Entered another decade!

Yesterday was my last day in my 30's. As of today, I'm 40 years old. When I was a child, I'm sure I thought 40 sounded really old. Considering I have a two-year-old, three-year-old, and am 16 weeks pregnant, I don't feel old (even though they use that awful "elderly multigravida" term in reference to my advanced maternal age). I'm extremely grateful I am not spending the day at the feeding clinic. I am so thankful my birthday fell on a Saturday this year, as that's the only day of the week I am not spending any time in Hershey this month (at least from April 1-27 anyhow).

When I was a child and teenager, I hoped I would get married right out of college and have 3-4 kids before I turned 35. I remember wanting one of my children to be born in the year 2000 after I met someone born in 1900. I graduated from college in 1992, and I didn't go on my first date until after that so obviously getting married right out of college was impossible since I'd never been on a date at that point in my life. My first boyfriend was Paul. We started dating in 1997 when I was 25 years old. My 35th birthday was the hardest one emotionally. We had been ttc for 5 years and also had tried to adopt within the US and Ukraine, and yet our arms were still empty. Wow have things changed in the last 5 years! On my birthday last year I assumed our family was complete, but Paul changed his mind about doing ivf again, and God has graciously enabled another baby to be growing within me. We didn't have any "extra" embryos with our first two rounds of ivf, but amazingly we have one frozen embryo waiting to be transferred. I can't believe I actually might give birth to four children even though I had none (on earth) when I turned 35. I was so very happy when I was pregnant with Nadia, and since it had taken so long to have her, I really thought she would probably be our only child. I am so grateful the Lord has graciously allowed her to have at least two siblings.

Now that God has graciously blessed me with the children I had longed for since I was a child myself, I have to say it doesn't really matter to me now that I was childless at 35. I haven't forgotten the pain of infertility, but those tears have been wiped away. In life we'll always be facing challenges of some sort. From infancy through around age 22, I spent a fair amount of time at doctor's appointments, in hospitals, and having surgeries. I am very grateful that I've been very healthy over the past 18 years. Aside from OB and RE appointments, I have had very few doctor appointments over the past 18 years. Lately my biggest challenge has been trying to get Ian to eat. I have no idea what challenges I will face in the next 20 years, but I know that the Lord will give me the strength to face each one. There are so many things I'm looking forward to experiencing as a family in the future. I'm thrilled that my dream of becoming a SAHM should come true later this year.

The last three years my birthday celebration has been limited to going out to dinner with Paul. In the past I used to get together with friends and have a couple of birthday lunches. The past three birthdays that didn't happen. Even Paul (who has less of a desire for social outings than I do) has continued to have a birthday meal with his friend, Kirk, the past three years. I have to say that I had a great birthday celebration this year. My friend, Joyce, and I had lunch together at Applebee's last Friday in Hershey to celebrate our 40th birthdays. Nadia told me "happy birthday" countless times today. She and I shared a slice of pecan pie this evening, which Paul had bought as my birthday "cake". Paul and I went out to lunch at a restaurant we had never been to before. The food was delicious (and inexpensive), and the view of the river was gorgeous. I wish I had brought my camera! We also did some shopping (books for the kids at Ollie's and three maternity tops for me at Boscov's). Cheri and I had an early dinner at a restaurant where your meal is free on your birthday. I ordered veal parmigiana (which would have cost $19 if it wasn't my birthday). Then we attended a Jaci Velasquez concert from 5-7pm at a church in the town where I live. What a great day! I also got to see my mom on Thursday and Friday, which was special. She gave me a stand mixer, and Paul gave me a mini-muffin pan, Steeler t-shirt, and a silicone baking mat. Today was definitely a very special day, which was appreciated even more than usual given the unpleasantness of living in Hershey this month.

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday I broke down and was sobbing on the phone while I was talking to Paul. This took place while I was in the kitchen at RMH. The kids were in the play room. You know I'm stressed out and tired when I'm crying in public, as that's not like me! A lady walked over and handed me a box of tissues. When you're feeling overwhelmed, it's good to count one's blessings.

1. My mom came up to visit us today. She spent about 7 hours with us (almost all of that at the feeding clinic). She also drove 4.5 hours round trip, and she's planning to do it again tomorrow. That's a lot of driving over the course of two days! It was great to see her. Because she was here, I was able to participate in a meeting for 75 minutes (online) for work.

2. It was hot on Monday, nice on Tuesday, cool and rainy yesterday, and today it was really nice again. Since my mom was here, I was able to take Nadia to Cocoa Castle playground for about 30 minutes while she stayed with Ian at the feeding clinic. It was nice to get some fresh air! The kids also had fun playing on the playground here at RMH for about 30 minutes before dinner.

3. It was so nice to get a free haircut yesterday. I like this haircut better than the last few I've had.

4. There are SO many people who volunteer here at RMH. It's really amazing. For example, there's a man who comes and plays his guitar (background music) during dinner one day a week. There's a therapy dog here almost every night (last night was a Newfoundland). The people who do the check-in and check-out process are volunteers, volunteers cook the dinner each night, etc.

5. The food has been delicious. Nadia was thrilled that one night this week they were serving grilled cheese sandwiches, and tonight it was grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, mac and cheese, baked beans, etc., which was also a hit with her. I had a kiwi as part of my lunch three days in a row this week. I don't think ever in my life have I eaten 3 kiwis in one week before. Yum! I'm still scared to step on the scale beacuse I've been eating more pie than usual. I had a craving several weeks ago for lemon merengue pie, and that wish was granted today!

6. Ian is making progress. I think he's still going to have a long way to go after we leave here (in terms of being able to chew and swallow non-pureed food), but he's definitely made progress the past almost 3 weeks.

7. I'm extremely grateful we only have 6 days left of being in the clinic. I know some children are in the program for 5 weeks (or even more), but honestly I will say "no" if they ask me to extend his stay. I'm also very glad that tomorrow is Friday, which means we'll be home sweet home at this time tomorrow!

8. There are many things I do not like about the room we're in this week (such as the fact that the bathroom light comes on by sensor so it wakes Nadia up every time I have to pee during the night), but one thing I do like about the room is that we have a tub in our bathroom (which wasn't the case in the last two rooms). I have given the kids a bath 3 of the last 5 nights.

9. I finally got the bloodwork results today. When the nurse returned my call, she proceeded to tell me what type of blood Paul had (as in ABO/Rh). I said we know I need the Rhogam shot with every pregnancy. I don't have that type of antibody problem. I said I have Kell and Fya antibodies. She said she didn't know anything about that. I wish the people in this clinic would actually open up my file before they return a call about a specific issue. Thankfully a little later an OB (the one I really like) called back with the detailed information. The Kell antibodies aren't going to be a problem for the baby. Those must be from the transfusion I had in January 2010. The Fya (Duffy) antibodies might be a problem for the baby based on Paul's blood type. I asked what my titer level was on March 20 (as I had yet to receive that information), and she told me 8 (which is low). They will be checking my level every four weeks, which technically would be this week, but we're going to wait until the first week of May to have that done. I also will be followed by a MFM specialist throughout the pregnancy. If the baby seems to be experiencing moderate or severe fetal anemia (as detected by ultrasound), they will give the baby a transfusion via the umbilical cord. I'm glad we finally have answers after being in suspense since March 16. I'm praying for low titer levels throughout the pregnancy.

10. I'm thankful that I've been able to use personal days and sick family leave to cover 6 of the classes I've missed. I would not have had the energy to drive to and from work during this experience. When I get back, I just have one week of classes and then a week of final exams!

Four Months!

Today I hit the 16 week or 4 month mark of this pregnancy! I can't say I'm 100% beyond the morning sickness phase, but it's VERY manageable right now. If I feel queasy, I just eat a little something (such as crackers or fruit or chips) and then I feel fine. I can eat sweets at any time of day (as long as they don't have chocolate, cinnamon, raisins, or peanut butter in them as those give me heartburn). I have been enjoying having things like Honey Nut Cheerios and Golden Grahams for breakfast here at the RMH! Someone asked me this weekend if I was past the exhausted phase. I replied that I wasn't sure due to the feeding clinic experience. I have a feeling I'd be exhausted even if I wasn't pregnant. I can't distinguish what part of my exhaustion is from the pregnancy or from living at the doctor's office. I won't know until the first week of May when we're back at home. I also wonder how this experience down here would have been different if I wasn't pregnant. I almost burst into tears at the feeding clinic today - not over anything in particular but just because I wanted to pack our bags and go home and stay home. In the past 10.66 years we've been married, we've never been separated for so long. It's tough. Maybe I would have been just as emotional if I wasn't pregnant. Who knows. I'm determined to take a belly pic (as I haven't done so thus far this pregnancy). Probably I'll need to use the point the camera at the mirror trick since I'm here by myself. With Ian, 17 weeks was the half-way mark of the pregnancy.

I called the OB office, and they called back and said they hadn't received the lab results yet. I asked Paul to call the clinic at PSU to make sure they had the OB's fax number. They did, but they don't have the results yet. The antibodies were detected in my blood from bloodwork I had done at 10w5d, and here I am 16w and we still don't know if the baby is in danger or not. I don't ever recall being left hanging this long with any other medical situation. Hopefully PSU will get the results by the end of this week.

Tonight after I put the kids down, I'm getting a (free) haircut here at RMH! I was so excited when I saw the sign-up sheet on Sunday night. I have been wanting to get a haircut, and I thought I was going to have to wait until May due to being in Hershey this month. Hopefully I'll like the haircut. I have yet to settle on a stylist back home so it doesn't bother me that someone "new" will be cutting my hair this evening.

Today Ian ate the following foods by spoon: pureed beef stew, baby cereal, yogurt, tuna, and tomato soup with pastini. He chewed very tiny pieces of graham crackers with sesame butter, oreo cookies, animal crackers, and Frosted Flakes. The pieces of oreo cookies were definitely bigger than yesterday. Kathy is an expert at cutting things into super tiny pieces. I discovered this weekend that it's not an easy task to cut a graham or Ritz cracker into tiny pieces without smashing it to bits. The only thing he ejected from his mouth today was the pastini. He cried and objected to certain things (like the Frosted Flakes), but he definitely understands he has to swallow what is in his mouth. She also started working with him today on having him hold the cup of EleCare when he's drinking.

Oreos!

I wouldn't have guessed that Ian would love an Oreo cookie because when he was eating pudding, chocolate was definitely not his favorite flavor. I thought he might take after his Daddy and prefer vanilla to chocolate, whereas Nadia and I (when I'm not pregnant) both definitely prefer chocolate. Kathy decided to give him small pieces of a mini Oreo, and he LOVED it. He very gladly chewed and swallowed that delicacy! The foods he ate by spoon today included applesauce, baby cereal, yogurt, pureed tuna, and pureed chicken and rice. The foods he chewed and swallowed today included graham crackers, bananas, Frosted Flakes, and Oreo cookies. Graham crackers used to be his favorite, but Oreo cookies have risen to the top of the list. The pieces of all these foods are very small, but she is very gradually increasing the size of the "crumbs."

The two-year-old girl who was in the program last week didn't return this week. She was supposed to be in the program for four weeks, but she only lasted one week. Whitney (her feeding therapist) doesn't have a child to work with this week since Leah's mom didn't officially quit until today. A new boy (also 2 years old) is supposed to be starting on Monday. When we first got to the clinic I was thinking I was glad we were assigned Kathy as she has decades more experience than Whitney, but part way through the first week I was thinking my preference had changed. Kathy is a lot more laid back. I was counting, and she was doing 9-10 feeding sessions a day whereas Kathy does 6-7. I admit I get a little irritated on the days Kathy only does 6 sessions. We are supposed to be there from 8:30am-5:00pm. Now that I realize Kathy rarely does his first session prior to 9:15am, we usually show up between 8:45-9:00. What's the point of getting there 45-60 minutes early? Today his third feeding session didn't start until 12:20pm, and we had been there since 8:45am. That is frustrating. The feeding sessions are a bit longer now (20 minutes compared to 15 minutes the first week) so maybe that is why she's gone from 7 to 6 sessions a day, but for me it's frustrating to spend at least 8 hours in a doctor's office and only have the "treatment" last 2 hours of that time. The other 6 hours I am trying to entertain two little ones in a doctor's office. Although I got more sleep last night (thanks to the bedspread over the window), I still found myself wanting a nap in the middle of the day. It's just exhausting to spend that many hours in a doctor's office. I am eagerly waiting for the arrival of my mom on Thursday. I did 3 of the 6 feeding sessions at the clinic today. Kathy did the other 3. Plus I fed him two times at RMH. Sometimes I wonder why I couldn't have just done all this at home, but then I remember we tried that for more than a year without much success. Only 10 more days at the clinic. We can do this. If he's eating finger food 12 days from now, I'll be glad we went through this ordeal.

I haven't heard from the OB office regarding Paul's bloodwork that he had done last Thursday. I'm going to call them tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be able to report the results to me! I did see that our insurance company finally started paying some bills. Whew. I was very pleased to see that my first OB visit they paid entirely. That was a relief because the OB clinic wasn't sure they took my insurance. The second OB visit they didn't pay anything yet as they want more information from the OB. They probably want to know why the appointments/ultrasounds were less than 3 weeks apart (it was because of the antibodies). It's another story with what they paid the other hospital (where the RE is) for the 3 Betas and 1 ultrasound. I hope we don't end up paying the difference as it's quite sizable. Ouch!

Swallowing

Last week the focus was on chewing. She did work on swallowing some as well, but his first inclination is still to spit something out after he's chewed it. She told me today I can't give him any finger foods other than during meal times until he stops this spitting food out habit. I am going to comply, but it's going to make it trickier to keep him pacified while Nadia and I are eating dinner and breakfast. Today she gave him a variety of things by spoon, and once it was tiny bits of pasta (not pureed) that had been mixed with a little olive oil. That was the only food he objected to (and spit out) that she served him by spoon. His favorite thing to chew and swallow is definitely a graham cracker, and his second favorite is a Ritz cracker (very small pieces of each). During the last meal she put some sesame butter on the Ritz crackers. I tried one, and it tasted almost like peanut butter. He also ate little tiny bits of non-pureed bananas at one meal, and he had tiny bits of a french fry at a couple of meals. Progress! Over the course of the day he improved in terms of not spitting out or crying as much as he was at first.

Last night was a rough night for me. It turns out our last two rooms were in the newest wing of the building. Those rooms are MUCH bigger and nicer than the older ones. We have a twin size bed, queen size bed, and pack and play squeezed into the room. The floor creaks when I walk to the bathroom, but thankfully that didn't wake the kids last night, and I tried to go fewer times throughout the night than I normally due while pregnant. The biggest problem is that our room is on the side facing the parking lot. Our other two rooms were on the other side, and there is a big light for the parking lot right by our window, and the blinds in this room aren't very effective. The light kept me up most of the night. I am going to try to use a bedspread or something over the window tonight, and I think I'm so exhausted I could sleep through any amount of light anyhow. I'm planning on going to bed at 8pm along with the kids. I also discovered that ALL the electrical outlets in the room are controlled by the one light switch. If you turn the light switch off, the clock turns off for example (and my laptop wasn't recharging during the night like I thought it was).

Last weekend our printer was acting up. I printed at Paul's parents' house and Paul scanned the documents for me at PSU (something I had to sign and return to my university). This weekend I asked Paul to get us a new printer because I had more documents I needed to print, sign, scan, and email back to campus. He went to Walmart and got one. It wasn't until shortly before we were going to leave last night that I discovered he got a printer that only prints (doesn't copy or scan). So I stopped at a Walmart near Hershey and bought a printer that does also copy and scan. Today during Ian's nap I dashed back to RMH and hooked up the printer and printed, scanned, and emailed the document. Unfortunately, he took a short nap today. I've always gotten back to the feeding clinic before he woke up until today. It's tricky to juggle working and being a single mom down here in Hershey! It would be much easier if they had wi-fi access at the feeding clinic.

Giving Thanks

1. I'm grateful that Ian is learning to chew. I discovered when we got home last night that we were totally out of crackers (morning sickness lead to me consuming graham crackers and Ritz crackers, neither of which I usually eat). So I cut Fruit Loops into fourths (this might give you an idea of the size of "crumb" which he has been eating lately). He didn't mind chewing them, but getting him to swallow them (and they were very mushy after he chewed them) was another story. We had the same situation at breakfast so Paul made a quick run to the grocery store this morning for a few staples (milk, eggs) as well as graham and Ritz crackers for Ian. The routine is that he eats one (or two) bites by spoon (yogurt or a pureed food). Then he takes one crumb from my hand and puts in his mouth and chews it. If it's a graham cracker then he usually swallows it. If it's something else, he usually spits it out, and I have to keep putting in back into his mouth until he swallows it (at this point he's crying). Then after he swallows the crumb, I give him a little Elecare to drink in a small cup. Over the course of the 20 minute meal he drinks about 6 ounces of EleCare.  Now when he puts any food in his mouth, he chews it. This is a big change as for more than  a year his default has been to lick any food he put in his mouth. However he's still spitting food out. It hasn't become a habit to swallow food yet. We'll keep working!

2. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, and it's supposed to be really pretty the next two days as well (in the 80's on Monday!). I was grateful to be able to spend some time outside this afternoon because between the feeding program and the cool temps the past several days, I wasn't outside much at all.

3. I'm so thankful that Paul's parents came on Wednesday afternoon and also spent spent 5.5 hours with us on Friday. While they were there on Friday I shopped at a consignment sale, cleaned the room at RMH (guests have to vacuum, clean the bathroom, strip the sheets, etc. before checking out), and had lunch at Applebee's with Joyce. We'll both be turning 40 next week. It was great to enjoy a leisurely lunch with her. When I got back, they went to have lunch while the kids napped. Then when they got back from lunch they took Nadia to Cocoa Castle Playground. That feeding session (while they were gone) was a TOTAL disaster, but after they returned, he did much better for his final feeding session of the day.

4. I'm thankful we are able to come home on the weekends. Paul has been helping out a lot today because I attended a visitation/funeral/luncheon for four hours, and he took the kids on what is usually my bi-weekly couponing trip to CVS so I could get some schoolwork done.

5. We're half-way done with the feeding program. Last week I wasn't sure if I could stick it out, but now I am determined to see it to the end. I'm still praying he'll be eating finger foods within the next two weeks. I'm also very thankful that my mom is going to come up and stay with us on Thursday and Friday.

6. The beds at RMH are super comfortable. The mattresses are by Tempurpedic. They are incredibly comfortable, especially while pregnant. Unfortunately I had a very hard time falling asleep on our mattress last night. If Tempurpedic mattresses weren't so expensive, I'd go buy one! I'm sure I'll get adjusted to our mattress again, but it's a little difficult right now as I'm spending 5 nights of each week at RMH and only 2 nights at home.

7. The maternity clothes that I ordered last weekend arrived this week. This morning I was able to wear a new skirt to the funeral, and I changed into a new pair of capris for our walk to the park. It's always fun to wear new clothes. This is my first time wearing maternity clothes this pregnancy, and I like that when I wear maternity clothes I actually look pregnant (compared to just looking "fat" when I wear non-maternity capri pants). The maternity dress does fit (yay!), and I'm planning to wear it to church tomorrow. I'll still need to buy more maternity clothes over the next few months (I only have two tops so far and also need things like a bathing suit), but I have a lot more than I did a week ago!

8. On the way home from the funeral I drove by a yardsale, and out of the corner of my eye I spied an infant car seat. I quickly turned around and made a quick stop to check it out. They were only asking $10 so I bought it!

9. I'm so very thankful for the little one growing within me! I've been able to feel him/her move for almost 3 weeks, although it's not to the point yet where I would call them "kicks" and it's not very frequent (usually a couple of times a day). Considering we waited 6 years for Nadia, it still blows me away that I'm in the 2nd trimester for the 3rd time over the past 4 years. What a miracle!

10. I'm so grateful for modern technology that enabled me to teach from Hershey on Tuesday night and also that my friend, Joyce (with her 9 year old daughter, Kristin) were willing to watch my kids.

11. Ian's naps have been over an hour long the past three days in a row! This has NEVER happened before (somewhere other than my arms). Way to go, Ian! Also, he slept until at least 7:25am the past three mornings. Last night he actually slept for a full 12 hours! As they say, "good sleep leads to good sleep." Nadia only took one nap over the past week, and that was on the way home last night in the car.

Disney on Ice!

 

Today went faster at the clinic because there were twin four year old girls there with whom my children enjoyed playing. Playmates are the best! They hadn't really played with any kids much the previous three days. This meant they didn't watch much tv today. YAY! As for eating, Ian did great in the morning, and then he had serious tantrums all afternoon when Kathy was feeding him (just over the chewing part not the drinking of Elecare or taking a bite of pureed food by spoon). I bet he'll do well tomorrow morning because PopPop will be there!

This evening we went to see Disney on Ice. I should have waited until we got here to get the tickets. The RMH had a discount - $10 tickets. Live and learn. I'm glad I hadn't bought the rink side tickets though as those cost a FORTUNE, and our seats were just fine. As we walked in the stadium, I started welling up with happy tears. I'd chalk it up to pregnancy hormones, but I've been known to get misty eyed over other special events (like the circus and such) even when I was not pregnant. These were the sorts of things I really looked forward to experiencing as a parent.

The kids had a BLAST. Ian said "yay" about 250 times. I am not exaggerating! He was cracking up the people around us (in our row, the row in front of us, and the row behind us). They also got a big kick when he kept asking "where's the pirate?" when Peter Pan and Tinkerbell came out on the ice in the second half. The Peter Pan act was the longest one, and it was definitely Ian's favorite. Nadia's favorite was The Little Mermaid act, and her second favorite was Peter Pan. Their least favorite was Lilo and Stitch (which I admit I also know nothing about). They've not seen the Lion King, but they still enjoyed that act.

The only drawbacks to the evening were #1 that they went to bed an hour later than usual (a little after 9pm which is when I usually go to bed but it's 10:20 and I'm still up) and #2 that I had to say 'no" to Nadia regarding getting a snack or drink while we were there. I should have gotten a clue when we had to pay eight dollars to park our car. At first I said no snacks during intermission, but I was rather thirsty myself so when I saw the guy passing with icees I thought, I'll get us one to share. I quickly changed my mind and said "no thank you" when I found out they cost $15 each. Are you kidding me? $15 for flavored ice?!?!?! I think not. Call me a Scrooge, but I'm just not going to fork out that much money for ice or any other beverage for that matter! I'm very glad we went though. It was a fun experience for the three of us!

15 Weeks!

Today I hit the 15 week mark. I am very grateful that the morning sickness is no longer my constant companion. I haven't totally left that phase yet. Smelling certain foods will still make me feel like I'm going to throw up. For example someone made some popcorn in the microwave at the feeding clinic, and I thought I would die, and that smell is so strong it seemed to spread throughout the whole place so I couldn't escape it. My heartburn has been more manageable thus far than it was with either of the last pregnancies as long as I avoid the foods which set it off, which I don't do all the time. They served Papa John's pizza on Monday night for dinner, and that gives me heartburn but I ate it anyhow. I have been doing really well at avoiding chocolate. There is constantly an abundant supply of chocolate around here- candy (makes sense since we are in Hershey) as well as brownies and such. I had done a great job of resisting all of it until last night when they served peanut butter eggs for dessert. I love peanut butter eggs, and the only time of year I usually have them is Easter. I had one, and I regretted it for hours afterward. That strengthened my resolve to RUN from chocolate.

Yesterday the kids were begging to go to Grandma's house. I called Grandma yesterday, and she said that she and PopPop would come down today. They arrived at the feeding clinic at 3pm and what a difference it made with Ian's feeding sessions. He was screaming when they arrived, but when PopPop sat down beside him, he stopped crying. Nadia, Grandma, and I went back to the RMH for the last hour of Ian's time at the feeding clinic. Nadia and Grandma played while I was doing some grading and email for work. I really wish I was able to access the interent at the feeding clinic. I would have been happy to stay for dinner tonight at RMH as it was taco night, but Nadia wanted to go to Friendly's. I ordered a strawberry sundae. It has been decades since I had a strawberry sundae. Someone who is about 5 inches big has taken over my taste buds! ha ha! Tonight at Friendly's I noticed a big difference when we handed Ian some french fries. In the past he's only licked them. He was chewing them tonight! In fact he actually consumed part of the first one he chewed! I can't wait to tell Kathy this tomorrow. Maybe we can start working on some other foods besides crackers and chips. It's so nice to see him voluntarily chewing rather than licking foods, even if hardly any of it is going down his throat. It's progress!

I didn't realize what a blessing Dylan was last week until he was gone. Oh how they miss having a playmate. The hours go by much more slowly this week without him there. I'm letting the kids watch more tv than usual, but spending 8.5 hours a day in a doctor's office 5 days a week isn't exactly the norm (thank goodness!). The kids are also really missing Paul. That's why it was such a blessing that Paul's parents came down to visit today, and they're coming back on Friday so I can shop at the consignment sale without the kids and also go out to lunch with my friend, Joyce. We'll both be turning 40 next week (we're 2 days apart in age), and we used to celebrate our birthdays together (1997-2000). When we got back from Friendly's I expected we'd see one dog as all the other night's we've been here they've had one therapy dog here in the evening (from the Red Cross). Well tonight it was a dog PARTY or so it seemed. There had to have been at least 15 different therapy dogs here tonight. Wow! The kids had fun with them before it was time for a bath and bed.

One perk of pregnancy is that you can eat more food than usual without gaining weight. I was really nervous about weighing myself this past weekend because I hadn't weighed myself in a couple of weeks and I felt like I had been eating too much. I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the scale as it showed I weighed less than I did on the day of the egg retrieval and 2 pounds more than the day of the embryo transfer. So I chalked it up to having gained 2 pounds total thus far, and I was happy with that considering I've been eating pie and things I don't normally eat. One of my favorite treats has been all the fresh fruit, and at least I have no guilt with that! Almost every day I get to enjoy grapes and/or honeydew, pineapple, etc. YUM! Paul will be having the blood drawn tomorrow hopefully it won't take long to get the results.

Ritz cracker crumbs!!!

Today was a historic day. Ian actually used his jaws to chew, and then he actually (with encouragement) swallowed some little tiny crumbs of food (mostly Ritz crackers but also some Bugle chips and a couple of morsels of a pretzel). I was ELATED! I can't tell you what a thrill it was to see those jaws moving. Yesterday when she first introduced chewing she allowed him to eject all the pieces (not swallow anything), and then part way through the day she started working on getting him to swallow a little. This morning the first two meals he cried and cried over the chewing exercises, but then at the third meal he had a HUGE breakthrough and he started chewing and swallowing! He needed a lot of encouragement with the chewing (as in she kept pushing the morsels back in his mouth whenever he ejected them), and this brought on tears, but he would eventually swallow. As the day progressed he fought her less and chewed and swallowed more and didn't need as much help with pieces being put back in his mouth. I was THRILLED. I don't know if this can adequately express how pleased I was. To think yesterday she was contemplating giving up on teaching him to chew because of his underbite, and today he was chewing!!! She has been doing this a long time (just became a grandmother last month), and she told me today that she was shocked. She said she has taught many, many kids to chew, and none have learned as quickly as Ian. Later in the day he said he wanted to eat fruit snacks. Umm I don't think he's ready for that yet, lol, but the doctor said maybe in a couple of weeks. If Ian is eating fruit snacks in two weeks I will be ELATED. I am curious to see what the next baby step of progress will be that they'll work on tomorrow. I called Daddy, Grandma, and his OT to tell them the good news while we were still at the feeding clinic.

Kathy let us out at 4:30 because she knew I was teaching my class tonight. My friend, Joyce, who lives about 15-20 minutes from Hershey (we worked together from 1996-2000) came to the RMH with her daughter, Kristin (age 9), and babysat Ian and Nadia for 2 hours while I taught. Thankfully everything went smoothly. She took the kids out to the playground and also took them to the craft room where they were coloring (Ian) and painting (Nadia) when I came to get them. I am very grateful for modern technology that made it possible for me to teach from the RMH, and I'm very grateful that Joyce was willing to watch my kids. She'll be coming back to do the same thing on the 26th.

Paul received the paperwork in the mail from the OB about what bloodwork he needs to have done. He'll be checking at PSU tomorrow about getting that done this week.

Chewing and Cold Milk

This morning when I fed Ian breakfast at the RMH I gave him yogurt, cranberry sauce, and warm Elecare. It turns out that was his last time drinking warm "milk" as Kathy served it to him cold (as in from the refrigerator) the rest of the day. She told me this at his 4:30pm feeding so I served it to him cold at 6pm at RMH. I can't believe he showed NO objection to cold milk today because normally he won't drink it if it's not hot enough (i.e. someone heats it for say 25 seconds and he prefers it heated at least 30 seconds in the microwave). It's nice to know he can drink it cold. That will make life oh so much easier when we're out and about. He also has improved a lot with his drinking skills the last few days. He's drinking out of a plastic cup which is a shot glass (to give you the idea of the size). He switched to that size on Thursday after drinking from a medicine cup for three days.

The exciting thing for me though was that Kathy started working on trying to teach him to chew. I heard her talking with Dr. Williams, and she was telling him she was going to work on textures this week, but I heard him tell her to work on chewing instead. That made my day!!! He didn't eat as much food today because she was so focused on teaching him to chew, but he did have some pureed beef stew as well as yogurt. She gave him pretzels, Ritz crackers, and Bugles (the chip) to work on chewing. She also was trying to get him to swallow some of the pieces that would dissolve in his mouth (such as from the Ritz crackers). She thinks part of the reason he has chewing is #1 because of how few teeth he has and #2 because of the way his teeth/jaws are aligned. That doesn't shock me considering the issues my brother and I had. I am sure Ian will be wearing braces some day. I told her I didn't think it was impossible for him to chew, and that I wanted us to keep pressing forward with teaching him to chew. She was fine with that. I agree it might be more difficult, but I don't think he's incapable of learning to chew. My attitude toward the feeding program improved drastically once I realized they are starting to work on chewing today. I am hoping and praying that within the next 3 weeks he'll make huge strides with chewing. If he leaves this place chewing and swallowing table food, I will definitely think it was worth all the hassle.

The kids are really missing Dylan. It was harder to entertain them today as Leah (who is 3 months older than Ian) is completely non-verbal, and she didn't really want to play with Nadia or Ian.

I found out today that Mike's funeral isn't taking place until Saturday. I thought I was going to have to miss this one as well due to being in Hershey. I am glad I will be able to attend.

Today I spent some time trying to straighten out insurance bills. First, the hospital billed another company (other than the one I gave them the card for) to pay for my bloodwork. I didn't even recognize the name of the company, but it turns out it's through my employer and covers only mental health (counseling, etc.). How they got that information, I have NO idea. I told them they need to submit it to the health insurance company as what I gave them when I had my appointment. They lose my vials of blood and then bill the wrong company. Lovely. Last month our insurance said they weren't paying anything because they first wanted to see the EOB's from our other insurance. I told them we didn't have any other insurance. I mailed them a confirmation from Blue Shield, which showed our coverage ended on January 13. I called today and asked if they had received that documentation which I mailed 3 weeks ago. They said yes. I asked why are they still not paying a dime on any claim (they just turned down two more claims last week). She said she would have all of them reviewed again. I'll feel a sense of relief when I see them start paying these claims (some are from as far back as January 16). I hope I didn't make the wrong choice in going with this insurance until the end of June.