Over the summer we spent most of our time just playing and exploring. Gianluca has really developed his speech, in fact he's pretty much caught up for his age. We discontinued Occupational Therapy because he was doing so well and we just saw it as a needless appointment in his life at this point. He does continue to get Speech and Physical Therapy. Every Monday he is so excited that Sue and Jill are coming. He runs down the hallway to greet them in pure joy. It will be very sad when we discontinue their services.
We took a family trip to Myrtle Beach this summer. It was Gianluca's first time to the beach and seeing the ocean. He wasn't terribly thrilled. I think the loud crashing waves and rushing water just frightened him. He warmed up to it enough to put his feet in but that's all. He wasn't even really excited to go in the pool. Sticking to a bath tub for now. Seems to be more his size and he can splash away in the comforts of home.
Most of the summer he spent visiting the ducks by the river and exploring his love of anything automotive. He cannot take his eyes off busses, trucks, trains and airplanes. He's even starting taking his toy trains and cars to bed with him. Just like a little boy. Gianluca has a softer side, though. He loves his stuffed animals. He drags them around and gathers them up to snuggle in. His biggest obsession is the 53" teddy bear that was bought by the encouragement of his grandparents. He LOVES that teddy. It sleeps next to his bed, he wrestles with it and lays with him when he's watching cartoons. I think between the cars and stuffed animals, he's pretty well balanced.
Gianluca does continue to visit Children's Hospital Clinics. We've got it down to just Pulmonary Hypertension and Feeding Clinic. We had a failed attempt at an ultrasound to look as the ASD in his heart. He still needs to be sedated for those appointments so we may try later in the year. The issue that continues to come up is his weight. They would like to go in and repair the hole but he is still too small. The doctors really know how to pressure you to feel guilty that you don't do enough to help your child gain weight. What they don't understand is that Gianluca is a typical 2 year old. He runs and plays and giggles just like every other child. He has no limitations. He's been pretty well stuck at 21 lbs for quite some time. The interesting part is that he's growing out of his clothes. Mostly in length, but he's been at 31" for quite some time as well so it's a bit boggling how he's growing.
The feeding clinic is just an annoying place to visit. Gianluca still eats strictly pureed foods. He refuses to try finger foods or to chew. Anything that requires chewing he gags on. We have varied the textures that he eats but it's challenging. How do you try to teach a child to eat diversely when you also need to get him to gain wait? It's a battle we deal with daily. We continue to just have faith that eventually he will get old enough to realize he can chew. The feeding clinic is working on getting him to take more foods. It will be a slow process. For now we continue to search for high calorie choices for him. Pudding has been top of his list which is easy to make and have on hand.
So while we are watching our little baby become a big toddler, we have be given another blessing. Gianluca is going to be a big brother. It's amazing how a new baby on the way has stirred up the questions and concerns. Most people wonder if we are scared to try again after everything we saw with Gianluca. The interesting thing, as I look back to my first pregnancy, is that there was a lot of induced stress on the doctor's part. It began immediately from week 8 with Gianluca. Doctors weren't sure of what the outcome of the pregnancy would be so they insisted on medicating and many tests and ultrasounds. They kept him under a microscope and kept us filled with fear because they could never explain themselves. In hindsight, I think we could have prevented his early arrival had we just found more relaxation during that pregnancy. Well, I have a different plan this time around. I have a whole new group of doctors. The OB that was with Gianluca is moving so she couldn't take us on as a new patient. That ended up being a blessing because we have a new OB that is encouraging and supportive of my decisions. The same goes for the perinatal doctors. I have refused to see the same one we had with Gianluca. Now we have a very laid back doctor that respects my decisions to not over medicate and to leave all the junk in the past. I think that we forget that we get to choose our fates. The doctors to not decide for us and cannot. Unfortunately, sometimes it take tragedy to learn that.
So, up to date we are just about 18 weeks along. We had our first ultrasound at about 11 weeks. Baby was perfectly sized for gestational age. Tomorrow we will have our next ultrasound. It will be exactly day 1 of our 18th week. We will being doing another measurement and finding out the sex of the baby. This should give us a gage on how the pregnancy is progressing. I'm not worried. I can already feel this baby is growing more progressively than Gianluca. This one is a kicker, too. Fetal movement started early and continues daily.
My goal in this pregnancy is to make it to third trimester. My blood pressure this time around is much lower than when I had Gianluca. Again, stress plays a huge role. Gianluca is really great at keeping me smiling. Even though we are dealing with some temper tantrums, the most of the time he is all giggles and smiles. One thing that has been expressed by the doctor is that she doesn't plan to take me past 37 weeks. There is still worry about developing preeclampsia with my high blood pressure so that's her limit. With a due date of March 13th, that could mean we will be having a February baby. I'm satisfied with that. It just brings us joy that Gianluca will be able to share his love and kindness with a younger sibling. He really has blessed our life which gives us faith for this pregnancy to go well.
Stay tuned with the results of the ultra sound tomorrow....girl or boy?
No comments:
Post a Comment