Even MORE Limbo - Our faith is being tested

Well, we received the news this weekend that Braden will not be going to Susie's after all. We eagerly wait to see what the Lord has planned for us next.

Our friend Stacie has been an amazing caregiver to Braden in the few weeks she has been watching him, and we are so blessed she was able to help us for a few short weeks.

As of today, we have no temporary or permanent solutions, and so begins another round of trying to figure out who can provide good care for our son. The women of my bible study have been TRULY AMAZING and supportive, and they are all trying to help me find viable solutions.

Please pray for us, as this has been very emotionally distressing on Mommy... we know that God will show us His true plan for us, but until we find the solution, it is truly agonizing every day we don't find an answer. We hope to find a stay-at-home wife or mom who may be interested in taking Braden, or a college student with the availability and willingness to learn about how to care for our little man. He is actually pretty easy, the hardest part is finding a comfort zone when his machines tell you something is going on. We really loved his last nanny, Ms. Caralyn who has moved to TX to take care of another families' children as a live-in Nanny, as her schooling plans didn't quite pan out for her in Arkansas.

We are open to any and all suggestions you all may have for us, as we are running out of options. We are faithful that God will send us an answer, and that Jesus is with us in our fiery trial of life - we are not alone. (Isaiah 43:1-2)

Thanks for your continued prayers and support!
Kodi, B&B

In Limbo

First let me share that God continues to bless us amidst a multitude of queries and uncertainties. We hired a nanny before we left for the christmas holiday break, and when we came back, we learned that she was not going to be able to take Braden. So we interviewed again, and found a great potential candidate, that decided before our last day of training, that it might be too much for her. So we were two days into what was supposed to be my "back to work" schedule, wondering what on earth we were going to do for 6 - 8 weeks until Braden will be going back to Susanna and her new baby Kailey full time.

In the fall, I joined a bible study group that is specifically for moms/grandmoms of special needs children. Immediately I felt a cameraderie with these women, and felt like I had found a place that would provide me with the "support" that I was needing, both emotionally and spiritually. After sharing with a few women in my study, that TWO nannies had essentially backed out on us, I made a few phone calls to a few women in my group. One of my friends in the group, Hillary, offered to take Braden back in December when we had to go searching again after Caralyn moved. The unfortunate thing, is that she lives 40 min. away, and the commute from her house to Baton Rouge in morning traffic is an additional hour & a half. Yikes. So we were hoping to find someone who could take him temporarily to fill the gap, who might not create a daily four-plus hours commute:-)

God answered our prayers through a friend from study, Stacie Coles. Stacie has her own special needs child, Brian - who is 21 and suffers from an unnamed bone and muscular disorder. Stacie works out of her home while Brian is away at school, and did not have any work set up for January... so she GRACIOUSLY accepted our request to watch Braden for a few weeks. Stacie has been an amazing friend already, and now she gets to love on Braden 3 days a week with her Boston Terrier, Lucy. Braden is doing really well at Stacie's. I can't even begin to describe the emotions I feel when Stacie agreed to take him. This is such a huge burden lifted from our shoulders - emotionally, spiritually, financially... and we will always be grateful to the Coles family for helping us in our time of need. I have attached a few pictures of Braden with his new sitter(s):-)

I am also attaching a link to see our PICTURES FROM CHRISTMAS on snapfish:
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=235171169087655910/l=239882987/g=24589807/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Thanks for continuing to keep us all in your prayers - they are helping!! Braden is still having the occasional "BLUE episodes", so we hope to get the heart monitor soon to get through the 30-day recording period so we can HOPEFULLY find some answers and solutions for this problem. Thanks for checking in with us, we will post another update next week!

Kodi, B&B

Back from Break with a bang

Our Christmas holiday was such a wonderful time with our families, it was hard to come back to daily life here. Braden traveled just fine on the trip home, but he seems a little more settled now that we are getting back into routine with him.

Some neat news about Braden, is that the poor little guy is pretty fussy these days - he is trying to get some teeth! Since he is not a baby that picks things up and puts them in his mouth, we are having to hold his teething toys for him, so he can chomp down on things, but he seems to enjoy the cool ones from the fridge, and likes this one we got that vibrates when you chomp down on it. I was super-excited to see that Braden is figuring out cause-and-effect with this toy!
We think he has been fighting a virus on top of it, as towards the end of our trip, he was spiking a fever above the 102 mark. So on our return, we have been treated with injectable antibiotics, and he seems to be responding very well. We are also learning that when Braden is feeling pretty good, he will only have one or two seizures a day - praise God!! PROGRESS!!


We visited the pulmonologist who has reccommended we put Braden on another few machines, and I will share more about them once they get here. One is a "cough-assist" to help Braden clear things that my be a little deeper in the throat. The other is a 30-day heart monitor. Braden started having a new kind of seizure in the past few months, that makes his heart rate really drop low, but once the seizure is over, he recovers. What the doctor wants to know... is if it is a heart arrythmia that is causing a seizure, or a nuerological issue that is causing autonomic seizures that result in the drop in heart rate. So this should determine the cause... please pray that Braden's heart will be just fine, and these issues are nuerologically related.

We had some excitement last night, as I went to bible study and Brad had a ball game, our friend Stephanie agreed to watch Braden. She is a quite capable and knowleadgeable baby sitter, but nothing could have prepared her for the night she was about to have... She called me to tell me that Braden's O2 saturation (sats) kept dropping, so I walked her through suctioning him good. She called back about 15 min later, saying his sats were staying in the 40s and 50s, and suctioning was not helping. I was a little panicked, thinking maybe some phlem got lodged in his throat, blocking the airway, so I had her pound him on the back and keep trying to suction. Nothing was working.

I hopped in the car and was racing home - thank goodness my bible study group started praying for me as soon as I left, because knowing all the traffic laws I broke trying to get there as fast as I could - I could feel that God was protecting me. I called 911 to have them get Braden oxygen, and as soon as I got there, I flew the door open, I think I pulled one of the fire department guys out of the way like supermom, and gave him good suction, made sure his airway was open, and re-checked his foot attachment, and suddenly I noticed that his lead had come loose from his foot. As soon as I repositioned it, Braden's numbers showed us that he was just fine, and there was no need for panic. But over the phone trying to figure out what was going on, all I could think about was Braden not getting enough O2. All is fine - he was probably fine the whole time. The sitter (Stephanie) said she never saw him get blue around the mouth or face, and he wasn't acting any different, so she just wasn't sure what to do. Now we have a great story to tell about how while I was crying and driving like a maniac, the only thing that was wrong was the silly lead had come off his foot partially. We will see if Stephanie ever agrees to watch Braden again, I was sure that they were going to have to give HER oxygen amidst the madness. :-) She did great, and did everything exactly right... I am glad she was there taking care of him - as there was nothing else anyone could have done different. It was my fault for not explaining the lead could come loose! Well, it will make for a great story at social gatherings. The joys of parenthood can overwhelm me at times:-)

I have attached some pics of the little guy at christmas, and to share with you how LONG and curly his hair is getting. The pics are post-bath where it really curls up - he has some crazy hair to deal with... I thought I had bed-head in the mornings, but he takes the cake!

Thanks for all the christmas cards, the wonderful gifts, and the love you continue to send our way and lift us up in your prayers. We are ever-so grateful as we begin our 2007 journey. Love to all!

Kodi, B&B