the BIG ultrasound

I had my "BIG" Ultrasound on Feb 15th at a clinic in Langley. I brought my sister with me, who is planning on being there for the birth again; I'm so excited to have her a part of this! I was hoping to find out the gender….even though I know that the sheet they get you to read says they won't tell you, will only write it in the doctor's notes and will only send it to the doctor when I"m 21w along….{ROLL EYES} …but I was so hoping for a sympathetic technician or some kind of clue. Instead I got a MAN!!!!! :( {grumble} Now, granted, I did have a male tech for my dating scan with Bryn, but he was a lot more fun and very Gay! LOL I wanted to go out with him shopping afterwards! LOL THIS man was all business. No facial expressions. No talking. No clue. Nothing.

Julie, Kai and Bryn got to come in and see the baby bean floating around, which was so wonderful. We saw the heart and the spine and the kicking of legs and arms and it is still so magical, no matter how many children you have! When I was watching the screen I had a hard time believing this baby was actually in my tummy! After all, I couldn't FEEL the kicking or anything. It was such a relief actually to see the movement, since I've been a *bit* discouraged at my lack of feeling. I'm sure I'll be feeling kicks big time soon, so I should be happy for these quiet times, but I felt Bryn SO Early, so I was expecting the same. Silly me.

With the way the baby was laying, all we could see was the back, so I asked the tech if HE could tell the gender, to which he said, "I can't tell you." I KNOW That! But can YOU tell? Did HE know? Still, he insists, "I can't tell you." GRR! I just wanted to know if he knew so that my doctor would. I hate the idea of anticipating knowing in a month just to learn that he didn't know either! Grr! I also asked him how the baby was and how the heart looked and such, to which he said, can you guess? "I can't tell you." Oh good grief! He can't even tell me that everything looks fine? Everyone else has told me that before!!! I was slightly annoyed.

BUT…I did get some wonderful pics of the baby! YAY!



And here are two pictures of me in the past month…

at 15w:


at 17w:


you can't quite tell in that picture, but I have "Holy Hormone Hair" lately!!! It's been SO curly!!! I've actually been enjoying it! But I badly need a haircut as I have tons of split ends. I'm still deciding on a style though.

A few days after the Big Ultrasound, when I was out, the maternity clinic called and left a message with Hunny saying they had booked another ultrasound for me next month! Of course, being a man, he didn't ask why! I finally made it down to White Rock for my bloodwork (which should've been done last week. *blush*) and popped into the clinic and asked. Apparently, the guy couldn't get a good enough look at the spine or the heart, or he altogether forgot about them, b/c there was no info on either in the chart. {roll eyes} Also, he said he couldn't see the gender. I'm annoyed! I don't mind having another ultrasound; that hardly bothers me!!! But it bothers me that this guy couldn't tell me that he couldn't see anything and I'd have to rebook the scan??? Would that have been hard??? It's just that I waited a month to find out details, and there are none! *HARUMPH* Oh well. My next scan is at the hospital and in two weeks. I'll be further along, so I'm sure they'll be able to see better.

Oh, and I've decided that it isn't a BIG DEAL anymore to know the gender. Funny, eh? I still can't come up with a boy's name that I LIKE a LOT, but I'm also not freaking out. Funny!!! I've got everything crossed that it's a girl, and am not talking to those who feel otherwise in fear that their negative karma will rub off on me! LOL

Almost everyday, Kai will exclaim to me, "You're having another baby!" Or "I"m so excited we're having another baby!" He's so cute!!! Abi loves the idea too, but really it's Kai who gets giddy and affectionate. I'm wondering when Bryn will understand the idea. I really need to stop calling him "baby"!!!

thankfully it's my thyroid!

I finally went in to do my bloodwork for the maternity clinic, including the one to check on my thyroid that should've been done maybe two weeks ago. I have hypothyroidism, which I take medication for daily, which also needs to be checked reguarly during pregnancy as it will fluctuate often. So this morning, I got the bloodwork done and out of the way at the hospital lab. I was so pleased with myself for doing that too as I have been REALLY struggling with energy and total and complete utter exhaustion! I was so surprised when the doctor called me at home tonight at 7:30pm! (not my doctor, but the one who worked that day in the clinic) She said that the results of my TSH were in, and normally your levels should be between 1-5. Mine is at 10!!!! My body has been trying so hard to produce enough for me but failing! (Apparently, this is one of those 'opposites' thing, where the numbers are high, which means my thyroid levels are too low!!!) I can't tell you how HAPPY I am to hear that!!!! Now I have a reason, an answer, an excuse as to why I am soooooooo tired!!!! I don't recall feeling this exhausted in such a long time. I can only seriously go a few hours and then I need to lay down for a few more hours, that's how bad it's been. I can not accomplish anything it seems, so it's been really getting me down. I'm so happy that this ISN"T "normal" and that there is a reason and that it can be fixed!!!! (at least, I"m hoping so!!!)

Exciting news

Kai's ST Linda has been testing him to see where he is at with language and such, and today's was about comprehension. It started out easy and I was wondering what she would accomplish with asking him to point out the dog from a series of 4 pictures of animals, but as the pages went on, the questions got a bit harder. Such as "studying" or "vest" or "trunk" (of a tree). I was SO proud of him! He did great!

I was talking to Linda about it later and she said that according to his results (which she tallied since Kai no longer wanted to participate, so he kept running off to hide behind the couch!) that his comprehension is at the age level of a FIVE and a HALF year old!!!! I was so surprised!!! That totally made my day!!! I told her that I've been going back and forth on deciding if he should go to Kindergarten in September or not. He'll turn five in November, so he's old enough, but we weren't too sure if he'd be behind the rest of the children or not. If we held him back a year, he'd be sure to be ahead of the kids, and be at an advantage. But obviously I am wondering and doubting that idea since I can't seem to come to a confident answer! Linda encouraged me by saying that she thinks that he'd do fine and his knowledge level is at the right spot; he's a smart boy, he's just delayed in speech. (and potty training, sigh, grr) *I* think he's ready……but is he??? He's got the energy of a kindergartener!!! LOL He's "ready" for it in that sense. But is he???

The idea of sending him to Pre-School for a Third Year seems so sad. Like we're holding him back. When all the other children moved up to Pre-K, he stayed behind, and that's what it feels like we're doing.

So I think I need to talk to his preschool teacher and see what her advice and thoughts are, and talk to a Kindergarten teacher at the school for what we should look for and such. I know that he's behind on potty training, speech (obviously…but even his speech has GROWN! I mean, he is doing so well it's Phenominal!!!) and in his writing. He can't write his name or straight-ish lines well. So we'll need to work on that. But other than that….he knows his A B C D's and can count to 15. Yay! He's actually been trying to read this week too! He'll take a book out that he knows and "read" the story to himself (I can hear him in his room at night). Yesterday, he tried to read this one story of a bunny that he remembered. He didn't get many words correct, but he got the jist of the story across! I'm so proud of him! It's funny (and sad) that as a parent you worry and wonder about the capabilities of your own child. But isn't it amazing when they blow you away with their accomplishments?

I'm so excited about this prospect! I love seeing Kai grow and pass hurdles!

We saw the Cardiologist on the 11th for his bi-annual check-up, complete with ECG and Echocardiogram. The apt was at 12:30, and we get his tests done soon after we arrived at Children's Hospital. I'm so pleased with how Kai sits so still for these test now. I remember how when we first started to go (when he was 1 1/2yrs old….so long ago!) and he would wiggle and scream and cry and it was stressful for all of us! How he's grown! He's now 97cm (apx 3' 2") and 13.1kg (29lbs)…so he's gotten taller…but he hasn't gained any weight in 6ms. I'm sure Bryn is heavier than Kai is…at least he feels it!!! :S The cardiologist has taken note of the lack of weight gain, but since Kai is eating well and seems to be doing well, he wasn't going to worry about it yet. After all, he is NOW Finally ON the growth chart! (well, in the 5th percentile….still tiny…but so is Abi! She's the second shortest in her class; she informed me rather hotly that she is taller than the Thai girl in her class, lol!)


According to the tests, nothing has changed. He is growing and so is his heart, so it's still enlarged. But the good news is that it isn't getting worse.


Since he is at a good size now, the doctor wants to do a biopsy in the Spring on a piece of his heart muscle. This won't be surgery, but will only require catheterization…which is still slightly worrying. There is only 20% of having a positive answer as to what is causing this or anything, but it WILL let him be able to eliminate some issues of what it ISN"T. The doctor will call us in the Spring to set up a date.


So all around, things are going well for Kai. He delights me!

why? why? why?

ARGH!!! I think Kai is going through his "terrible twos" right now! He has got quite the attitude when it comes to not getting his way (but then again, who doesn't get upset about that?) and he is CONSTANTLY asking me "why?" to EVERYTHING!!!! I was going Bonkers on the car ride home after dropping Abi off at school this morning!!! "Why is that car going to the gas station?" "He probably needs gas." "Why?" "Because cars need gas to drive." "Why?" "That's how they're made." "Why?" "They won't run without gas." "Why?"

Wow-ee!!! We managed to made it through that stage pretty easy with Abi; she didn't ask that TOO much (unless my preggo brain forgets, which is very possible), and I thought we did wonderful with missing it since Kai's speech was so delayed! *sigh* It's so nice to hear him speak clearly and so often, but I tell ya, his constant chatter and questions are tiring after a while! Is it bad of me to admit sometimes (okay, most of the time! *blush*) I tune him out and just agree with him when he says, "right, Mom?" LOL

Meanwhile, on the Speech Front…Kai is only going to ST once a week now since he has gained so much in the past 4 months. It's been Amazing! I'm happy too b/c it's less driving and stress for me! Linda did a mini assessment on him again when we returned last week for ST and she has noticed that we need to work on syllables (he pronounces many words as one, just as Bana, instead of Banana) and on his vowels (which is funny since that is all he used before!) and the second consonant in words. She got him to say "L" properly last week, which he was doing well. It's encouraging to see how much he has grown. I had to fill out the usual yearly forms again though, sign the papers of disclosure and such, and tell them my "goal" for Kai. Uhm… that he speaks??? I never know what to put for that. It seems like such a no-brainer! What would you like to see for your child? Uhm, that we don't need to come here anymore b/c he's doing so well??? That he can speak at a level that everyone understands him??? That we can send him to school confident that he is on par with the other kids???

Bryn saw Michelle from IDP (infant development program) yesterday again for his 18 month ASQ. He did Awesome! I was so excited! He is ahead or on target for everything…..except his speech. :( We were discussing his speech back in Nov 07 and it was suggested that we get him referred for Speech Therapy. Just in case. So yesterday, Michelle asks me, "Do you feel that he is at par with other children his age for speech?" I thought then said yes, to which she looks over the Qustionaire and tells me that Bryn is at the "at risk" level. :( Guess I'll be filling out that referral and returning it to Linda afterall. It feels like the whole thing with Kai again…where we were so hoping he'd "out grow" his speech delayment, and wanting to postpone therapy. We're at the same thoughts with Bryn. We hope he'll do fine, but what if he doesn't? What if he also gets diagnosed? I'm not suggesting that would be horrible, I'm just debating on the whole "do we wait?" thought. I know that we can take him OFF the list if his speech takes off, but it's the whole admitting that you have to put him ON it in the first place!

No matter what, my boys are wonderful! I am so proud of them and love to see how they are growing, and the things they can do! They sure do keep me on my toes!

babies DO come with instructions!

My SIL sent me this email link to this "helpful" instruction manual on how to care for a baby. Too cute!

http://www.makememinimal.com/2008/instrucciones-para-cuidar-un-bebe/

It's in Spanish, so I couldn't read it, so maybe the rest of it isn't even interesting, but the pictures are all you really need!