Well, I clearly haven't gotten better at updating...

Holy mackeral, where does the time go?

Drew amazes me every day. He can tri-pod sit on his own for about 10 minute (one hand between his legs to hold him up), and sit unassisted for about 2-3 minutes. I think he could go longer, but he always laughs and waving his arms around, and loses his center of gravity. Then the face-plant happens. Which he also finds hilarious. He is also incredible mobile. He gets to where he needs to go! Mostly by rolling all around the room, but he can "army crawl" using his hands to drag the rest of his body along. That is much more tiring and not as fun as rolling, so its not used as often.

He is also obsessed with table food. Among the favorites are french fries, celery sticks, pickles, watermelon, and canteloupe. The fries are the only thing he can actual "eat" without teeth. The fruit goes into a mesh teether for him to mash and gnaw on his own time, and the celery sticks and pickles are fun to suck on. He is also IN LOVE with drinking out of cups. Not sippy-cups. "Grown-up" cups. And water bottles, and cans. If its in my hand, he wants it. And can do it! He still pretty much hates baby food. Because he can't do "tongue thrusts" with his adhesion, the food gets pushed up into his palate. He then sneezes, and well - pureed green beans end up on Mommy's last stain-free white tank top (ahem, today).

We found out that I have hyperthyroidism, which apparently isn't the most fun thing to have while pregnant. It accounts for my severe and continuing morning sickness (I'm at 19.5 weeks now, and still sick), my headaches, etc. I am going to see an endocrinologist next week to try and get on some meds or something to sort things out.

We also had our anatomy scan ultrasound last week. I really pushed to see if we could get a view of the palate, but unfortunately baby had other plans, and wouldn't cooperate. Because of that, and the thyroid issues, I go back in 4 weeks to check up.

I went in adamant that I was not going to find out if it was a boy or girl. Justin wanted to know, so we told the tech to write it down on a piece of paper. Baby would not cooperate, and after trying for the longest time, baby finally turned. Unfortunately, the tech did not tell me to look away, so I had a guess I kept to myself.

I asked Justin in car, and he asked what I thought. I told him I thought it was a girl, based on the picture. He wanted to know what made me think that. Well, honey - we saw a view from the butt between the legs - just like how we saw Drew's - only there was nothing there. Sure enough, he confirmed it.

WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!!!! We could not be more excited! Adelaide Aileen will be here before you know it. I guess I won't be so "boy crazy" after all! ;)

Time flies!

How quickly things have been moving for us! We had another AMAZING summer with Parker. I hate having to send him home to his Mommy's, because our house always feels so empty. Even with Drew now, I can't believe how quiet and boring the house is without that little ball of energy! We were able to get to the beach again, we went to the zoo, Justin was able to take him camping, and to an interactive children's museum... it was a packed summer!

As I mentioned in my last post, Drew failed his sleep study. Last week, he went in for his hearing tests. Apparently it is pretty common for children with PRS to lose hearing because of fluid build up. The test is 3 parts. In the first part, they insert an earpiece into his ear, and it does something to measure the timpanic motion of his eardrums when he hears noise. AKA, how much his eardrum vibrates. He got a big fat F in that department. Next, he sat in my lap with speakers on either side. The tech played different sound effects - soft and loud - to see if he looked to the correct speaker. Passed that with flying colors. Last, because he failed the first part, they put a scope with a camera into his ear canal to look at eardrum. He has massive fluid buildup in both ears, and when he has his palate surgery in December, he will have tubes placed in his ears to aid drainage, and prevent hearing damage. As of today at his 6 month appointment (holy crap!) he weights 18lbs and is 27inches long. He is transitioning into his crib from his Rock N Play, and from his infant carrier into a convertible car seat - Parker's. Which means Now its time to buy Parker a booster. They grow soooo fast!

Baby #3 is moving right along. I had my 17 weeks appt today, and it's heartbeat was strong in the 150s. I have lost 10lbs, and the Zofran still isn't working, but my doctors aren't concerned. Hey, I'm finally back to my pre-pregnancy weight from Drew! Haha. We go in 2 weeks for the "bog" ultrasound, but do not plan on finding out if its a boy or girl.

Justin was transfered to a restaurant in DC, so he's kept very busy and I feel like I never get to see him anymore! On the plus, I might be able to go back to bartending one or two days a week now!

Well, I think thats all for now - hopefully I really WILL get better at updating! xoxo

Hello, my friends!

Wow, it has been too long since an update.

In June, Drew went to JHH for an MRI. He was intubated in an OR/sedated, and stayed overnight. We got the results back and everything is normal. He also woke up one day, and decided he was going to take the bottle! He has rough days where the NG tube is needed, but 90% of the time, he is without it!

In June Justin and I also celebrated our 1st anniversary. We went camping for 3 days and had a blast canoeing down the Shenandoah River.

In July, Parker hitched a ride to MD via my brother/sister in law. They brought their daughter (also 3) and stayed for a week. I took Parker and Drew to the beach with my parents and younger sister. OBX was beautiful as always, and a weeks vacation was nice too :)

Drew also went to an outpatient facility in late July for another sleep study. The little booger only slept 2 of the 7 hours we were there. He failed again, so is still on oxygen at bedtime.

And our biggest news is that we are once again expecting! Parker and Drew will both be big brothers as of Feb 2010!

Where has the time gone?

Well, first we went 2 weeks without internet, then Justin broke our laptop, so we FINALLY just set up our desktop.

Drew got his MRI, everything came back normal. Parker is coming this weekend, so we are preparing for that! I am going to update in details about the MRI later, but I have dinner just about ready!

Oh, sweet relief...

Drew found his thumb! I no longer have to sit on the couch for hours at a time holding his pacifier in his mouth. Darn those latching/sucking problems!



JHH called to wake me up during our morning nap (geeeeeeee thanks) to let me know 3 possible dates they could schedule Drew's MRI. I told them all the dates were fine with my schedule, and to just work it out with ENT, and let me know. Hopefully I'll hear back soon - the earliest day they suggested was next Thursday!

It will be an overnight procedure, so I will get to spend another lovely night on a hospital recliner... but at least they have the best ice chips EVER! My favorite part about L&D, it never got old. :)

Fact: I am faster than 80% of all snakes.

Since being pregnant and now being a stay-at-home-mom, I have discovered a lot of TV that I never had any interest in before. Daytime reruns that I can catch up on during feedings (or when I'm just cuddling with my little bug on the couch) provide a vast array of tv I never thought I'd experience.

My new favorite shows:

The Office (Dwight Schrute is hi-larious)
Desperate Housewives
Regis and Kelly
Teen Mom/16 and pregnant


In other news, I have started swaddling Drew during the day. It instantly calms him ad he just looks around and smiles. I realllllly want to try a Woombie, but I don't know how it can be all that different than a regular swaddle.

Holy Houdini!

Well, as you may have noted in my last post, Drew has figured out his hands. He's constantly pulling and tugging on his oxygen/feeding tubes. I really have to stare at him ALL DAY and swoop down at a second's notice and untangle those teeny but highly efficient fingers from the tubing. It is giving me a complex, not to mention multiple coronaries.

Last night, when I put him to sleep, I swaddled him. I swaddled him tight, to bind his hands so I could rest easy. At 5am, he was still snoozing when I got up to pee.

At 8am I started his feeding pump, and laid back down to sleep (he was asleep as well). About 10 minutes later I heard some grunting. Normal for him, and I don't get him out of bed until he starts fussing, since he usually falls back to sleep til 9am. But even after the noises stopped, I couldn't fall back asleep. So, I put my glasses back on, sat up in bed, and SURPRISE!

While he was still TIGHTLY SWADDLED, he rubbed his face against the side of his Rock and Play until he rubbed off 3 layers of medical tape, and somehow wiggled the feeding tube all of the way out of his stomach, esophagus, and nose. Formula was spilling EVERYWHERE. And when I said "Oh, no, Drew!" ...he looked up at me and started to giggle. Like it was hilarious or something. But his giggle is the BEST sound ever, so how could I not start laughing too?

Mostly, I'm insanely impressed with his face-rubbing Houdini skills.

Put a new one in, and triple taped this one too. Crossing my fingers he doesn't rip it out.