Here is my "Hokey Pokey Man"! Hope you all enjoy!!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Speech Therapy
We have been on the wait list at Shands (University of Florida) to get Ethan into their program for speech therapy. They called yesterday around noon and said they had a cancellation and wanted to know if we could come in. I jumped at the chance and we went. Jake was even able to get off of work a little early to join us, which was really nice since I had a lot of paperwork to fill out and that would've been hard to do by myself with Ethan.
We met with a really nice, young therapist and a student. They basically just asked Jake and I a lot of questions about what he is able to and not able to do. Then at the end they went over the results with us. He is around 4 months behind and delayed in his expressive speech. They recommend therapy for a greater than 3 month delay. She would like him to do 2 half hour sessions a week. (All of this is stuff that my awesome friend Megan has already told us, this just officially confirmed everything.) There is a federally funded program called "Early Steps" for kids that are under 3 years old where they will pay for speech therapy. The therapist recommended that I contact them immediately to get into the program (which I did yesterday, but had to leave a message). She said he will probably need to be tested in other areas such as physical therapy and occupational therapy in order to get into that program. Shands is an Early Steps provider so now we are "on the list" waiting for a biweekly appointment time at Shands. In the mean time they did give us some exercises that we can do with him at home, which I found really great...helped me to not feel completely helpless!
We are making progress in getting him and us help, it is just a lot of red tape and phone calls. Thankfully God decided that I needed to be a stay at home mom for awhile...I smile now as I think, "all things happen for a reason" (sometimes we just can't see why things happen right away, but if we are lucky they become clear later on). Thanks to everyone for your prayers, advice, and concerns for Ethan! We are truly blessed with an amazing kid and can't wait for the world to hear what is going on in that head!
We met with a really nice, young therapist and a student. They basically just asked Jake and I a lot of questions about what he is able to and not able to do. Then at the end they went over the results with us. He is around 4 months behind and delayed in his expressive speech. They recommend therapy for a greater than 3 month delay. She would like him to do 2 half hour sessions a week. (All of this is stuff that my awesome friend Megan has already told us, this just officially confirmed everything.) There is a federally funded program called "Early Steps" for kids that are under 3 years old where they will pay for speech therapy. The therapist recommended that I contact them immediately to get into the program (which I did yesterday, but had to leave a message). She said he will probably need to be tested in other areas such as physical therapy and occupational therapy in order to get into that program. Shands is an Early Steps provider so now we are "on the list" waiting for a biweekly appointment time at Shands. In the mean time they did give us some exercises that we can do with him at home, which I found really great...helped me to not feel completely helpless!
We are making progress in getting him and us help, it is just a lot of red tape and phone calls. Thankfully God decided that I needed to be a stay at home mom for awhile...I smile now as I think, "all things happen for a reason" (sometimes we just can't see why things happen right away, but if we are lucky they become clear later on). Thanks to everyone for your prayers, advice, and concerns for Ethan! We are truly blessed with an amazing kid and can't wait for the world to hear what is going on in that head!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Second Time Around
My doctor's appointment went fairly well today. My blood pressure was slightly elevated, but nothing to be concerned with yet. I've also gained a fair amount of weight (although I'm still not close to where I was with Ethan yet). I am currently measuring 1.5 weeks ahead, baby around Easter?! My next appointment is 2 weeks away...
We are under 70 days until I am officially due! Holy cow!! I feel as if I have so much to do yet before this baby arrives, but in all honesty all I really have to do is unpack Ethan's stuff that has been stored away. Things really are so different the second time around. There is no excitement of the unknown and reading baby books to find out "what next week will bring", no buying all new maternity clothes, no registering for baby gifts, no wandering the baby isles trying to figure out "what on earth do we really need", no researching car seats, no "congratulations, we are so excited" cards and baby gifts, no baby showers, no weekly belly shots, no scrapbook (yet anyway, who am I kidding like that will ever happen), no big decisions to be made as far as going back to work, etc. What I have missed the most this time around was the quiet time I had when I worked nights (on a good night anyway), I would have a period of time that it was quiet and I could talk to Ethan and dream about what he would be like and what it would be like to be a mom. But I hope this baby knows, despite all that, how very much he/she is loved and wanted...the excitement and fear I have of being a mom to two children, the excitement there is on whether or not this is a boy or a girl, the excitement of meeting this new personality, etc. A whole new level of anticipation!
I love you baby and I'm so very excited for you to join us!
We are under 70 days until I am officially due! Holy cow!! I feel as if I have so much to do yet before this baby arrives, but in all honesty all I really have to do is unpack Ethan's stuff that has been stored away. Things really are so different the second time around. There is no excitement of the unknown and reading baby books to find out "what next week will bring", no buying all new maternity clothes, no registering for baby gifts, no wandering the baby isles trying to figure out "what on earth do we really need", no researching car seats, no "congratulations, we are so excited" cards and baby gifts, no baby showers, no weekly belly shots, no scrapbook (yet anyway, who am I kidding like that will ever happen), no big decisions to be made as far as going back to work, etc. What I have missed the most this time around was the quiet time I had when I worked nights (on a good night anyway), I would have a period of time that it was quiet and I could talk to Ethan and dream about what he would be like and what it would be like to be a mom. But I hope this baby knows, despite all that, how very much he/she is loved and wanted...the excitement and fear I have of being a mom to two children, the excitement there is on whether or not this is a boy or a girl, the excitement of meeting this new personality, etc. A whole new level of anticipation!
I love you baby and I'm so very excited for you to join us!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Pink Eye
I spoke too soon on Monday when I said we were all healthy again. Ethan woke up Monday morning with nearly crusted shut eyes that were really puffy and bloodshot. I called the Dr. office and they were gracious enough to call in a prescription so I didn't have to bring him in. Ugh, I swear when will this microbiology lab experiment end in our house?! E's eye is much, much better now, but let me tell you that putting eye drops in a 2 year old is not an easy thing (especially by yourself) and we get to do this for 5 more days! Poor kid!
Mozart?
Ethan loves entertaining us with his little piano (he insists on keeping his piano on the end table next to the couch). He walks up to it and stretches out his arms and then starts pounding away and loves it when you cheer. It is hard to get it on video though as he usually stops to say "cheese" the minute he sees the camera so this is the best I could do. Hope you enjoy our little Mozart!
X-Box
Well Jake thought it was time to introduce Ethan to the world of X-Box. Yup, before long they will be off playing golf and X-Box and I will be a thing of the past! Ethan has a "Cars" racing game and actually isn't half bad...I think by the time he turns 3 he will easily have me beat! The other night he fell asleep while playing X-Box, it was quite funny to watch his head bob as he was trying so hard to stay awake.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Healthy again?
I finally got a call back Thursday at dinner time from my OB office and she authorized an antibiotic for me, thank God! When I woke up Friday morning, my ear had drained however I was still feeling yucky and in a lot of pain. Ethan and I laid pretty low for the day, not leaving the house. Saturday I was still pretty icky, but really wanted to go out so we did a little geocaching. By late Saturday I knew I was actually on the road to recovery and slept great Saturday night. I had a lot of congestion still yesterday, but finally moving to clear drainage. This is the worst upper respiratory infection I can remember having since I was like 12 years old and got hospitalized for pneumonia. Ugh!!! It just wouldn't go away and I had it all; sore throat, cough, sinus crap, and the worst was my ear. I am super, super, super exhausted and really pray that is won't be like this for the remainder of my pregnancy. I am counting the days until the end of the month when I go to Charleston, SC for a few days with my two wonderful girlfriends for some much needed R&R.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Glucose Test is OVER!
Thank you, thank you for your prayers!
Well I am back from my glucose tolerance test. Yup, everyone that warned me was absolutely correct it sucks. I don't do well not eating (when I'm not pregnant) so going through this was not pleasant. They do 4 blood draws from you and they missed 3 out of the 4 sticks so I ended up with 7 total. They also refused to draw from any other place but my a.c. (elbow area), which the absolute best place to stick me is my wrist. I have been a pin cushion for plenty of medic students so that didn't bother me as much as drinking that crap that they make you drink. I really, really thought I was going to vomit after drinking that stuff, so I spent the first hour praying, praying, praying that I would make it and not have to go through it again. Well God answered all the prayers that came my way because I was able to keep it down and get through the test. Hopefully the results will be good, they should be back on Monday.
Now I have an incredible headache as a result of not eating, this ear thing that I have going on, and no morning coffee! So I am going to lay down for awhile with Ethan and rest (at least I hope he agrees with that)! O' yeah, my right ear is still clogged and I can't hear anything out of it (21 hours now). I called my primary dr. who can get me in next Tuesday (that's helpful) and still waiting to hear back from my OB. But it hurts like crazy and is making me dizzy and off balance so I hope and pray it clears soon!
Thanks to everyone for your prayers and Jamie for watching Ethan (and staying a little longer than I originally anticipated)!
Well I am back from my glucose tolerance test. Yup, everyone that warned me was absolutely correct it sucks. I don't do well not eating (when I'm not pregnant) so going through this was not pleasant. They do 4 blood draws from you and they missed 3 out of the 4 sticks so I ended up with 7 total. They also refused to draw from any other place but my a.c. (elbow area), which the absolute best place to stick me is my wrist. I have been a pin cushion for plenty of medic students so that didn't bother me as much as drinking that crap that they make you drink. I really, really thought I was going to vomit after drinking that stuff, so I spent the first hour praying, praying, praying that I would make it and not have to go through it again. Well God answered all the prayers that came my way because I was able to keep it down and get through the test. Hopefully the results will be good, they should be back on Monday.
Now I have an incredible headache as a result of not eating, this ear thing that I have going on, and no morning coffee! So I am going to lay down for awhile with Ethan and rest (at least I hope he agrees with that)! O' yeah, my right ear is still clogged and I can't hear anything out of it (21 hours now). I called my primary dr. who can get me in next Tuesday (that's helpful) and still waiting to hear back from my OB. But it hurts like crazy and is making me dizzy and off balance so I hope and pray it clears soon!
Thanks to everyone for your prayers and Jamie for watching Ethan (and staying a little longer than I originally anticipated)!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Update
I know I need to update pictures (which I have been sooo bad about taking again), maybe later today I will get around to doing that. Sorry that I haven't been more up to date with things as I have been trying to get over this horrible upper respiratory infection that won't go away!! Grrr!
Well I wanted everyone to know that we have begun the process of getting Ethan evaluated for speech and occupational therapy. Ethan to this day still does not call me "ma-ma" and rarely strings two words together other than "hi, dog" or "help, please". I brought up concerns to the pediatrician who said we could wait until he was 4 and shouldn't be concerned. I have heard from many, many people that "their kid didn't talk until 3 and then was a non-stop chatterbox" and "he's a boy". I thought once I would be home with him full time that things would get better, and instead I almost feel as if he has regressed in his language development. After many prayers and conversations with friends who are trained in this area (speech and occupational therapy), I have decided that it is time to trust my gut as a mother. It is hard and frustrating for him not to communicate and it is hard on me during the day when I can't figure out what he wants. It is also extremely hard for me to be around other kids his age as it is then very obvious that he is nothing like any of them, so I have in essence felt somewhat isolated (which is my own fault). I don't know of anyone close to Ethan in age right now that is going through this, but by starting to talk about it I have sure found some great moms that have been down this road before and have been guiding me in the right direction. I think it is mainly scary and overwhelming because it is unfamiliar territory for me. I know what to do for a broken bone or a cut finger, but how do you teach someone to talk? I have learned that just because I don't know what to do doesn't mean I'm going into uncharted waters, God has brought wonderful "angels" to our life to help (that have been there all along, I just had to ask). With some assistance and guidance we will get through this and Ethan will hopefully soon be "talking up a storm". Please pray for Ethan and we will keep everyone updated....
I will be at 29 weeks tomorrow! Wow, where did this pregnancy go?! I feel totally unprepared for this baby, but yet not stressed about not being prepared. I really love being pregnant, but I felt like I haven't really been able to enjoy most of this pregnancy because every time I turn around I'm fighting off some bug or trying to recover after having some bug. Well I took my 1 hour glucose tolerance test last week and failed so I now have to go through a 3 hour fasting glucose test. UGH! I'm hoping that I didn't pass because I was sick last week when I went, but tomorrow is the day. Everyone that I have talked to that has been through it says it is awful, so say some extra prayers for me too. This pregnancy has been nothing like Ethan, every time I turn around I'm either sick or some test comes up "abnormal" which is so frustrating because I feel like I have taken way better care of myself this time than the last.
Well I wanted everyone to know that we have begun the process of getting Ethan evaluated for speech and occupational therapy. Ethan to this day still does not call me "ma-ma" and rarely strings two words together other than "hi, dog" or "help, please". I brought up concerns to the pediatrician who said we could wait until he was 4 and shouldn't be concerned. I have heard from many, many people that "their kid didn't talk until 3 and then was a non-stop chatterbox" and "he's a boy". I thought once I would be home with him full time that things would get better, and instead I almost feel as if he has regressed in his language development. After many prayers and conversations with friends who are trained in this area (speech and occupational therapy), I have decided that it is time to trust my gut as a mother. It is hard and frustrating for him not to communicate and it is hard on me during the day when I can't figure out what he wants. It is also extremely hard for me to be around other kids his age as it is then very obvious that he is nothing like any of them, so I have in essence felt somewhat isolated (which is my own fault). I don't know of anyone close to Ethan in age right now that is going through this, but by starting to talk about it I have sure found some great moms that have been down this road before and have been guiding me in the right direction. I think it is mainly scary and overwhelming because it is unfamiliar territory for me. I know what to do for a broken bone or a cut finger, but how do you teach someone to talk? I have learned that just because I don't know what to do doesn't mean I'm going into uncharted waters, God has brought wonderful "angels" to our life to help (that have been there all along, I just had to ask). With some assistance and guidance we will get through this and Ethan will hopefully soon be "talking up a storm". Please pray for Ethan and we will keep everyone updated....
I will be at 29 weeks tomorrow! Wow, where did this pregnancy go?! I feel totally unprepared for this baby, but yet not stressed about not being prepared. I really love being pregnant, but I felt like I haven't really been able to enjoy most of this pregnancy because every time I turn around I'm fighting off some bug or trying to recover after having some bug. Well I took my 1 hour glucose tolerance test last week and failed so I now have to go through a 3 hour fasting glucose test. UGH! I'm hoping that I didn't pass because I was sick last week when I went, but tomorrow is the day. Everyone that I have talked to that has been through it says it is awful, so say some extra prayers for me too. This pregnancy has been nothing like Ethan, every time I turn around I'm either sick or some test comes up "abnormal" which is so frustrating because I feel like I have taken way better care of myself this time than the last.
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