ethan update

Both of Ethan's appointments this week went well! After needing a blood transfusion last Friday, his red cells seem to be growing on their own, once again. We believe he just needed a little bit extra of a cell dose to get him over the hump, but we hope the numbers will now start to climb higher and higher each week, on their own. He's not shown any signs of rash, fever or other concerns... and this continues to be a HUGE blessing. I woke up with a very sore throat this morning. Very sore! The "it hurts to swallow" kind of sore. So Adam took the day off of work - which required him to shuffle his day of meetings around quite a bit - but he didn't flinch one second at wanting to take care of his family. I am extremely appreciative for all he does for us!

So, Adam ended up taking Ethan to his outpatient visit today in Hartford, without me. It was my first time ever to miss one of Ethan's doctors visits... and I felt very sad about it, but I knew it was best that I not be with the little guy too much today until I knew whether or not I was contagious. I went to the doctor myself while they were out. Looks my illness might be allergy related - which would be fantastic! Since allergies aren't contagious. And I showed "negative" on a strep throat test - which is also fantastic! However, the doctor did warn that I could still be in the early stages of something developing, but hopefully, it's just allergies and the meds she gave will take care of it. I also got a flu shot. Anyway, if you think about it, pray that Ethan is protected over these next several months of cold/flu season. Pray his body is fully protected from any infection... because as you know, any infection, even a small cold, could be quite dangerous for him.

Oh! I also wanted to thank you for praying for the prayer requests I gave about Ethan's aversion to eating from a spoon (jar food) and his sitting up. I've been soooo encouraged in both of these areas of development! He takes food regularly from a jar now - he doesn't eat a ton of it, but he lets you feed it to him and he doesn't shy away from it thinking that it's medicine! This is such a sweet answer to pray for me. Also, we've been practicing sitting up. He's getting much better! He doesn't have it mastered yet, but he's getting much stronger and can sit alone for longer periods of time before falling over. His ability to develop into all of the stages that a normal baby should, is a daily prayer of mine. Next week he turns 9 months old.... I simply can't believe it.

And finally, since it's okay for Ethan to be outside (but away from large groups of people) last weekend Adam and I took Ethan out to enjoy the nice Fall weather. It was such a wonderful day to be out together as a family. Ethan got such a kick out of seeing everything, too... colorful trees, ducks, and all kinds of stuff!

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