Where To Begin......

It's been so long since I updated this blog and I just don't know where to begin. So unfortunately I guess I will end up skimming over the details in an attempt to avoid spending all night on the computer.

So, the first thing I wanted to mention is that Josh was officially discharged from physio in August :) He is more or less meeting all of the milestones for a two-year old with the exception on one or two things. He can't jump yet (although he thinks that he can, but in all honesty only one foot makes it off the ground. It's actually quite cute to watch.) He also wasn't able to foot propel himself forward on a ride-on toy. He could push himself backwards but he hadn't quite figured out forward motion. He has since learned how to go forwards but mind you it's very slow. Anyway it was a very exciting day -- one less appointment to deal with.

The end of August marked Josh's second birthday. It's still hard to believe that he's two years old. I can't get over how quickly time passes us by. We had a quiet little party for him on the day of his birthday complete with Elmo cupcakes and then a bigger party in early September. The party in September was actually a combined party for Josh and two of his cousins who all share August birthdays so it was quite chaotic. I had baked a dinosaur cake for the party and I had planned on decorating it myself but unfortunately I had to drive up to Renfrew that morning (a very long story) which is a 1 hour drive each way, and there just wasn't enough time to get it done. Thankfully Robb stepped up to the plate and was more than willing to decorate it for me. I was a little nervous about how it would turn out, but I have to say I am quite impressed!
















































On October 2 in was Josh's 2nd Heart Day -- the two year anniversary of his open heart surgery. We had another little celebration for him but this year instead of a heart cake I made heart cookies.
























Josh's speech progress lately has been amazing! His speech had been progressing gradually since he started therapy in February but it was definitely a slow process. He's very quick at learning and using signs to express his needs but the speech part was incredibly slow. But recently (like say within the last month or so) something has clicked for him and now he's constantly spitting out new words. Not only that, he has started combining 2 or 3 words together. It's awesome! I am so very proud of him.

Anyway, as you can see Josh is doing great. He's happy, he's healthy and we really couldn't ask for any more than that.

Now to update you on my pregnancy. The pregnancy has been going well. As I've mentioned in an earlier post I had my fetal echo in August and we were given the all clear -- no visible heart defects.

Things have been progressing normally since then until this week. I had an ultrasound on Wednesday and the baby is measuring small -- like a pound smaller than it should be. Right now the baby is just under 4 lbs. I have now been referred to the high risk team at the Civic Hospital and they will likely be delivering the baby early but we just don't know when. My OB suspects that my placenta is no longer functioning like it should and so the baby isn't getting enough nutrients to help her gain the weight she needs. A pretty scary thought really but her biophysical profile scored 8/8 and the amniotic fluid level around the baby is normal indicating that her kidneys are still functioning normally. So she's not in any distress and other than being small in size, she seems healthy.

My OB's office called this morning and the earliest they could get me in to see the high risk doctor is the morning of November 16. I have an ultrasound at 10:30am and then an appointment with the doctor an hour later. I guess if the baby hasn't gained much weight by then they will likely go ahead and induce me and deliver the baby early. I'll be 36 weeks by that point and even if the baby is small she should be alright. I'm trying not to stress about it but it's hard. It's normal for a mom to worry.

While I wait for the next ultrasound my OB has booked me another appointment with him next Wednesday just so that I'm seen by somebody next week. There's no ultrasound booked but he has already told me that his threshold for keeping the baby in utero is low, so if for any reason he suspects that the baby's health is in jeopardy he may end up sending me to the hospital to get induced next week. Armed with this knowledge, Robb and I have been busy trying to get everything ready for the new arrival should she come as early as next week. I'll do my best to keep you all posted in a timely manner but I guess I can't make promises :)

Oh! I almost forgot about Halloween! At first we had got Josh a skeleton costume and even though he looked oh so cute we decided it wasn't going to be warm enough and despite getting it in a larger size we didn't have a lot of extra room to bundle him up under his costume. So we returned it and Robb found this great monkey costume. Josh loved it and he still asks to put it on whenever he sees it. Anyway, Josh had a great time and is thoroughly enjoying his sweet loot -- as am I :)























Thanks for checking in!