the "modified barium swallow" test

Well, we had a little trouble leaving the apartment for the hospital this afternoon.

In the half hour before our scheduled departure, we discovered not one, but TWO things we had thrown away that needed to be retrieved from the dumpster outside:

1. The shoebox for my husband's new sneakers we bought yesterday.  After wearing them for like 5 minutes they turned his foot red.

2. The receipt from that day's Kroger trip.  I discovered I had somehow left a huge box of Huggies at the store.  And wouldn't you know, they didn't even check my receipt when I showed up to retrieve the diapers.

Thankfully, we had been aiming to leave early, so we weren't late for our appointment.  (Can I get a round of applause, please?  I feel we deserve it.)

Poor Silas wasn't allowed to eat after 10:30, and the appointment was at 1:30.  He was pretty cranky about not getting his after-nap-milk.  But he cheered up in time to charm the receptionist and the nurses with his good humor.

I was super impressed with Kosair Children's Hospital.  They were fast, friendly, and really kid-friendly.  Everything was fun and brightly colored, and the staff made Si feel at ease.  They took us into radiology and put Silas in a little chair, sort of like a booster seat.  They mixed barium into some different substances (thin liquid, thick liquid, and solid) and watched it move through his esophagus on a moving x-ray.  It was pretty cool, actually!  Silas was so hungry and didn't mind the barium at all.  The radiologist said he was the best one-year-old she's ever had in there.  The only time he whined was when they stopped feeding him. :)  We got to watch the barium travel through his system; it looked black on the screen...so amazing the way the human body works!

The radiologist and speech therapist told us that everything looked normal.  We weren't too surprised, but it was bittersweet.  On one hand, we're glad they didn't find anything wrong, but on the other hand it would have been great to know what is causing all of Silas' issues.

We have another test on Monday, this one is similar (watching barium move through his system) but a little bit more invasive.

Please pray that the Lord would give our pediatrician wisdom as he reviews these results, and that we would be peaceful in trusting the Lord through more uncertainty.

Three new things Silas has started in the last few days...

1. I have found him on his tummy in his crib several times!  I know this doesn't seem like a big deal probably, but he has never done it before!

2. Silas straightens his high chair posture when we ask him to.  Isn't that funny?  We say, "Sit up straight like a big boy," and he gets a big grin and slowly straightens up.  I don't give this kid enough credit...he understands more than I think!

3. Today for the first time, when Silas fell from his standing position at the coffee table (his favorite position, by the way), he plopped down on his bum.  Usually when he falls, he is stiff as a board and hits his head on the floor.  But this time he totally did what he was supposed to do!  I think our practice on the therapy ball is paying off!