3 children in our house was relatively easy, the amount of time Lowery has required is far beyond anything I expected. Lyndi and Lawson were and still are obsessed with him. They talk about future events with him and it melts my heart hearing them love and accept Lowery as their own sibling. I hope that the three Ls will continue to have a wonderful and loving relationship. But while the transition was easy, there were definitely challenges from the very beginning that presented early on with feeding being at the top of the list. I know I talked about this in previous monthly posts but I wanted to circle back around to it to show just how far he has come in just a short amount of time. Literally all we were doing was feeding around the clock at the very beginning. There were many times when just eating 2 ounces would literally take over an hour even up to 2 hours. We were constantly eating and not really working on anything else with the exception of sleeping. He was not meeting milestones as he should and we soon realized that we needed to get some additional help for him. While it took some time to get all the specialists and therapists lined up and on the same page, I am finally seeing it all pay off.  

As always we have had a ton of doctor and specialist appointments as well as therapy on top of therapy appointments. The biggest appointments came at the beginning of the month when we had Lowery’s 4 month pediatrician appointment and developmental specialist appointment in the same day. I was really nervous about these appointments because it would determine our next steps with the possibility of GTube still on the table due to feeding difficulties and/or a referral to neurologist due to cerebral palsy concerns. I was very nervous about these appointments and what it meant for Lowery's future. But in the back of my mind, I knew that we have made tremendous progress over the last month as we got settled into our weekly routine of therapy and other various appointments. Both the pediatrician and the developmental specialist agreed that Lowery had gained enough and maintained weight with the addition of reflux medication, increasing calories per ounce of formula, limiting feeding time to 30 minutes and changing his bottles to a cleft adaptive bottles so....... GTube is OFF the table!!!! For now. Praise God! He also blew his developmental milestone test out of the water. He was only behind in one area - fine motor skills and we are currently working on gaining the skills in this particular area. Lowery even scored ahead in several areas which was awesome to see. Prior we were behind in every single category - a miracle! I walked out of those appointments bursting with joy as I finally got to see the rewards of our hard work. 

This month we also successfully got rid of the dream feed and Lowery has been sleeping 12 hours through the night. I firmly believe that he would have done this several weeks ago but the need to feed him missed ounces during the day to ensure he was getting enough to gain weight (to avoid GTube) outweighed his need for sleep. The pediatrician set a goal of trying to eliminate it by 5 months and we met that goal which was amazing. Selfishly it is so nice to not have to worry about feeding him one more time before we go to bed and for Lowery, his brain will get the required sleep it needs to continue to heal itself from what he was exposed to in utero. Lowery also learned to roll over from tummy to back several times this month which is so fun to see. We are still concerned about the possibility of cerebral palsy but as he continues to meet milestones, that risk decreases. Each specialist we have seen has indicated that if Lowery does have it, it is a very mild case. We are still wearing the helmet and now I can see a huge difference in the shape of his head. I think we will be in it for a few more months and then we will be free of that smelly thing!

We have been working on sitting at the table in his chair to strengthen core and also to get ready for solids. Both his pediatrician and developmental specialist wanted to wait to introduce solids and reevaluate at his 6 month appointment. They want input from his speech therapist to make sure he is ready for the introduction to solids. We are going to discuss a safety plan for possible food allergies since he already has a milk protein allergy and we have very little family history regarding food allergies. I am not sure if we will given the go ahead to start solids at 6 months but we shall see. We are not allowed to use the Bumbo with him like we did with Lyndi and Lawson. According to his occupational therapist and physical therapist, it doesn't promote core strength which he is lacking so we are manipulating Lollie's chair to help him achieve that goal!

We had a very busy month with the end of school, graduations, celebrating birthdays, swimming, going to the lake. Lowery absolutely loves to swim and will ride around in his float. He likes to sleep when we take a boat ride. He loves to watch everyone around him and continues to light up the room with his squeals, smiles and giggles. Everyone that met him early on comments on his much he has changed and how he has really come into his own in the last month. We love Lowery Lyle so much and can't wait to see what the Lord continues to do in him. 

This month from Lowery's perspective....

Happy 5th Month Birthday to Me!

Lowery Likes To:
1. Roll over from tummy to back
2. Sleep 12 hours - yay no dream feed
3. Sit at the table during meals
4. Swim in his pink float

I knew I would prove everyone wrong:
I can hold my head up!

Happy 1st birthday Palmer!

Maybe next year I can eat one of those happy meals!?!?!
Right before I found out I can't sit in the Bumbo anymore.

Working on my fine motor skills!

Happy Mother's Day Mommy! 

Can't forget daddy!

Lyndi's PreK-4 Graduation

Memorial Day at the lake with my cousins!

I am obsessed with swimming!

Hanging out with Emmalynn!

Starting to push up on tummy time!

Sitting at the table for the first time, working on
getting better core strength!

LilyB with all her Ludwick babies!

Uncle Triple is the coolest!

Lyndi and Lawson love me so much!

Wait and see...
I am going to accomplish all of my goals and dreams!