How we survived

Well the first week of school has come and gone.... even if it was only 3 days long...... and we survived! LOL!

Trevor did very well with all the new changes. Things still are not totally in place for him, but he is still doing better than I thought. He has a great teacher though, and I am utterly thrilled!!! He really likes her and says there are some funny kids in his class. That is about as positive as you can get with him. I hope in the next couple weeks we can get everything with his IEP in place and I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Jordan is doing good too. His biggest complaint? School is too long. LOL! I warned him that it's not anything like Kindergarten, but I think he had no idea what I was talking about until now. He is going to do fine though. He has already invited a friend from school to go Duck Hunting with him. I am not worried about him at all.

Josh. What to say about this one? He did awesome!! He loves school and even though he has only gone once last week and now today, his teacher said he was so good. The only thing she keeps saying to me is that he goes 110 mph and she has no idea how we keep up with him all the time. I told her I wonder that too. I wish she could see how much different he is now than he was a few months ago. If she only knew how lethargic and the lack of energy he has had in the past, she would be thrilled for us too. Sometimes I just wish people could see how much support it takes to keep him going. If they saw the 6 big boxes of supplies that come from Apria HealthCare every month, or the 6-8 times a month I go to the pharmacy every month to fill his meds, or even see 4 baskets lined on my counter for the 4 times a day he has to have meds, or the amount of bottles of formula I still make, or the stressing I go through daily counting calories for him....... and that is just to start with. He takes alot of behind the scenes support to keep him well and doing as good as he is. And we know all too well if any of this stuff slips, so does he. I am very happy that he is doing well, don't get me wrong. It's just sometimes it can be exhausting.

Now onto Scott.... he is finally getting better. He has been pretty sick for the last week and it's been hard on all of us. He has not felt well enough to play with the kids, or help me out much. So it is sooo good to have him back. I missed him!

And now for me and the pregnancy. I had another Endocrinology appt last friday. My fasting blood sugars are still high and it's liver related. Before he upps my insulin again I am doing a couple things at night to try and trick my liver. So far though, it hasn't helped. I might have to have some liver testing done soon. I have been having contractions as well. I think (well really hope) it was just because I was doing so much and going 100 mph last week. Scott wasn't able to help me so I was incredibly busy. I had to take Josh to school, take the kids to school, pick up the kids from school, do homework, lunches, bedtime routine, meds, ect. So I am looking forward to this week with Scott feeling better and able to do alot more. I am driving a carpool so I am adjusting my daily schedule to accommodate everything I have going on. My kids get picked up mon-thursday, Josh rides the bus mon, tues and thursday to school. I pick up the kids from school mon-thursday and then I take them on friday mornings as well as Josh. It is taking some time to get used to the carpooling schedule, but I am very happy with it and it is going to work great. I just hope that with what happened this weekend, I will be able to drive the carpool up until the baby comes. We'll have to see about that. I have an OB appt this thursday so if I can make it until then without having some bad contractions, I will see what she thinks, or if she is going to make me start taking meds. I just wanted everything to go very smoothly. Is it too much to ask??

So that is how our week went. I am so happy to have some time to just relax now that they are back in school and I know in the next coming weeks, things will just keep getting smoother. It's always rough to adjust to a new school year. I will keep the blog updated though!

Josh's First Day!

As I promised in my post yesterday for Jordan and Trevor's first day of school..... it is Josh's turn today.

So what does he get to do on the eve of his first day of school?


Spend time hooked up to machines! Aren't you jealous? He does his last feeding of the day right before bed, but now we have added back nebulizer treatments as well. Scott and Trevor are sick right now (hence why Scott looks sick) and so it begins..... the steps we take to try to prevent Josh from getting sick, and for his lungs to stay healthy.

Believe it or not, he was smiling in this picture. He just looks really drugged..... well because he was! Thank you Trazadone!

Here is my sweet boy this morning before we left. He was so excited to take his picture. I was amazed at how well he did.

When I picked him up from school his teacher, Miss Lonah, said he did awesome and didn't cry once. She did say he went about 110 mph the whole time and asked me how I keep up with him. I laughed. She has no idea.

We are all still adjusting to the new school schedule and trying to make everything work. It's so nice to have some structure going on for Trevor though. We both needed it.

I will do another post in a couple days to update on how school is going.

It finally started!!

School started today!!! WAHOOOOO!!!!!!!!! (no I am not THAT excited.)


Here are Trevor and Jordan on their first day of 1st and 3rd grade. Can you believe they are that old? Time sure does fly.

As I have already said before the kids are attending Good Foundations Academy, a charter school, this year. It's a brand new school and we are so excited to be able to have this chance. Since it is a new school, they did some special stuff this morning. They had Hill Air Force Base come do the Flag Ceremony, did a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony with the Mayer of Riverdale and had police there. It was pretty cool.

This is how crowded it has been. Absolutely nuts!

This is the guy who was the driving force behind getting this school going. He gave a little talk this morning and I learned even more about how this school came about. Pretty interesting.

And of course... cutting the ribbon. While we were waiting for this to all start this morning, Trevor and Jordan could not get over how big the scissors were that they used. It was pretty funny.

And finally, as a little sidenote, I had to post a picture of Trevor's fish he caught at the Fish Farm with cub scouts on monday. He was so proud of his fish and even took this picture with my camera and took it to my mom's house to show it off. Made me giggle a little. So funny.

I will do a post tomorrow about Josh's first day of school. Can you believe my baby is going to preschool tomorrow? I can't!!!!

What we have been doing....

***Warning: May be a long post!******





I have been meaning to get this post done for about three days... but finally took the pictures and got it up tonight.



Here is some things that have been going on in our house.



First, we got a new Fish Tank. We had a 1.5 gallon tank with one fish in it. The pump/filter stopped working. Scott and I debated on whether to buy a 12 dollar pump for a 15 dollar fish tank for a few days. Finally we decided since Josh loves

fish so much, we upgraded to a 10 gallon tank and got more fish. Needless to say it has has been a hit and we see the 'fish' sign hundreds of times a day. It's been kinda fun for Scott and I. We have had to learn things about actual fish tanks, since they are much more involved than a tiny 1 gallon tank. But we are happy with it and it's been worth it.



So here is our tank. We have a Zebra Fish, 2 Red-Tailed Guppies, 3 Yellow Guppies and a Sucker Fish (Plecostamus).







This picture is blurry, but I was trying to get a picture of some of the fish. It's like taking pictures of kids... they never stop moving. LOL!




And now... the even bigger projects I have been doing.



After my last ultrasound that confirmed we were indeed having a girl, I have gotten started on the preparations. Both my sisters, Amy and Chantel, were so amazingly nice to offer me their baby clothes. Since we had to buy so many big items, I was willing to take all the help I could get. The clothes are adorable and I have had so much fun getting them ready. Here is what we have going on so far:




Here is her crib. The bedding is from my cousin, who lives in Kansas by the way. She shipped it out with her parents a few weeks ago and it made it's way to me. I was so excited to have it since it saved me lot's of money. Scott loves it alot since it's not pink. LOL.



Since Kaitlyn doesn't have a bedroom yet, her clothes are having to go into storage drawers. Good thing she won't care. Here is one with just newborn and 0-3 month size clothes.

Here is the drawers on the changing table that have onesies, hats and little things like that.

One more drawer cart that has burp cloths, socks and adorable shoes.

And here is Scott's amazing solution. I was trying to think of a way to not have to use the drawers in the changing table for things like diapers, wipes, lotion, ect. Since space for her stuff is at a premium. As we were wondering through the store a few nights ago, he went into a different aisle and came back with this to hang on the side of the changing table. Wahoo!!! Problem solved. Thanks Scott... you are helping me sooo much.

I bought her carseat last month, but just bought a cute pink carseat cover to keep her warm and dry when she is born. SO much fun!!! And here is also the bouncer that my friend Melissa gave to us. It's adorable as well.

And lastly... the swing. We can't survive without one of those! My friend Melissa gave that to me as well. She bought it for her son who hated it and so it didn't get used much. I am sure we will change that.

So between getting going on the baby stuff, getting ready for school... it has been absolutely crazy!!!

The week I had a dentist appt that did not go great and so I am looking at multiple appointments to solve the problem. I am very sore, but I had so much to get done I had a hard time finishing everything.

Trevor and Jordan's bedroom has been completely de-junked and all their too small clothes are finally packed away. Their school uniforms are washed and hanging in their closets. It was a half day project, but is DONE!!

Today was Josh's room. I bagged up two kitchen garbage bags full of clothes that are too small for him. My baby is getting so big!!!! I can't believe he has grown out of so many clothes. Granted a lot of them were 18 mos size and he is 3 after all. But I have bought him some new clothes for preschool this fall and I got those all ready to go.

So I think we are officially ready for school to start on the 25th. I am excited and can't wait to get back into the routine of it. I know it's going to be a tough year with the kids going to a new school, me being pregnant, soccer starting soon, and ect. But I am ready for it and the kids really need it. We will be fitting in weekly therapy for Trevor and Josh, Scouts, and endless dr. appt (for me and Josh). But I think it will just make the pregnancy go by that much faster. Wish me luck in surviving it all!!

Ultrasound and Baby news

I had my Targeted Ultrasound yesterday. That is where they do all the measurements, check the heart, make sure there aren't any problems ect. Everything looks perfect! The best news I can hear! I did ask specifically about the head size with the history Josh has with microcephaly.

And.....it is a girl for sure! I think even though I was told that last time it was a girl, I was still afraid it could change.

So it looks like I can breath a sigh of relief and get to planning!! We are going to name her Kaitlyn Margie Christensen. Her middle name is after Scott's Grandma. She is an amazing women and it will be such an honor to use her name.


That being said..... the pregnancy is going about how I figured, with some minor bumps along the way. When I went in today for my regular appointment, my blood pressure was 98/45. So a bit low. For now she thinks it is just the way my body is responding to the diabetes and sugar problems. I sure hope so. I get dizzy so much... not just a little, but like knock me off my feet and throw up. I am just going to watch the dizziness and other stuff and go back in if it gets worse. She'll just monitor it for now.

I saw the Endocrinologist last friday. He started me on insulin twice a day. At night I take a long acting to help with the fasting sugars, and just a short acting with breakfast since my morning ones were higher. But he did blood work and found I am way under doing the carb eating... I need to have 45 per meal and 15 per snack. So I started doing that and emailed him the results monday night. Big surprise that once I started eating more carbs (I was really cutting them out before because of the fear of high sugars), they skyrocketed. So now I added insulin for all meals and upped the insulin I was taking already. So far.... still high. I remember with Josh we never really got the fasting sugars in a great place. It has something to do with your liver producing sugars at night while you sleep and your body not using them since you are resting. Nothing I have any control over.

So it looks like for now..... the rollercoaster of blood testing and insulin is going wild. I hope by next week to have it going better. I will email him on friday with my last few days of levels and we'll go from there. I am just glad that I can do this by email and not keep having to go back. Small blessings.


As soon as I can get the pictures to scan from my ultrasound yesterday, I will get them posted.

Not dodging the bullet this time either....

I found out this week that my Gestational Diabetes is back. I knew it would, but part of me still was hoping I could dodge the bullet. I did the 3 hour Glucose test this past wednesday and got the results on thursday. I have my monitor now and am checking it at home. My OB has been out of town, so now that she will be back this week, I will get an appointment with an Endocrinologist. I am sure it will be Insulin again this time. Especially since I have been already watching my carbs and being careful and am only 18 weeks. I still have awhile to go. Let the good times begin!!!!!

Meet my new neices!!

I finally was able to meet my new nieces this past tuesday. Scott went to the hospital to see them, but since kids aren't allowed, I waited until they were home and settled in. They are soooo tiny and absolutely adorable!!


This is Andie Rae...she is the smaller one... weighed in at 5lb.


This is Cambrie Ann.... she was 6lbs.



And look at Scott hold two girls at once!!! I think he is really going to like having a girl this time around. I love it!

Feeding Clinic

Yesterday was Josh's appointment down at Primary Children's with Dysphasia (Feeding) Clinic. For once it was an awesome appointment with no huge surprises, bad news or frustrating conversations. Go Josh!!!!

Josh is now in the 27% for weight and 29% for height. Perfect. Absolutely Perfect! But I did know that Josh was doing really well. He is happy, full of energy and has actually been well and not sick all the time. It is such a relief to hear that.

So since he is doing so well, now is the time for some big feeding changes. I am quite apprehensive about it, but know it will be good. I just hate to rock the boat when things are going so well. But it's time... I know. He had some med increases with his weight gain and that was really the only other thing we are doing. We are going to try to change him over to this drink called Splash that can replace his formula. It's different from anything we have ever tried before, it's fruit flavored (they have tropical, orange pineapple, grape) and it comes in a juice box. So far he has seemed to like it OK. Here's to hoping!!! He will go off continuous feeds (can I get a wahoo???) and do 5 bolus feeds a day. We will start with food first and what he doesn't eat will but put through his G-tube over a short amount of time.

I feel really good about all the changes and I am so incredibly happy to be in a place with him that we can make some major changes. It's just hard to think about what can happen if we push too hard or things go south. I just hope it will all work out well. But we have one amazing little boy, so that helps a great deal.

And on another side note, my sister-in-law had her twin girls yesterday!! Andie was 5lb 1 oz and Cambrie was 6 lbs. We are so happy for their expanding family!! Such beautiful girls too!

Hospital Nightmare

We had quite the adventure on thursday. I took Josh down to Primary Children's to have a small problem with a front tooth fixed and a teeth cleaning. He did not cooperate at all when I took him in for his first visit. With his history the dentist did not feel comfortable doing IV sedation in the office and instead had us go to Primary's for it. He goes down there once a month to do things like this.

So it was supposed to be really routine, right? Oh no.... that just could not happen. We arrived around 9:45am and left the hospital around 8pm. Crazy. Insane. Never want to do that again.

So the reason for the long day? Josh had a reaction to the anesthesia this time. Most likely the Versed he was given. For those of you who don't know, alot of time they will give these kids a medicine called Versed to calm them down. It basically makes them lethargic and so they won't remember what happens. I have always declined it since Josh usually does well. For some reason thursday was a different story. He was really upset, would scream when the nurse would touch him, wouldn't get off my lap to play ect. So the anesthesiologist suggested some Versed. I agreed thinking it would be a good idea. Boy was I wrong! They gave it to him a little too early (it is supposed to be given 20 min before they go back to the OR) and about 10 min later, Josh was acting really funny. He seemed to be breathing harder than he should and was very out of it.. head rolling around ect. So I grabbed a nurse and they realized he had the medicine 23 min before. They brought out some monitors in the waiting room and hooked him up. His oxygen levels kept dropping to around 84% and the alarm kept going off. It was lovely. They took him back less than 10 min later. I went to the surgery waiting room. The procedure was scheduled to take an hour and a half. Thankfully I ran down to the cafeteria and got a snack. About an hour and a half later, the dentist came out to tell me that he was done and everything was fine, although more involved than he thought. No big deal. He told me that someone should be calling me within 15 min to go back to recovery with him. About 25 min later, I was starting to get this feeling that something was going on. A couple seconds later the receptionist called me to the desk to take a phone call. It was Josh's nurse from recovery. He was not waking up still and they were having to do some extra oxygen and stuff to keep him more stable. He told me he would call me again in 15 min with an update. This went on for an hour. Everytime they would say he was just having a hard time waking up and needed some supplemental oxygen. Finally they told me he was waking up and I could come back. When I went back to see him, I could hear him screaming before I even hit the recovery. Poor kid. He was out. of. control. there is not other way to put that. He was supposed to be keeping an O2 mask on, but was ripping it off faster than I could keep it on him. They moved him over to post-op and could hold him then. He calmed some and then suddenly just went back to sleep. His sats were dropping on and off down to the mid 70's. He would bounce back up pretty fast, but that is very unlike Josh. So anyway, we dealt with that for a few hours, as well as him throwing up. He was given Phenegren and Zofran to help with it, but he still threw up. A different doctor came and told me that they might need to admit him. I was a little freaked out. But then he said if he could maintain his sats above 90 with no help, for two hours we can go home. Thankfully from about 6-8pm Josh was a very good boy and we were finally released then.

It was the longest day ever. Scary and not fun. I don't ever want to do that again. The anesthesiologist is pretty sure it was the Versed that caused the problems since it was the only thing he had never had before. So needless to say we won't be doing that again. The end.

Baby Bump Update

I had another OB appt today. I was desperate to find out if we are having a boy or girl since I have to buy everything this time around. Dr. Julia is pretty sure (but will confirm 100% on July 29th) that



IT'S








A
















GIRL!!!!!!!!


How exciting is that??

Things look good, the baby is looking right on for 15 weeks and my blood clot is stable. I had to go have that looked at too. I do have a lot of pooling of blood going on in both legs now, which is another grand pregnancy complication that will just cause pain. The only solution is delivery. What fun I will have this pregnancy.

I will update obviously after my next appt, but until then.... we are really happy!