Baby Remy’s Healing Journey

Hi all! I haven’t updated Remy’s FB page (Prayers For Baby Remy) in a while. To be honest, my wonderful sister, Karen, started the page. She managed it until she went back to the real world teaching and running her Black Mountain Cakes business (she was in between semesters when Remy’s accident happened). She even helped manage my personal FB page! Once she went back to the real world, she handed the page over to me. The thought of managing the page made me laugh. I barely have enough time to shower myself! Ha! Anyways, I went on about with my life as a mom and wife (which involves teaching Zander who’s in 1st grade, cooking, cleaning, nursing Remy, caring for Remy, refereeing the boys, cleaning, grocery shopping, running errands, running our home based business, annnnd did I say cleaning?) and making that my priority. I’m gonna to post pictures and write about each one of them. How does that sound? Good, I hope. If not, then turn around, and look at the flowers (you Walking Dead fans should get this).

First off, if you’re new and don’t what happen to Remy, here’s what happened. The night of December 20th, 2014, my family (John, me, and our three boys) traveled to my parents’ house after my husband got off work. We were to spend Saturday evening and Sunday there for Christmas since we were to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Richmond, VA with my husband’s family (we alternate every year). Not too long after we arrived there, Remy pulled the plug connected to a crockpot full of scalding hot wassail (apple cider) and caused it to spill onto himself. My mom and I were but a few feet away in the same room. We weren’t able to stop it quick enough. It was the most horrifying thing I have seen in my life. In a flash, Remy and I went from being in our minivan on the way to my home sweet home to being airlifted in a helicopter to Baptist hospital in Winston Salem, NC.

Anyways, all is well now. The nightmare part is over. All his open wounds healed beautifully. He has to wear his pressure garments on his legs for a year to prevent the scarring from raising. He gets his daily bath and scrub. I rub cream on him more three times a day. And he gets loved on all day, everyday, and all night, everynight.

Here’s me and Remy playing at Grandma and Grandpa’s house!

Here’s how freaking red his face gets when he plays hard with Daddy!

Soaps I use for his daily bath. I got the new bars out for pretty picture. I use Healing Spirit Bath & Body‘s homemade soap bars. My mother/father-in-law run this business and make the homemade soaps themselves. We’re so lucky! The store bought soaps are just too toxic for Remy’s skin! Too harsh and filled with unnecessary chemicals. Remy needed a gentle soap for his sensitive skin. I use like using Oatmeal Honey for Remy. It’s a favorite of ours.

While I’m running the bathwater, I scoop out some coconut oil and melt them in the running water. I put in a couple drops of Lavender essential oil as well. Coconut oil is great for moisturizing his legs. It prevents his skin from drying out after sitting in water which is common for burn victims. Lavender essential oil has some wonderful healing properties that promote skin healing and helps prevent scarring. I waited till all his open wounds closed up to use this! This was purchased from my sister’s friend, Kelly Mata, who carries this product. I ordered from her website here. Just heads up, you do have to sign up as a retail costumer before proceeding to order.

Here’s a recent picture of his right leg. I made it PG rated too. I had to withhold the urge to doodle all over this picture- like doodling a mustache on his face or something.

How stinking cute is my Cutey McCute Cute?!

The back of his right leg. I love his butt dimples!

Remy’s care basket!

So, I have this wonderful friend that I knew growing up as a child. We reconnected on FB. It had been YEARS since we saw each other. Turns out we have a lot in common! She has become my ‘God Sent’ friend. I keep calling her that. She reached out and offered to make Remy a homemade batch of body butter with nothing but healing, wholesome ingredients! She gave me a list of herbs that are in the body cream that supports skin healing, helps with scarring, and helps with itchiness: Comfrey, St. John’s Wort, Calendula, Gotu Kola, Plantain, Lavender, Chamomile. Each herb has different properties that complement the others’ goals. She also made a separate jar of another cream with Chickweed and coconut oil for itching. Amazing, right?! Please support her FB page here and her blog here; she really is amazing. I LOVE Remy’s body cream.

My sister’s friend who I mentioned earlier, Kelly Mata, as a gift, made this wonderful healing oil to put on his feet!

His pressure garments! Remy has three sets.

I was sad to let cloth diapering go since they were a bit too bulky for his garments. I tried cloth diaper a couple times, and it prevented his garments from putting pressure on his upper thigh of his right leg. So out with cloth diapers and in with disposable diapers. They are famous for leaking if your baby is extremely mobile and active anyways.

His sleeping arrangement for now, right by his mama’s bedside.

Again, a wonderful gift from my sister’s friend Kelly (isn’t she wonderful?). I was desperate for something to help Remy sleep at nights. I had heard Lavender and Cedarwood were essential oils that helps combat sleeplessness. So I use this diffuser to diffuse the essential oils throughout the bedroom Remy sleeps in. It’s nice to walk into the room and immediately feel calm and relaxed.

These are my vitamins that I have had my kids on. We have been using these vitamins as a family for four years now. I’ll be honest. They are the reason we gave up health insurance. My kids and I hardly ever get sick!! When we do, we get well quick. When we were on health insurance before Remy made his appearance, we paid out of pocket, hundreds of dollars every month only to never use them. We even paid out of pocket for Liam’s birth which the health insurance didn’t cover because of the deductible. We did the math, if one of our kids ended up with a broken arm, it would be cheaper to pay for it, seriously. That’s why we didn’t renew shortly before Remy arrived. But little did we know….. I think you can fill in the rest.

Remy drinks his activated Multivitamin Plus every morning. I have the other boys on a regular Isotonix Multivitamins. The vitamins are crucial for skin healing. I put Remy’s probiotic powder in his smoothies or yogurt or applesauce. He only takes it two or three times a week; I still breast feed him so his gut is pretty healthy. It’s great to keep his gut in good shape for nutrient absorption. I give him a small dose of Vitamin C and Vitamin D (D3 w/ K2) which are great for skin healing as well. He has to stay out of the sun for a year which can cause Vitamin D deficiency. I put them in his homemade gummies. I’ll post recipe for that too. Last, but not least, I give him his fish oil. Studies have shown that omega 3 supplementation have improved sleep among children receiving the supplement. This is so true! I noticed he wakes up more at nights on days he skips his fish oil! Never again.

I give Remy a SMALL, TINY dose of each Magnesium and L-Tryptophan (the kind from turkey) to help him sleep at nights. They work wonders. He still wakes up occasionally because of the itchiness on his right leg. It happens when his leg starts drying out during the night. I put more cream on his leg, change his diaper, nurse him, and put him back down probably twice a night. I noticed the L-Tryptophan helped him get back to his normal self. What he went through was absolutely traumatic. For a while, the the doctors had him on anxiety medication to keep him calm. So, the L-Tryptophan was great for getting him back to his normal crazy self.

This stuff is omg-awesome. I found out about these particular brand, Vital Proteins (collagen protein), through WellnessMama, a blog which I adore. I’ve always been a big fan of using gelatin (which is collagen) for making gummies. I make homemade bone broth and love the gelatin it produces. I’ve always heard it was great for hair, skin, and nail growth. It was like a light went off. I needed to get Remy on collagen protein!! The dietitians at Shriner’s Hospital firmly expressed how important it was for Remy to get sufficient amount of protein. In fact, he had to have a whopping 48 grams of protein a day. It dawned on me, collagen is a protein, and a wonderful source of different types of protein. Did you know that your skin is made mostly of collagen protein? I did, I just forgot. Collagen is know as the skin’s cement. This product contains 18 different types of amino acids (protein) including the essential amino acids (which the body cannot make). I thought how great would this be for Remy’s skin?! Yes, you bet I’m excited. I have started him and myself on this. For example, I use a scoop for a cup of my homemade Vanilla latte as well as for Remy’s smoothie.  I’ll post another blog on how to use this omg-awesome stuff.

In case you haven’t noticed by now, I take mine and my family’s health serious. I still breastfeed Remy, so I make sure to take these vitamins: Activated Prenatal, OPC-3, Vitamin D (D3 w/ K2), Vitamin C, Fish oil, and probiotic (I only take probiotic 3-4 times a week). I want my breast milk to be pure gold for Remy!

Ok, it’s time for me to wrap this blog up. This place we call our home is getting dirtier and dirtier. I promised this blog to be posted yesterday, but we had some Valentine shenanigan going on ❤ I just wanted to share everything, I mean, everything we are doing for Remy. I have always prayed for God to give me wisdom on how to eat and live a healthy lifestyle. I’m always eager to learn all that I can to benefit mine and my family’s health. He sure does answer prayers. Trust me, I know. He answered prayers that went up for Remy. Baby Remy is some sort of a miracle, don’t you think? I love my little chunky booger butt. Thank you for reading and for all your support. We truly couldn’t have gotten this far without you guys. Happy belated Valentine’s Day to you.