Wow, it has been a long time but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, as I have been thinking about you all and miss creating content so very much!
It’s been a crazy last several years. As many of you know I had my baby girl, Olivia, who is now 4 and little Jack right before she turned 3. The little man is now 16 months and so much fun!
Many tell me these kids look like copy/paste of each other or that I made the same kid twice lol. Yes, they look related as you can clearly see here, even in their newborn photos.
I had to pull away when Livy was born. I didn’t give any information as to why. But I feel far away enough from the trauma to update you all.
She was born perfectly healthy, but at 2 months old received the Rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix). She ended up actually getting rotavirus from it and got so sick that it damaged her stomach. She ended up with viral gastroparesis (stomach paralysis), where the vagus nerve becomes damaged. Her stomach would empty very slowly. Essentially, she was never hungry and wouldn’t eat - unless drowsy and unaware. I could get her to take a bottle while asleep.
No one initially believed me that something was wrong because she looked healthy. I had a crazy routine with her that kept her nourished while asleep. I was dismissed so many times! I kept her alive by “dream feeding” her until she wouldn’t do it anymore by 8 months. She was too aware. She then had to be fed by NG tube until her permanent g tube. It took a few years to prove what I knew had happened. Lots of gastric emptying studies, proving how slow her stomach was. Lots of endoscopies to try to find any abnormalities that could be seen. Poor kid also ended up with EoE and FPIES (food related allergies - somehow all related to how screwed up her digestion got).
She’s been on a feeding tube these last 4 years and only just recently her stomach is emptying at a more normal rate! Her vagus nerve is healing! Though any time she gets a virus of some sort her stomach emptying slows again - though not as severely. We hope she will take interest in food as she gets older and understands more. It’s been a long road!
I was so scared and consumed by not knowing initially what was wrong and fighting to keep her growing and healthy that I’ve had no time in my life for pretty much anything else.
We had our son right before Livy turned 3. The sweetest little man imaginable. We were hoping his example would help her learn to eat, seeing a normal example of development. Nope lol. Livy is her own person and she’s going to develop and do things at her own speed. That’s ok!
I’ve had to learn to be ok with many things and just “go with it”.
Life is still hard with 2 small children and very busy! I’m feeling less scared now. Thank the Lord, I know both my kiddos will be ok. As I emerge from this very hard chapter I’m thinking about what comes next.
I would love to return to making content in some capacity! I don’t know what that looks like yet or when. Just hoping I can!
Thank you for reading! I hope you are all doing well!
Erica Griffin
Wow, it has been a long time but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, as I have been thinking about you all and miss creating content so very much!
It’s been a crazy last several years. As many of you know I had my baby girl, Olivia, who is now 4 and little Jack right before she turned 3. The little man is now 16 months and so much fun!
Many tell me these kids look like copy/paste of each other or that I made the same kid twice lol. Yes, they look related as you can clearly see here, even in their newborn photos.
I had to pull away when Livy was born. I didn’t give any information as to why. But I feel far away enough from the trauma to update you all.
She was born perfectly healthy, but at 2 months old received the Rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix). She ended up actually getting rotavirus from it and got so sick that it damaged her stomach. She ended up with viral gastroparesis (stomach paralysis), where the vagus nerve becomes damaged. Her stomach would empty very slowly. Essentially, she was never hungry and wouldn’t eat - unless drowsy and unaware. I could get her to take a bottle while asleep.
No one initially believed me that something was wrong because she looked healthy. I had a crazy routine with her that kept her nourished while asleep. I was dismissed so many times! I kept her alive by “dream feeding” her until she wouldn’t do it anymore by 8 months. She was too aware. She then had to be fed by NG tube until her permanent g tube. It took a few years to prove what I knew had happened. Lots of gastric emptying studies, proving how slow her stomach was. Lots of endoscopies to try to find any abnormalities that could be seen. Poor kid also ended up with EoE and FPIES (food related allergies - somehow all related to how screwed up her digestion got).
She’s been on a feeding tube these last 4 years and only just recently her stomach is emptying at a more normal rate! Her vagus nerve is healing! Though any time she gets a virus of some sort her stomach emptying slows again - though not as severely. We hope she will take interest in food as she gets older and understands more. It’s been a long road!
I was so scared and consumed by not knowing initially what was wrong and fighting to keep her growing and healthy that I’ve had no time in my life for pretty much anything else.
We had our son right before Livy turned 3. The sweetest little man imaginable. We were hoping his example would help her learn to eat, seeing a normal example of development. Nope lol. Livy is her own person and she’s going to develop and do things at her own speed. That’s ok!
I’ve had to learn to be ok with many things and just “go with it”.
Life is still hard with 2 small children and very busy! I’m feeling less scared now. Thank the Lord, I know both my kiddos will be ok. As I emerge from this very hard chapter I’m thinking about what comes next.
I would love to return to making content in some capacity! I don’t know what that looks like yet or when. Just hoping I can!
Thank you for reading! I hope you are all doing well!
1 week ago | [YT] | 851