playing catch up

wow, i never had the intention to leave the blogging world for so long, i cant believe its taken me this long to get back on to write. ive been able to read the updates from friends and fellow bloggers, but ive been overwhelmed at the thought of updating mine.

lets start one thing at a time i guess, since i left off with the b12 diet ill pick up with it. its been almost a month, and so far ive lost about 14lbs. i dont feel hungry, im not deprived of food, i would probably loose more if i were able to do more exercise (amazingly enough no one considers chasing 3 kiddos and cleaning house and running errands exercise) but i dont have the time, will or energy to do that, not yet at least. still im very happy about going on the shots and loosing the weight, its been wonderful, i plan on continuing on at least 2 more months, maybe longer.

spring break....well it was nice, the kids enjoyed some free time at home, we went to chuck e cheese and mikey got to play with sarah some and go on a boat ride with her. all in all spring break was good, but i kinda fell into a funk around that time, i slacked off a bit much on everything, now im trying to catch back up and its an uphill battle.

the boys, mikey and chance are doing well. right before spring break i spoke with mikey's teacher and the special education cordinator (?) and got him signed up to get evaluated for autistic therapy, ocupational therapy and speech therapy in school, we havent heard back yet, but im hopeful this will go thru and he will get some extra help in school, its not this school year im worried about, as this year he has an amazing teacher, but what happends next year....so im trying to plan ahead. Chance had his 4 year check up, he was 43.3 inches and 45.5lbs, he is in the 90% for weight and the 97% for height! big boy!!he recieved 4 shots, this threw him into a huge meltdown and i had to physically lay on him to let the nurse give him shots, but his checkup went well, however the doctor showed some concern for chance also showing asperger traits (self taught abc's, memorizing our address after one time, knowing how to spell his name and micheal's name, counting to 100 etc.) the doctor started out asking chance basic color questions and was impressed when he knew what "yellow, or red" was, and i was telling the doctor, "thats nothing, he has known colors and shapes for at least 1.5 years! soooo now we wait till his appointmetn with the developmental pediatrician or another doctor to review chance and determin if he is also on the autism spectrum.
Mikey and Chance are both actually seeing a new psychologist tomorrow to be reviewed, so we may end up with our answers then...unsure.

Zach has been doing amazing, he is such a blessing, when the day is over and we have a quiet moment and im able to just look into his eyes and feel him talking thru them and i can tell him how much i love him, its amazing. Zach went to see the pulmonologist about 2 weeks ago, he is now on 1/2 litter oxygen!! he has come so far from when we brought him home on 2 litters, the oral steriod, breathing treatments 6 times a day etc, to now, 1/2 litter, no oral steriod, breathing treatments 2 times a day, its amazing!! we have even begun to wean him on one of his diuretics, so again its an amazing step in the right direction. Zach is so much happier now, im not sure if its him being off the steriod, the seziure medication or just him feeling better now, but he is always so happy and smiley! Zach had his last RSV shot for the season, he had been getting one shot a month from october till march to help protect him from the virus. he is making progress in therapy too, he is able to sit once we place him, on his own for about 10-15 seconds, sometimes longer. Zach also got his first pair of AFO's today, we had him fitted for them a couple weeks ago, it was nice to finally get them, best part is he doesnt seem to mind them at all. the AFO's are leg and ankel braces (think forest gump) to keep everything aligned like it should be. his braces are much cooler though than forest gumps, they are a light weight plastic, his are blue with airplanes and cars on them. they go from his foot to under his knee area.

Harold, he is doing well over in korea, ready to come home, and we are of course ready for that too, however we still have a bit of a weight, we are finally almost half way thru this deployment so far though. to think he has been gone 6 months is overwhelming, sometimes it feels like yesterday and others like a lifetime ago, so much has happend, and will still happen while he has been gone, chance turned 4, mikey will turn 7 in just 2 weeks, mikey was diagnosed with asperger's, mikey started ocupational therapy, chance might be autistic as well, zach is weaning down on items and may be trying to crawl or walk when he comes home. its a little bittersweet that all of these changes are taking place, i regret that Harold cant be here to see them and experience them first hand as well. I recieved flowers from him about a week ago, he isnt always the most romantic guy, so it was a very big thing, and they were/are so beautiful, tiger lilley's and roses, all pink. i was very happy to get them and love him so much. he has been doing some shopping over in korea as well, anyone who knows my loving and wonderful hubby knows this is a shock as he is a self proclaimed cheapskate, so again it means a lot. he bought be a beautiful dolfin korean blanket (big, thick, soft) and the kids each got one as well, mikey got spiderman and chance got nemo. we havent recieved them yet, but i saw them via webcam. they were only about $20 there, but over here to buy the same is over $100 i think. so im very excited to get that and he also bought a beautiful four piece landscape with bridge painting in blue and black, ill have to find a really good place to display it.

back to zach really fast, i have talked to one of his therapists for a while back and forth and thought on my own too, that zach may have something else going on, besides the CDH and the brain issue (just has alot of symptoms and issues that i dont see in other babies like him ) anyway i finally contacted a genetisist and recieved word back that they also think there may be something else going on, so we made an appointment to head back to texas children's in houston in may. now the idea of going back scared me, as i cant drive in all that traffic, litteraly i will have a panic attack and would be a ball of emotions on the side of the road, so when i agreed (knowing its best for zach) i worried how i would get there, i asked our nurse who has also become a very good friend if she would help, and to my suprise she was completely okay with it, she may never know what a huge relief and burden that took off me, im so thankful. so we will go and get zach evaluated and give blood samples, they usually take blood from both parents, but dad's in korea....so they said if they find something that worries them they will figure out ways to get the sample from him, and if not, when he gets home they will do the sample then. apparently there are a few syndromes that are connected to the diaphragmatic hernia, such as Fryns syndrome and PKS (Pallister-Killian Syndrome) and some other mutations of certian genes that can cause a big spectrum of problems. alot of these do sound like maybe it could be connected, they mention, lowset ears, undecended testicles, wide spaced eyes, flat nose bridge, brain atrophy in some cases, gerd, and more. im hopeful we can get some answers and help zach out as much as possible and know what we can expect. its fusterating not knowing.....anything basically, just going day for day.

well we got tax money and used it to pay off debt and im using some to get grass soon, im so tired of the mud pit! we need grass for summer with the kids, so i am excited. the first guy quoted me $3k!! for sod....so i went with a guy who is gonna do hydromulch for $750!

tomorrow starts April, wow, already. Mikey turns 7 on the 13th, we will celebrate the weekend of the 18th though. easter is the 12th, still gotta get things in order for that. and this weekend, the 4th is a babyshower im throwing for our day nurse, im very excited, because i love babyshowers, love making people feel suprised and good, and it gives me something productive and exciting to look forward to. im doing a rubber duck theme...the cake, the deco, even the punch will be rubber ducky!

im not sure if i have mentioned Julia here before or just on my carepage, but a wonderful family we have known since before mikey was born had their second daughter in december, anyway she was born with Charge syndrome you can get more information on that here.... http://www.chargesyndrome.org/ and since her birth she has only been home about a month. she had her first surgery to get a gtube for feeding and her second was open heart surgery to repair 2 holes she had, a VSD and a ASD and then today she had a Trach put in to help her breathe. she is such a strong and courageous lil girl, an inspiration. her mommy and daddy had no idea anything was really wrong with her, they were told she had hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain) and would be monitored, but when she was born she had problems breathing, and her ears were oddly shaped (like elf ears) and she had other characteristics of the syndrome. so needless to say they have been thrown into the world of being a special needs parent. not a role anyone wants, but they are doing amazingly well. dad is getting ready to deploy in just under 2 weeks and i am stressing for mom, she seems to be doing okay, but its overwhelming, and now the trach too. but they are a very strong family and julia is such a fighter, she will contiue to touch people she may never meet and show her mom that life as a special mom can be a blessing. i hope to hear she is on her way home very soon.

well there is the long awaited update, not sure why i was so overwhelmed to write it....haha. goodnight.