Update

Sorry, I haven't blogged in a few days. Its been a very hectic past few days.

We were doing so well with the wraps. I was consistent and did them twice a day for 2 hours as instructed. I'm not sure where we went wrong.

I made a new face mask with a new (never used) wash cloth AND we ran out of the prescribed ointment the children's hospital in Houston prescribed us. It's like vasaline but made a little differently. When Gavin was 4 months old we tried applying vasaline to his body and it broke him out but we thought we would give it another shot so I did. I'm not really sure if the Vasaline broke him out but he broke out bad. Maybe not as bad as the photo I posted when he had goats milk but just about. The vasaline DID make him extra dry. His skin felt scaly and rough. I've stopped using the vasaline since and stopped putting his face mask on.

I'm still applying the wet wraps to his body and they seem to help but his eczema is still there since he's allergic to his formula milk.

Here's how it all works... because he has eczema and food allergies when he eats something he's allergic to he flares up and gets red. Thats called eczema. The doctor explained it as, "they don't work well together so try to keep them apart from each other." So when he gets an allergic reaction we are to start treating his eczema before it starts to get bad.

FOOD ALLERGIST:

Today we saw a food allergy specialist. He was helpful but I've seen so many doctors I'm kind of like, "lets see what we'll have to re-do again today". He gave me a lot of helpful info on the wet wraps and more info on when to use the Epi Pen. We're currently having to buy gauze for the wet wraps which can get to be expensive when you need 4-5 a week at $8 each box. The doctor recommended a wet wrap suit which is $100. I think we might try it out.

New formula milk...

The food allergist switched his formula to Neocate Junior. Okay call me crazy but I got really emotional when he told me it would be the junior milk. I can't believe I'll have a 1 year old next Tuesday lol. Man, where did this year go?! He's lived such a stressful year but I know there will be better days soon. I have high hopes in the good Lord. Its all in a matter of time. Just waiting...

So I tried out the Neocate formula. The doctor gave us samples of Strawberry, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Tropical. I tried both the strawberry and chocolate and he HATES IT! I'm not giving up just yet! I'm going to keep trying everyday. 

A few days later...

He's now 100% on Neocate milk. He's use to it now, I guess. It's been exactly 1 week since we've seen the food allergist so that means 6 days off of "soy milk". I've read a lot of blogs and testimonies about soy milk formula taking a full 30 days till its fully out of his system. I have noticed his skin has been clearing a little more each day. He's just really dry but I'm sure the wet wraps can help with that.

DAY 3 & 4

DAY 3:

Yesterday was my husbands day off so I try and stay off all social medias and my phone since we only have him to ourselves that one day out of the week.

Gavin still woke up throughout the night (every 2-3 hours) but only for a bottle. We're seeing progress!! I woke up before him that following morning. Which is unusual because I'm always so tired. Normally, he wakes me up lol.

He woke up with only a little redness on his cheeks. His hands, legs, and feet felt so smooth with no dry skin. Also, he didn't scratch not one time the ENTIRE day! It was amazing. We went to stores that afternoon and even took him for a quick Christmas photo at mommy's promo session.

We don't get out ever unless its to walk around the block. Its just to hard for me by myself to go anywhere by ourselves. As soon as I strap him into his car seat he starts rubbing his wrists and arms against the seatbelt till it burns so when my husbands off I try to do any and all shopping that I need done.

We got our food allergy test results back for a few other foods we tested Gavin for. He's now allergic to beef, chicken, rice & oat (peanuts, soy, cow's milk, wheat, eggs, and NO GLUTEN).

That being said, yesterday was the first day we went grocery shopping just for Gavin. We were so sure Whole Foods would be the place to go.... wrong! We went down every single aisle and checked every ingredient on foods. If it was vegan, it had soy or wheat... if it was gluten free, it had eggs... if it was wheat free, it had gluten. We ended up leaving with oranges and apples. We did find frozen vegan bread but usually it'll say wheat and soy free and it didn't so we didn't want to risk it.

I thought about making vegetable soups for him but if he were to break out I wouldn't know what he broke out to so I'm back to trying one fruit and vegetable every three days.

Everything is going good we come home and sliced his orange in little pieces he loved it! Then a few hours passed...

Day 3's photo

Christmas photo:

DAY 4:

Gavin itched and scratched all night long. We think it might have been the orange. We still continued with the wraps even with his irritation. We had to give him Benadryl to help him sleep but I don't think that helped much. He tossed and turned all night long and even woke up from 4:30-5:30am. His eyes were closed the whole time he was just so irritated. The bottom picture is a better photo of his forehead. Don't mind his clothes lol we literally change him 5-6 times a day because of the wet wraps.

This is how he woke up:

This morning I was just so frustrated. I started to feel like we're going back to where we started. I called his allergist and he referred me to a "food allergist specialist". They called me within 10 minutes after hanging up with his allergist. Oh by the way, if any of you need an allergist Dr. William Neville is the best doctor I've ever delt with. He doesn't have his nurse call you ever. He calls you directly. He even called just to check up on Gavin since his goats milk out break. He's seriously the best! He called the food allergist specialist today and they called me immediately. Gavin now has an appointment next week. I just need some answers!!!!! I don't understand how EVERYTHING I feed him breaks him out. It just sounds impossible. 

Today I gave him organic apple slices. Lets see what happens. Also, the weather seems to be great here in Texas so if he's not to itchy we might just take a stroll around the block. See you tomorrow!

DAY 2

I couldn't wait to get up this morning to blog. Okay, so, Gavin didn't sleep much last night but all for a good reason.

I did his wet wraps two times yesterday plus I let the wet wraps soak over night on his hands, feet, and face.

Gavin laid down for bed at 10:30pm... and of course I've been going to sleep late this week so I laid down at 12am then Gavin decided to wake up at 12:30am! Typically his first waking for the night I soothe him and he goes right back to sleep but not this time.

He was very squirmy (as if he didn't want to sleep) then minutes later wide awake wanting to play?! I took his wet wraps off just because he had already worn then for two hours (thats the minimum of hours to leave them on). I couldn't see anything because we sleep with only a small night light. I didn't want to encourage him in waking up so I didn't turn on the lights either lol. This momma was tired! Finally after being a wake 1 hour with him I went and woke up his Dad. Yes, Daddy some times has to sleep in another room to get some sleep lol. He had to be up early today too. I thought he could help soothe Gavin within another hour but no more then 1 hour.

My husband comes to the room and turns on the restroom light to see Gavin and guess what?! His hands, feet, and face are not only more clear then day 1... his skin feels so smooth! I haven't felt his skin so smooth in a very long time. Normally his hands are so dry and rough he scratches his face with his knuckles and its comforting to him. Not anymore!

He felt so good he wanted to play all night!! I was so exhausted so I "had" to nap at least 1 hour and so my husband watched him from 1:30-4:30am. He played with him till he got tired lol. Gavin seriously has an awesome Dad.

This is a quick photo I took this morning. He looks A LOT better then yesterday. I'll be taking a photo each day so you all can see his results.

Prepared for Halloween

Food alternations...

As some of you may know, Gavin's birthday is right around the corner and so is Halloween. I've been going back and forth with myself on wether I should serve foods (at his party) he would only be able to eat and hand out no candy but small toys (like glow sticks) in stead for Halloween.

Food Allergy & Research Education

Well, I came across a Facebook page called Food Allergy & Research Education (FARE) and it helps educate and encourage parents like us to get more involved in food allergy awareness. I went a head and signed up for the walk here in Plano, TX. Its Saturday, November 15th. I would love for you all to join and walk with me and my husband. It would literally mean the world to me if you can come out and support my son. I'm pretty sure I'll cry lol. If you can't, I completely understand. They are accepting donations just click the link below to donate. Gavin's goal is $2,000. 

Toys or Candy?

Also, if you can't do the walk or donate you can paint a teal pumpkin and handout non-food related items for Halloween (things like toys, glow sticks, crayons, stickers, etc.)... you can still handout candy if you want but maybe make it optional for the kids. If you do, PLEASE tag me on your Facebook page or comment with your photos below. I would love to post your photo on my blog and show off all of Gavin's support system. Thank you all so much in advance!

WALK with us or feel free to DONATE:

http://www.foodallergywalk.org/dallas2014/10061066

Today is Monday! & DAY1

He ya'll. Today has been a pretty good day! Gavin woke up every 2 hours last night but only for a bottle then back to bed. He even slept till noon. Well, helllloooo to better days :) At first I was a little concerned because usually he sleeps till 10am the latest but I forgot my little monkey only had one nap that day.

Last nights schedule:

10pm Went to bed

12am bottle

2am bottle

4am bottle

6am bottle

8am bottle

10am bottle

12pm Woke up for the day

Gavin's pediatrician recommended we try something called the "wet wraps" method. However, when she brought it to my attention I was so beat up emotionally at that time. Gavin had just started getting severe eczema so my sleepless nights started and the scratching wouldn't stop. I felt like nothing would work so I didn't try it.

Well I came across another eczema mom's blog and I read she went to an actual hospital that did the wet wraps for her for 2 weeks (National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colorado), and so I started researching. I've came across SO MANY testimonies! I got excited to start this on Gavin. I wasted no time and started today!

What are wet wraps?
You soak your child in a bath 2-3 times a day for 20 minutes. Put wet towels over there body while they're soaking in the tub. Get them out of the bath and put on a wet onesie (long sleeve) then put on a top layer of warm clothes.

I even put a wet wash cloth on his face and cut a hole in the middle so he can breath (obviously lol) then wrapped gauss around his face.

PLEASE don't get sad about this photo. I think it looks a lot worse on a photo then in person. He was actually pretty comfortable besides not being able to use his hands much. It was nap time...

DAY 1:
We plan on doing two a day since he already bathes three times a day. His morning wrap was a success! He actually didn't mind being in his wet suit. I had Elmo's World playing to distract him. His God Parents came by yesterday and dropped off some toys so that may have helped too since he had new things to play with. His Dad wasn't to happy but he'll have to get over it. I'm going to try everything I can. I KNOW there's a way to help my son.

If any of you have any resources or know of anything please feel free to comment.

Darn it. That reminds me, I should've done a before photo so I can post it tomorrow along with the after. Welp, I'll have to remind myself tomorrow to do that.

Until tomorrow ya'll! <3

Friday, October 10th

Last night

We recently switched his milk since he's highly allergic to soy milk. He's been allergic to soy milk since he was 7 months (he's going on a year old). However, it was the only formula his body would some what tolerate (please see one of my firsts posts about all the formulas we've tried). We couldn't really do much until he's about 1 since his body needs the nutrients from the formula. He still "needs" to nutrients but now that he's a little older I can substitute some of the vitamins, calcium, and protein with foods.

My point of today's day, he broke out to goats milk overnight. Yes, goats milk. We gave it a shot. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but once you've gone through everything we have, you'll try anything to help your baby. We only gave him 1 ounce and he broke out. He's very itchy and has been itchy all night. Here's how our night went...

10:30pm laid down for the night

He woke up at:
11:30pm-12am
1:40-1:55am
2:50-3:45am
5:30-7:30am
10:00am woke up for the day

How his skin looked that night and following morning:

Don't complain when your baby wakes 1-2 times a night... be grateful!

The body needs rest so I've been told but I think our bodies are now use to this schedule. However, some days I still manage to wake up rejoice-full but 60% of all the other days I'm cranky, a bitch, and stubborn so I can only imagine what my son feels like waking up every morning.

Loosing sleep has really taken a tole on our lives. I'm so emotional ALL the time. I really don't remember the last time I've had a "happy" day all day. Don't get me wrong, we still have happy moments. Like the times Gavin just hugs me and kisses me for no reason. Ah, it melts my heart just thinking about it. This is extremely tough to deal with especially emotionally. We are not people to look for support if its not given to us already. We've gone through all this alone... all by ourselves. Half of my days are spent crying and helping Gavin not scratch his skin till he bleeds.

I remember laying Gavin down after his 9pm bottle and he would sleep from 9pm-2am. Oh what I would do to have those nights back.

I sometimes browse my Facebook and come across posts from other moms complaining about having to wake up 1-2 times a night for 15-30minutes. I'm pretty sure only for a bottle and possibly a little soothing then back to sleep. Parents, please, be thankful your baby only wakes up a few times a night. Eventually, they will out grow it completely. All I'm saying is to value the sleep you get now. Drink you a coffee and brush it off or send me a text and ask me how many times I had to wake up last night :) lol (jokingly voice).

Children's Hospital Houston (part 3)

Possibly another shock?!

DAY 1 SATURDAY:

We walked into our room in the ICU and there were 4 doctors and several nurses. Everyone was so nice! The doctor told us we would be staying overnight to they could monitor him because he had a small chance in swelling up and going back into shock within 24 hours.

At this point, Gavin was still sedated and we were trying to figure out a plan. My husband still had to go back to the hotel to gather all of our belongings. Remember, the hotel was an hour and a half away from the new hospital. I felt awful making him drive back and forth but someone had to do it. We left everything at the hotel (clothes, chargers, diapers, Gavin's milk, all his bottles, etc.).

My husband came back and we then had to figure out where we would sleep. The hospital provided blankets and pillows and since it was the ICU they also provided a room with recliners they pulled back into a small bed. I was so exhausted. We both were. I ended up sleeping in the room with the recliners just around the corner from our actual room. I asked my husband to wake me up when they took Gavin off the anesteshia. 

He woke me up about 2am. Gavin woke up crying and I knew right away, he's hungry! The nurse said well give it a little bit before we feed him. I thought, wtf! no, my son is starving... he's gone 11 hours with nothing to eat or drink. We need up feeding him 3 bottles of just water because he was so thirsty and hungry. He looked up and us and put his arms up... he wanted to be held. We only held him for about 20 minutes then they gave him Benadryl to help the swelling and he feel right back to sleep. This happened all night. He woke up for 5-10 minutes then more Benadryl.  

DAY 2 SUNDAY:

We finally get a recap from how well he did the first night. We met with the main ICU doctor this morning and in her Russian accent she asked had we seen an Allergist, Dermatologist, and Nutritionist before. I looked at her with a blank stare like, uhhh no?! I didn't understand why we would've needed to. We've seen a dermatologist because of his eczema but that was it.

She said, "Oh no! You will not be leaving until you see all 3 doctors. After him going into shock like this you will need to be prepared just in case this was to happen again." I thought to myself, "AGAIN?!" I'm so grateful for this ladies help!! She said people wait months before being able to see all three doctors and they would be seeing Gavin all in one day. She told me, "I'll MAKE SURE he see's them all."

Well, the day turned into evening and still no doctors. My husband was now getting impaitent. He was worried about going back to work and running business. I understood, but I knew if we left we wouldn't get this kind of help in Dallas. He was getting impaitent seeing Gavin sleeping all day and night and looking well while we sat there doing nothing.

We finally got an answer and they said the Allergist would be in tomorrow because he doesn't work Sundays. A lady came in soon after and asked if we wanted to sign up for the "Ronald McDonald Room". She said, your nurse referred y'all to me. Its a complimentary room where you can sleep, bathe, and eat. My husband quickly got mad and said, no. I understood his frustration. He didn't want to be there any more. Not that he didn't want Gavin well, he hated seeing Gavin in this position but wether he wanted to believe it or not, we were.

In the meantime, I was trying to come up with a way in approaching my husband about getting the Ronald McDonald Room without sounding careless about what was join on. I went ahead and took it into my own hands without telling him and asked the receptionist to sign us up and so she did. Later that night the tension between my husband and I had gone down. We had a laugh every now and then and got to talking about what we planned on eating for dinner that night. He said, "Man, I'm so tired. I kind of wished we would've gotten the room." and I told him I did. He slept in the room that night still hoping we would be leaving that next morning while I slept on the chairs again so my husband wouldn't be tired driving the next day. 

I took care of Gavin that night and every time he started getting drowsy from the Benadryl he had a look in his eyes like, "Momma, don't leave me." I cried every time he started feeling drowsy. I felt he was forced to go back to sleep but I knew he was in the best care. 

DAY 3 MONDAY:

My husband came in about 5am and said he would watch Gavin while I slept on the bed in the Ronald McDonald room a few hours so we switched. The room phone rang about 8am. It was my husband letting me know the allergy team had arrived. I literally RAN from one side of the hospital to the other. I didn't want to miss a thing. The allergist explained what exactly happens when you go into anaphylactic shock. He showed us how to use the Epi Pen and what to do if it were to every happen again. Then he said a dermatologist & nutritionist would be in some time this week. Wait, what?! This week? We ended up staying another night because the dermatologist couldn't see us till tomorrow. 

By now, we felt like we lived in the hospital. My husband brought all our bags in so we had clothes. We bought take-out for breakfast, lunch, & dinner and we hadn't been outside in days because we didn't want to leave Gavin's side. We were literally going crazy! Gavin was too. He was starting to get really fussy.

DAY 4 TUESDAY:

Great news! The ICU doctor allowed Gavin to go outside today. Finally some fresh air! I felt awful. As soon as we went outside he sat there quiet and looked around for a very long time without saying a word. Like he was enjoying every second, every breeze, and even the people walking by. He started talking a bit and he had lunch with us outside.

We went back into the hospital and both Dermatologist and Nutritionist came in at once. They gave us a home routine to do and foods to start giving him. I learned what veggies are high in calcium and high in protein that day. 

We were moved to a regular hospital room that evening. It had a bed and a bathroom... thank God! lol. Things were good at this point. We had a lot more room to breath and even a play area for Gavin. We had Chipotle that night and Gavin slept peacefully with no Benadryl.

DAY 5 WEDNESDAY:

We were discharged about 6pm. I think Gavin was fed up with being there lol he didn't say one word from the time we walked out of the hospital till we got onto the highway going home. We were all so relieved and happy just to be going home.

Vacation turned into a hospital stay (part 2)

Being Transported

As we waited for the Kangaroo team from Children's Hospital in Houston to arrive we stood one on each side of Gavin and waited. He had tubes down his throat to help him breath because his airwaves we're closing. A nurse stood at his thigh giving him an Epi Pen every 3-5 minutes to keep his airwaves open to breath.

Epi Pen:
A needle fitted into a tube that looks like a pen, used for putting a drug into someone who is having a severe allergic reaction to something. (Now seen on TV commercials)

There was a nurse at the Lake Jackson hospital that really clicked with me. I'm pretty sure God brought her my way for comfort. She wasn't even our nurse but walked by and asked if I needed anything. We got to talking as I waited for Children's to get there. We talked about Gavin and how she had a one year old son too. We talked about natural birthing, cloth diaping, and a lot more mom stuff. I felt we had a a lot in common. It just felt nice to talk to someone and actually feel like someone cared on a personal level and not on a medical level.

The Kangaroo team of 4 people arrived after only three hours of being at the local ER in Lake Jackson, TX. It all seemed so quick. The emergency doctor was worried I could see it all over her face. As she escorted herself from the room I saw her through a glass window inhaling then exhaling very deeply as if she were relieved. Thank God she kept calm thoughout every step before performing anything on my son.

Oh, wait, I forgot to put this in "The Arce Family" post... Gavin's body was so swollen they could not put an IV on him because they couldn't find any veins. Therefore, the ER doctor gave Gavin 3 IO's (Intraosseous Infushion). That's a small needle that goes directly to the bone to get fluids to the body. Normally, you only need to perform ONE IO but because he was so swollen they had to do 3.

So the team arrives and greeted themselves right away. We had to make a decision, who was to stay with Gavin in the ambulance and who was to drive the car to the hospital. I still had a bit of anxiety and was still shaky. My husband said he would drive right behind us the whole way and I were to call him if anything happened in the ambulance truck since he wouldn't know what was going on.

I sat in the passenger side of the ambulance truck with the driver since I wasn't able to sit in the back with Gavin. There was silence the entire drive. The driver tried small talking with me but he got the hint and stopped trying to talk to me. I just wanted silence.

We finally arrive after the hour drive. We went into the side of the hospital where the ambulances enter in. As we were walking I was reading the floor and room names. We finally got to our floor and I look up, we're on the ICU floor (Intensive Care Unit).

Get your tissues ready (part 1)

Arce Family Vacation

September 2013, we took our first family vacation to Galveston (Surf Side, TX). We read that ocean water could help eczema so we thought, ah what the heck lets take a mini family trip.

We left a Friday night after my husband let out from work. We checked into our hotel about 1am. We assumed Gavin would sleep since it was so late but he didn't. He stayed up till about 3 in the morning (he still wakes up every 3 hours itching so we have to soothe him every few hours throughout the night). Then we were up at 10am ready to get our vacation started. We checked the forecast and it showed showers about 2pm so we figured lets hit the beach first then lunch after.

Gavin hated the beach lol! I was so sure he was going to love it since he loves bath time. I think it was the waves pushing up against his legs that made him not like it. Well momma still got a photo for the baby book crying and all lol.

So we went on to having lunch at Chilis. We drove to a little town called Lake Jackson, TX. It was about 15 minutes from our Hotel. I was feeding Gavin (chicken, beef, & cantaloupe for dessert) while we waited for our food.

My husband and I talked about our lives blessings and how we love being parents even with our situation.

As we paid for the bill, we were getting up from the table and Gavin accidentally dipped his mitten into honey mustard (he still wears mittens at times so he doesn't scratch but some times he'll rub his eyes so much he burns his face rubbing with the mittens... like carpet burn). We didn't think anything of it. I immediately took his mitten off and rinsed his hands under water and rinsed his mitten too. I put his mitten back on so he wouldn't scratch.

5 minutes to live...

My husband sat in the back seat with Gavin to help entertain him. It was then, everything I'm about to write happened within minutes... 3 minutes to be exact...

My husband said, "He's starting to itch really bad. Maybe we should go back to the hotel and get his Benadryl." We had already drove into town and we wanted to hangout for a bit so I suggested buying another bottle from a nearby store and so we did.

I went into Dollar General in Lake Jackson, TX which was right by the Chilis we were eating at. I glanced outside as I was checking out and saw my husband waving at me with a scared and worried face. I made my purchase then ran outside. "Unique, we have to go to the hospital look at Gavin's face." I looked over at him and his left eye was completely shut. I'm not sure if I was going into shock myself or if I didn't know what to do. I stayed calm as my husband was only getting more upset. I halled ass to the hospital while my husband was comforting Gavin in the back seat. It was so painful to hear my husband crying till he couldn't catch his breath. He kept saying, "God please!! Help him!!"... "Unique! He's dying! Please hurry! Hurry! He's not breathing anymore. Unique, he's dying in my arms..."

Those 3 minutes from the Dollar store to the hospital were the longest 3 minutes of my life. I finally pulled up to the ER. My husband took the baby in while I found a parking spot. I walked in and I must have looked starteld because a lady asked, "Are you looking for the baby that just came in?!" I just shook my head yes and then she said, "Oh they took that poor baby to the back already." There was a room full of people in the ER waiting to be seen so it was then I realized this was SERIOUS! They put him in front of everyone who was waiting to been seen by a doctor.

I ran to the back and saw the nurse had scissors in her hands. They immediately cut his onesie shirt to get his clothes off quicker. At this point, Gavin was swollen from his face down to his balled feet. I felt like we were in the movie. Everyone around me was moving so fast and I was just standing there.

The doctor then greeted herself but I was crying so much I couldn't say anything back. She explained that Gavin was going through an anaphylactic shock and that an Anesthesiologist would be in shortly to sedate him. She said, "You did the right thing bringing him in immediately. Had you waited just 2 more minutes, I don't think he would have made it." To think he literally only had 5 minutes of life left was heart breaking. I then started crying so loud my husband asked me to take a breather outside because I wasn't making the already stressful environment any better.

Anaphylactic Shock:
An extreme, often life threatening allergic reaction to an antigen to which the body has become hypersensitive.

Here we we're in the middle of no where with nobody we knew to talk to. I called the only person I could count on spiritually, my aunt. She's one of the few that knew every detail in our situation already so I called her. Have you ever heard a child cry so hard they start breathing really fast and can't seem to catch their breath? Well, thats how I was crying. I couldn't stop and I tried so hard to control it. My husband was the stronger one by now. 

The Anesthesiologist came in very calm and asked us to leave the room while he sedates (anesthesia) Gavin. 

Now, both my husband and I were together, alone. We walked outside of the hospital and just held each other while we cried. For the first time ever, we had no comforting words to give each other. We just held each other in silence and cried. Arthur (my husband), said a prayer for Gavin and it went something like this, "Father God, I know you sent us here for a reason. I know this was all meant for a reason. Please get Gavin the help he needs. Haven't we done everything you've asked of us?! You said God, that you would never leave thee nor forsake thee."

We were told we could go back into the room... and there Gavin laid on the hospital bed sedated. 

We were eventually transported to Children's Hospital in Houston (1.5 hours away from our hotel). 

What we're fighting

3 months into life (mild eczema)

He started getting a perfectly round spot on his cheek. Some days it was pink, some days it was red, and then were days where it wasn't there at all. His pediatrician took a look at it and thats when Gavin was diagnosed with mild eczema. Nothing to severe or at least nothing we couldn't handle. We just started applying ointments the doctor gave us and switched to more sensitive lotions and soaps at home.

Gavin was then starting to sleep 5-6 hours a night without a bottle so we figured he was outgrowing the newborn stage. Even though we were still very exhausted having to wake up every five hours daddy and I were pretty excited to start catching some ZzZzZ's again.

Weeks went by and the 6 hour increments of sleep went back down to 3 hours. We thought it was all apart of growing. I thought, maybe he's hit a growth spurt. Weeks turned into months and not only did his sleep schedule stay at 3 hours of rest then a bottle, his eczema got a lot worse.

7 months old (severe eczema)
The eczema spread from his cheek all the way down the to bottom of his feet. The eczema now covered 80% of his body. He was then diagnosed with severe eczema. This itchy dry skin rash has over taken my baby's body and there was nothing I could do about it. He would wake up in the middle of the night scratching in his asleep (every 2-3 hours & still till this day). At this point, we had an appointment with a dermatologist and was visiting with his pediatrician once a week.

The pediatrician made it very clear, there was nothing we could do to stop it. We can "control it" but there's no cure for it.

Most of you might be thinking you know what eczema is. I thought I did too but what Gavin was/is going through is no where near what we "thought" eczema was.


7 months old (food allergies)


At only 7 months old, Gavin had been through 6 different types of formulas (Similac Breast Feeding Supplement, Similac Sensitive, Similac Alimentum, Enfamil Nutramigen, Gerber Good Start, Gerber Soy). He was/is currently on Gerber Soy because that's the only formula his body will "tolerate". Everything seemed to break him out. We started him on baby food at about 4 months old. Some baby foods flared his skin and there were some that didn't.

It was then the pediatrician suggested an allergy test. Gavin's test results came in and he's allergic to cow's milk, peanuts, wheat, soy, egg, dog & cat dander. 

Not only are we having to deal with severe eczema we now have food allergies to watch for. The allergy test was only for the main food allergies people test high in, in America.

We still fed him well. He's had chicken, rice pasta, sweet potatoes, squash, and a lot more.


Social Life & Every Day Life

At this point, we had no social life. I stayed home 7 days a week and maybe to the grocery store and back. Things were so bad that I couldn't go any where with him in his car seat without him scratching so bad he would make himself bleed. He scratched so bad he would open his skin till it started weeping of sweat (it was/is as painful as it sounds).

I still have a vivid memory of the day Gavin and I we're sitting in the living room and I sat on the floor crying and pleading to God "Why! Why would you let him go through this. Why not me, Why him?" I couldn't hold it in any longer. Here Gavin was so itchy and I was having to hold his hands down so he wouldn't scratch till he bled anymore. My Dad happen to stop by just in the moment of it all, he screamed "Omg Unique!! There's blood on his shirt. We need to go to the hospital! Why won't he stop scratching?!" The painful part of it all is we couldn't. There was no point in going to the hospital. There was nothing they could do (I'm crying as I'm writing this). My baby was suffering right in front of my eyes and I couldn't do anything about it. My Dad helped me that day. I was an emotional wreck that day. I laid in a ball all day and cried while my Dad entertained Gavin so he wouldn't scratch himself.

Just when we thought we had everything under control... we went on our very first family trip...

New life

When the seed was planted 

Hi. My name is, Unique. I'm a wife, mother, and photographer.

My husband and I have been married since 2010 but together for more then 8 years. After living our lives together we decided to bring a little one into the world. We "tried" for a few months and we finally got pregnant. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. Talk about knowing your body, I was only 1 week pregnant when I knew I was pregnant. Our due date was July 2013 but at only 5 weeks, we had a miscarriage. The pain was excruciating not to mention the depression stage I went through right after. Just when we thought we had our life all figured out we felt pushed all the way back down. We had nobody to relate to, just each other to cry to. We pushed our family away and the few friends we had away too. I made my best friend a stranger and my family into friends. We had so many unanswered questions and didn't know how to deal with any of it. We decided to wait... and not "try" for another baby for a while.


We're not on our time, We're on God's time. 

Well, 3 months later, I'm browsing in Hobby Lobby. I felt light headed and a little nauseous. I thought to myself, "I remember this feeling. Could I be pregnant? There's no way!?"... I immediately called my husband and he said, "No you can't be. Could you?" I wasted no time and went to the nearest store and bought another pregnancy test. This time, I bought only one test (this first time I bought about 8). I knew if God allowed me to get pregnant so soon again this had to be it for us. Thats why I only bought 1 test. I waited impatiently for my husband to get home from work that day. After taking my only test, it was positive!! 

We were excited, scared, anxious, and worried. I waited 2 weeks before setting my doctors appointment because I didn't want to be "to early" in my pregnancy. At our appointment we found out I was about 6-7 weeks pregnant. Our due date was November 3, 2013.

It was then when we realized or "thought" we should live a more secret life. Where we kept happy and exciting news to ourselves so we didn't have anyone hindering our joyous new chapter. After entering into our second trimester we found out our little miracle baby was a boy and we would name him, Gavin Noah.


Thing's we kept to ourselves...

There was no thought about it, we knew we wanted a natural birth. We hired a doula and a midwife to help us through it all. Here we were planning yet again, every little detail in our pregnancy. Just when we thought I had everything figured out again, God showed me other wise.

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes mid second trimester.

We thought, "Eh, not that big of a deal. I'm on a strict diet... thats better for baby and I anyways." Boy was I wrong. Gavin got to growing and growing fast. By 32/40 weeks he was about 6 lbs. thats about the average size of a newborn baby. Keep in mind I still had 8 weeks left in my pregnancy.

My stomach was pretty big and round. At 32 week I looked like I was having twins so by 35 weeks I looked like I was having triplets. No joke. People would stare at me as if I was some kind of alien.

I remember not feeling comfortable going to WalMart to buy a gallon of milk. My husband one day said to me, "Who cares if people stare!! Your pregnant Unique. Put your shoes on and lets go to the store." And so I did. We were buying things for our hospital bags that day. My husband then realized people do really stare at me so being the loving husband that he is... he caught a lady starring at me lol. I'll never forget he asked her, "What?? Can I help you?" I was really embarrassed but he was more upset. I was use to it at this point but he wasn't.

Gavin Noah's birth date

He was born October 28th at 38 weeks pregnant by c-section weighing 11 lbs. 2 oz. He had full lips and cheeks that looked like tennis balls were stuffed in them :) My little Noah was everything we dreamed of.

Being new parents, we could not believe a mother and newborn was to stay in the hospital for only 2-3 days. I kept saying to my husband, "Oh my gosh, they're just gonna send us home?? Then what?... What if we don't know what we're doing? What if, we don't know when to feed him?" LOL!! We managed.