Some Fun Stuff and Preparing for Surgery

My apologies for the delay in this post - computer trouble!

Kinsey and I have been enjoying our Stroller Strides class! So far we've gone twice a week for two weeks. I’d like to go more often, but our schedule doesn’t allow for it. I've been getting a great workout and Kinsey just enjoys looking around. We went to class on Valentine's Day this week and Kinsey received her first Valentine - the mom of one of the little boys made little valentines for all the kids. Here are a couple of pictures of Kinsey’s cute Valentine’s outfit that I made for her:

She's always cute when she's sleeping, but I just had to take a picture of this!

Kinsey has recently been noticing/playing with the dogs a lot lately. She watches them walk around the room all the time and she likes to grab their fur, collar and ears (well Bailey’s, Emma won’t stand for it). This week she was even sitting on the couch with Jamie and laughing as Bailey was going around in circles on the couch! It was so cute! She would look over and watch Bailey, start laughing then look away and do it all over again. I tried to get it on tape, but she wasn’t doing it as much by the time I got the camera. Here’s a little video: http://youtu.be/CDwYmBxzSfI Here’s a video of her grabbing Bailey’s ears too: http://youtu.be/7ZEvjS6QxEA (Sorry the videos are so dark - we need better lighting in our living room or a video camera that has a light on it!)

The only thing is that we have definitely started noticing her allergic reaction to the dogs. L on Friday after grabbing Bailey’s ears she got a red rash on her cheeks and her eye even looked a little swollen. Her nose was also running. That’s a bummer because it’s so cute to watch her play with them (or I should say Bailey).

After Kinsey's surgery I think we're going to change her therapy schedule a little bit. I recently read on the Facebook Trisomy 18 mom's group page that most of the kids who learn how to walk at a reasonable age (2 or 3 years old) have physical therapy multiple times a week. I'd already been thinking about cutting back on OT because I don't think it's accomplishing much - the therapist doesn't do much with her that I don't do just playing with her. And I've been thinking about taking her to PT in a facility with more equipment (the PT that comes to the house brings stuff with her, but it's not the same as what they have in a facility). Since our current insurance only covers 36 PT/OT treatments in a year, I have to cut back on OT if I’m going to add in more PT. So I think we will cut OT back to every other week and have PT twice a week – once in the house and once at a facility. But that’s all for after the surgery.

We’re continuing to prepare for the surgery this Thursday. We have the Anesthesia consult on Tuesday and her pediatrician appointment on Wednesday (to get clearance from her), then surgery on Thursday. They will call us on Wednesday evening to tell us what time. I’ve been thinking about all the things I need to remember to take with us to the hospital – even asked the moms on the Facebook Trisomy group what things I should bring. It’s really helpful to have a resource like that. We also had a Hospice Mom’s group this week and I learned some helpful tips from them too – apparently we can ask the nurse to give us an update every 30 minutes as surgery is taking place so we know everything is going smoothly. I’m definitely going to do that! Our Dr. never told us how long the surgery should take, but I read online that it can take between 2-6 hours. I think Kinsey’s will be on the shorter end because it’s just a partial cleft, but it will still be a long few hours! I’m definitely very nervous!

I will be posting updates on Facebook Thursday/Friday about the surgery and Kinsey’s recovery to keep everyone posted. If you’re not on Facebook and want to know how things are going, let me know and I’ll text you instead (make sure I have your phone number). I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update the blog, although I will take my computer to the hospital and I know they have internet so depending on how Kinsey is doing I might be able to get to it.

Anyway, please keep Kinsey in your prayers this week.

15 Months (or as I like to say 1 and a Quarter)

Kinsey is now officially 15 months old! She currently weighs 19 lbs 9 oz (sometimes a little less) and is 30” long. She hasn’t gained much weight or grown much lately.

In the last week or so, Kinsey has changed her sleeping patterns. She no longer goes back to sleep after her 7am feeding. In theory this should mean she would take an earlier nap, but that's not always the case. She sleeps so well at night, I just wish I could get her on a better nap schedule.

This week we’ve started preparing for Kinsey’s cleft palate surgery, which is now less than 2 weeks away. She has been cleared by the cardiologist already and we have to get a physical from the pediatrician. We also have to go in for a consult with the anesthesiologist prior to surgery because of her two heart conditions. I did some online research myself to see what drugs are safe to use with her conditions and what precautions need to be taken so I’m prepared to go over all of that when we meet for the consult. I know they probably already know all of that, but I just want to be sure I know what’s going on.

We are also still working with the ENT to be sure he can come in and take a look at her ears and clean them out while she’s under anesthesia for the surgery. The hospital won’t give us an exact time for the surgery until the day before so all we know now is that it will be on the 23^rd.

Kinsey and I had a playdate last weekend with my friend Liz and her daughter Lorelei. We went to the park where we had Kinsey’s birthday party. The girls had fun! Here are some pictures:

I used Kinsey for another modeling picture this week too. I love the way she sat up so straight and smiled right at the camera for this one:

On another note, we put our house on the market last Wednesday in hopes of being able to move to CO soon! Our hope is to be able to move in April or May. We’ve been looking at houses within 30 minutes north of Denver (Denver has one of the best children’s hospitals in the country). We may plan a weekend trip out there to look at properties or we may have to rent something for a while before we find a house to buy. Jamie is planning to take his job with him and be able to work remotely. But first we have to get this house sold!

Fun, Exercise & Modeling

There's not much to report this week - it's just been an average week with Kinsey's regular therapy appointments. I did take some cute pictures of her playing in her chair:

She slides down in the chair sometimes and goes right under the table.
 I caught her here with her head still on the chair.

And here she is laughing and playing with all her toys.

Here's a video of her taking the rings off the ring stacker. She's really good at it, but in this video she was just being kindof silly and throwing them off. Also I forgot again that I can't rotate the camera when I take a video, so forgive that you have to turn your head or the computer screen to watch this: http://youtu.be/SzH8SYPq_wU

Kinsey and I are starting a new exercise program next week - we joined the local Stroller Strides program and will start walking and exercising with them 3 mornings a week! I'm looking forward to getting some exercise and meeting some other moms too. And Kinsey always likes going for a walk.

Finally, Kinsey has a job - she's a model! Well, kindof. :) I'm using her to model some of the items I'm selling on my Etsy store Sweet Pea Boutique. Here are a couple of her modeling pictures:

Modeling the Hello Kitty Legwarmers

Modeling the Floral Rosette Hairclip

If you haven't already seen my Etsy shop, check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/asweetpeaboutique

That's it for this week!