Pregnancy

Many people have been requesting pregnant photos. So Stephen took a few this evening. He also got a few good pics of Braden. Stephen had his first try at giving me a shot today. It turned out really well. He did an excellent job thank goodness.

One of Braden's favorite toys

Braden can play with this busy ball popper all day long if we let him. It's funny because he always takes out the purple ball and hold it. He never leave it in the popper.

Update from Ped visit

So we went back to the Pediatrician this Friday. Braden has still not fully recovered from his wheezing and runny nose. He has been eating well again and acts pretty much himself. But he still had a cough and his little episodes. So she put him on a 5 day steriod treatment. He has been on it now for two days and there is a noticable difference. Hopefully, this will knock it out. I apologize for not taking any pics lately. We have both been in our pajamas just a little too much and I haven't wanted to take any.

It's been a tough few weeks not being allowed to do much. But Stephen is a great support and he has really kept things nice around here. Braden keeps me busy but it sure would have been nice if we could have gotten his stroller out this weekend. It was sooo pretty outside and we really didn't get to enjoy it. :-( It'll all be worth it a few months from now. Little Brother has been very active. He is very much like Braden. He is tumbling around just like a boy in my belly. I remember Kaleigh felt like little butterflies when she'd move. Funny how even this early they can be so different.

Pediatrician visit

Today we went to the Pediatrician for Braden's RSV shot. Since, Braden has had a terrible time with his sinus's lately I had his Pediatrician take a look at him. I have always been told by both our Pediatrician and Pulmonary that if my child does not have a fever or yellow and/or green coming out of his nose I don't need to bring him in. Well apparently that is not always the case. In fact, today my Pediatrician said that some kids who have RSV may not have either of those symptoms. I am sure that Pulmonary and our Pediatrician do not want you to panic every time your child has a runny nose. But after this past week at least I know now what else to look for... Braden has had what I thought was just congestion which was causing coughing fits and lowering of Sats at nite. Not low enough to worry about but lower than usual. He also sounded congested while sleeping. Well the congested sound while sleeping was actually weezing. It was even difficult for his Pediatrician to know if he was weezing or just congested. So, she gave him a nebulizer treatment and then checked him again. Sure enough he still had a slight weeze. Thankfully, she confirmed he does not have RSV. She said that Braden's lungs were restricting his O2 in-take due to either the cold weather or a virus. The weeze is slight so hopefully he will be better with the nebulizer treatments. We go back to his Pediatrician next Friday to check on his progress. One side effect of the treatments is hyper activity. Well for a child who usually sleeps well this is not good. He was soooo tired at the Pediatrician's office that he fell asleep before we got to give him his RSV shot. But after his treatment he was wired. He didn't fall asleep in the car and I cannot get him to nap even now. Sooo I'm a little concerned he may not sleep tonite either. :-( Thankfully, it's the weekend and Stephen can help so I can get some rest.

We would like to say a special thanks to Nana's good friend Gerri for helping us with our Dr.s visit today. Braden just loved her and we both really enjoyed Gerri's visit.

TEIS came out today to do Braden's 2 year old evaluation. Thankfully, he still qualifies for TEIS services and will be continuing to see Ms. Janet for therapy once a week. :-) I am so glad.

No new news on the baby. This week starts a whole new experience for us. Now the baby is official past 24 weeks and will be 25 weeks this weekend. I am feeling very pregnant. Still nervous but also excited. I really was sad to have missed out on seeing hands and feet pushing my belly.

Braden and Baby update

Braden has been sick for about a week now. Fortunately, it seems to be just sinus related and not a cold. He had severe drainage early in the week which was causing vomitting. :-( Thankfully, Stephen decided to try giving him Children's Claritan. It's working pretty well but we are still having minor issues. I was worried about Braden loosing weight during this time but he seems to be maintaining. Otherwise, he has been very active and pretty much himself. He has been taking longer naps which has been great for me. :-) He also eats pretty well by mouth although I have had to put him on foods like banana purees and yogurt. No chunky stuff till he gets better. He hasn't had the desire to drink his water either. But that's ok as long as he still eats I'm happy.

A while back we had scheduled Braden for speech therapy. However, when we changed trach sizes he could no longer use his passy muir which delayed services. So now we are eligible again because Braden is over the age of 2. Today I spoke with Mindy at TEIS and she is sending a new referral either today or tomorrow. Which means Braden should start speech therapy very soon. :-) I am very excited and hopefully we can find a way for Braden to communicate. He knows several signs but will not use them. So they are going to try some alternative methods to see if he'll be more open to them.

As for Baby - he is doing great. I am now 24 weeks pregnant. It's hard to believe that this little one is the same size as Braden and Kaleigh when they were born. So you can imagine we are a little anxious and nervous at this point. My OB is now working with a high risk Dr.. Since we do not know what caused pre-term labor the first time around we are stepping up monitoring at this time. I am now only allowed to take care of Braden and I have been instructed to do nothing else. Stephen has been a great help with the day to day housework. My sister, neice and mother-in-law will be taking turns cleaning the house. I am also getting progesterone shots once per week. It's something that is very successful at preventing pre-term labor and cannot hurt me or the baby. It's so nice to be getting such excellent care and having extra precautions in place.