Praise item AND prayer request

Two things to address today:

One being that today was our appointment with the allergy specialist. They could not believe how BEAUTIFUL Ethan looks! That's right, his skin is the most clear it has ever been! Granted he had a little flare up when we brought some dairy into the house but two days of discomfort is a far cry from the months of pain the poor kid knew!

He is now over twenty-four pounds and I forget how many inches long... way to go motherhood brain... but at least he is in the fiftieth percentile! :) We tested him for a few more things NONE of which came back positive! Granted, he has only been off his hydroxizine (sp?) or rather, antihistamine for three days (supposed to be five for more accurate allergy results). So beet greens, here we come! And seal oil as a source of omega three!!! FINALLY a non-allergen source of omega-3!! Chia seed also came back negative... I know, I know... you're probably looking at the computer screen going "wha?? beet greens? Chia seed? What the heck is chia seed?" We get the very funny looks when we bring in our own "stuff" for allergy testing. You can tell they are holding back the question: "are you serious?"

But give me all the coo-coo looks ya want... we found a source of omega-3! PRAISE GOD! So there you have it. Ethan is nothing short of a walking miracle... an answer to prayer... YOUR prayers! Ok, OUR prayers! Together we united our heart's intention of healing and LOVE for this little boy, and he is doing the best EVER.

Have I mentioned that he is sleeping through the night????? Cue the hallelujah chorus...

Which leads me to my new prayer request. Last week, we brought yogurt back into our home and Anika has been DELIGHTED to have her beloved dairy again. Duane and I had noticed a significant change in her behaviour last year when we removed dairy and gluten from our diets. She stopped getting bladder infections, any behavioural concerns (which were quite minimal) just about ceased altogether, her BM's were finally normal (and there is the poo entry of the day... wait, that is terrible phrasing... there is the poo COMMENT of the day). We have noticed setbacks with any gatherings where she has had dairy and gluten. It's like a whole other Anika for a few days... not fun.

I figured yogurt would be the least harmful of all dairy products... the stuff is half digested already for crying out loud! A couple of days ago, she started doing the sign for "sick" and she said "mommy, I getting sick." I just comforted her and really didn't do anything about it thinking this was just a comment for the sake of conversation. Then a couple of days ago, she passed something in her stool (yes, I am seriously going there right now... for those with weak stomachs skip to the next paragraph...)

Got ya...

Seriously, skip this paragraph if you've got a weak stomach... Ok, she passed something in her stool that seriously looked like intestinal lining. You know that thin wrapper/lining they have on sausages? )Yes, I will have ruined all future sausage-eating moments for you from now on). Well, it looked like that! I called Duane quite concerned but Anika was not bothered by it and Duane didn't seem to think it was a big deal so I felt like I was overreacting.

Welcome back, those of you who were wise and skipped the previous paragraph and can therefore still enjoy sausage. Yesterday, it was very evident that something was not right with her. Sure enough, by bedtime, she was burning up. She didn't sleep all night and Duane and I had to take two hour shifts of lying down in her bed with her. Her stomach was making the same strange gurgling/churning/twisting sounds they would make when she was on the verge of a bladder infection. She swallows lots of air in those moments for some strange reason which just compounds the issue. She told me her stomach and back were hurting. But by this morning, she seemed much better. Still not herself, but much better. Tonight, she is still waking up crying out loud for me. She is in pain but I don't know WHAT is going on.

Is it the gluten she's had? Could she be celiac? My celiac friends out there, can you describe the pains of an attack? Could it be the dairy? She always behaved very strangely if ever we gave her probiotics... could she have an issue with certain bacteria? Or does she have a structural renal issue? There is some renal health history concerns on Duane's side... should we be looking into this?

Or is it just the flu?

Either way, it sucks. I am going off of four hours of sleep in two days and I have no clue how to fix Anika's health issue because I do not know what it is exactly.

So considering the power of your prayers, if I may be so selfish as to ask that you pray for Anika's body to heal and rectify whatever issue has arisen, that would be fantastic. And if we can be made AWARE of what it is so as to make sure it doesn't happen again, that would also be super duper awesome.

Therefore, praise God for the health that we each know, for the healing we have all experienced, the gift of breath, of rest and of hope. For loved ones who look out for us and wish us well and for the goodness of wholesome living. Here's praying that you all have your fair share of all that good stuff! God bless you.