Saturday, September 26, 2009

A 10lb Wiggle Worm!

Time is flying by, it seriously needs to sloooooooooow down. Kaitlyn is almost 8 weeks old and the boys have been in school nearly a month. I keep waiting, hoping to settle in to our new normal, but it hasn't happened yet. Here's a little of whats been going on...

Brady started Kindergarten. He seems to be doing well, a lot better than me. He is 4 1/2 and is gone more time in a day then my husbands 8 hr work shift. He has several teachers and aides. They eat lunch in the cafeteria with the big kids which I don't like, as well as several other programs on top of the K-1 curriculum (music, art, gym, computers, and speech therapy) all with different teachers. I'm glad they have all the other programs for the kids it just seems like so much for a 4 yr old, a 45 minute computer class...really!!! Anyway, he's handling it better then me, that's all that's important, right?!

Bryce started preschool. He's doing good. He only goes 2 mornings a week which seems like just enough. He looks forward to school, but is also glad to have the days he gets to stay home with me. We've been able to have quality time together. He loves morning bike rides and baking cookies. The poor guy is really missing his brother though. They play hard all weekend!

Precious Kaitlyn! She is almost 8 weeks old and growing like crazy! A week ago at her check-up she was 10lbs! She's been sleeping threw the night for weeks now (8-9 hrs). She's been good to me. I was afraid the doctor was going to tell me to wake her up at night to feed her, but once they saw she was 10lbs it wasn't a concern. She is also quite a wiggle worm, she's rolled over a couple times now, once during an Early On appointment. Early On has been visiting weekly. They come to our house and she gets occupational therapy. They are working on head control, and laying the ground work for hand/eye coordination. She is right on track developmentally, I guess we are just trying to stay ahead of the game. They are encouraging her to take a pacifier. I went out and bought a few different kinds today, she just isn't interested and doesn't have the coordination. Building all the muscles in her mouth will help down the road, especially with speech. We've also been visiting the cardiologist in Grand Rapids. We go again on Wednesday. So far everything has been going good. She appears soooo healthy. It is crazy to think that she has that severe of a heart defect (AVSD). We haven't seen any signs of heart failure yet. They told us to watch for difficulty feeding, shortness of breath,and sweating. They anticipate these symptoms will start soon, so at our next visit they will start her on medication. Surgery will still happen in the next 2-4 months. Currently we are battling with the insurance company for them to allow us to have Kaitlyn's surgery at the University of Michigan (MOTTS). I'll leave that for another post.

For the most part things are good. We found a nearby family close to us with a little girl just months older then Kaitlyn. It will be nice to have local friends in our exact situation. No offense fellow bloggers! We will also be walking in our first Buddy Walk on October 10th. I'm amazed at all the support we've received from our close family and friends, it should be a fun day.

6 comments:

  1. I'm so glad things are going well and that Kaitlyn is doing so well. I can't believe she is rolling over already - way to go Kaitlyn!

    I'm also glad you have connected with another family. It makes such a big difference to have others to talk to!

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  2. What a little "grower" you have!! Lily only weighed 8 1/2 pounds when she had her heart surgery at 4 months. Now at 16 months, she still only weighs 17 pounds!! Lily never took to the pacifier either. While I understand why they encourage it, at least now I don't have to take it away from her :)

    Your children are beautiful!

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  3. Way to grow Kaitlyn!! I can't believe that she is already 8 weeks old. Seems like I just found your blog and you were still pregnant. Awesome that you have already found another family with Ds to connect with. Ella is almost 18 months old and I just found two little kiddos near us in the last 2 weeks. Before that, I only had my blogging family. Which is still my greatest support!! I am looking forward to more pictures of Kaitlyn. Enjoy every minute right now because it really does got incredibly fast!!!

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  4. Good job Kaitlyn!! Every time we see/saw a doctor, I hear, "wow - he's big - he doesn't look like a heart baby". Never showed any signs of heart failure.
    Yay for close friends too - it's so nice to have that close support - not just us far away bloggers :)

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  5. Your poor boys. That must be rough being separated like that. Good thing they have the weekends together. haha

    I'm praying the insurance company comes through for you & let's you get the surgery where you feel most comfortable.

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  6. It's so great that she's gaining weight! Makes for much easier surgery. And, I'm sorry to say, insurance companies were/are the WORST part of having a baby with a disability.

    I'm glad to hear that the boys are doing well with their schools. What a busy schedule!

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