Pics of Graham's ankle braces

I finally got some pictures of Graham's braces. He is now walking eagerly while holding our fingers! (Thanks, Casey, for the extra wide shoes to fit the braces!)

Graham's Development

Graham started physical therapy in January (at 15 months old) and has made great progress since then. The physical therapist comes to our home once a week for an hour and we really like her. Graham is usually cooperative until the therapist touches him, at which point we things get dramatic. By 16 months Graham started scooting on his bottom. See the post on scooting here. He can now scoot quite quickly and will easily go from room to room. Most babies wear out the knees of their pants and Graham wears out the bottoms! By 17 months Graham started pulling up. By 18 months he started cruising around the coffee table. Now (at 20 months) he cruises easily and quickly around objects and can go between objects and is becoming more interested in walking while holding on to our fingers. He still refuses to spend any time on his stomach except while sleeping. 

Graham got braces for his ankles (Sure Step SMOs) at 19 months because his feet like to roll in too much. He is still adjusting to wearing the braces. He no longer fusses when we put them on but because the braces have to be worn with big bulky shoes it is more difficult to get his feet under himself and his feet are heavier to move. Supposedly the braces will help strengthen the right muscles and give him better balance to move towards walking.

We have been very pleased to see Graham progress physically in the last few months. I mean he didn't even start sitting up until 1 year old! We are hoping he will be walking soon so he can start keeping up with all his friends!

A couple pictures from when Graham first started standing. (Taken Jan 15)

Graham on his exercise ball used for many physical therapy exercises. (Taken Feb 2)

 We owe a big thanks to these stacking cups for encouraging Graham to do physical therapy exercises.

Graham's beloved play table loaned to us from Aunt Julia.

  

Graham standing at the playground.

Standing outside at the fence.

I haven't gotten a picture of Graham's braces yet but they look like these.

Sickness and Asthma

Back in mid-March Graham got pretty sick with a cold and his breathing got so bad we ended up in the ER and then staying at the hospital overnight. I hated that he had to stay overnight because he is so phobic of doctors and nurses and therefore is miserable in the hospital. But the doctors convinced us to stay and they agreed to not give him an IV. Graham's breathing has always been kind of labored and whenever he gets a little bit sick he has a really hard time breathing. They put him on an oral steroid and did frequent Albuterol treatments with a nebulizer. The steroid makes Graham VERY fussy and he takes it for 5 days.

Rare smile while in the hospital.

I was 6 weeks pregnant and the nausea was setting in big time. The night in the hospital and the following fussy days were rough because I wasn't feeling good at all. But we hadn't announced the pregnancy yet and so nobody but my husband knew just how hard those days were! Thankfully my mom came to help for a couple of days. We came home from the hospital with a nebulizer and after about a week Graham was better.

When we went in for Graham's 18 month well check the pediatrician finally diagnosed him with Asthma. He started daily nebulizer treatments of Pulmicort.

But then a week later he was sick again and we spent 3 hours at the pediatrician on a Sunday morning. I finally convinced the doctor to let us go home with the steroid, Albuterol, and antibiotics. We went back to the pediatrician many times over the next week. He ended up getting antibiotic shots. There was a threat of tubes for the ears because he had fluid in his ears for so long but it finally cleared up!

Poor guy. Sick and sleepy.

Currently Graham is doing the Pulmicort nebulizer treatments twice a day and taking Zyrtec daily to keep him from getting snotty. He has been doing well for a few weeks now and tolerating the nebulizer treatments as long as he has adequate entertainment. I need to get a picture of him using the nebulizer.

A few non-sicky pics!

This kid loves his doggie!

and the doggie crate.

Easter basket!

Easter family pics.

We're Expecting!

I apologize for the lack of blog updates in the last couple of months, but I have a good excuse... I'm pregnant! We are expecting TWINS in October! We have had a very busy couple of months with some serious sicknesses for Graham and lots of nausea for me. 

I found out I was pregnant in early March and had some early bleeding but blood work by the OB confirmed the pregnancy was progressing. Matt, Graham, and I went in for an ultrasound at 7 weeks. The picture had barely come up on the screen when the doctor blurts out "Well, there's two!" I turned and said, "That's a joke." Dr. said, "I don't joke about that." Then he just carries on with the ultrasound, measuring each baby like this was normal everyday stuff. Matt and I just starred at each other with our mouths hanging open trying to process what was happening. We don't have any twins in the family and I was not on fertility drugs. It never crossed my mind that we would have twins. We were ready for another baby, but we weren't prepared for two babies! The babies are in separate sacs but we don't know yet if they are fraternal or identical. My 40-week due date is November 10, but they will induce at 38 weeks if I make it that far (the majority of twins are born at 36 weeks).

We are still trying to move from shocked to excited. We know that every child is a blessing from the Lord so we are thankful. However, twin pregnancies bring added risks and unknowns and we will also have a 2 year old to care for. We are praying for two healthy babies! I have been quite nauseous all day long until just recently. I was not nearly this nauseous with Graham. I have been on prescription medication (which may or may not have been helping), eating constantly, and still throwing up about once a day or every other day. I am very excited to have some relief recently. I cooked dinner last night for the first time in 2 months! 

My sister-in-law (Matt's brother's wife), Joy, is also expecting in October. So Matt's parents will get 3 new grandbabies in October, doubling the number of grandchildren!

Here are a couple ultrasound pics. One from the 7 week ultrasound and one from a recent 13 week ultrasound. If we didn't have these pictures, I'm not sure our family would have believed we are having twins!

I plan to post soon about Graham's recent health issues and developmental progress and lots of pictures!

MRI Today

Graham had an MRI and neurosurgeon appointment today. This was his first follow-up since his neck surgery in November.

Overall things went well. The neurosurgeon was pleased with the MRI results. The spinal cord is no longer so compressed in his neck. She did mention something today that she hadn't before that we weren't thrilled to hear... apparently Graham's spine is narrow all the way down to C6 and he may require more surgery as an adult. But we won't worry about that now. He will go back for just an office visit in 6 months.

They gave Graham an oral sedative instead of an IV. We were glad he could have this less involved sedation. He didn't have to get an IV or even have any tape or monitors stuck to him! He was quite drunk for a while afterwards but able to eat and drink. He slept on the way home and for 3 hours after we got home!

We are praising the Lord how He has provided and healed Graham! We are praying that Graham won't have to have any future surgeries on his heart or spine and that the nystagmus will clear up.

Growing up

Graham is doing really well in physical therapy. He has been scooting for a few weeks now. He can scoot all the way across the room and back. If he isn't scooting then he is standing. He loves to stand at the coffee table and play with toys or stand at a little toy table that my Aunt Julia loaned us. He is really close to being able to pull up on his own. Since Graham is scooting, the physical therapist has switched her focus from crawling to standing and walking, which I am thrilled about. She wants to focus on what he is interested in doing to get him mobile and independent and although crawling is a beneficial step in development she isn't going to insist on it. Yay!

I finally feel like he is growing up. We have had a "baby" for so long. Most people say that their baby is growing up so fast, as though they wish things would slow down. But they don't really wish for that. Carrying your son into stores and restaurants in the car seat until he is 11 months old or watching him be constantly frustrated because he wants a toy he can see but can't get to is difficult. But I have enjoyed all the books He will sit in my lap and read! Anyway, we are praising the Lord for his progress.

Graham scooting through the tunnel at the playground for the first time.

Matts family including Robin and Noah (from Boston) came for a visit this past weekend.

Scooting

Graham (16 months) has recently started scooting on his bottom. He is thrilled that he can move a little and loves being on the smooth kitchen floor. He is chasing the dog and has made it to the dog's water bowl twice. A little taste of what it will be like once he is truly mobile! Scooting is not such a good thing for his development because we want him to crawl, not scoot. But at least he is interested in moving! Here are a couple videos of the happy scooter: