One kid = Easy

Hindsight is 20/20, right?

Today my parents kidnapped Andrew alllll day. So it was just Benjamin and me at home. I got all the laundry washed, dried, and put away, including the sheets, towels, and floor rugs. I cleaned my entire house top to bottom. I walked on the treadmill and even took a shower. I never remember being this productive when I had one child!! Why did I think it was hard?

Of course, Andrew was a horrid eater, and breastfeeding every three hours took an hour and was akin to wrestling an alligator. He didn't sleep through the night as early as Benjamin did, so I was sleep deprived longer.

But STILL!!!!!

The birds have been evicted

I don't have any pictures to share right now, but Matthew evicted the birds yesterday. I snipped at him a bit (sorry, dear!) b/c I really wanted to take pictures of him knocking it down. (Especially just in case he got pecked or pooped on...) But ten minutes before we were going to leave for church yesterday morning, he came in and announced that he knocked the nest down.

It took him quite a while in the afternoon to clean up the poop. Andrew "mowed" the yard and driveway with his bubble mower while Matthew scraped and hosed down the front porch.

Today is a beautiful day. It is especially beautiful because my father, who has Mondays off work, came and picked up Andrew. You've never seen a happier boy than my son getting buckled in his Yampa's pickup truck. They were going to the bank and Home Depot, but Andrew wouldn't have minded had they just ridden around all day. I think after that, Andrew is going to the store with my mom, where he'll eat crackers in the cart and jabber on and on. And on.

Meanwhile, I need to go feed Benjamin and continue to clean my house. Before Benjamin was born, I was pretty good at cleaning my house once a week. Now I am on an every-other-week schedule. It's not too bad, but by the middle of the second week, I feel icky.

Tomorrow, some of Andrew's little friends (and their moms, my friends) are coming over for a playdate at our house. He doesn't know it yet, but he's going to be quite excited. I'll share the news with him about five minutes before they arrive. :) (He'll be especially excited that we're having pizza for lunch; I know I'm certainly pumped about it!!)

Here are some pictures before I quit stalling and get to work:

Andrew and Yampa this morning about to run errands

Benjamin last week saying, "Peace!" :)

My Day in Pictures

Okay, so truthfully, two of these are from yesterday, but you get the point. :)

Yesterday, my wonderful mother took Andrew off my hands (yeah, she *really* hates it...) so I could spend some time with just Benjamin. It was lovely. I was able to put him down on a blanket in the middle of the living room floor without fearing that he would be trampled during the Bob the Builder theme song. (You should see Andrew's dance moves...they're quite, umm, hereditary...) So I went upstairs for awhile and came back to this:



I guess Frank and Nancy (L to R) miss using the living room floor, too!

After Matthew got home from work yesterday, he and Andrew had a little "Daddy and Andrew" time on the couch. Matthew acted like he was asleep (well, it wasn't hard to do) and Andrew moved his head back and forth. So cute. So cute.



Here's my sweet boy today. We're liking this living room floor thing. (Andrew was napping.)




Andrew was rather fussy when he woke up from his nap so a DVD sounded good. Here he is, engrossed in the alphabet, watching his Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD, recommended to us from our good friends Sara and Ben in California. (Holla)



I couldn't help myself. I had to rewind it and take a picture of a misspelled Antarctica on a Leap Frog DVD. Wow. I'm considering calling the company. Speaking of that, yesterday, on my way to weigh Benjamin, the Hardees marquee caught my eye. Okay, more than caught it. It practically PUNCHED me in the eye. It read, "TACO SALADS IS BACK." doh! So what did I do? Nothing seemingly proactive...I sent the horrifically incorrect sign in a text to my mother, both brothers, my father, and my cousin Marianne. On the way home, no more than two hours later, the sign is fixed. Why? Because my "once-a-teacher-always-a-teacher-even-though-she's-now-a-principal" mother called Hardees. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!



I think this shot of Matthew and Andrew eating pizza says it all. Yum. And pass the Crazy Sauce.

Wednesday weigh-in (6/25)

Every Wednesday, I take Benjamin to Parkridge East Hospital to the Breastfeeding Support Group to weigh and feed him. Weight gain is especially important for him b/c we want him as heavy as possible for his heart surgery. (His cardiologist, Dr. Herold--aka our new favorite person--said, "We need to have him chubbed up for the surgery."--Made me think of Hansel and Gretel!)

Benjamin has been sleeping through the night for about two weeks now, and we were told that we could let him do that as long as he was still gaining enough weight. The average weight gain weekly is five to seven ounces. And for the past two weeks he *has* gained enough! Here are the stats so far. (I plan to update my blog every Wednesday now.) :)

June 11 -- 9.10.5 lbs (+5.8 oz)

June 18 -- 9.15.8 lbs (+5.3 oz)

June 25 -- 10.06.4 lbs (+6.6 oz)

Two months old!

Today Benjamin is two months old. Like most things in life, sometimes it seems like the time has flown by, and other times it seems like a verrrry long time. Like, I can't believe he's already two months old, BUT I can't believe it was only two months ago that I gave birth to him. Life's funny that way.

We started a tradition with Andrew that we plan to carry out with all our children. I got the idea from an article I read several years ago in a magazine. A mom took a picture every year of her daughter from age one to thirteen or eighteen in the *same* bathing suit. Obviously, it was an adult's bathing suit, and the pictures were ridiculously adorable and hilarious. So I got the idea to do something similar.

Every month, on the date they were born (from one month until twelve months) we take their pictures in the same outfit in the same chair. We have a boy outfit and a girl outfit. The outfits are, I believe, size "3 month." Luckily, Andrew was (and still is) a small fry. Jury's still out about Benjamin.

So today we took Benjamin's two-month picture. The thing that makes me sad is that we still have to help him sit up. Even with the support of the chair. His low muscle tone is becoming ever more apparent. And even though it's to be expected and truly not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, it hurts. I couldn't help myself. I went back through Andrew's pictures when he was two months old, and he had excellent neck and trunk support. I *know* it's different, and I *know* it's not right to compare. But it's only natural. I suppose it's only really selfish on my part. It's so much easier when they can support themselves better. Benjamin is still very much like a brand-new baby.

Anyway, enough of the pity party. Here are some pictures. I am still learning how to post pictures in this forum. I can't quite figure out how to put the pictures below my text. That doesn't seem to be an option. (I finally did it but it took what seems to be too much effort.) In case it doesn't work right, the order is as follows: Andrew at one month, Andrew at two months, Benjamin at one month, Benjamin at two months. Such sweet boys. I love them so much.

My crappy front door

Okay, check out what these birds (I have no idea what kind) have done to the spot literally *right* outside my front door!!!!! To say, "Ah, CRAP!" puts it lightly.

It wasn't as bad...yeah, and then the eggs hatched. I've got four baby birds and a very protective momma bird (to this I can relate) who evidently poop their body weight every day. And MAN, forget going out the door to get the mail or the paper. You almost get your head pecked as they swoooooop down and get mere centimeters from your noggin.

Now, this isn't *too* bad of a problem as we normally go in and out of our garage. But when we have visitors or deliveries (which is still pretty often even though Benjamin is two months old today), we are constantly having to point out the nest and apologize for the mountain of poop. (Please don't step in it and drag it in the house....)

Finally! An update

Okay. Here is my update! Sorry for being MIA all day. I wasn’t at home and didn’t actually hear back from the doctor until about 5:30 p.m. I called and left her a message right when they opened at 9:00 this morning. Then I got ready and headed over to my mom’s house with the boys. I left Andrew over there to nap while Benjamin and I went to the OB/GYN. (He needed a checkup, LOL.)

All day I kept my cell phone with me (which, honestly, I do everyday anyway) but it never rang! UGH! At 2:30 I called back to be sure she was going to call me today b/c she doesn’t work on Tuesdays. They went and checked and said she would call me next when she got a break. Three hours later she called. She did apologize for it taking her all day. Mondays are always crazy at a doctor’s office, and she said that she wanted be sure we had time to talk.

Here’s what she said: Basically at this point, we are just going to wait and watch. She said typically when a baby has Infantile Spasms, the head goes down, the back arches, and the arms and legs twitch. An EEG is what is used to detect IS, and thankfully, the baby does *not* have to be seizing at that time. (There is a fairly consistent pattern on the EEG when a child has IS even if he/she is not seizing at the time; otherwise it would be awfully hard to detect.) An EEG has to be done outpatient (not at the ER), and b/c Benjamin’s so young and (b/c of his heart defects) is so susceptible to infection, she really wants to limit his exposure to the hospital at this point. Also, she’s never seen an EEG done on a child this young; she said it’s awfully hard b/c they need three readings: drowsy, awake, and asleep. It’s very difficult to force an infant to be awake and to force them asleep. Basically they sleep and are awake when they want to be. (A luxury I wish I had!)

She did say that a certain amount of leg and arm twitching (even if the child is not being startled) can be normal. But I do think that she wants us to get the EEG. We are just going to wait another month or two. She said that I need to watch if he does the head/back thing. If he does that (or if the leg/arm twitching becomes more severe or more consistent), then I need to call her so she can schedule the EEG. Since it is outpatient, she will have to schedule it, but she said she can do it in a day or two from when I call her.

She is not convinced that Benjamin has Infantile Spasms, but b/c there is *some* evidence (and b/c of the higher incidence of IS in Down syndrome children), she thinks we should go ahead and get the EEG in July or August, when he is a little older and when sickness is less likely to be widely present in the hospital.

I am fairly comfortable with all of this. I really do like our pediatrician; she is very knowledgeable about many things, and trusts me to be the mommy about lots of things.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers as we ride this rollercoaster!

Angela

Please Pray

Okay, now I’m freaking out. And it may be over nothing, but something in my mommy gut tells me this is more than nothing.

For several weeks now, I’ve noticed that Benjamin sometimes jerks his leg(s), especially when he wakes up. It’s gotten more consistent. Last night, in fact, Matthew said that when he went in to wake him up for his dreamfeed, he was lying on the changing table, and kept jerking. Kind of like a startle reflex, only there was nothing startling him. So now I’m reading on my DS boards about Infantile Spasms, which is a form of epilepsy. About 1 to 5 of every 100 DS babies has Infantile Spasms, but a baby doesn’t have to have DS to get IS. But babies who get IS almost always have mental retardation later in life. Wow. So this is serious.

Now I’m worried so of COURSE I Google it. Along with all that other stuff I just spouted off in the above paragraph, I also learned that it often happens right after they wake up from sleep. It is also arching of their backs/torso, which he also does. And dropping of the neck. Which he does but I always attributed to his low tone. (Which it may be..)

I am going to call his doctor tomorrow. But please pray. She'll most likely send us to Children's to have an EEG. Thankfully, my mother will be able to watch Andrew. Only thing is that I have my six-week OB/GYN visit (a couple of weeks late....) at 1:30. Sigh...it all comes down at once, doesn't it?

I Can't Stop Eating

Okay, when I nursed my first son, I noticed no change in my appetite. I've always been a big eater, and so that was pretty much par for the course. You have to consider, however, that Andrew was the World's Worst Breastfeeder, and the nine-and-a-half months that I nursed him were absolutely horrid, especially the first three or four months.

So, naturally, all during my second pregnancy, my biggest prayer was that this baby would be a great eater. Well, God is faithful!! And while He surprised me with the news that Benjamin has Down syndrome, He gave me a wonderful eater. Which is actually kind of uncommon in DS babies; many of them have such poor muscle tone in their mouths that they either don't breastfeed well or not at all. In fact, there is a high incidence of feeding tubes. Yikes. I am *so* thankful for Benjamin's affinity to nurse. He has always nursed well (save being gassy occasionally, but, hey, he takes after his mother) and quickly, too.

However...all these extra calories I'm burning are making me huuuuungry! It was *really* bad the first two weeks or so and then it tapered off. But it seeems to be back. Maybe my stomach stretched internally (it certainly did externally....) and now requires a greater volume of food. I don't know. All I know is that tonight for dinner, I ate tons of food. And I'm still not full. I'm not necessarily hungry, but I'm not full. First, I had a large salad (Romaine lettuce, shredded cheese, Chinese noodles..what are those things called? Chow mein noodles..oh, I could eat the whole bag. And my new FAVORITE salad dressing. Kraft Creamy Poppyseed. Why can't I ever fall in love with healthy foods?)

While I savored my salad, I ate not one but TWO peanut butter and jam sandwiches. (Yes, I said jam. I don't like jelly; it's too gelatiney, if you'll allow me to make up a word. I like jam. Smucker's Seedless Blackberry Jam. That's what Andrew eats, too, only I make him eat the Sugar Free. He probably would look at you like you had a third eye if you asked him if he wanted peanut butter and jelly. He knows it as jam. I demand accuracy, even from my toddler. I know I'm giving him a complex, but we can all live in the nut house together. Besides, at least we can still say PB&J.) Okay, so I had two sandwiches. To my defense, it was reduced-fat peanut butter and wheat bread. Walmart bread, so the pieces were kind of small. And I had a large glass of grape Kool-aid.

Still hungry. I went back for a second salad, just like the first only slightly smaller. I swear the bag of prewashed lettuce that I *just* opened is 3/4ths gone. Maybe 2/3rds. But still. Oh, along with the second salad I had one slice of reduced-fat Colby Jack cheese and some Thin Ritz Cracker Crisps. And another glass of Kool-aid.

All of this while Matthew and I were watching "The Bucket List." I think that Jack Nicholson is one of my favorite actors. But anyway. Then I fell into a food coma and dozed off. But it was after 10:00 anyway and Matthew is getting up early (4:45...yikes again) to run, and I had to feed Benjamin. So now here I am. Feeling satisfied but not stuffed. Even after all that food. Wonder what I'll eat tomorrow as we finish the movie? The salad will be gone by noon......

He Maketh No Mistake

My dad, a preacher/police officer (yes, it's possible) sent me this wonderful poem by A.M. Overton four days after Benjamin was born. It was written in 1932, so the language is a bit archaic. But the truth of the words give me strength. I literally cannot read it aloud without my voice cracking and tears flowing out of my eyes. God is *so* good to us, and He is in such control. I may not understand why, but I understand Who.

HE MAKETH NO MISTAKE
By A.M. Overton

My Father’s way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache.
But in my soul I’m glad I know,
He maketh no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But still I’ll trust my Lord to lead
For He doth know the way.

Tho’ night be dark and it may seem
That day will never break;
I’ll pin my faith, my all in Him.
He maketh no mistake.

There’s so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight’s far too dim;
But come what may, I’ll simply trust
And leave it all to Him.

For by and by the mist will lift
And plain it all He’ll make,
Through all the way, tho’ dark to me,
He made not one mistake.

by A. M. Overton (1932)

My Boys

What can I say? I love them so much. All the trite things you hear about having kids are so true. You do love them more than you ever thought possible. You are amazed that anyone cannot believe in God when thinking about the miracle of life. You do become your mother.

The first picture of Benjamin and me was taken on our front porch when he was only five days old. We were still reeling in the news that our lives had changed forever. I kept thinking that I was going to wake up and have the normal baby I had dreamed of and planned for. The shock of all of it was still so new and raw. It still is sometimes, even as he cooes and occasionally smiles at me. Don't get me wrong; I wouldn't trade him for anything. But it sure is going to be a tough road. Good thing I am close with the One who engineers the traffic flow. ;)

The second picture is of my dear, sweet Andrew at my parents' house. I promise you, if Andrew could, he would never leave his Yampa and Namma's house. He loves them, he loves their pool, he loves their crackers, and he loves their toys. (What can I say, so do I!)

Benjamin's First Bath

I am going to attempt to post some pictures, but if tonight has taught me anything, I may be better off getting off the computer and going to bed!

Okay...here is Mr. Benjamin during his first bath. The only picture where he wasn't screaming his head off. This was probably five or six weeks ago.

I have a blog headache

I consider myself to be fairly intelligent. I'm probably even too prideful about it sometimes. Well, consider me humbled tonight. This blog stuff is driving me NUTS! I tried to add audio to my blog. In the process, I somehow messed up the whole thing and deleted some important mumbo jumbo. Then I couldn't figure out how to get it back. The worst part (besides the fact that Matthew was itching to use the laptop so I was under added pressure--hey, he did the dishes in the meantime!) was that I couldn't even figure out how in the world to get help! I mean, what the heck is a 'widget'? ARRRRGGG!! I think I figured it out, but I wish I could get it to play my song automatically instead of a reader having to click the play button. But I fear that if I try to fix it, the option will disappear into cyberspace. And I lost Al Gore's phone number, so all will be lost.

P.S. I did have two comments from my first post, but in my mad attempt to figure out my problems, I started over and they were deleted. Sorry!

May I play?

Okay, I finally guilted myself into starting a blog. I want to be cool like all the bloggers I read, and the intimidation of not measuring up has stopped me from trying!! :)

I figured that no one would really want to read about a family of four from north Georgia, but I think it will most likely be more for me than for anyone. Life as a stay-at-home mom can get rather mundane at times, and the days and weeks seem to pass sometimes without incident. While this is sometimes good, it means that the time can slip away without anything to mark seemingly normal incidents. I don't want to not remember what it is like to have two small children or to be in my early 30s. LOL

I suppose those who read anything I post online will say that I am honest. I don't like sugar coating things. It is hard for me to understand why anyone would. Just give it to me straight.

Like Benjamin. I'll admit--I most likely would not have considered starting a blog had we not just been blessed with a Down syndrome child. (No, I'm not going to write "a child with Down syndrome." I am not big into political correctness, and I don't feel that it's demeaning to him to put the adjective before the noun...you'll soon learn if you don't know already that I'm a huge English language freak.) Anyway, it seems many people are interested in our lives. At least they were after the initial diagnosis. And it was wonderful. But I think what people fail to realize (not that I fault them at all) is that it isn't always at the beginning of a journey when you need nourishment.

Oh, it just started raining! Matthew and Andrew are both taking much-needed naps on this Saturday afternoon, and Benjamin is getting noisy over on his playmat where I placed him after I fed him. The cats are lurking around, looking around at the birds and rain out the windows.I need to sign off for now. I hope to get on later this weekend and tell more about our story and post some pics.