Play Day

Today, Daddy went out for a motorcycle ride since the weather was nice, and me & Ryder decided to go out and play too!  We headed over to visit with Angela & Carter for a play day :)

 

 

The boys had a great time being outside, exploring, digging, running, doing what boys do best!  Ryder didn’t know what to do with himself with so much open space.  And of course it gave us girls a chance to do what we do best…TALK!

I hope the nicer weather is here to stay!

20 Weeks!

Halfway there!!!  Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is as big as (depending on which measurements from which pregnancy book you use and of course, Your Produce May Vary) a butternut squash, or as long as a banana, or possibly a carrot. I am getting the sense these comparisons are not really an exact science.
• Will be measured head-to-toe from this point on, instead of the head-to-rump measurements we’ve used so far. I remember choking on a bagel at 21 weeks last time because HOLY CRAP, MY CHILD JUST GREW FIVE INCHES IN A WEEK.
• Has a heartbeat that can be heard with just a regular old stethoscope now and not just the fancy doppler.
• Is swallowing and practicing other digestive skills, and can now produce meconium, which is essentially prenatal poop that sits in the bowels during pregnancy. You’ll see this awesome goopy stuff in person during your baby’s very first diaper change, or possibly even during labor like I did, as some babies like to take their first crap in the womb. Meconium in the fluid in considered a delivery complication, but it’s very common and not terribly dangerous — your doctor will just need to suction your baby’s nose and mouth immediately after delivery to prevent any meconium going into your baby’s lungs with their first breath.

You:

• Are HALFWAY THERE HALFWAY THERE HALFWAY THERE!
• Seriously. You are halfway through this pregnancy, which may bring to mind such deep thoughts like: “Yay!” or “Uh-oh” or “Whoa” or “Must. Organize. Kitchen. Cabinets.”

Did I mention that I was halfway there?!  I’m pretty excited about that!  I’m also excited to see baby girl again on Tuesday at my next sonogram.  Then Wednesday I have my next appointment with my OB.  So next week should be full of excitement.  As for this week, things have been pretty laid back.  My stomach feels HUGE and like it is stretched to the max….not sure what that means for the next 20 weeks!  I broke out the maternity jeans today.  Baby girls movements seem to get a little stronger with each week that passes so I’m thoroughly enjoying pressing on my stomach and trying to see if just maybe she’ll kick me back.  I’m so annoying, my poor children.

Here we are at 20 weeks (yes I took self photo’s at Ryder’s therapy yesterday, hope no one saw!)

Therapy Update

One thing that we’ve always worked hard on in therapy is trying to strengthen Ryder’s left arm.  With strength comes coordination, so the stronger it is the better his recovery will be.  Strengthening an arm that someone doesn’t want to use is really hard, therefore Lefty is pretty weak.  But Miss Abby has been trying to get him to ride this scooter because it would be perfect for upper body strength.  The most he has gone is like 2 or 3 feet and then he wants to get off, but on this particular day he had a little bit of extra motivation:

 

That’s right…we had the brilliant idea of putting the vacuum at the other end of the hall, and what do you know, those little arms started doing some major work.  He went 18 Feet!!!

We’re really going back and forth about how and when to do the casting on his right arm.  We all want Ryder to get the most out of the Constraint Therapy, and we don’t want to traumatize him in the process.  So for the time being, we’re using an immobilizer then wrapping it up (because he knows how to get the velcro off) for short periods of time.  Taking Righty away forces him to use Lefty, and it’s amazing how much he really does when it’s his only option:

Kinesio taping is something that I LOVE and think plays a huge part in the success of Ryder’s therapy.  I really don’t know how to explain what it does, so here is what I found “the Kinesio Taping method is a definitive rehabilitative taping technique that is designed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process while providing support and stability to muscles and joints without restricting the body’s range of motion as well as providing extended soft tissue manipulation to prolong the benefits of manual therapy administered within the clinical setting.”  Ryder’s OT always tapes his left hand (that’s the blue stuff above) in a way that pulls his wrist back into a position that allows him to open and close his hand easier.  His PT always tapes his left foot (that’s the tan stuff below) to give his ankle support and pull it out of pronation.

In PT, Miss Erin always sets up obstacle courses for Ryder and gives him lots of different activities to accomplish.  One thing we’re trying to overcome right now is the fact that he never looks down when he’s walking and just kind of shuffles his feet, which is disastrous because he’s always tripping and not conscious of his surroundings.  Some of the new things he’s working on are the balance beam and the trampoline:

 

 

He has never liked being unstable, so the trampoline is a big step for him.  And the balance beam is pretty challenging because it requires him to consciously put one foot in front of the other which means he can’t just drag Lefty behind. 

These women are amazing with him and have helped him come SO far.  Ryder absolutely loves them both and gets so excited on Thursday’s and Friday’s when its time to go to “DEYAPEE, Yayyyy!”.  He even asked Miss Erin to be his Valentine today! 

Some proof of just how far he has come…He is now riding on a toy car and making it go forward!!  This has been such a hard concept for him to learn, even when he was in a walker he could never make it go forward, so to see him ride this toy car is HUGE.  Daddy took him to therapy last week and got to be there for the first time he made anything go forward…always showing off for Daddy!   Another accomplishment is watching him go up and down the stairs by himself, so proud of my boy!

At home when we wrap Ryder’s arm up, we wrap Daddy’s up too and they sword fight…it’s the best idea we could come up with to make it seem fun!  So after they sword fight we try to do some activities that will require him to use Lefty and when he’s tired or frustrated he’ll say “take sword fight off, okay??”.  When Paw-Paw was here, he got to do the honors of being wrapped up with Ryder, here they are using their Lefty’s to play:

 

We’re still hard at work trying to get Ryder’s brain to make new connections in areas that were lost, and all the hard work is really paying off! 

Meeting Baby Elijah

Today after work, Me & Nicki headed to the hospital to visit with Jamie and meet baby Elijah!  He was too cute for words, so I’ll just post some pictures:

Our Blogger Baby Boom has finally got started!  Elijah was the first one of SIX to be born this year!  This definitely made both Me & Nicki excited for the day we get to hold our brand new little bundles of joy.  And to make us even more anxious, we had Round 1 of our clothing swap today!  It has worked out pretty perfectly that we are each having the opposite of what we already have (she has a girl and is expecting a boy, I have a boy and am expecting a girl…you follow?) so we are swapping baby clothes!  I can’t wait to go through everything :)

Visitors :)

We don’t really get visitors that often…probably because we live so far away and we have 2 monster dogs that make it not so easy for people to just stop-in.  But it’s always nice when people decide to come out of their way to visit.  Friday after work, CJ & Angela came by and then so did Kristen not long after that!  This was definitely a nice surprise for a Friday evening, and Ryder was just beside himself.  I didn’t get any pictures because Ryder was being so busy “Angewa, get in my car!” “Kwisten, play racecars!” “CJ come play in my room!”.  I was exhausted just watching him.  But I must say that I think Ryder has a crush (sorry Mikayla, I think he has temporarily moved on to a much older woman!).  All weekend everything has been about Angewa!  “Where did Angewa go??” “Angewa coming back tomorrow??” “Is Angewa hiding??” “Come find you Angewa…peekaboooo!” “Goodnight Angewa!”.  You better watch out CJ, he’s pretty charming!

Saturday we got more visitors!!  Paw-Paw & Aunt Megan came over and Ryder really didn’t know what to do with himself then!  He was so excited and had been anticipating their visit all week since I told him they were coming.  He insisted that Paw-Paw come to his room and play, and that they did!  I don’t know who had more fun honestly!

 

 

Let me tell you why I loved this visit…because A) they brought me a strawberry cheesecake from Wall’s Bakery, which I haven’t had since we moved out of MD…ummm…YUMMMM!  and B) Megan straightened my hair!  Feel free to come by any time you guys ;-P

And to finish off our weekend, we (Me, Alan, Ryder, and his broom) went to Grandma’s house to visit with the family.

Or should I say, to visit MeMew’s swivel sweeper??!!

 

Speaking of guests and visiting…I’m over at Jamie’s blog guest blogging because baby Elijah is about to make his grand entrance!!  Come visit me and I’ll keep you updated on his arrival…

19 Weeks!

Here’s what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is about 5 1/2 to six inches long and weighs around 7 ounces.
• Although your baby will weigh more than 15 times its current weight by the time it is born, the rapid-fire growth portion of pregnancy is over. Thus, I have nothing else interesting to say up here. Baby is fully assembled; just needs some fattening up and lengthening out.

You:

• May be able to feel your baby’s kicks from the outside of your belly, if you’re lucky. Jason felt his first kick last night, and it was pretty cool and rocking and all that. He only remembered the later, third-trimester wallops from last time — this was the first time we were able to catch one of the gentle, early kicks.
• How are your moods doing? I’m not about to tell anyone what’s “normal” at this point, except to say that whatever you’re feeling? Whether it be fear or worry or impatience or rage or weepiness or ecstatic joy or maybe a combination of all of the above in the span of 10 minutes? Yep. It’s probably normal.
• The moods are normal because things are probably becoming a whole lot more “real” right about now. The belly is undeniable, the movements are steady, perhaps you know whether it’s a boy or a girl and are deciding on names and picking out room decor. So maybe you ran out of the room crying during a movie where something bad happened to a small child. Or to an adult! Because THEY WERE SOMEONE’S BABY ONCE TOO! Congratulations! You’re officially bonding.

 

Speaking of feeling kicks from the outside of your belly…Alan felt the baby kick this week!!  We were both shocked he was able to feel it this early, but just as we laid down for bed she started kicking over and over in one spot, and he got to feel it 3 times!  I don’t know what it is about feeling the baby kick, but it’s just SO special.  I guess because you can’t see or hear or feel the baby, so it’s your first form of communication or interaction with one another.  I cherish every little wiggle and nudge and kick I get :)  Not to mention that for paranoid Mommy’s who worry too much, it is the best form of reassurance that everything’s good in there!

Not much else going on this week, just chugging milk to cure heartburn on an hourly basis!  My eating is grossing everyone out at work…Pizza, and MILK! Fruit, and MILK! Popcorn, and MILK!  I can’t help it though, every.single.thing gives me heartburn and milk is my only relief.

Here we are at 19 weeks:

3 Minutes With Ryder: