So I have decided that I REALLY need to try this again so that I have some "venting" space or just somewhere to tell everyone how life is going for Anna, Caleb, and I. So here we go :)
Life right now is going okay. We are still living at my parents' house. Been back there for almost a year. It's not the best situation in the world, but it works for now. I am single, as I have been for the majority of the last 6 years. I think I have decided that I am happy being single with Anna & Caleb. I don't need anything else and I really don't even have time for anyone else right now. I have my good friends, I have my family, I have my kids, I have me. I'm happy. I am going to school full time so I can do better and be a more financially stable family for myself, Anna & Caleb. They deserve better than what they have right now and that is all I want. I want them to have the best I can give them! I am going to school to be a Social Worker and I am also getting an Associate's degree in Photography. I will be going to the Bachelor's level with the Social Work degree. My long term goal with it is to be a CPS (Child Protective Services) employee. My Sociology teacher this past summer told me that I have his full support if there is ever anything I need. When we were doing our introductions on the first day of class, I mentioned that I am a mom, full time student, what I was going to school for and what I wanted to do. He said, "Not only do you have the HARDEST job in the world already, but you want to go and do the second hardest job as well?! More power to you and if you need anything, let me know!" While I realize that what I want to do is going to be very difficult sometimes, at the same time it will be rewarding. I will know in my heart that in one way or another I am doing what is best for the children I work with. No child deserves to be abused, neglected, or harmed in any other way. They deserve nothing but love from the ones that are supposed to love them unconditionally.
On to another topic... Medical issues with everyone! Yay!
Caleb is seeing a G.I. every couple months to track his growth. He is 3 1/2 now and still only weighs about 25 lbs. How many of you have an 18 month old that weighs 25 lbs or more? How about a 12 month old that weighs that much? Yup, Caleb is a tiny tiny kid. Your 12-18 month old is about average if they weigh around 25 lbs... My 3 1/2 year old is in the 3rd percentile on the growth charts. (His small size doesn't affect his heart though! He has the biggest heart I have ever seen in a 3 year old boy!) So, the G.I. has "diagnosed" him with Toddler's Diarrhea which is chronic diarrhea in a child under the age of 5. However, both of the G.I.'s that we have seen have not wanted to do any kind of testing because he is young and tender and all that other good stuff. Well, I've about had it. I'm a pretty educated woman and when you tell me a "diagnosis" I know better than to believe that a doctor is telling me everything I need to hear... So I go home and do my own research. Chronic diarrhea is caused by the intestines not digesting food properly. This could mean that Caleb's body isn't getting the nutrients he needs. Not getting the nutrients he needs could be causing him to not grow properly. WOW! Look at that. I'm "just a mom" and I can put 2 and 2 together. Why is a doctor comfortable with just telling me that it's chronic diarrhea and not wanting to do labs to make sure he has enough nutrients and all that other good stuff... Why???? So I have decided that when we go back to the G.I. (probably in the next couple weeks) I am going to demand a full CBC be done to make sure that his little body has all the nutrients it needs. I do give him vitamins (he gets half of a flintstone vitamin or something along those lines because of his weight) and they don't really seem to make that much of a difference. But, we still do them just so that I know I'm doing what I can. I always make him eat at least half of his veggies at meals and he is usually pretty good about eating his meat. No worries there. So, one of these days, maybe we'll get some answers. Until then... I'll keep everyone posted :)
Anna's update shouldn't be nearly as long... She started Kindergarten last Monday. She is loving it! Our neighbor on the other side of the court also has a little boy who started Kindergarten and who just happens to be Anna's "BFF". She is still slightly behind on speech. I tend to notice it more than other people which I believe is normal. We will be having her IEP meeting soon to get her started on her new IEP and to get the Special Education teachers working with her and all that good stuff. I am also going to request an evaluation for Occupational Therapy which will help her with hand eye coordination. Now that she is at an age where she should be able to write, it is becoming more evident that her hand/eye coordination isn't quite up to par either. If she doesn't show at least a 25% developmental delay in that area they won't be able to give her that therapy. I am pretty sure that she will continue to receive Speech Therapy though and I look forward to her getting back into that. I still need to get Anna back to a Developmental Pediatrician so that we can determine what we need to do next about trying to find out if her speech delay is neurological or developmental. If it is neurological then there is a chance she will never grow out of it. The Developmental Pediatrician that we were seeing is no longer accepting Medical Assistance. I will have to get Anna's records from her and take them to a new doctor. The old DP wanted to do an MRI of Anna's head to make sure her brain functions properly in all areas. We were holding off on it because of Anna's age. They would have to put her under anesthesia to make sure she stays still during the procedure. I am happy to say that neither of my children have ever had to be put under anesthesia for anything and I can guarantee that I would be a WRECK if they ever do have to be put under. So that is where we stand with little Miss Anna. She is 5 years old and weighs 37 lbs. She is little too, but we aren't as concerned about her because she is above the 10th percentile on the growth charts. Last time we went to the doctor she was in the 25th percentile for weight and 50th for height.
Now, my turn! Yes, we save mommy for last, the kiddos are more important! I am doing okay. I have had some G.I. issues of my own lately and will be having a procedure done in the next few weeks to see what's going on. There's not much else other than that. For the most part, I have my depression and anxiety under control. For anyone who remembers my car accident from back in July of 2008, I still have back pain pretty consistently. I have just learned to deal with it. I have been trying for 5 months to get in touch with my attorney... Haven't heard from him since the beginning of April. If it makes it to 6 months, I will be filing a grievance. This is the 2nd time I have had this problem with him. He promised me back in April that he would have a settlement for me by the end of April. Nope, didn't happen. Was I surprised? No.
Well, I guess that is about it for an update for everyone! Hopefully I can get back into a routine with this and post at least once or twice a week :)
Much love!
*It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live...*
~~J.K. Rowling
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