Teacher and therapies

Yesterday TJ's teacher came over for the first time in just over a month, since she'd been on a break.
She went to pick him up thinking he would be light, and had to stop and readjust for a better grip because he's so heavy! she was suprised. lol,

Then we played with him, practicing tummy time, reaching for things, etc. And she got out her Oball which is a toy used in therapy that has holes to make it easier for baby to grasp and is very light. At one point she had managed to shove one of those jingling cat toys into the Oball through alot of determination (because it had to stretch the hole enough to fit through but couldn't be small enough to pop out and choke some child)

Well TJ focused on that little jingling ball, and he put two and two togther, at least in his own little way.
He decided he WANTED That ball in there so he grabbed the Oball with both hands, and tried to stick his tongue thru one of the holes to get the little jingle one. it was SO funny, he had this determined look on his face as he kept moving the toy back and forth (to bring the smaller ball towards his face)

It was HILARIOUS!! My little man is getting so smart, it's unbelievable. This morning he let us sleep in nice and late (10:15am!) and when he woke up daddy made his food and then brought him into our room to snuggle while we had him hooked up to his feeding pump. He kept looking at me and studying my face (not crosseyed either, lol) and then just softly making noises and "talking"...
I can't wait to see how he changes and grows over the next few months before Mason gets here!

To blog followers! PLEASE READ

I wanted to thank all those following my blog for their support. Especially Joy and Claire! :) You all are wonderful and the prayers/thoughts and love were always felt during our tough times. It's amazing that we get to celebrate TJ's FIRST birthday, because there were days we thought he might not make it.

I'll be posting plenty of pictures of his birthday. Friday we will go out as a family, have dinner and take a small cake (and plenty of baby wipes!) with us to let TJ experience. We want to do this as a family, since there have been so many things we nearly missed as a family (christmas, thanksgiving, valentines day etc.) Then saturday we will have extended family and some friends for a small gathering just to do the cake thing and celebrate.

Thanks and I love you all!!!

CINDIE

SORRY! AND UPDATE! TJ birthday is FRIDAY Aug 14th!

So things with the baby are going well as well as with TJ. I apologize for not making the blog for Mason.

WE found out we're having a BOY his chromosome analysis came back NORMAL, and we find out in a few weeks if he has the skin disorder. He's growing and kicking and i'm almost 21 weeks now.

Recently TJ started LAUGHING, not just smiling. He's about 15 lbs now, and growing fast. He's learned to act out when daddy comes home. He'll thrash around and laugh til someone pays him attention, then when daddy goes out to work again from lunch, he will fuss for a couple hrs!

TJ also can now sit only semi supported, with just a chair or something behind him. Thanks to the bumbo we've used for about 6 weeks. He's more verbal but still no words. :)

If you know my myspace and would like to see video of him, it's myspace.com/martikadragoon, just send a friend invite and lemme know where your from (blogspot, babycenter, medhelp, etc..)

I'll be getting up the new blog as soon as possible!>

UPDATE!! TJ WILL BE A YEAR OLD ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!! Thanks to all our friends who've been with us through the entire ride with him. WIthout you we wouldn't have made it!

Cindie

16 weeks pregnant/update on TJ

Ok so I STILL haven't gotten around to making a separate blog for this baby. What I think I'm going to do is wait til the amnio results come back and we know if it's a boy/girl and if baby is healthy... I'll do as I did with TJ's blog originally which is take what I've written on other sites and paste it together so that I have a fluid timeline.

I'm 16+ weeks pregnant and have my amnio coming up wednesday. I've been having an issue of nearly blacking out lately. I'll be walking around or standing and all of a sudden be dizzy/tunnel vision/far away hearing and start to fall over... so I have to lean on something or sit and splash my face with water. I also try to drink soemthing. but my dr's haven't told me if it's low blood suger, or heat or whatnot... i'm completely exhausted all the time too! lol.

Baby is moving around lately and I began feeling kicks and stuff at 16w mark a few days ago. I'll post about my amnio/level2 ultrasound after I have it.
my doctors also referred me to a pain management doctor to have them find a treatment for my back pain. So I've got to wait for that referral to go through.

TJ is doing well. We are working with a bumbo and little man can sign Mama now. We are fairly certain that he's teething right now. Because everyday he gets fussy for HOURS. the only thing that stops it is tylenol. We can feel 2 little bumps trying to pop up. One on his lower jaw one of the upper...

HUBBY GOT A PROMOTION! He's now DEPARTMENT MANAGER where he works. It's taken 2 years for him to get this position. It means a hefty raise and possibility of good bonuses every 2 weeks. (like $250 extra)

So we are doing well!

TJ Update~ Got hearing test back!

U/S at 12w4d!

So yesterday, June 16th (ok 2 days ago) we went in for TJ's ABR test and new tubes to be put in and his ears cleaned.

We FINALLY got some encouraging news! We found out TJ has only Moderate hearing loss, so he's not profoundly deaf, only hard of hearing meaning that hearing aids may work for him and he might grow out of some of the hearing issues as his ear canals grow!

According to the dr. his hearing levels are 45 in one ear and 55 in the other... or according to my research he has approx %30 hearing loss in one ear and %45 in another. He will get to learn to speak and hear and say Mommy and Daddy! :) Since he had that surgery for the tubes, he turns his head and wakes up at noise! it's really cool! We're happy to know he can hear mommy's and daddy's voice!

Also, since he's been taking his tylenol orally, we decided to try some babyfood on him today and fed him some applesauce. He did SO great! he HATES the baby spoon for some reason.. a sensory thing I think, but he ate 1/3 jar of applesauce! he wasn't extruding it or anything. he'd actually swallow it! We haven't gotten the "official" ok on feeding him orally yet but his Speech therapist and OT both mentioned they think he can eat orally but would like to get the "OFFICIAL" ok from his gastrointerologist.

We also had an ultrasound for this little peanut growing in my belly and baby looks GREAT. I still measure on track for a Xmas Day miracle! We scheduled my amnio for July 14th so wish me luck that we have a healthy baby (GIRL!) lol.
I'll know approx 7-10days after the amnio if it's a girl and if there are chromosome problems. then 8 weeks after we'll know if baby has my skin disorder. We're excited and a bit nervous.

We got a GREAT sonographer (sp?) who played with the U/S machine for about 30 min showing us 3D and blood flow and everything. He wasn't looking for more than CRL length and est. gest age. that was it.

he said baby looks great and we got to see him or her kicking and moving around.

10 Weeks Pregnant!! Update on TJ

Well, this week I am 10 weeks pregnant. I'm currently waiting for a referral to go through to the maternal fetal medicine clinic. I rented a baby doppler from Babybeats.com and got it the day I turned 10 weeks. The first day I tried I couldn't find the heartbeat, but I tried again the second day and found it! 150's and strong!!!!

We took TJ to go see his pediatrician a couple days ago (friday) and she said he's doing GREAT and to keep doing what we're doing. he is 23 3/4 inches long and 12lbs 1 oz!!!!!!!!!!

He kept trying to roll off the table on her. He had to get some of his 9 month shots... poor little guy had to get 3 different injections! he really hated it. he's been very fussy ever since.

he's also gotten a new habit of just crying for about 15 min. before falling asleep when he's tired. he cries like somebody's beating him! lol. So we have to leave him in his crib to cry it out for a bit and then fall asleep. As soon as I get in to see MFM at loma linda, I'll start the new blog. I just want to be sure this baby is doing well..... and I want to have info to actually blog about! lol..


Cindie

Saw Little bean's heartbeat!!! Next blog saga will be soon!!

Well TJ is doing WONDERFULLY!!! He's begun rolling.. almost all the way over, and playing the "kicking game" where he tries to kick his diaper off when we try to change him.

Today I had a U/S to see if we had a viable pregnancy.... they said I'm about 6w3d... I SAW A HEARTBEAT!!!! I'm so excited. Based on my past history my OB is sending me back to the high risk clinic at Loma Linda.... so I am happy to go to doctors who KNOW me!