I realize that I haven't written out an update on us in quite awhile. So here goes...
Andy is doing great! He loved all the traveling that he did over the summer, and did such a great job that he was awarded honors. We are attending a celebratory formal dinner event on Nov. 5th, with babysitters to watch the kids and all. I am sure that we will get some pictures of us all dressed up in our fancy duds to post here. I am looking forward to the night out with just the hubs, and I hope that the kids do okay without us home for the evening.
Andy actually got a positional promotion within the company, and is very excited about the new work that he is doing. So far he is still transitioning out of his old job into the new one, but things are going well, and he is really looking forward to what this position will entail. Go Andy! :)
I am doing well. The kids (all 3 of them) are constantly testing my limits of patience and endurance. But the sweet smiles, cuddles, and hugs that they give are plenty of payment for all the trials that they can induce. Lol. Somedays are very much a struggle, and others are good days. The constant demand of have so many young ones to care for, in addition to being pregnant, can really take its toll. But I know that this stage in life is so short, and soon we will be facing new challenges and new excitements, making everyday worthwhile.
I am now 30 years old! And had a great birthday BBQ here at the house. The kids were good and I got some wonderful presents! Lots of good food, some maternity clothes (thanks Ale), a gift card (thanks Debo & Chris), and even a Kindle (thanks Andy's parents)!!
Baby #3 seems to be doing well. My stomach is starting to become more of a baby bump, and less of the leftover June pregnancy pudge. I am looking forward to when I really do look pregnant, but then I am certain I will start getting comments about how close June & #3 are going to be together. Whatever.
I have been feeling the little one move around off an on for the past week. I am looking forward to the end of November when we get to take another look at the baby and make sure he/she is doing well in there. As you probably have read, all of the genetic testing that we have done has come back normal. I have some blood work to do on Nov. 16, and then that final anatomy ultrasound on Nov. 30 before we can really know that everything that we can test for/ look for has been done and is normal. Andy & I don't anticipate any issues, and feel that we will be taking this baby home in the spring, happy & healthy...but, you just never know.
Lincoln is doing okay. He is walking well again. He is practicing walking up & down ramps/hills and taking stairs up & down. You never realize how hard these things can be when learning them for the first time. We continue to be very proud of him everyday.
We are doing some new meds combos in a last ditch attempt to get some seizure control via the medication route. I am honestly starting to get impatient with his neuro for putting off the ketogenic diet for so long. Although I can also understand his hesitation. A part of me wants to never have to go this route, but another part of me sees this as one of our last hopes of getting true seizure control, and unlocking Lincoln's developmental potential. Some days we can catch glimmers of what Lincoln may actually be able to do...saying words, playing interactively, stacking blocks, being in a happy mood for hours without any seizures. I really hope that someday this will be our normal. Right now Lincoln is having more seizures, about 6/day, but not as severe as they were a couple of weeks ago. Not really sure what this means, but it probably means that this new drug combo isn't working either. No big surprise there.
Another reason I am almost looking forward to the Keto diet is because Lincoln's eating has really gone downhill in the past few months. We are back to the point where he really won't chew much at all, not even fruit or bread. I am hoping that this is only because of his 2-year molars, but am not really sure that is what is going on. He has lost several pounds in the past few months, and is so skinny that pants that used to stay up are now falling down, and he actually has loose skin on his tummy. Needless to say I am very worried about this. I finally convinced his pedi to get a GI referral, just so we can check out his GI tract and make sure that there is nothing structually wrong with it. In the past we have always written off his lack of appetite on his seizure meds side effects...now I am not so sure. One of the consequences of the Keto diet is the placement of a NG or G-tube. But because his eating is so poor these days...we may end up with one of these regardless. It will help to get a GI doc on board with Lincoln's treatment soon.
June is a little sweetheart. A gem as my dad described her. She can be so sweet, so stubborn, so silly, and so annoying all in the same few minutes. She is doing really well developmentally. She is crawling all over the place. She is also pulling up on anything that she can manage to get her little hands on, and because of this getting herself into more and more trouble by falling or getting stuck in awkward postions. She got her first self-inflicted bloody owie yesterday. She fell over backwards while chewing on Andy's playstation remote, and cut open her gum a little bit. It bled a lot, but really was a very tiny cut.
She is babbling up a storm (so is Lincoln for that matter) but no real words are popping out of the chaos yet. She is doing great with food finally. She is eating purees well, but still loves anything solid that we give her. She mouths it and sometimes even eats it! It is really exciting to be able to put some food down on her tray and watch her stick it in her mouth. It makes me smile everytime! She is doing great with water in her sippy cup, and I am thinking that hopefully by the time she turns one I will be able to wean them both off of the bottle. It will be a huge task, especially for Lincoln, but it is something that really needs to be done before he goes to school next August. I am hopeful that by that time we will have figured out more about Lincoln's eating issues, and he won't be so reliant on getting all of those calories through his bottles.
June's little personality is starting to shine through, and we are excited to watch the little person she turns into! I am a little nervous that she is going to remain a pretty pretty princess even as she gets older, but I guess that will be a fun new exasperating experience for us. Lol. She really is adorable, and is such a nice, inquisitive little girl. She is just precious to all of us.
We are really looking forward to our trip to Oregon this winter. It will be a huge hassle getting up there by myself with the kidss, but I am certain that we will manage, and get there in one peice. I am also certain that the people around us on the airplane will want to kill us (most likely June), but oh well. We will get there, and it will be fun to spend the holidays with our families. :)