Week 1 Recap

Week 1 has definitely been a rollercoaster of emotions!  It started out so frustrating and scary, then turned into Ryder adjusting very well to the cast and using Lefty more and more each day, and ended with the cast coming off in his sleep and having to get re-casted!  The cast is officially back on (it went on fast & easy, thank goodness) and I wouldn’t say we’re back at square one, but the frustration level was pretty high tonight.  Having the cast off for a day did give us a chance to see if Ryder would go straight back to just using Righty and we were all pretty surprised at how well he continued to incorporate Lefty.  I know we’re on the right path, I can’t believe it has only been a week, but at the end of this I know it will be worth it.

Week 1 Challenges:

• Drinking
• Eating
• Coloring
• Pincer Grasp
• Turning hand face up

Week 1 Accomplishments:

• Brushing Teeth
• Waving goodbye
• Turning pages in a book
• Initiating with Lefty first

Brushing his teeth with Lefty

Bath time…trying to keep his cast from getting wet and Ryder playing in the water with Lefty.  If only he could flip that hand over!

 

Grumpy face!  Maybe he’s just mad because his new sword is blue and not green like he wanted!  (Even though I have to give Miss Abby credit for trying to get the green!)

Notice Anything Missing??

Somehow Ryder’s little arm slid right out of his cast in the middle of the night!  I couldn’t believe when I went in to wake him up and saw the cast laying there and righty not inside of it.  Ryder was pretty shocked and the first thing he did was grabbed his blankie and intertwined his fingers through the holes then laid back down.  I’m sure that is what he has missed most about not having his fingers, he loves to wrap them up in his blankie.  The good news is that he said “we need to get a new GREEN sword!”  Luckily he has now changed that to “I need another blue sword on dis hand!” because I don’t think they come in green.  Hopefully he takes the casting and the first night without righty easier than last week…I guess we’ll find out tomorrow!

CIT: Day 5

Things are going really well over here! Thank goodness Day 1 was the worst and it has gotten progressively better each day.  At this point, Ryder no longer asks for us to take his cast off, it has become a normal part of his day and he has completely adjusted to having it on.

Watching him walk around with his left hand not in a fist (as Pap-Pap pointed out today, which is something I hadn’t even realized!) is a miracle within itself!  He always has his fist clenched and close to his body, but now that he’s actually using it, he walks with his arm lose, hand open, ready to reach for things and grab things…its really amazing!

So far what we have learned is that we need to find the right balance of not doing everything for Ryder, but not letting him get to the point of frustration.  We basically have to be close by at all times and are spending a lot of time down on his level, ready to help out when he asks for it or at the first signs of frustration.  We want him to be successful at whatever task he’s trying to do so that he’ll build up the confidence to keep trying and not give up.

I have some videos from the past few days.  As you can see, the balance is something I need to work on.  Instinctively I want to give him what he needs, so I have to constantly remind myself to push him to do things himself instead of just solving the problem for him.

 

A HUGE thank you to Nicki for finding the Bendy Spoons!!  I honestly didn’t think Ryder would be able to feed himself from a spoon with Lefty because of how he’s not able to turn his hand.  So watching him do this is beyond exciting!

So as you can see, this is a learning process for all of us, but we’re working hard!  Our spirits are up and we’re so proud of Ryder for everything he has done already in just 5 days!  Can’t wait to see what the next ____ will bring (taking this 1 day at a time, I don’t even want to think about how many days we have left.)

Constraint Induced Therapy: Day 2

Shew, Day 1 was rough and I think I’ve spent day 2 trying to recover from it.  Luckily, Day 2 proved to be a little easier.  We started off at therapy which was extremely refreshing.  It was good for Ryder to wake up and get out of the house immediately, then go to a place where he could be encouraged and get assistance as needed. 

After therapy we headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, because Mama’s French Toast fixes everything!  With me being so super emotional and Ryder being so frustrated, we decided to treat ourselves to something we both love.  Then it was off to search for something called Boon Benders, they are flexible spoons and forks that you can bend.  Ryder ate applesauce with one in therapy today and I was amazed that he was actually able to feed himself with one of these!  They are only sold at Target & Babies R Us and we didn’t have any luck finding them (if anyone is out shopping this weekend and comes across them, PLEASE get ahold of me!). 

We stopped a few more places, I was seriously dreading coming home, that was where everything fell apart yesterday.  But we eventually made our way home and I was pleasantly surprised with how well Ryder adjusted today.  We got some new Birthday presents out that he would be able to handle with lefty plus Daddy felt well enough to come out of the room, so both of those things cheered him up.  He started being his playful silly self (chicken noodle soup for my soul) and the day ended well. 

Here he is trying hard to get a sip of his drink.  This has been one of the most frustrating things for him, but look, it’s only Day 2 and he’s making it work! 

Coloring is another frustration, and something Ryder loves to do!  He was just starting to draw circles with Righty and was so proud of himself, and now he’s back to barely being able to get a grip on the crayon, let alone make marks on the paper.  But with Daddy’s help, I think this is another one he’ll figure out soon.

Eating is by far the hardest part for him right now.  Ryder loves his snacks and is trying to adapt to a new way of eating them.  I have to say, he gets pretty creative trying to figure things out.  He wanted this fruit twist so bad, but wouldn’t hold it with Lefty to eat it.  His first approach was to hold the whole thing in his mouth and just chew:

When that didn’t work, he tried to prop it up with his sword:

Then it fell on the floor, so he laid flat on the ground to pick it up with his mouth!

Yes, that is how badly he tries to get away with not using Lefty.  But the happy ending is that he finally realized that Lefty was perfectly capable of picking it up and putting it in his mouth, so that’s what happened!

 

One thing that completely caught me off guard today was going out in public and everyone assuming that he broke his arm!  I never even thought about what I would tell people why my poor 2 year old has his whole arm in a cast.  Luckily, with Ryder around I don’t have to talk.  Every place we went, someone would ask something along the lines of “oh no, how did SHE (of course…come on people, it’s a BLUE cast!) get the boo-boo” and Ryder would say “Ryder fell off da golf cart” referring to the boo-boo on his nose.  I just agreed, every time, so that made it easy. 

26 Weeks!

Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is almost two pounds. Celebrate this milestone with a two-pound box of chocolates. You know, in order to really get a good VISUAL.
• Remember those early bubbly butterfly kicks? Yeah. Those have been replaced by something akin to a rabid mongoose flippin’ out inside a burlap sack.
• If you DO occasionally feel smaller, rhythmic movements in your belly, it’s probably your baby hiccuping. Babies actually get hiccups from late in the first trimester on, but most women don’t pick on them the second trimester or later.
• All five senses are fully developed. Whoa.

You:

• Are in the last and final week of the second trimester!
• Of course, the end of the second trimester also marks the end of the so-called “honeymoon” phase of pregnancy, as the final three months can get awfully uncomfortable. Back and joint pain, swollen ankles, restless nights and Braxton-Hicks contractions, ahoy!
• You’ll gain about 1/2 inch in belly/fundal size EVERY WEEK from this point on, oh mah gah. I guess I should stop being so smug about those pre-pregnancy lowrise jeans I’ve been wearing (with just a little help from my trusty rubber band).
• The books say we’ve gained about 16-22 pounds, so long as we’ve been following a “nutritious and sensible diet plan.” Bite me, books.

This is sad, but I had to sit here and really think about what has happened with the pregnancy this week, as obviously my mind has been consumed with Ryder and his constraint therapy.  Luckily I have Alpha Mom to refresh my memory…and she is absolutely on point in that there are no more little movements!  This girl is moving around like crazy all.the.time!  Her movements are huge now and she has found some pretty sensitive internal organs to start kicking.  I don’t know what she’s kicking in there, but it is pretty uncomfortable.  But I don’t even want to complain, I ‘m so happy to have a healthy baby in there moving all of her limbs around, what a blessing that is!

I’ve been testing my sugars all week as requested by my doctor and they have been coming out good for the most part.  I’ve failed 2 numbers so far, but I also haven’t started the actual diet, so I think they’re coming out pretty good so far. 

Here’s to the last week of the 2nd trimester!

The Cast Is On!

We got to the Therapy Center at 3:00 and by 3:30 the cast was on!  I was amazed at how fast they were able to put it on and how well Ryder tolerated them doing it.  I tried to tell him all about it on the way so that he would know what to expect, and we brought one of his new Blue’s Clue’s DVD’s with us which was a great distraction for him.  He would watch Blue’s Clue’s, tell us about something on the TV, cry, then go back to watching it.  Once the cast was on, he walked all around the therapy center showing everyone his new “blue sword!”.  He was so excited about it and everyone there is so sweet, they all knew today was Ryder’s big day and every therapist would stop mid-session to check out his sword and tell him how good he did. 

He got right to work showing off with Lefty, confirming to all of us that this was exactly what he needed!  Here are some pictures from today’s therapy session:

 

During therapy I was thinking…wow, he is so amazing!  I can’t believe I got myself so stressed over this!  Although I do still think he is amazing, when we got home everything I had stressed about and knew would happen did.  His first bout of frustration came as soon as we got home and he asked for a drink.  I got out a cup with handles and tried to show him that he could hold the handle and drink with Lefty.  He got SO frustrated that he screamed and tried to bite his cast!!  Then, I thought we could calm down by sitting down to color, and that frustrated him because he wanted Mommy to “take da sword off” so he could color with righty.  He started crying so hard, got up and ran into his room and dove face first onto his bed and just sobbed.  I was crying and didn’t want him to see me crying but I knew I needed to get myself together so I could go comfort him, it was just a mess.  I forgot to mention that Alan woke up really sick this morning!  He is quarantined to the bedroom because we just can’t pass that sickness around right now, not on top of this.  So I had to conquer Day 1 solo, and it was rough.  

I know that the first few days will be the hardest and then things will get easier, so I’m trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  He has therapy at 7am and then we’re off all day with him, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement!  It’s nice to know that we have so much support and that Ryder is so cared about and prayed for. 

The Night Before

The night before Ryder has to get a procedure done is always the worst for me.  I hate the night before’s.  They bring on so much anxiety for what is to come and so much sadness for what is happening.  Ryder is always so oblivious on the night before and I become stricken with guilt knowing that he is just going about his business as normal not realizing that it is a night before. 

Tomorrow Ryder is getting his right arm put in a cast that will have to stay on for the next three weeks.  I’ve known about this treatment for a long time and have felt very strongly that Ryder is an excellent candidate for it.  I feel deep in my heart that if Ryder has any hopes of recovering use of his left hand, it would be with this treatment.  The thought of moving forward and actually getting the casting done has always excited me as I think about how beneficial it could be in the long run.

But now, tonight, on the night before, all of that excitement comes to a screeching halt as I desperately try to swallow the lump in my throat.  Taking his right arm away completely takes away his independence.  We will be going straight back to the basics.  He will have to learn how to eat, how to drink, how to play, how to pull his covers up at night if he gets cold, how to move his hair if it gets in his eyes.  He has been living in a one-handed world and now we’re taking that hand away from him. 

I’m just trying to think long term and remember how much he’s going to benefit from this.  As always, I remind myself of his age and that we’re getting these things out of the way in a time that he won’t even remember.  And I have to remember who I’m talking about…it’s Ryder, the most determined, strong-willed little guy who figures out how to make things happen and usually does it with a smile on his face.

I know this will be frustrating for him, and for us too I’m sure.  But I also know that God put this in our lives for a reason, the stroke and everything that came along with it.  He knows that we are strong enough to get through it, and we will.  One step at a time.  For now, I just need to get through the night before…

RIP Hummer

Well, I’m sad to say that Hummer didn’t make it!  Against all of our efforts to help Ryder’s first fish survive, he just didn’t make it.  Daddy was quick to go to the pet store to replace Hummer with…H2:

Hopefully he’ll take to his new environment better than Hummer did!  And just for the record, Ryder has no clue that Hummer has now become an H2…so lets just keep that between us, K?!

2 Year Check-Up

Ryder went for his 2 year check-up yesterday and he did so good!  He stepped right up on the scale to get his weight and height, let the nurse get all of his vitals, and let “Docta Cray” check him from head to toe without much of a fuss!  They even had to prick his finger to check his iron & led levels.  I told him he could have a book when he was done, so he stayed focused on the end prize. 

I’m happy to report that my boy has finally had some growth!!  He was 24 pounds and 34 inches which now puts him in the 10th percentile…moving on up!  His iron levels came back fine, ears looked good, and development is going wonderfully!  She quizzed him on all of his colors and he would come back with way more information then he even had to and we would just laugh.  She said “Hey Ryder, can you point to something red in this room?” without even looking up he said “dat stool over dere is red!” 

When he was all done they went to the book closet together so he could pick out his book.  His Doctor said “Ryder what kind of book do you want??” he said “ummm, I want a book about planets!”  He is too much.  So he got "Goodnight Moon” and that was the end of that.  We left with a prescription for a left hand night splint that was requested by his therapist.

Just because I never have any pictures of Me & Ryder together, I had to steal this from Diana’s blog:

Still can’t believe my boy is 2 years old!!! 

The Aftermath…

Things were looking a little crazy around here today!  We all woke up feeling good and were excited to go through Ryder’s presents and start getting things put away.  He got some really cool additions to his Harley Room, like these signs from Pop-Pop & Karen:

 

This motorcycle lamp that was passed down from Nana & Pap-pap…AND Ryder’s very first pet fish from Jamie, how cool is the aquarium with the orange rocks?!  We tried to get him to name his fish Harley, but he insisted on naming it Hummer!

The first present Ryder opened at the party was from Diana & Bryce and there were bath tablets and bath crayons in the bag which are 2 of Ryder’s very favorite things…so he did not forget about them!  He kept asking as he was opening other things “where did my tablets go?”, he told me this morning to “go get my tabwets, dey in da Humma truck!” and couldn’t wait to take a bath!

That little face is still cute all scraped up.  He hasn’t even mentioned his boo-boo today, so thank goodness it’s not bothering him like yesterday when it was raw and I’m sure it was burning.

It was nice going through the presents at a much slower pace today!  Ryder is such a sweet heart, he truly appreciates things, even if it was just clothes he would say “here mom, some clothes for da closet!”  I can’t even say that he has a favorite thing he got because he seemed equally as excited about everything, and took turns playing with it all.  He got some awesome new Blue’s Clue’s stuff, monster trucks, motorcycles, lots of fun outdoor toys, so much cool stuff, he is really a blessed little boy!

I can tell you though that the house as a whole has a LEAST favorite toy!  This dinosaur whose eyes light up red and his mouth chomps open and closed like he’s going to eat you and he roars really loud and scary!

  

The dogs think it is an intruder, Ryder is terrified of it, and truthfully the red eyes kind of freak me out a bit too.  The only person who is enjoying this…Daddy…yup it’s his favorite toy now, of course, because he can torment us all with it.  Daniel probably knew this would happen when he bought it!

Pop-Pop took Ryder to the gun show today which gave me & Daddy a chance to get all the new stuff organized.  We were able to set a lot aside to go to Nana & Pap-pap’s house, stash a bunch in his closet to savor the flavor of the new toys for a while, get everything else put together or put away, and get our house back in pre-Birthday condition!

I have to leave you with this video of Ryder opening the package he got in the mail from Kristen.  I don’t think the stores sell Blue’s Clue’s stuff anymore, but Penny, Nicki, and Kristen all managed to get him some, and I’m glad I was able to capture his reaction to one of them on camera, because Blue’s Clues is a BIG DEAL around here!:

Ryder’s 2nd Birthday!

I deserve a free pass, right?  Okay I need to use it because I have not been on top of my blogging game with this Birthday.  I’m so disappointed in myself :(

With that said, Ryder’s birthday festivities started on Thursday night when we met my family for dinner to celebrate his 2nd birthday & Sydney’s 12th Birthday!  I brought my camera, but forgot my memory card at home!  So absolutely no pictures of that, but Ryder got lots of fun presents from the fam, including this guitar from Yaya:

She asked him a few weeks ago what he wanted for his birthday and he said a black guitar!  She couldn’t believe he asked for something so specific, but of course she was on a mission to find him a black guitar.  The funny thing is that Daddy’s favorite song right now is called Country Boy, so of course this is Ryder’s favorite song too and he always asks to watch the video on YouTube, and now he has a guitar just like Aaron Lewis!

Ryder’s birthday party was today and we had such a great turnout!  The weather was beautiful and so many people came out to his Harley party to celebrate with us!  Thanks to everyone for coming and for all the AWESOME presents Ryder got!  He’s a very lucky guy.  Here are some pictures from our day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not long after the party started, Ryder fell off the golf cart and scraped his nose, lip, and forehead.  He handled it better than I did, of course, I just felt so bad that he got hurt on his Birthday.  So he wasn’t really himself for a while afterward, but he pulled it together and enjoyed cake, presents, and the pinata with his friends!  The rest of the afternoon into the evening was spent playing and enjoying the beautiful weather.  We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day and are so thankful for all the special people we got to celebrate with. 

I can’t wait for him to wake up tomorrow so we can play with all his new toys!  (That is if I can get out of bed, I definitely think I over did it today and am not sure I’ll even be able to walk tomorrow!)

A Letter To My Son On HIs 2nd Birthday

Ryder ~

Just saying your name makes emotion pour out from my heart.  Never in my life have I experienced such a deep love for something or such an overwhelming amount of pride and joy.  Thank you for making me a Mommy and your Dad a Daddy.  We have such a special bond from being your parents that we can often just look at each other and without saying a word know exactly what the other one is thinking or feeling about you. 

As with your first year, your second year has brought some difficulties for you, but nothing you couldn’t overcome.  A 1 year old being diagnosed with having a stroke is so shocking to most people, but for you it has just been another part of life.  You push through all of the daily challenges you face by having a disability completely unaffected.  You never complain about doctor appointments or constantly being at therapy, instead life is so fun for you and you just take it as it comes.  Thank you for teaching me what true strength is, you are a fighter, and you my son are strong!

You have developed quite the personality.  Your silliness mixed with your infinite vocabulary is the perfect recipe for laughter!  No matter where we are or what we’re doing, you’re sure to make someone laugh, even if it’s just for the simple fact that so many words are coming out of such a little guy.  You are SO smart, your mind is always working, observing everything that goes on in your surroundings and truly comprehending it all.  I can’t help but laugh when I recall the time when we were questioning whether you would be able to walk or talk!  You are extremely goal-oriented and are always on a mission to get something done.  I can tell you will be a very hard worker when you grow up, just like your Daddy! 

You are the definition of a Daddy’s boy!  You love tools and motorcycles and monster trucks, 4-wheelers and dirtbikes, fixing things and tearing things up.  But in the midst of all the manliness, you sure do love your Mama!  One of my favorite things that comes out of your mouth is “Mommy, I take good cares of you!” as you cover me with your blankie because you think I’m cold.  What a sweet boy you are.  And to think of how caring you are to your baby sister who you have never even met yet just blows me away.  I can’t wait to see you in action once she is born.  Your love for Jesus is something that completely warms my heart.  Your favorite song for us to sing together is “Jesus in the morning, Jesus at the noon time, Jesus when the sun goes down”.  My prayer is that as you continue to grow you will always keep Jesus with you.

So here we are, on your 2nd Birthday.  It makes me sad how fast you are growing up, but I’m loving every second of watching you grow.  Happy Birthday Baby Boy!  I hope this next year brings you nothing but happiness.

With all of my love,

~Mommy

P.S. Go easy on us, okay?!  We can already see the signs of the Terrible Two’s creeping up on us…and we’re scared!  

25 Weeks (almost)!

Okay so I’m a little early…but with all the Birthday festivities coming up, I didn’t want to forget to post!  Plus I had 2 doctor appointments today so I have lots to share :)  Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Weighs about 1 1/2 pounds and is 13 1/2 inches long.
• Is growing more hair, with a distinctive color and texture and everything.

You:

• Have a uterus the size of a soccer ball.
• Have probably noticed a decent increase in your belly size over the past few weeks — your fundal measurements (the length between your pubic bone and the top of your uterus) grew about an inch-and-a-half in the past four weeks alone.
• May start experiencing uterine contractions soon, if you haven’t already.

I think I keep forgetting to note on here that I’ve been getting Braxton Hicks contractions for a while now, usually about 4-5 a day.  My stomach is still feeling very tight and heavy and is getting so big that things are getting extra hard to do.  Like carrying Ryder around, squatting down to pick something up, putting shoes and socks on, all that fun stuff.

Onto the appointments, the first one was another sonogram with the Perinatologist.  It looks like they’re just going to continue to send me every 4 weeks to check in on the baby girl and make sure she’s doing okay, which she is!  They say her insides look beautiful :)  I think her little face is the cutest thing and I’m enjoying all of these sneak peeks at her!  Today they looked a lot at her kidneys & brain specifically and said they both looked great.  I love leaving sonograms with good news!

When I got to the appointment with my Dr. he had already read the report from the Perinatologist and said that my fluid was a little high.  The highest they want it at this stage is an 8 and I was at an 8.3.  He also had my glucose test results; the highest your sugar can be to pass is a 140 and mine was a 131.  So yes, I passed!!  But because my fluid was high, and my stomach was measuring big, and I was borderline on my sugar, he wants me to start testing my blood sugars and bring him my numbers at my next appointment.  I also have to retake the glucose test prior to my next appointment in 4 weeks.  Darn!

I’m not really sure about the other blood work I had done, my Dr. said it all looked good except for the Protein S, so he’s sending the results to the Perinatologist to see if he wants to follow up on that or if it’s fine, so we’ll see!

As for our stats, Maisy’s heartrate was 147 and I gained 4 pounds, which brings me to a total gain of 8 pounds. 

Maisy was busy punching me while they were trying to take her picture, so her arms are kind of in the way, but here are a couple pictures anyway:

And here we are together:

What Have We Been Up To??

Sorry we have been MIA, our next big project was in full effect this weekend which meant our whole house being moved around and…no computer!  We decided to tear the carpet out of our living room, dining room, and hallways and replace it with wood floors.  This ended up taking all weekend and into the week, but we are getting there!  Alan has been working SO hard, we really appreciate him and everything he does.  Of course Ryder had to help:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And even Mommy had to pitch in on the last row…

So we’ve been trying to keep busy while the house was being worked in, which was fun because we got to spend time with Jamie & Elijah:

And Me & Ryder had to get pretty creative finding things to do.  We had breakfast and dinner parties on his bedroom floor, spent lots of time in the big boy bed, and he found a new favorite thing that he insists on carrying around with him:

Maisy’s pillow!  What a sweet big brother he’s going to be.  He would lay it on my stomach and say “here Maisy, you can lay on your pillow…..Ryder’s turn to lay on Maisy’s pillow!”  Her turns were very short and his were very long, but that’s okay! 

So that’s what we’ve been up to.  It has been a little crazy having everything turned upside down, but I’m SO happy with the finished product that it will all be worth it in the end.  So far we just have the living room back together:

(the only way we can keep the dogs out of our chairs is to pile stuff in them before we go to bed!)

Next project…Maisy’s room!!!  Yay :)