spoken for

Today K had a NICU follow-up appointment at the child development center. She saw a nurse practitioner, physical therapist, occupational therapist, and a doctor. Overall, every one of them is happy with where she is at. They gave me a few pointers on some things to do with her to strengthen some muscles and they expressed concern over her eyes and a way she turns her head to the left (or right) and then uses her peripheral vision of the other side to look at something. She sees a neurologist next month though, in part for the eye issue. The occupational therapist thought that maybe K’s looking at things like that was her way of stopping her eyes from moving around, to get a fix on what she sees. She also has the next kidney ultrasound coming up soon. And I am so tired…

Bleh, it’s frustrating and it never fails. Tonight, for example. I warned the E-boy:

“Bedtime in one hour.”

“Bedtime in half an hour.”

“Bedtime in fifteen minutes.”

“Ok, brush your teeth, go to the bathroom, wash your hands, get your jammies on, and go to bed.”

A lot of instructions, I know, but he’s really got that bedtime routine down pat. The problem starts about 15 minutes after he’s been in bed.

“I’m hungry.”

“Hello? Mommy? I’m hungry!!”

“You’ve been sent to bed. Good-night.”

“But I’m hungry! I didn’t have dinner.”

He totally had dinner, whether he wants to admit it or not. Sometimes he gets a snack (contrary to what my size may show you, we don’t usually have dessert here). But he always has plenty of time before bed to tell me he’s hungry. There are times I’ve even asked him if he was hungry, gotten a “no” answer, sent him to bed, then *suddenly* he’s “hungry.” Most of the time I think it’s just a ploy to stay up later but I feel guilty thinking that I don’t want to deny a growing boy some food.

But this behavior has got to stop. Tonight I told him, “ok, you can eat your dinner left-overs but then to bed and this is NOT going to happen anymore. You have plenty of time to decide if you’re hungry or not and you will NOT be getting out of bed like this anymore.” We’ll see how it goes.

The thing that really grinds my gears, though, besides when he’s been offered food just 10 minutes prior, is that he throws an absolute fit about finishing dinner left-overs. I have been in his face about not wasting food but he just doesn’t seem to get it. Of course, I win there, because I say “it’s that or nothing, we’re not wasting it,” but it still frustrates.

This has been a rant, good-night. :)

A friend who has a special needs daughter told me quite some time ago that it’s a good idea to keep all a kid’s info and medical history, etc., in a notebook so you can easily find everything and all the important info for the doctors. I tried it in September but didn’t get far. I realized last week, though, that I am already getting fuzzy about dates. The last time I was asked when K was removed from oxygen completely and then when she had the last ultrasound of her brain… my mind failed me. So tonight I’ve sat for the last hour and a half, going through my old entries here and even photos to see when this or that happened and to get it into a notebook. Because, apparently, just as I think things might really be coming to an end, that this story might be written for the most part, I’m told I need to start getting her some physical therapy and that she’ll need to see a neurologist in March.

It’s really been a ride to go through these entries, not even a year later yet. It’s amazing how fast time has flown. Where did it all go? I can’t believe 2009 went so fast. And really, my heart melts when I look at those pictures of K from April and May… how did I get so lucky that she would go from this:

To this:

In only a few short months?

But, again, apparently the war isn’t over yet. We’ll see next month (hopefully) if she needs kidney surgery and in March, hopefully the neurologist will tell us she’s just fine. We shall see what we shall see… But in the meantime, I’m not worried, I know things will be fine.

Though, I also wish I posted here more. Obviously, there are times I need those entries to remind me of things. :P