Brei Family

We will be starting the process of having Abraham's IEP developed as he will phase out of Birth to Three in August and will be sent into the school system. Because we don't live in the same district that Abe will attend school, he needs to be "accepted" by the school district he will be attending in. Prayers are very welcome for this to be a smooth process.
His next "big" doctor appointment is May 2. At that time we will see a neurologist to find out more about the central sleep apnea and the seizure activity found on is EEG.
We continue to be thankful to everyone that has been so supportive, through prayers, well wishes, and donations on his site. Below is a short video of Abe singing in the car with Grandma Lue... she couldn't let him see the camera, or he would have stopped singing!
https://www.facebook.com/100000027086689/videos/569221711791508/

Well, we've hit another insurance snag in Abraham's treatment. The sleep study to help diagnose breathing difficulties, which was supposed to happen tonight, has been canceled by our insurance, as they denied our prior authorization request YESTERDAY afternoon. This request was submitted months ago. Since then, I've spent hours on the phone with doctors offices and the insurance company, trying to get this overturned. Unfortunately, it will not be done in time for him to go down to Children's tonight yet, but we are hopeful that it will be overturned so we can get him the very best treatment that he deserves. This mama will fight tooth and nail until my boy gets what he needs. Once again, a reminder that trusting God, also means trusting His timing.
On a side note, big brother, Isaiah, will be going in for a pretty intense dental surgery on December 27th down at Children's. Please keep him in your prayers through the surgery and healing process as well.
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. Blessings to you and on your holiday travels!
The Brei's
James, Kristin, Isaiah, and Abraham

Abe Update...
Abe has aged out of the developmental clinic at Children's with his last testing date yesterday. At 26.5 months, he's testing from 19-22 months. They referred him for neuropsych testing to see what services will be the most helpful as he gets to 3k age, as he will no longer be eligible for birth to 3 at that point either. Biggest concerns continue to be respiratory, especially heading into the fall/winter season again, and weaker core muscles. We will continue with his regular therapies for now and pray for more answers regarding the respiratory issues when we can finally have his sleep study done in December. Thank you for the continued prayers and support.
On a side note, he was the cutest dinosaur out there on Halloween!

Update:
Happy Friday y'all! Abe had a heck of a week, lots of blessings throughout. He managed the anesthesia on Monday like a champ and they found no hearing loss! We are still in awe and thank all of you for your prayers and support on Monday. Today we saw the orthopedist and he thinks he's ready to get rid of his braces and downgrade to inserts for his shoes! Yay for Abe! He's very excited to not have to wear the braces anymore.
Upcoming, we see pulmonologist at Children's next week. We are hopeful that they are able to narrow down some answers to the breathing issues. He seems to be doing better during the daytime now, but still struggles at night and tires very easily with exercise. We would love to have some direction on what we can be doing to help him in that realm. Then we continue with speech and physical therapy up until his sleep study in December.
Thank you all for the support, kind words, and check-ins on Monday. Truly meant the world to us! Love you all!

Update: We have been apprehensively approaching the date for Abe's ABR procedure. Lots of back and forth about whether or not he is ready to be going under anesthesia. We got new health insurance on September 1 (which, generally, is amazing) and we were informed earlier this week that this procedure needs to go through the preauthorization process in order to have it covered by our new insurance. That process normally takes a couple weeks, but our doctors are working hard to have this request expediated since there has been such delay in getting him in due to the breathing issues. If the new insurance gives prior authorization before Monday, Abraham will be going into the OR at precisely 9:56 am. He will be under anesthesia for about one hour during the procedure. Although this has been a long road already, it has certainly strengthened our faith. We pray that if Abraham's little body is not ready for anesthesia, that the Lord will intervene and not allow the prior authorization to go through. If the Lord knows he is ready for this procedure, we pray that they are able to move the request through the prior authorization process quickly. It is all in His hands now and we trust that He will lead the way. Thy will be done Lord.... thy will be done.
Thank you for the ongoing prayers and support. We feel unbelievably blessed to have all of you in our lives. Thank you!

We were able to get an earlier appointment with the ENT to try and have Abraham cleared for going under anesthesia. He ordered a sleep study to delve more into some of the breathing problems he is having. The sleep study will take months to get in for, but doctor feels like we should move ahead with hearing testing before we get results, as the hearing loss is progressive, and waiting several months before testing would leave him vulnerable to even more loss. Doctors at Children's Wisconsin are amazing and I know he wouldn't get better care anywhere else, but man it's scary stuff having him go under anesthesia! Please pray that the doctor's find this procedure helpful in finding the cause of Abe's hearing loss and the benefits will far outweigh the risks of the procedure.
Abe is two today! Crazy how that time flies! He has grown a whopping 33 lbs since being born! 4 lbs to 37 is quite the difference maker! He's a big boy, but also loves to snuggle at night. Spends a lot of time giggling with his big brother. We are so blessed to have him with us. Thank you all for your support. Blessings on the rest of your week!
The Brei's
James, Kristin, Isaiah, and Abraham

Prayers answered and prayers still needed...
We have been blessed in so many ways over the last week or so. Yesterday I was able to start a second job that will provide much better healthcare for our family moving forward. I can hardly wait for it to start next month! We will go from a very large family deductible to a much more minimal one (in comparison), but I will need to advocate for Abraham's specialists to be included in coverage. Prayers are needed for understanding from the new insurance company.
We have continued to be blessed with donations towards paying down our existing medical debt. Thank you all for that. We feel the love and promise to pay it forward ten times over in the future.
Additionally, we were offered an earlier appointment with the ENT at Children's which was moved up over an entire month to August 17th. This is one of Abe's very important appointments. They need to be able to do some testing regarding his hearing loss to see if there is anything they can do to slow it down or possibly even stop it. In order for them to do that testing, Abraham needs to be able to go under anesthesia. This appointment with the ENT should tell us if his breathing is stable enough for him to safely endure going under anesthesia. The fact that we were able to get in so much sooner to the ENT is a work of God. The longer we wait for the testing, the more hearing Abraham is losing, which will not be able to be recovered. Praise the Lord we can get in next week. Also, thank you to a silent donor that gave our family gas cards to help cover the costs of some of these runs to Children's. I am having to take unpaid time from work and gas is not cheap to attend these appointments so regularly, so thank you. Every little bit sure helps!
Abraham received his first "big boy" haircut over the weekend. Mama might have teared up some, but he looks so mature. Just wanted to share a picture of our little pork chop with all of you. Thank you again for the love, support, and prayers. Blessings on the rest of your week!
The Brei's
James, Kristin, Isaiah, and Abraham

First off, thank you to all who have donated already. This past week Abraham saw his pulmonologist. They found scarring on his lungs and both lungs are overinflated. We are unsure what is causing this. His breathing at nighttime is a concern, so we have a new breathing monitor in place to monitor it. He's also been started on some breathing treatments prior to bedtime to see if that helps at all.
Upcoming we have several rounds of therapy, hoping to help him build more core strength, a very important appointment with an ENT in September to have him cleared for a procedure to go under anesthesia, and then back to the pulmonologist to see if there has been any changes to his breathing.
His big brother, Isaiah, continues to struggle a great deal with separation anxiety. With all of these appointments, it's a challenge for him to be with different care providers. He returns to preschool in fall and we are hopeful for a smooth transition. He's such a good big brother, please also pray for him as Abe's appointments often impact his ability to manage his anxiety.
That's all for now, I've included a picture of the boys at the petting zoo at Life Fest, because we try to find joy in every day, even through the struggles. Blessings to all!