We recently called Dr. O to ask how much longer we needed to give Asher this horrendous iron supplement... you know, the one that tastes like blood and pennies?! He's been on it for almost a year now. She put him on it initially because he was pretty anemic. Several months ago I asked how much longer we had to do it, so she said he needed another blood draw to test hemoglobin as well as iron stores. This time his hemoglobin was higher and in the "low normal" range, but the stores were almost entirely depleted. They were at 4 on a range of 100 or something. She said normal would be between 10-100 (which seems weird) so his was obviously very low. Soooo, we kept him on the nasty iron drops for several more months. W e recently talked about it saying there can't be anyway he's STILL low on iron stores after all of this, so we called and asked her what she thought about stopping. Dr. O said it was probably fine to wean him off of it slowly, so we started to. She also said that she would like to have his blood drawn AGAIN to make sure the stores were at a higher level. You can imagine how a toddler reacts to having several tubes of blood take from his arm. We take him to a great hospital with a children's wing where the lab techs are fantastic and FAST at doing draws on little ones. They've done it a million times. It doesn't make him scream and thrash any less, and it's still very traumatic for him emotionally, so as you can imagine we are hesitant to keep doing this unless we really really have to. We recently received the results for the most recent draw... His hemoglobin (iron) is higher now and right in the middle of the "normal" range. However, his iron stores (what his body draws off of/ stores up) are still very very low. They are slightly elevated, so there is a little improvement as they are a little higher. They are still considered low, so it's recommended to keep him on the blood and penny serum even longer. It's so so awful. We mix it with strongly flavored all natural fruit/veggie juice, but nothing can mask this nastiness. He's so used to it, he happily takes it every morning without flinching while watching a "Super Simple Learning" 2 minute video. Poor little Asher :( We are actually concerned that there is a major absorption problem that is keeping his iron stores so low. Nothing else makes sense. He's getting 150% of the recommended daily allowance through the supplement drops alone. We're STILL giving him highly iron fortified oatmeal daily. He has green veggies and beans daily. He has meat twice a day, every day. He should be getting far more than enough iron, so we fear there is a reason why his body is absorbing it. Everything I've read about food allergies and intolerances suggest that severe food intolerances can lead to serious and otherwise unexplained anemia. He was dealing with a major intolerance to dairy for the first 7 months of life before we figured it out, so I'm sure that aided in the depletion of iron (when you are ingesting a food you are intolerant of, your body is not able to breakdown the other foods properly and absorb the essential nutrients). We also recently just figured out the corn intolerance too, so that could have been a problem leading to anemia as well. Poor buddy... we were SO looking forward to stopping the drops. We'll be speaking to the doctor at his 2 year appointment regarding the reason for the possible malabsorption.
We scheduled a session with a photographer for Asher's 2-year pictures! It's insane he's this old. Don't get me wrong, we are loving him more than ever, but time just really flies. I'm planning a very very small family party for him, Sesame Street themed, of course. He's definitely turned into such a little man! We can't get enough of him and laugh hysterically at him EVERY single day. Last night at dinner, we were eating chili (yes, when it was literally 100 degrees out). He typically loves chili and it's one of the only things that we can all eat together, but he wasn't in the mood to eat because he's getting more teeth and his mouth was hurting. I give him crackers with his chili but only 1 or 2 because otherwise he'll just eat crackers. I gave him one, then put some on my chili. He asked for more crackers and I told him he already had one (IN HIS HAND!), and he FLIPPED out. Kicking. Screaming. Wailing. "WANT CRACKERS! WANT THEM! MORE CRACKERS! PWEEEEEASE" I told him again that I had JUST given him one that he threw in his tantrum and it was right in front of his face on his tray... more whining. More crying. Then he said through whining and tears, "I LOVE crackers!!!!" (boo hoo boo hoo hoo) "I LOOOOOVE crackers!" hahahahaha! Ross and I were dying laughing and trying to keep our composure so as to maintain the illusion of control. I mean, this little guy is FULL of fire, man. He's so so so passionate and dramatic about life... and about crackers! How can you not love that?! I wonder where on earth he gets this passion and determination from ;)
Our trip back to the Chicago suburbs is turning into just a day trip, just for me. Long story. Also, please, before you judge us for not taking many trips with Asher, think about what a trip for us has to be like. A trip with any "normal", healthy toddler is a challenge. Sure, there are kids who sit like zombies and tolerate long car trips, but Asher is NOT one of them, nor has he ever been. Aside from the obvious toddler challenges, tantrums, ruining naps (for a kid who desperately needs a schedule), messing with bedtime, being in unclean and unsafe environments, etc, please consider what it might be like to travel with a little one who has such intense food allergies/issues. Planning is my middle name, and it has to be for his survival for him. Just for a day trip to the zoo or something, we have to plan ahead for all meals/snacks/drinks for him, because due to all of his food allergies/intolerances, he literally can't ever eat food that is not prepared by me, in my home. We can't be out and order food for him... anywhere. Ever. There is hidden corn and dairy in EVERYTHING, particularly prepared food at restaurants, so it's not so easy to just avoid cheese or corn on the cob and hope for the best. I recently found the only hotdogs on the planet that don't have hidden dairy in them (all hotdogs have lactic acid which is derived from dairy 99.9% of the time). These hotdogs are Kosher so they can't contain dairy, and they are the only hotdog Asher can eat (I've tried at least 5 kinds). When he would eat the other hotdogs, he wouldn't sleep, would cry all night, and scream the next day because they hurt his gut... Just from lactic acid derived from dairy. That's how sensitive he is to dairy, and it's the same with corn. When you add in the crazy/dangerous strawberry allergy (meaning he can never ingest fruit or something from anywhere where strawberries may have been cut), it's literally impossible for me to order food out for him. This means I have to think ahead and prepare from scratch food for him (which I've been doing his entire life), but also that when we are out and about or traveling, I have to do this too, meaning we need to have access to refrigeration and a microwave for most meals. It's possible, yes, but a HUGE undertaking for sure, so please don't judge us and compare us to others with toddlers, as it's just not the same. I know very few people actually "get" exactly what this means, and I understand you can't possibly conceive of it if you haven't been through it, but I guess I'm just asking for respect and understanding that we are doing the best we possibly can, and we know what's best for Asher.
Aside from all of this, there is very little to report. Asher is doing well. For now at least, he's healthy and very happy and SO full of life. What a sweet blessing he's been to us!
Oh, a side note about living in good old Indiana... Fireworks are legal here. Like the huge professional ones that nobody has any business handling, but, you know... professionals. Hoosiers LOOOOOVE their fireworks. Our town passed a new ordinance banning fireworks during the year, and only allowing them in the week before/after the 4th of July. At first we thought this was great because then our baby wouldn't be randomly awoken on various occasions because somebody was having a party. This actually meant, though, that from the day they were permitted until the day they were no longer OK to use, people (and when I say this I mean CLOSE neighbors) shot them off ALL freaking night, EVERY night before and after the 4th. It went on for hours some nights, building up to the holiday. These were gigantic professional grade explosives that I would pay to otherwise see... quite impressive, actually, but when they are just down the street, they shake your house and make your windows and glasses rattle, and wake up your sleeping child! Since we are on Eastern time, it doesn't get dark here until at least 10pm. Asher surprisingly slept through a huge portion of the various shows each night which astonished me because they were enormous and very close to our house (there were even closer to my sister's house, just a few houses away, so her children weren't so lucky as Asher to sleep through most of them). Crazy Hoosiers.
Look at these curls!
Getting our underground storm shelter installed beneath the garage! VERY exciting :)
Handsome haircut :)
4th of July with his cousins!
He loved having Grandpa and Gigi stay for the weekend!
His sweet "anniganor" hat from Gigi :)
Post blood draw :(
Sweeping with his new broom!
This was from inside my dining room... pretty good view!
Asher's glow worm plays the tune to "Hush little baby"... I sometimes sing it to him along with the worm playing during diaper changes. This is his own rendition :)
