31 Weeks, Summer Camp & School Drama

Is this not amazing?! I am now 31 weeks 1 day pregnant!!!! I saw my doctor on Monday and they are very pleased to see me get this far. My uterus is now measuring at an incredible 37 weeks so I will have another ultrasound in two weeks to check measurements of baby to see the size. I am going to be completely honest that I am super anxious about how big this baby is going to be at birth. Besides measuring six weeks ahead, things are good and I do not have to go back for two weeks!

In little man news, he has started his first summer camp this summer. He is going to be in four different weekly camps and so far he is LOVING it. Monday was his first day and upon coming home I was told by his respite worker that it wasn't such a great start. A was not being included as he should have been. There was actually a camp counsellor that stood directly in front of him during circle time. When she was asked to move by A's worker, she turned, looked at A, rolled her eyes and did not move. This absolutely breaks my heart to hear things like this. I thank God that A does not understand what this counsellor was doing. Can you imagine how broken his heart would be???? As well, upon leaving the building they were in to go outside, A obviously had to go down the elevator. Well, when they got outside, the group was no where to be seen. They did not wait for A!!!! Thankfully A's worker is VERY good with him and is good at voicing her opinion. She did speak up for A in both situations and is a very good advocate when I am not available to be doing that.

I was so angry I immediately called to speak to the camp director. However being as late as it was I was not able to talk to her until today. This camp is all about being inclusive and I am disgusted that they would have camp counsellors work there that treat children this way. The director told me that she would be speaking to them about what went on, but she honestly didn't sound that concerned. Hopefully things turn around, cause my little man deserves to be treated just like everyone else and have a great time!!!

In some other drama, comes school. Unfortunately it looks like I am up for another fight. I spoke to the principal of his current school (she is new) and she does NOT have the same thoughts that I do at all. She does not think that A should be integrated at all, but rather should be placed in the DD class to focus on his direct needs. I do not agree AT ALL at this point and I will not give in to her belief. A is only six years old. There is absolutely NO reason for him to be placed in a DD class at this point. It is good for him to be around other children and it is good for those kids as well to be around him. I don't like feeling like my decision as a mother is not the right one. I know my child better than anyone else and what I want for him is MY decision.

Another option she had if I absolutely would not consider a DD class was to have him in the split 1/2 class next year. I was getting very frustrated because there is not a chance that A is going to continue going to that school so that is NOT an option. Secondly, why would you put a child that is supposed to be doing SK over again into a grade 1/2 class. I told her that we had met with A's principal and teacher a couple months back and talked all this over. We all agreed that it would be best for A to stay back in SK for September for a few reasons. When I told her this, she told me that she did not agree and that there was no reason for A to stay back. *sigh*

Anyhow, after finally getting my point across that this school was NOT an option, I told her where I would like A to go. She told me that it probably wasn't going to happen and that A should just go to his home school. His home school was the first one that we met with last year and is just not a good option at all for him. They have never had a child like A in the school and most importantly, there is no DD class. We all know eventually that A will need to be in a DD class and I would like the school that he is at to have one for when that move is needed. I was told that I should not and could not plan A's transition this far ahead of time. Pardon?! I sure can. I am his mother and I like to plan things! Why on earth would I want to send him to a school  KNOWING full well that in a couple of years he would have to move to another school that had a DD class for him to attend????????????

She then went on to tell me that she was not sure how the EA situation worked at his home school, but that there would probably be some that are assigned there and then A would get his "allotment" of time for one to one. I asked her what she meant, and she told me that A would get so much time per day of EA one to one support. I told her that was not possible and that A needed a full time EA. I was told that this was my opinion. Again, Pardon???????? When I asked her what A was supposed to do for the rest of the day that he didn't have an EA...like just sit there and look at the class, she told me the teachers would never do that to him. And that there would be nothing wrong with wheeling him over to a group of kids and have him watch. Sorry, but teachers do not have the time to focus that much attention on ONE child. Nor is it fair to have A watch kids do things that he should be INCLUDED in.

I am so flipping angry about this all. I am tired of having to fight for what is right for my child. I am tired of having to fight for the RIGHTS of my child. The lady does not know my son AT ALL and yet is talking to me like she knows him best.

I got off the phone with her after about 45 minutes in complete tears. I then spoke to the superintendent of this school about what went on and what was said. Unfortunately with it being summer there really is nothing to be done, so I have to wait to deal with the special needs coordinator and have her advocate to have A moved to the school I want him in.

Lets just all keep our fingers crossed that everything works out the way that I want it to for my little man!

Almost At The Big 3-0 & Family Update!

Well here we are.....only ONE day away from 30 weeks! Tomorrow! I can't believe how fast time is going with this pregnancy. We still have NOTHING ready or done yet for this baby! But we are okay with this because we are not going to be doing the baby's room until after it comes home anyways. Baby will be sleeping in with us for the first while so we will have lots of time to do things the way we want. It is tough when you don't know if you are having a boy or a girl because we don't want to do the room "neutral". If we have a boy, it will be a boys room and if we have a girl, it will be a girls room.

My 29 week appointment went okay with the doctor last week. Again, she wasn't wanting to check my cervix as it is best to leave well enough alone. I did have an ultrasound to do a measurement of baby as the week prior, I was measuring larger than the 28 weeks that I was. Turns out this baby is HUGE. At only 29 weeks, this baby was measured at an approximate 4.4lbs! I of course thought right away about delivery. I am nervous enough as it is, and knowing that this baby is going to be VERY large makes me even more nervous. She will be doing another measurement in a few weeks and if it is still measuring in the 95th percentile then we will talk more about a possible c section. (For those that don't know, a baby at 29 weeks should average about 2.5lbs).

I also had my registration same day and things are all set up there and ready to go. It was kind of odd to register for a delivery because we never had the chance for that with A. My support during delivery of this little miracle will of course be my hubby and my mom. IF my mom happens to be up North, then it will be Auntie A. Needless to say, Auntie A said she had to figure out a way to keep grandma up North so she can be there for the birth of her new niece or nephew! hahaha I wish the rules weren't so strict about who can be in the room and such, but rules are rules.

I continue to deal with contractions that started a week ago. They were pretty random when they started a week ago, but over the course of the week have become much more frequent. Some days they seem like they are just constantly happening.

I had to head to Mac again for cardiology last Tuesday and actually ended up in labor and delivery after seeing the cardiologist. I had Andrea with me and if it wasn't for her, I honestly don't know if I would have gone in. I feel like I am being crazy and just worrying too much. When I told the nurse that she told me that I shouldn't think that at all. She said she thought I was very brave after my history. Amazing sometimes how we can be thinking one thing and others around us are totally not even thinking on the same page.

I was hooked up for about 45 minutes and then my doctor (thankfully she was on) came in to see me. She ended up doing a manual exam to check my cerclage and said that I had about 1cm left of cervix and stitch was holding. She said to go for lunch and if they continued or got more frequent to come back. So Andrea and I went and had a nice lunch and then headed home.

Cardiology was happy that my EKG showed that my heart rhythm was back to normal (it was abnormal the first time) and doubled the medication that I am on. My heart rate was still about 100 so she does want to see it a bit lower. I am still dealing with the shortness of breath, but I am happy to know that it at least is not because of my heart!

On Wednesday I had A LOT of contractions and started to wonder if maybe I had a UTI. I was able to go into my family doctors office here on Thursday (of course he was away on vacation so I had to see someone else), but I am really glad that I went. Turns out the dip test didn't show anything that made her think that I had a UTI, but was going to send it away for a culture. However she thought I was diabetic. When I told her no she was shocked. The glucose in my urine was VERY high. So this morning I headed in for blood work after fasting and we will see if it shows anything. This is just so frustrating for me. I had my gestational diabetes test around week 26 and it was fine. The doctor was surprised that when baby was measuring in at 4.4lbs that they didn't sent me for fasting again, as diabetes is something that can develop any time during the pregnancy.

In little man land.....he is officially done school! He absolutely had the BEST time and I am so proud of him for doing so well. I really didn't think that he would like school and boy did he prove me wrong! If he could go everyday (including weekends) he would! It got to the point that in the mornings he would be very angry because he wanted to go THEN and not have to wait for the bus to come and get him.

He had an amazing teacher who went above and beyond her duty as his teacher. She made sure that she included him in any way that was possible. His first year of school could honestly not have been ANY better in the way of people that were involved in his care/teaching. (I hope they wouldn't mind me posting these pics....they are AWESOME pictures!!!!!!!!!!!)

His EA was also amazing with him and after all of my anxiety about who his EA would be, I am happy that he ended up with the one he did. When we would talk about his teacher and EA here at home he would light up. He definitely knew who I was talking about!

Sadly I am going to have to find a new school for my little man for next year. I will not go into details as to WHY this has to happen, but there is just no way that he can continue to go there in September. I will say though, that this has NOTHING to do with the school in ANY WAY. It is an amazing school and the BEST place for him but for the best interest of our family it will not and cannot happen. I am VERY VERY emotional about this and have cried many tears. I wish there was some way to make it work but at this point I see no resolution to the problem without moving him to another school in our city.

The other part that totally sucks about this, is that I called the special needs coordinator that I dealt with last year to get things organized for him to go to school and she is not back until September 6th which is the day that he is to start school. So it looks like once again he will not be able to start his school year on time along with all the other kids. And with his medical issues it always takes much longer than the typical registration and getting the school sorted out and ready for him.

My other issue, is that the school that he goes to was willing to let him go every day next year even though he would be staying back in SK. (The school is still not on the everyday/all day kindergarten.) This meant that he would be in two different classes, but we know he would love it anyways. So now I will have to find a school that has all day/everyday class as I am sure that him being in two classes is not going to be an option.

SOOOOOOOOOO frustrated and definitely NOT what I want/need to be dealing with at this time!

Besides school, he is going to have a very busy summer. He will be involved in four different camps over the next two months. They are each one week camps and his friend Missy will be going with him. With how much he loved school I knew that there was NO way that he was going to want to just sit around home all summer and relax. And of course, thinking ahead I wanted to be sure he was going to have fun if I was in hospital at all with this pregnancy. But thankfully that has NOT happened!

On July 1st we headed to Cambridge to be a part of the Canada Day Parade. I had NO idea that this even went on every year and it was a lot of fun! We were part of the float/walk for organ and tissue donation. A had a sign on his wheelchair that was made to support his favorite Auntie A. It was really awesome to see people in the crowds clapping and whistling for our float. The support is incredible! A's sign was also a big hit. I heard MANY people reading it out loud. A walked with his favorite friend in the parade and he LOVED it.

A with his Auntie A

Is this not awesome?!?!

After the parade was over there were a bunch of booths set up and some carnival rides. A went on this firetruck with his friend "M" and LOVED LOVED LOVED it. It went really high up and around in circles. First forwards and then backwards. Mommy stayed on the ground and took pictures and a video!

A Pretty Big Update

Well, lets start with baby. I saw my team on Thursday, and baby looked great on the ultrasound! Baby is growing well and is very active. I am feeling baby every single day and I just can't get enough! I am also now able to see the kicks from the outside which is really exciting too. Dad has yet to feel any kicks...it seems that baby likes to be still as soon as he places his hand on my belly.

Baby on April 21st

I still have a tiny amount of protein in my urine, but just feeling happy that it hasn't changed into anything more. My cervix however has gone down yet again. And this time by a whole cm. I have to admit that I was very shocked when the nurse told me my measurement. The tears came. It is sooo scary only being just over 20 weeks and knowing that if something was to happen now, nothing can be done. It is also scary because we really are hoping on not doing any NICU time.

So I am now on modified bedrest. I am not allowed to do ANY lifting, which everyone knows how hard that is considering A relies on us for everything. I am not allowed to stand/sit for too long and cannot go for any walks. If I was to lose another 1cm, I will be admitted to hospital. This scares me too, because of A. I know things will work out, but being a mom who worries about her child CONSTANTLY, doing so from a hospital bed 45 minutes away would be much much worse.

Baby April 28th

I remember kind of being iffy about getting the cerclage done at first and just wanting to be followed closely. Now, I am just SO happy I have the cerclage or I would be going absolutely insane. Well, more insane than I already am! hahaha

So, all those prayers and thoughts are truly needed at this time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In little man news. He is doing great!!! I place his hand on my tummy alot and tell him that it is the baby. If you ask him now where baby is, he will usually look at my tummy. So cute. He is going to be such a great big brother. One of the things I am most excited for is seeing the two of them together. I also can't wait until A sees his little brother/sister for the first time....I wonder if he will know?

In school, things are still just as fantastic as they have been. He loves every single second he is there. I had a meeting last week with the principal, his teacher and the resource teacher. It was to go over his IEP and discuss plans for next year. I am very happy with the IEP that they have written up for him and even more happy that all three of them agreed with me that the speech therapists ideas for A to say yes/no are absurd and just will not work. I love having people on my side.

I was asked about next year and what I had in mind for A. Of course I said that I was expecting him to go to grade 1 and be there daily. However, all three of them think that A should stay back and do SK again and then move on. The environment of SK is much more relaxed and as well, A didn't get started until pretty much the beginning of November anyways. And even then, that was not even full days. I told them I would be okay with that, but something had to be figured out for him to go all day everyday. So the principal spoke to his supervisor and she agreed that A can do SK over again, but go everyday. This means that he will be in two different classes, but I know he will love it!

Little man also got him brand new AFOs and they are really cool! And these were picked up just in time for his brand new OWN stander!!!!! He was not thrilled at all to be put in it the first night it was brought, but it has been a while since he has used one so we will just have to get him used to it again. Physio was here the following day while I was at my appointment and my mom said that A was so upset with just putting on his AFOs that they didn't even put him in the stander at all. So I got a great picture of him yesterday to show physio next time I see her! hahaha

On Good Friday, we went up to Hilton Falls for a little family hike. We had never been there before so we thought we would check it out. I was a bit iffy about going, but figure that a 4km hike into the falls and back out would not be that bad if we just took our time. A loves his bike trailer and had so much fun on the hike. Mommy however was not feeling too hot by the time we were done. My back was sore and I told J that there would be no more family hikes until we were a family of four!

Easter Sunday we headed to see grandma and grandpa S and the rest of the family for Easter dinner. This was tough for me as well, because it is just so far from my comfort zone. I always feel the need to be close to my team. I did okay though and was happy we went. It was nice to see everyone!!!

Just An Update

Well I am excited to say that yesterdays appointment went really well!!! The ultrasound was the diagnostic one, so it was just over an hour. Of course I had a man that was training, so what was already a long one, was even longer. By the end of it I had a very hard time getting up. I have had so many issues with my back this pregnancy and I know that its only going to get worse!!!

Anyhow, baby looked great!! He/she is VERY busy and was giving the tech a hard time. Every time they would freeze the screen to do measurements and go back, baby had moved. Or would be moving as they were trying to get pictures. Baby was breech most of the time, which meant that it was standing on my cervix A LOT. Hmmm think this could explain some of those quick/sharp pains that I get when I say it feels like it is my stitch?? And to think of how they will feel when baby is bigger....don't even want to!!

All measurements were good and all organs looked great so far as well. Baby is measuring between 17 weeks 4 days and 18 weeks 3 days which is right on. (Actually on the small end, which is just fine by me!)

Cervix also looked great....actually gained .3cm which puts me at 4.3cm.

I still had a bit of protein in my urine, but again, no real cause for concern. My blood pressure was 100/60, which for me is on the low side, but I'll take it!

We are going to stick with our weekly appointments until at least 24 weeks. This is most comfortable for all of us together, but I am sure especially me! I am only two days away from my first milestone, where I will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Tomorrow marks the exact gestation that I was when I gave birth to Hunter. And of course my HUGE milestone will be passing 24 weeks!!! We will be in unknown territory then!!!!

I am starting to get super excited, but at the same time I am almost afraid to be too excited. I have a great feeling with this baby, and I just can't wait until the day I get to hold this baby in my arms!!!! I am feeling much more movement lately as well, which is always a nice reassurance. I think baby knows that I needed that this week!

In little man news, he is still doing great! On Monday I got to go to school with him as his nurse was sick. I had always wanted to see what he does all day, so this was a great opportunity! And I have to say that I am VERY impressed! Out of all the kids in his class, I have to say honestly that he seems to pay the most attention. SOOO good to see!

His EA was actually off too with the flu so that was a bit disappointing. I was really hoping to see the two of them work together. Instead he had a supply and to be honest, she was pretty useless.

He loved O'Canada, their morning songs, story time, circle time...ALL of it. He even did really well when it was time for the kids to go to their desks and colour a picture about a book they had just read. He was trying his hardest to hold the markers and do his work. It was really cute too, because he sits with another boy and a girl at a table. And because A obviously can't glue things on his own, they worked as a team to get things done. These kids were just great with him!

Another nice thing to see was when we would walk down the hall to go to the "big room" where he has his diaper changed. He LOVES it! He loves being in the middle of all the action with the hallway full of other kids. And many of them would say "hi Ashton" as they walked past. Brought a smile to my face for sure.

Recess was heartwarming for me as well. There are a few girls that love to push him around the playground. There is one in particular named Angel and wow, an Angel she is! She talked to him as if he talked back, she would take him to different points in the playground, lock his wheelchair and talk about what they could see or what they were looking at. It is just so great to see kids that accept all other kids for who they are. I swear, it was like she didn't even realize that he couldn't talk back to her. To her, he was just another kid on the playground. She did tell me that she is always helping whoever she can and that she loves to be a big helper. Especially to kids that need help.

It was also pretty neat to watch him in gym class, which I knew was another of his favorites. They played with a parachute and right when he saw it he was super excited. They all stand around it and on top of it is four balls. They try and bounce the opposite colour of what is their teams off.

After gym was library. It was reading day, so the teacher read them a couple of books. Again, his attention to what was going on was AMAZING! I never ever would have guessed that he would pay attention so well at school for anything.

As nice as it was for me to be with him in class and see what he does and how he acts, I would never ever in a million years want that as a job!!!!! I do not understand how his nurse is able to do this two/three days per week to be honest. I did NOTHING for him except his feed. In my opinion after being there, he really truly does not need a nurse by his side at school. However, for some reason the school board thinks opposite and therefore pay an incredible rough $56.10/hour to have her there!!! I did not have to suction once. NOTHING. I sat hidden behind the teachers desk and read magazines.

Family Update

Well, things here on the homefront are great! Little man is loving every minute of school and has really turned into such a big boy since starting last year. His EA writes in a notebook that is sent home with him and I always sit down with A after a day of school and talk about what he did. I am not 100% how much of this he truly understands, but I can definitely see the wheels turning. He still loves talking about O'Canada, and loves it even more when we watch the hockey games and he gets to hear it.

It seems that his favorite things at school to do (besides singing!) is math and gym class. This is a kid who has ALWAYS loved to count, so the math makes sense. Gym, they do so much different stuff. Today they played "parachute" and he seems to enjoy that. His favorites are definitely hockey and soccer though!

I'll tell ya, this kid just LOVES watching sports on TV. Any time there is a Leaf game on, you can bet that he is watching it. There are days he whines about his shows on TV so you have to try and find a hockey game for him to watch. If there isn't one, you can resort to ultimate fighting, golf, lacrosse or football. No joke. He will watch all of these as if he understands every second of what is happening.

He had a visit to the dentist last week and again did well. He does fuss/cry throughout the whole ordeal, but for a child that does not eat orally at all and has a SEVERE oral aversion, he does great. He really isn't a fan of the high pressure water and suction, but again he manages. It always takes a few of us to keep him under control, but we manage. The lady who does his teeth every time we go is absolutely awesome at her job and you can tell she really takes pride in what she does.

Little man is really loving to draw/colour again. This is HUGE because for a long time he would not even think of doing this as his one EI worker got him hooked on stickers. But since being in school, this is yet another great thing!!!!

He also had his first school trip last week, which was pretty exciting. They only went to a grocery store, but for him to accept a different routine than what he is used to is great news. His nurse said that he complained the whole way to the grocery store but as soon as they were inside, he was good. I am sure he was wondering where he was going and why. I am thinking that maybe he was complaining because he thought that he was coming home early?

As for everything else around here, well no complaints! J and I are really nervous about the coming weeks and the pregnancy, but of course that is to be expected. I just can't wait until the day that we can both be super duper excited for this baby!!!! Don't get me wrong, we definitely are excited about being parents again, but hard all the same.

We have TONS of people praying for us, and we BELIEVE, so we shall see!!!!!!!!!