Lincoln says Happy Halloween!! :)
09/07/26
3 days ago
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Not the best news at today's OB appt.
Good News:
Baby girl looked generally okay. She had all the parts a baby girl is supposed to have; Stomach, kidneys, legs, arms, face, lips, brain, open hands, normal looking feet, heart w/ 4 chambers, nothing between the legs, umbilical cord. My cervix looked fine, and the placenta that we share looked normal.
Not So Good News:
Her legs and arms are measuring about a week to two weeks behind the rest of her. Her head circ. was measuring 18w3d. Her abdominal circ. was measuring 18w5d. Her humerous was measuring 17w2d, and her femur was 16w5d. Her averaged gestational age was calculated at 17w5d (which is consistent with an EDD of March 31st). And based on ovulation she should be measuring 17w3d (our original EDD of Apr. 2nd). So we are a little nervous that something weird is going on, but we are hoping the her head and abs are just a little ahead of the rest of her. Maybe she will be a nice fat chubby thing when she is born. Her weight is currently 8oz, which is normal for this age. It is hard to imagine that she will gain around 7lbs more (hopefully) before she is born.
My OB said that if we hadn't had the CVS she would have been worried about Down's Syndrome. As it is, we are being sent for a level II u/s at the hosptial within the next 2 weeks. We know it can't be Down's, but there are so many other small genetic changes (similar to Linc's) that can cause serious problems and wouldn't be picked up from the basic CVS test. My OB seems to think that this will turn out to be nothing, just a difference in dates, but she wants us to get a second opinion from the specialists just in case. We are all really hoping that this all turns out to be nothing, but based on our crazy history, we are a little freaked out.
Also, our little girl refused to cooperate for the photo shoot, and didn't give us any nice profile face pictures.
Her is a nice pictue of her stretched out little leg. The rest of her body is the blurry thing on the right (she was moving quite a bit, so we saw a lot of blurry images).
Here is a profile shot of her body. Her nice little baby butt, bent leg, ribs, spine, and belly are all pretty clear. Her face is blurry once again, of course.
The obligatory gender shot. Nothing between the legs!
Although not our main priority, hopefully we will get some nicer shots at the level II ultrasound.
Baby girl looked generally okay. She had all the parts a baby girl is supposed to have; Stomach, kidneys, legs, arms, face, lips, brain, open hands, normal looking feet, heart w/ 4 chambers, nothing between the legs, umbilical cord. My cervix looked fine, and the placenta that we share looked normal.
Not So Good News:
Her legs and arms are measuring about a week to two weeks behind the rest of her. Her head circ. was measuring 18w3d. Her abdominal circ. was measuring 18w5d. Her humerous was measuring 17w2d, and her femur was 16w5d. Her averaged gestational age was calculated at 17w5d (which is consistent with an EDD of March 31st). And based on ovulation she should be measuring 17w3d (our original EDD of Apr. 2nd). So we are a little nervous that something weird is going on, but we are hoping the her head and abs are just a little ahead of the rest of her. Maybe she will be a nice fat chubby thing when she is born. Her weight is currently 8oz, which is normal for this age. It is hard to imagine that she will gain around 7lbs more (hopefully) before she is born.
My OB said that if we hadn't had the CVS she would have been worried about Down's Syndrome. As it is, we are being sent for a level II u/s at the hosptial within the next 2 weeks. We know it can't be Down's, but there are so many other small genetic changes (similar to Linc's) that can cause serious problems and wouldn't be picked up from the basic CVS test. My OB seems to think that this will turn out to be nothing, just a difference in dates, but she wants us to get a second opinion from the specialists just in case. We are all really hoping that this all turns out to be nothing, but based on our crazy history, we are a little freaked out.
Also, our little girl refused to cooperate for the photo shoot, and didn't give us any nice profile face pictures.
Her is a nice pictue of her stretched out little leg. The rest of her body is the blurry thing on the right (she was moving quite a bit, so we saw a lot of blurry images).
Here is a profile shot of her body. Her nice little baby butt, bent leg, ribs, spine, and belly are all pretty clear. Her face is blurry once again, of course.
The obligatory gender shot. Nothing between the legs!
Although not our main priority, hopefully we will get some nicer shots at the level II ultrasound.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
What happens at the pedi*, doesn't stay at the pedi
Pedi = Pediatrician ;)
For any of you who have seen us in the past 6 months, you are well aware of what a struggle mealtime has been. Well, I have been stressing about this for a long time, knowing that he wasn't eating enough all of these months. The problem with his appetite began when he started taking Topamax in April, which has a side effect of appetite suppression and weight loss. I have carefully watched what he has been eating and tried to get him to eat more. Most times this results in fussing or crying at mealtime, and a lot of frustration on both of our parts. Many many people have told me over these past months that he is fine and not to stress about what I alone was seeing as his eating issues.
When he was 9 months old he weighed 30lbs 2oz, 3 months later at 12 months old, he weighed 30lbs 4oz. A gain of 2oz in three months in not great. In fact, if he hadn't already been off of the charts for his weight (which he has been since he was 3 months old), our doctors would have been very concerned at his lack of weight gain. But because he was so heavy we were told to wait and see how things looked at his 15 month appointment. Well yesterday, I was unfortunately proven right, and all of those naysayers are wrong. He weighed in at 28lbs 8oz. A loss of almost 2lbs at this age is a huge deal, no matter where he was on the charts previously.
The naysayers have been saying that he will eat when he is hungry enough. Well sorry, I tested that once and it didn't work. He can go a full day without any solids, and only 10oz of milk, without any complaint at all. Obviously, this is not enough food. In fact, I found some portions sizes and recommendations for children 1-2 years old on the internet, and we determined that he, on a typical day, was eating the right amount of fruit and dairy, but less than 1/2 the amount of meat/protein and grains that he was supposed to be having. So for the past few weeks I have been trying to tank him up with the appropriate amount of food for a toddler, and falling short every.single.day in one category or another. We have been attempting to supplement with Pediasure for his afternoon snack, but he is not a huge fan of any of this. He would much rather have a bottle of milk instead. Well unfortunately, a kid his age cannot subsist on whole cow's milk alone.
I have known that he was lighter than he had been these past few months, but I was hoping that these weeks of concerted feeding effort would have gotten him to gain some weight...and maybe they did...maybe he was even lighter than 28lbs in the past months. Scary thought.
The thing that bothers me so much, is that I have been getting flack about our struggles from everyone who has witnessed it! All of our therapists, family members, and friends...our supposed support system... It was so hard to persist in my beliefs, in the face of all of their criticism, knowing that this feeding issue was something real, and one of the few medical things in Linc's life that I felt like I could do something somehow to make it better. I now love that I am right and they are all wrong. Although, I wish it were not true. I wish that he would eat like a normal 15 month old. I wish that he were still gaining weight and that this was not an issue for us...another issue on top of everything else.
In addition, his lack of appetite has compounded other developmental problems. He refuses to finger-feed himself, although I feel like he is capable of picking up some food off of his tray. I have seen him do it for months now, but he rarely puts any of it in his mouth. Also, I know he is capable of drinking from a sippy cup or straw, I have seen him do it several times, but I hesitate to force the issue of getting him switched over to a cup, because right now the bottle is the only sure-fire way of getting him any calories at all! These are the issues that our therapists are looking at. They want me to make mealtime fun and work on all of these skills (holding food, self-feeding, playing with food, sippy cup, straws, etc.)...well sorry, I just can't do it all. When you already spend 3-5 hours a day trying to get your kid to eat the right number of calories when he is not hungry, has to eat foul tasting medicine for 2 of his 3 meals, and is strapped into his high chair for long stretches of time...these other issues just fade in importance.
So, what are we going to do about it?? Well, I will be talking with the Neuro this week to see if we can get off of the Topamax (which is hopefully a yes, because he has started refusing it completely again), and hopefully this will help his appetite without impacting his seizures. Additionally, we will be getting a Nutritionist consult sometime within the next few weeks. And maybe adding some sort of calorie booster to his milk bottles. Plus, I am sure there will be a lot more stress and tears for all of us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway....some of the other stuff we discussed at the appointment...
His stats; Weight: 28lbs 8oz- 90th percentile for his age. Length: 35" - off of the charts still. Didn't get the head circumference number, but they did say that it was at 50%. Which is very good for us, as hydrocephaly is something that we will always be watching Linc for.
He has this weird stripe up his right leg which is made up of little red bumps in a perfectly straight line. From far away it looks like a scratch, and maybe it started that way, but it has been exactly the same for 2 months. It doesn't appear to be something that is normally associated with one of the skin condition for TSC. Our pedi said that he had never seen anything like this before, so he gave us a refferal to a dermatlogist to see what he thinks. I will be making that appointment sometime next week. Luckily it doesn't seem to hurt or itch at all, as Linc doesn't seem to be bothered by it in any way.
Lincoln got 4 immunizations...DTaP, Hep A, seasonal flu, and H1N1 swine flu. He will need the flu shot boosters in 1 month. Oh boy. They also gave me the H1N1 shot in the interest of protecting their soon-to-be new patient in March. :)
And after all of this, I will leave you with a picture of our tall newly skinny sleeping little boy!
For any of you who have seen us in the past 6 months, you are well aware of what a struggle mealtime has been. Well, I have been stressing about this for a long time, knowing that he wasn't eating enough all of these months. The problem with his appetite began when he started taking Topamax in April, which has a side effect of appetite suppression and weight loss. I have carefully watched what he has been eating and tried to get him to eat more. Most times this results in fussing or crying at mealtime, and a lot of frustration on both of our parts. Many many people have told me over these past months that he is fine and not to stress about what I alone was seeing as his eating issues.
When he was 9 months old he weighed 30lbs 2oz, 3 months later at 12 months old, he weighed 30lbs 4oz. A gain of 2oz in three months in not great. In fact, if he hadn't already been off of the charts for his weight (which he has been since he was 3 months old), our doctors would have been very concerned at his lack of weight gain. But because he was so heavy we were told to wait and see how things looked at his 15 month appointment. Well yesterday, I was unfortunately proven right, and all of those naysayers are wrong. He weighed in at 28lbs 8oz. A loss of almost 2lbs at this age is a huge deal, no matter where he was on the charts previously.
The naysayers have been saying that he will eat when he is hungry enough. Well sorry, I tested that once and it didn't work. He can go a full day without any solids, and only 10oz of milk, without any complaint at all. Obviously, this is not enough food. In fact, I found some portions sizes and recommendations for children 1-2 years old on the internet, and we determined that he, on a typical day, was eating the right amount of fruit and dairy, but less than 1/2 the amount of meat/protein and grains that he was supposed to be having. So for the past few weeks I have been trying to tank him up with the appropriate amount of food for a toddler, and falling short every.single.day in one category or another. We have been attempting to supplement with Pediasure for his afternoon snack, but he is not a huge fan of any of this. He would much rather have a bottle of milk instead. Well unfortunately, a kid his age cannot subsist on whole cow's milk alone.
I have known that he was lighter than he had been these past few months, but I was hoping that these weeks of concerted feeding effort would have gotten him to gain some weight...and maybe they did...maybe he was even lighter than 28lbs in the past months. Scary thought.
The thing that bothers me so much, is that I have been getting flack about our struggles from everyone who has witnessed it! All of our therapists, family members, and friends...our supposed support system... It was so hard to persist in my beliefs, in the face of all of their criticism, knowing that this feeding issue was something real, and one of the few medical things in Linc's life that I felt like I could do something somehow to make it better. I now love that I am right and they are all wrong. Although, I wish it were not true. I wish that he would eat like a normal 15 month old. I wish that he were still gaining weight and that this was not an issue for us...another issue on top of everything else.
In addition, his lack of appetite has compounded other developmental problems. He refuses to finger-feed himself, although I feel like he is capable of picking up some food off of his tray. I have seen him do it for months now, but he rarely puts any of it in his mouth. Also, I know he is capable of drinking from a sippy cup or straw, I have seen him do it several times, but I hesitate to force the issue of getting him switched over to a cup, because right now the bottle is the only sure-fire way of getting him any calories at all! These are the issues that our therapists are looking at. They want me to make mealtime fun and work on all of these skills (holding food, self-feeding, playing with food, sippy cup, straws, etc.)...well sorry, I just can't do it all. When you already spend 3-5 hours a day trying to get your kid to eat the right number of calories when he is not hungry, has to eat foul tasting medicine for 2 of his 3 meals, and is strapped into his high chair for long stretches of time...these other issues just fade in importance.
So, what are we going to do about it?? Well, I will be talking with the Neuro this week to see if we can get off of the Topamax (which is hopefully a yes, because he has started refusing it completely again), and hopefully this will help his appetite without impacting his seizures. Additionally, we will be getting a Nutritionist consult sometime within the next few weeks. And maybe adding some sort of calorie booster to his milk bottles. Plus, I am sure there will be a lot more stress and tears for all of us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway....some of the other stuff we discussed at the appointment...
His stats; Weight: 28lbs 8oz- 90th percentile for his age. Length: 35" - off of the charts still. Didn't get the head circumference number, but they did say that it was at 50%. Which is very good for us, as hydrocephaly is something that we will always be watching Linc for.
He has this weird stripe up his right leg which is made up of little red bumps in a perfectly straight line. From far away it looks like a scratch, and maybe it started that way, but it has been exactly the same for 2 months. It doesn't appear to be something that is normally associated with one of the skin condition for TSC. Our pedi said that he had never seen anything like this before, so he gave us a refferal to a dermatlogist to see what he thinks. I will be making that appointment sometime next week. Luckily it doesn't seem to hurt or itch at all, as Linc doesn't seem to be bothered by it in any way.
Lincoln got 4 immunizations...DTaP, Hep A, seasonal flu, and H1N1 swine flu. He will need the flu shot boosters in 1 month. Oh boy. They also gave me the H1N1 shot in the interest of protecting their soon-to-be new patient in March. :)
And after all of this, I will leave you with a picture of our tall newly skinny sleeping little boy!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Many Milestone Week
From Oct. 19th through Oct. 26th mommy and each of her babies will have a bg day of their own. I turned 29 on October 20th. And no, I do not feel any older. I would have completely forgotten if it weren't for all of the happy birthday wishes and gifts that were sent my way. Thank you all! I got some awesome b-day money from my Grandpa and Mother-in-law, a mug with a cute pic of Andy & I from Andy's parents, a notebook computer and some maternity clothes from Andy, and a winter maternity jacket from my Grandma. If you sent me some cookies, thank you. They didn't come with a card or any identifying info, so fess up here so I can thank you properly... ;) My grandma was in town this past week, and she took Andy and Lincoln and I out for a nice birthday dinner as well. It was a good day. :)
On October 19th, Lincoln turned 15 months old. I wished him a happy 15 month b-day, but it really wasn't a huge deal around here. He will get to celebrate with the pediatrician tomorrow morning. Oh boy! ;)
On October 26th we will be having baby girl's fetal anatomy scan. This is one of the big screening tests, as I mentioned before, where they look at her organs and bone structure to make sure she is developing as normally as they can tell while she is inside me. I have high hopes that everything will look normal because nothing bad turned up on her CVS test. However, we are naturally also very nervous about this screening. It is the last real diagnostic hurdle we have to get through before we see her in person this March. This is our 4th pregnancy, the 3rd time we have made it to 18 weeks, (hopefully) the 2nd time a baby has appeared normal via u/s, and (hopefully) the 1st time that we actually have a 100% healthy baby. Needless to say our fingers are crossed, and we would welcome any thoughts and prayers that you would like to send our way!
On October 19th, Lincoln turned 15 months old. I wished him a happy 15 month b-day, but it really wasn't a huge deal around here. He will get to celebrate with the pediatrician tomorrow morning. Oh boy! ;)
On October 26th we will be having baby girl's fetal anatomy scan. This is one of the big screening tests, as I mentioned before, where they look at her organs and bone structure to make sure she is developing as normally as they can tell while she is inside me. I have high hopes that everything will look normal because nothing bad turned up on her CVS test. However, we are naturally also very nervous about this screening. It is the last real diagnostic hurdle we have to get through before we see her in person this March. This is our 4th pregnancy, the 3rd time we have made it to 18 weeks, (hopefully) the 2nd time a baby has appeared normal via u/s, and (hopefully) the 1st time that we actually have a 100% healthy baby. Needless to say our fingers are crossed, and we would welcome any thoughts and prayers that you would like to send our way!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wave of Light
Today is pregnancy and infant loss awareness day.
At 7pm tonight I will be lighting a candle for each of my lost little ones. For the past three October 15ths, we have been participating in this day of remembering. We have lit the same candle three times to remember our first baby boy who was lost on 9/7/07, and now unfortunately we are adding another candle this year to remember our little one that was lost on 4/30/09. But these candles aren't just for us and our losses. They are for all of the women out there who have experienced losses...my mother, my grandmother, my husband's grandmother, and countless friends who I have connected with over the past 2 years. For whatever reason, our babies never had the chance to live their lives on earth, but they will never be forgotten.
At 7pm tonight I will be lighting a candle for each of my lost little ones. For the past three October 15ths, we have been participating in this day of remembering. We have lit the same candle three times to remember our first baby boy who was lost on 9/7/07, and now unfortunately we are adding another candle this year to remember our little one that was lost on 4/30/09. But these candles aren't just for us and our losses. They are for all of the women out there who have experienced losses...my mother, my grandmother, my husband's grandmother, and countless friends who I have connected with over the past 2 years. For whatever reason, our babies never had the chance to live their lives on earth, but they will never be forgotten.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
We have quickening!
It sounds like I am quoting the movie Highlander. But really, this is what the books call the baby's first movements that can be felt by the mother. I am feeling this baby girl a full 2.5 weeks sooner than I felt Lincoln, which is pretty normal for second babies. I love the feeling, and really, what mother doesn't? I can't wait for the strong kicks, even if they are to my bladder (which was big brother Linc's favorite place to kick, since he was breech for so long)!
Tomorrow I will go to the OB's to get some blood drawn for the AFP screening for NT defects. Then we only have to wait until Oct. 26th until we get to see her again for the fetal anatomy ultrasound! We will hopefully have some new sonograms of her to share here! :)
Tomorrow I will go to the OB's to get some blood drawn for the AFP screening for NT defects. Then we only have to wait until Oct. 26th until we get to see her again for the fetal anatomy ultrasound! We will hopefully have some new sonograms of her to share here! :)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Grandma is coming!
My grandma (Linc's great-grandma) is coming to visit in a few days! I am really excited about this, as I love having family and friends come to visit us in Tucson! I don't know what we will do while she is here, if anything, but hopefully we will all have a good time! 
Here is a picture of her with Lincoln, when she came down to visit this past New Years.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Big Milestone!
We have canonical babbling!!
We have been working on this speech skill with Lincoln for around 6 months. Normal babies begin doing this at 7-10 months of age, so it is great to hear him finally doing this. We are hoping that this continues, and that this becomes a platform for some eventual word play, recognition, and development. Yay!!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Picnic in the Park
The weather is finally getting close to being cool enough to spend some quality time outside. We decided to go for a picnic at our local park...not coincidentally called Lincoln Park. The day was a sunny 90 degree day. Better than it has been, but still pretty hot in the full sun. Lincoln is a little furnace, so he is hotter than most, so he ended up pretty hot & cranky by the end of our time at the park. We spent about 2.5 hours there, starting with lunch, and ending with some playground time. All in all, a pretty good time!
Lincoln really wanted to climb on mommy, but mommy had had enough of it by this time. We had finished eating, and were just waiting for him to finish his mouthful and settle his tummy before we went to play. Lincoln was not too happy about being restrained away from me. Check out that pouty face, followed by tears.
Lincoln really wanted to climb on mommy, but mommy had had enough of it by this time. We had finished eating, and were just waiting for him to finish his mouthful and settle his tummy before we went to play. Lincoln was not too happy about being restrained away from me. Check out that pouty face, followed by tears.
The accusing glare that Lincoln does so well. Daddy, how dare you keep me away from mommy!
After that little pout/cry fit, he got to come sit in my lap for his bottle of milk. Then when his cheerfulness was restored, we went to play! Lincoln liked the swings, but seemed to get tired of them quickly.
After the swings, we tried the slide...we discovered that a tired Lincoln has no love for the slide. I think it was just too disconcerting for him to try to keep his balance. Sorry the video is on its side, I was going to take pictures of it, but at the last minute took a video instead. Oh well. You will just have to cock your head a bit to watch.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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