Potty Praises

One month.  Somehow it's already been an entire month, but it seriously seems like yesterday since I wrote this post ::Diaper Days to Diaper Years:: updating you on an area that we were desperate for friends and family to join us in praying over.

I KNOW that God is able to do anything at all in this world, no matter how impossible it seems (or how "unimportant" it may feel)...but I just really didn't know what to expect or even what those answered prayers would look like.  I was prepared for months of agonizing over this issue.  I had no idea how to know if those "big issues" (like nerve damage) were going to get in our way or how to really TRAIN Bryleigh on using the potty (other than telling her every 5 seconds to go sit on the potty...which hadn't worked).

We had/have a follow up appointment set up for March with our GI doctor.  I really thought we were going to painfully pass the days until that appointment, giving it our very best effort, and then I would bring up all of my questions and concerns to him, hoping he would be able to help us figure out about things like nerve damage and tips to keeping the pull up clean and dry.

{{BUT GOD.}}  God had FAR better plans for us.  He has spent the last month reminding us that HE is in control of our lives, that He loves our girl far more than we could ever imagine, that He has good plans for us, and that He cares about every little thing that affects us (including potty training).

In the last month, this one has worked like daddy, baked a cake from scratch, 

gone grocery shopping, taken her bible to church and bible study, 

played massive amounts of dress up, danced in the rain, 

and...CRUSHED IT AT POTTY TRAINING.

The month started with enthusiasm from Bryleigh.  A very quick answer to prayer there.  She was genuinely on board with the potty training and began to take ownership of what we were doing, as opposed to the crying and major anxiety any time we had tried in the past.

A big breakthrough came for us when I sat on the couch at their chiropractor's office  (which has become beneficial beyond anything I could have ever imagined or could begin to explain) a week after my last blog post, and she opened up my eyes to where we truly were.  She encouraged us to treat the potty training area of B's life as if she were a 2 year old, since that is essentially where her body was in the process.  We talked through that and it really made sense to me.  Taking the anger/discipline out of it, I feel, was a huge turning point for all of us.  That one conversation freed me from getting so upset over her not "getting it," which made her 100 times more comfortable.

The next big breakthrough came the following week when I was getting Will out of the bathtub and ready for bed - which includes drying him off, dressing him, brushing his teeth, combing his hair...etc - and Bryleigh informed me (while still in the bath) she needed to use the potty.  I told her to hold it as best she could and I'd get to her as quick as possible.  I rushed the process with Will, and as I was coming back into the bathroom, she had a look of terror on her face...she had just peed in the bath.  And you know what, Brad (on FaceTime) and I CHEERED FOR HER.  We cheered for her because she KNEW she needed to potty and then she held it for a good 10 minutes while I tried to get Will taken care of.  We let her know over and over how proud of her we were, and for the first time I really felt like we were going to be able to give this a good shot.  This meant that she had enough nerves/feeling to know when she needed to go and the ability to hold it, at least for some time. HUGE ANSWER TO PRAYER AND MAJOR PRAISE!!!! We've praised God for this a million times since that moment.

Since that day we've taken steps forwards and backwards and sideways and every other way, but here we are a month later, and I can honestly say our girl is making major progress.  The last two weeks have been major steps forward to getting her completely trained and ready for PRESCHOOL in the fall...which coincidentally registration opens up TODAY.  I never imagined this day would come and we'd be able to confidently sign her up.  I really thought we'd be holding out until the very last moment praying there was a spot still open and then praying every day that she'd make it through with no accidents (which I will probably still do...). BUT GOD.