{monday mumbles}

• Brice had a GI follow-up on Friday --- it was rather boring (which is NICE!) --- until Brice takes his Nexium, twice daily, for 2-3 weeks, we cannot assume that his pain isn't GERD related. We has taken it as prescribed since Friday :) {in addition to his $45 ear drops - 4 drops in his left ear (the one with the tube), twice daily - I about died when I had to pay for those... we follow-up with his ENT next week}... yay for not having to fight him! He has also been saying he's hungry, asking for food and actually consuming it too! I feel like we are beginning to make some progress and I am thrilled :) 
• I took the boys to the Audubon Zoo for their FIRST TIME ever - I know, crazy, right? We live in NOLA and I've never taken them (whoopsie)! We went with Jenni & her sweet boys - all 4 boys had so much fun! We went to every exhibit and spent a total of 5.5 hours at the Zoo. I enjoyed spending time with Jenni and not being rushed. It was awesome catching up with her! {cell phone pics to come}
• Our weekend was pretty relaxed... and I really enjoyed it! Saturday, we had breakfast with the EASTER BUNNY at Bravo's. I have to say for what we really got our money's worth. It only cost $10.95/adult and $5.95/child. They served a buffet of french toast, stuffed french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes and fresh fruit (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and pineapple). The kids were given a bag filled with candy and a plastic egg. The egg contained a free ride on the Easter Train at Lakeside Mall and one free appetizer ($12.99 value) and one free kids meal ($5.99 value) at Bravo's. They set up a little area to take pictures with the Easter Bunny and while he wasn't busy doing that, he was going from table-to-table taking pictures and visiting. 
• As of Friday, Mr. Pierce's tooth, that was fixed on Thursday, was back to it's jagged, chipped-self. We go back to the dentist tomorrow...
• We're hosting EASTER at our house this year - I am excited! I love to decorate - it's going to be fun!
• We have two new pets... TURTLES! They are named Nemo & Nemo 2 (I give you one, and only one, guess as to which of us named the turtles). Brice helps us feed them and he loves watching them... 
• In closing, I am going to leave you with two invitations I've recently designed for friends of mine:

{monday mumbles}

{monday mumbles}

• Potty Training is going VERY WELL! Brice has been in underwear 24/7 since Thursday morning. He's had a few accidents - mostly at naptime. It's weird --- he stays completely dry overnight (so 10ish hours) but the last two days he's woken up wet from his nap. He's napping now so we'll see... Overall, he's doing fantastic - no pullups, only underwear... all the time... and 5 accidents TOTAL. {I am proud mama if you can't tell}. But here's my concern... pooping. I think he's a bit backed up because of all the barium he had last week. He's only had one BM since last Sunday (yikes!) I keep asking if he needs to poop and he tells me no... I've heard that this can be the tricky part of PT'ing... fingers crossed.
• So far, all of Brice's testing has come back normal, within normal limits or negative - bloodwork, stool studies, nuclear gastric emptying study, VFSS and Upper GI Series --- his upper endoscopy found a hiatal hernia and his duodenum aspirate showed a staph aureus infection.
• Pierce is spontaneously acquiring more and more words! He says Bice (Brice), no (and he knows how to shake his head no), up, down, mommy, daddy, potty, poo-poo, Daisy, Duke, stop (top), Neo, kitty, duck, quack, moo, dog, uh-oh, night-night, go, out, bye, hop and probably a few more that I cannot think of! His laugh and smile are still just as infectious as ever! Some words that I forgot: PaPa, Elmo, woof-woof, ahh-ahh (monkey sound), boat, choo-choo, cat, bubbles, roar, yum-yum, ball, two, cat, blue, hello, hi --- almost 40 words!
• We went to French Quarter Fest on Sunday and had so much fun! George's brother, David, came with us and Brice had so much fun with Uncle Dabe (Dave). You couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day but it was hot... H-O-T! Brice sucked down 20oz of fruit punch (definitely not in my top 10 of liquids to give to him but we were in downtown NOLA and it was free!)... and he had two accidents around 45 minutes later... both happened within minutes of each other. And it one of my not finer moments... I had a dress on because it was H-O-T... it was also windy... {do you see where I am going with this...?} --- my dress flew up in the back (while I was pushing the stroller) --- I screamed (which probably only brought more attention to me) and made George push the stroller so I could hold my dress down --- sigh...
• Brice's appetite sucks lately... I know it's due to his stomach problems... I don't know if he know has aversions because of the pain - he's made negative associations with food? We give him {almost} whatever he asks for. He typically takes 1-3 bites (if that) and that's it. The one thing he will eat is white bread - toasted or not - it's a guarantee. He drinks lots and lots of water. He no longer wants to take his Nexium - I think he knows medicine is mixed into whatever I have in the bowl in my hand (I typically mix it into Greek yogurt or applesauce), especially since he did not request whatever is in the bowl. 
• We have a few appointments this week for the kids - Pierce is getting his tooth fixed on Thursday and Brice has a follow-up GI appointment on Friday {I can't wait for that appointment}... I just want an answer and a solution to Brice's GI problems and I would love a special way to get medicine into him!
• The boys have been coming into our room around 5:45am (it's cute to see them both walking in with their blankets but I also enjoy seeing the inside of my eyelids at 5:45am too!) My husband is wonderful... he let me stay in bed for an extra 45 minutes this morning - I really needed it.
• I am keeping my fingers crossed that another little path in my life continues to open up - if and when it does, I will share about it :)
• On Thursday, Jenni and I are taking our {four} boys to either the Zoo or Aquarium! I haven't seen her in months... I am excited about spending time with them :)

a story about {eggs, a tooth and more}

This may be a bit back and forth, so hang in there while reading it...

Tuesday: Brice had his nuclear gastric emptying study. We left at 6am, arrived at 7:30am and upon checking in, we were told that his test had been canceled... ummmm, excuse me? I very politely informed the lady that we were originally scheduled for Thursday but after speaking with Erin (the tech) she rescheduled us for Tuesday. We went back and forth for a 2ish minutes at which point I asked to speak with Erin. Instead, the lady called Erin, we worked things out, got checked in, paid the rest of our insurance deductible (blech!) and patiently waited... waited... waited. {read: we were told to be there at 8:15 and on Monday someone called and said we needed to be there for 7:30 --- well, they were wrong --- we were not taken back until 8:35am}

They made Brice a scrambled egg with a radioactive tracer... in a styrofoam cup... in the microwave (I should probably hop off my soapbox before I even get started about styrofoam and the fact it is not biodegradable and what it emits once heated... sigh). He went to town eating it... until it burned his mouth... after a few tears {from him} and kisses {from me}, life was good and he finished his radioactive egg. Then it was time for fun {read: NOT}...

Brice had to lay on a table...

{source}

while papoosed {his head was not strapped down and he had free range of his arms}...

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for NINETY {90} MINUTES... pure torture for a toddler...

I brought Toy Story 3 with me and we watched it between tears, screaming and pleas for help (so heartbreaking...) - you would have thought it was Christmas when the lights turned back on in the room and he was able to move again. We had to go back at the 4 hour mark for one last {1 minute} image. We left and went to Chuck E Cheese for an hour because how else do you occupy a toddler when they cannot eat or drink... He won 140 tickets and got a snake and baby frog in return for said tickets. We went back and he started crying as soon as we walked in the room... begging me "no mommy no, please no" - why don't you just rip my heart out kid... but it was only for a minute... thankfully!

Wednesday: Oh Wednesday morning... the antics of Wednesday morning brought me to my knees. I think everything I've been through in regards to doctor appointments, tests, procedures, tears, cries of pain, worrying about test results, the unknown and so much more all finally hit me...

I was in the bathroom doing my makeup because we had to be at the hospital for 10:15am for Brice's Upper GI Series and MBSS. George was getting ready and the boys were playing at my feet... and then it happened... a loud thud that would make any mother's heart know that someone was hurt... then came the screams and my curious 2.5 year old saying "Uh-oh, what happened to Pierce?" --- exactly my thoughts sweet older brother, exactly.

Pierce somehow hit his mouth on the side of our tub. Once I pried his mouth open, wiped away as much blood and saliva as I could, I saw what I feared most... a fracture and an intrusion/luxated injury on tooth E... my poor baby's tooth was chipped (almost spanning the entire length of the base of his tooth) and partially pushed back into his gums. While I rocked him in the nursery, I sat there crying right along with him. As soon as I could compose myself, I called our pediatric dentist on his cell and left a message... then I called his hygienist (a friend of mine) and she said to head into the office for 8:15am. They took a few x-rays and thankfully the pulp of his tooth (nerve) was not damaged. We will go back next Thursday to have his tooth bonded so we can avoid decay (and his tooth will have a normal, non-chipped shape again). As for the intrusion, his tooth should spontaneously re-erupt. It could take quite some time but I am hopeful that because his tooth was not fully erupted to being with, it will continue with it's eruption pattern (maybe just a bit more slowly because of this injury)... 

We rushed back home to pick up Brice and George and flew to Baton Rouge. I called the hospital to let them know we were running late due to a minor emergency. We were suppose to arrive at 10:15am because his tests started at 10:30am... we walked ran in at 10:37am. Brice and I went into the back while my other favorite guys waited for us.

Brice started crying the moment we placed him on the table. I knew it was coming, especially after the day we experienced on Tuesday. I promised him that he would not be strapped down. My promises, at that point, meant nothing. He had to drink a liquid barium contrast while lying on his left side. He took one sip and after that, he spit the rest out. The PA really ruined it when she brought in a 60cc syringe. As soon as he saw it, he kept saying "no medicine mommy, no, please no." After that effort, the PA explained that we could either come back another day or they could call our doctor to get an order for an NG tube to fill his stomach. I told them to go ahead with the NG tube. While the PA was in the back, someone else (not sure of her title) came in and offered Brice a tropical punch flavored barium. He didn't like it. She offered strawberry and he drank it... one sip... then another. They started the test again and of course he no longer wanted to drink it. I promised him another trip to Chuck E Cheese and anything else he wanted (hey, I was desperate)... and it worked. He drank enough to fill his stomach. I thought that was fun... then they had to position him in all sorts of positions... he cried, I begged him to cooperate and soon enough, it was over.

After that, we completed his MBSS (modified swallow study). He was less than thrilled. He drank a few sips of the strawberry barium, wouldn't touch the pudding consistency barium and he consumed the graham cracker dipped in the pudding. They saw no aspiration.

After an hour long trip to Chuck  E Cheese, we went home... and it was lovely to just relax.

Today, the boys had speech therapy. While our ST was here, Brice started coughing hard while drinking some water. She said she thinks that he is fatiguing while swallowing because it happens around 5ish sips into drinking. We will let Dr. A know at our follow-up visit next Friday.

I had planned on sharing some exciting news in this post, but after some thought, I've decided it deserves it's on post! Come back to visit tomorrow to see our exciting news!!