December 17th, 2014- The Reflection

I have been meaning to do this post for over a week now!  This is such a busy time of year for everyone, especially us!

So, going back to the fall- we had a great time going to the pumpkin patch as a family.  With 3 kids now, we didn't get as many pictures as we would have liked, because we were so busy keeping up with everyone and one of us had to hold Ally the whole time (a stroller doesn't exactly lend itself well to a corn maze or a field!).  But we did get a few pictures to share.

 

In the corn crib...what is this stuff??

 

 

First hayride- not the best pics of Ally, especially since she fell asleep on the way back!

 

 

Halloween was a blast!  We had a great time trick-or-treating in Russell's parents neighborhood (though the cold and slight drizzle made it a bit miserable for Ally, and even the boys only did one whole street).  Afterward we went to the home of some friends and hung out and let all the kids play together late into the night. (Of course, late for us means around 9!)  Some spooky pics...

 

Her costume- a ladybug!

 

Halloween dress!

 

Moving into Thanksgiving was a somewhat bittersweet time.  We had a great Thanksgiving with my family and it was a much needed rest for us from our crazy routine.  It was also, however, the year anniversary of many hard times- my accident and discovering I was already 20 weeks pregnant with Ally.  I actually went back through the posts from those events and the emotion is still as real as ever.  FYI, everything from the accident has been settled and done with, though of course the events from that night can never be undone.  And, Ally of course is a thriving little girl who blesses our lives immensely!

 

Smiley girl!

 

Ally has had several appointments since our last post.  She went back to neurosurgery in October.  Everything looks good but they wanted to try and get some 'after' imaging of her brain since the surgery to determine the size of her ventricles.  He ordered a sonogram but told us that might not be able to get the imaging necessary and if so she may need another MRI.  We had the sonogram done Tuesday and I haven't gotten the results back yet, but my guess is an MRI is coming.  Since Ally is now 9 months old, more of her skull plates are fused together and sonograms can't see through bone.  They could only see through her soft spot, but nothing through the back and sides.  Hopefully they could see what they wanted through the top and we won't have to do an MRI, because that would mean sedation and probably an overnight hospital stay.

Ally's physical therapy has been going well.  At the first visit we learned some exercises to help her with sitting up, and by the next appointment she was pretty much sitting up on her own!  (with the occasional topple...).  We really didn't do the exercises with her that much so it was probably mostly her natural development.  So next we worked on crawling exercises, because she was so close!  She would get to all fours and rock back and forth but not actually move forward.  By the next appointment, Ally was crawling! (Again, without much work from us.)  She crawls everywhere now, and gets into everything!  The physical therapist says she is doing really great and at this point they are basically just monitoring her.  Next we need to work on getting her to stand (though she does get to her knees on her own).  She is really doing great with her physical development.

 

Crawling!  (And being silly...)

 

A couple of weeks ago Ally went for her 9 month check-up.  Our pediatrician is very pleased with her progress.  She is up to 15 lbs., which puts her at 5% on the growth charts!  She is still taking bottles of pumped breastmilk mostly, but with solely pumping I haven't quite been able to keep up with the demand and we have almost depleted the freezer stock, so she has been getting a few ounces of straight formula each day.  I hate that (not to mention how expensive it is!!!) but it is only a few ounces and she's still getting mostly breastmilk.  She has done better with solid foods than she was, so hopefully soon she will be taking more regular food and need less of the liquid nourishment.  (It would also help if she would sleep though the night and not need to eat!  We know she's capable of sleeping through the night because she's done it a few times, so hopefully over the Christmas break we can work on that.)  She is still really interested in watching us eat so I'm hoping that soon she can start eating some more things like puffs, cheerios, and small bits of food and maybe she will be more interested (maybe this mushy stuff is just not her thing!).

Christmas time brings so much excitement, but all too often it also brings sadness as well.  We are very much looking forward to the fun and family memories the season brings, but lately there have also been many things that have brought me to tears.  On our Dandy Walker parents page on facebook recently a young woman posted that she was going into early labor.  A day or so later she posted pics of her baby girl in the NICU and said she was doing pretty well.  A few days later, another post asking for prayers because her daughter had taken a turn for the worst and they were transporting her to another hospital.  Finally, a picture with a post stating that her baby girl had 'gained her angel wings' as we say.  She only lived a week.  I was so touched emotionally by this family that I didn't even know that I sent this message to the mother:

You don't know me and I don't really know you, but I just wanted to let you know that my heart is totally broken for you and your family. I just wept last night when I saw your post on the Dandy-Walker parent page. I am incredibly sorry for your loss. It hits so close to home for me because you were in the same situation I was in 9 1/2 months ago, when my water broke at 34 weeks and our girl was born 2 days later having already been diagnosed with DWV and hydro and not knowing what the future held, especially now that she was premature. We spent 9 days in the NICU before discharge. We were incredibly blessed that her condition wasn't more serious and I know how easily our places could have been exchanged and we could have been the one to lose our daughter. It's so not fair that you only got to have your beautiful girl for a week and I'm so sorry that your time with her was so short. I know there are no 'right words' to say in this situation and I'm not trying to say them but please know there is a Dandy Mom in Virginia who is crying with you and praying for you.

Peace & comfort,
Kim

I remember that family often during my day and try to savor and embrace each moment with my children, for there will never be another day like today.

Our family wishes you a merry Christmas season filled with peace, love, &