30.9.10
Gracies neurology appointment
We went to Gracies Neurologist today and we are now waiting for the insurance authorization to do a 24 hour EEG. The Neuro wants to see if she can catch one of her head tremors, and see if this is a seizure ..... or something else. So, once we get the prior auth, we are going to be admitted into the hospital, she will be hooked up to all the lines and wires, and we get to 'enjoy' the hospital for roughly 30 hours. not really looking forward to it, yet we NEED to do it. I hope that we can catch a tremor or two so that the dr can get a good view! Ill update more as we learn info. :)
Thankful for friends
I just have a few things to say. I am so thankful for friends. I do have many friends, and I am very lucky for this. I know that when I need help, my friends will be there to help me. Sometimes its by helping with the kids .. sometimes its by calling me .. sometimes its simply by posting me a message or comment saying just what I need to hear. There have been times when I have truly been saved by my friends, and I am very grateful.
29.9.10
much on my mind tonight
Well, I have a lot on my mind tonight. Some I can talk about, some I can not.
I had a rough day today .. lots of emotions going on .. got really ticked off at a company that we have no choice but to work with ... I was so ready to bash heads today. sigh.
And tomorrow, I have another appointment for Gracie. Tomorrow is her Neurology appointment .. I am SOOOOOOO thankful for it. . we NEED it for her. BUT ... I cant take Nik or Maya, and therefore, yet again, I have to call upon friends to watch them. I feel bad for this, for a few reasons. For one, I am calling on someone at least once a week to watch them. Two, one of my friends is nearing the end of her pregnancy, and doesnt have the energy she used to have .... Three, I miss being able to call on my BFF Karleen (who moved from here to Alaska earlier this year .. sniff sniff) and my dear friend Liz (who is now a school teacher and therefore cant help during the day)
I have a son who wont go to bed at night .. no matter what ... he comes in the room over and again and again ... and finally we give up and let him sleep on the floor in our room, simply to make it so that we can get some sleep.
I have ....
oh sigh Im sorry ... its just one of those nights. tomorrow Ill feel better about things. Life goes on, even though the normal stresses of life. sigh
I had a rough day today .. lots of emotions going on .. got really ticked off at a company that we have no choice but to work with ... I was so ready to bash heads today. sigh.
And tomorrow, I have another appointment for Gracie. Tomorrow is her Neurology appointment .. I am SOOOOOOO thankful for it. . we NEED it for her. BUT ... I cant take Nik or Maya, and therefore, yet again, I have to call upon friends to watch them. I feel bad for this, for a few reasons. For one, I am calling on someone at least once a week to watch them. Two, one of my friends is nearing the end of her pregnancy, and doesnt have the energy she used to have .... Three, I miss being able to call on my BFF Karleen (who moved from here to Alaska earlier this year .. sniff sniff) and my dear friend Liz (who is now a school teacher and therefore cant help during the day)
I have a son who wont go to bed at night .. no matter what ... he comes in the room over and again and again ... and finally we give up and let him sleep on the floor in our room, simply to make it so that we can get some sleep.
I have ....
oh sigh Im sorry ... its just one of those nights. tomorrow Ill feel better about things. Life goes on, even though the normal stresses of life. sigh
28.9.10
ADD / ADHD
ADD and ADHD are not HANDICAPS. They are not LABELS. They are not BAD. They are just a part of life for some people. Do ADD/ADHD folks need to be medicated? some do, some don't. is it BAD to medicate those with ADD/ADHD? NO! If they TRULY have it, and the medication helps them, then by all means, USE IT!
The problem with medication though, is that all too often, especially in children, there is a MIS-DIAGNOSIS! And if the child/person does NOT have ADD/ADHD, then the medications will really mess things up. There are too many people on the medications that do not actually HAVE ADD/ADHD ... there systems get all jacked up ... and then there grows a stigma about ADD/ADHD medications.
Why am I talking about these things? Well, my husband, daughter, and son all have it. I live with it every day. There are times when it can get aggravating, yes. But, there are times when I dont even think about the fact that my house is filled with those who have these dx.
All 3 of them have different reactions to theirs. With Tom, he has to fidget a lot. You will always find him with either silly putty, a small toy/lego, or something similar in his hands, as he absentmindedly diddles with them. We have learned that while he does this ... he can concentrate a lot better. His legs (mostly his right leg) bounces up and down constantly. Most people dont even notice it, because it is only slightly moving, yet, it is moving none the less. Again, it is an "out" for his ADD. Though concentration is not his 'main' issue with the ADD. He has a hard time with change. I learned this the hard way early on in our marriage. I LOVE change ... so, I used to rearrange our kitchen and livingroom in our first apartment, all the time. the microwave would move, the toaster would move, the chair would move, the end table would move, etc. It took me quite some time to realize how hard it affected Tom. Once I figured that out ... I stopped doing the rearranging.
With Christopher, he received his dx at age 3. We started him on medications at that time, but quickly learned that he was NOT ready for the meds, and took him off of them. If you know Chris only at the school, you would never EVER guess he has ADD. Once he gets on the bus to go to school, he is able to put the ADD "on hold" ... and is such a fantastic student! He THRIVES on the structure of school. Though I try to continue the same structure at home, its just not the same. Then, when I pick him up from school .... all of the pent up energy, attitude, etc blows up all at once and he has a rough time for about half an hour. But you know, Id MUCH rather have it this way, because he does fantastic at school .. and I can deal with his blow ups at home. Im his mom, so its OK. Though, he has 'other' issues connected with the ADD. He has a very hard time sleeping. No matter how tired he is, he has a very hard time going to sleep before 10 or 11 pm. and thats when we are lucky. There have been times when we have had to lay with him until past midnight ... hoping he would finally fall asleep. But, we are working with him, and that is all we can do at this time in his life.
Gina hasnt officially received her dx yet, but we are working on that. We are learning now that she has a very hard time concentrating in school. Her attn is elsewhere. Her teacher says that she can be looking at Gina, telling her some instructions, and Gina is just, there yet not. And then, Gina can not remember receiving those instructions. She doesnt have the excess energy that Chris has ... she doesnt blow up like he does ... but, she just cant seem to concentrate on one thing / task for very long.
My mother in law has a LOT of experience with ADD/ADHD, as her boys all have it. She has seen many different views on it. She has experienced many issues with teachers, school leaders, etc, because of the actions of her boys. She has watched the reactions of her sons as they tried many different medications ... some worked, some did not. Some worked for one, while not for another.
There are many people who think that ADD or ADHD is an excuse. well, for some, it might be. But for my family, it is NOT. It is a part of life, and we have learned, and are continuing to learn how to live with it, in its many forms and realities.
So, if you know someone, or have a family member or friend who has ADD / ADHD .. remember ... you can make it a "label" an "excuse" a "handicap" .... but you dont have to. Its not easy .... but its something that CAN be worked with and lived with ... :)
The problem with medication though, is that all too often, especially in children, there is a MIS-DIAGNOSIS! And if the child/person does NOT have ADD/ADHD, then the medications will really mess things up. There are too many people on the medications that do not actually HAVE ADD/ADHD ... there systems get all jacked up ... and then there grows a stigma about ADD/ADHD medications.
Why am I talking about these things? Well, my husband, daughter, and son all have it. I live with it every day. There are times when it can get aggravating, yes. But, there are times when I dont even think about the fact that my house is filled with those who have these dx.
All 3 of them have different reactions to theirs. With Tom, he has to fidget a lot. You will always find him with either silly putty, a small toy/lego, or something similar in his hands, as he absentmindedly diddles with them. We have learned that while he does this ... he can concentrate a lot better. His legs (mostly his right leg) bounces up and down constantly. Most people dont even notice it, because it is only slightly moving, yet, it is moving none the less. Again, it is an "out" for his ADD. Though concentration is not his 'main' issue with the ADD. He has a hard time with change. I learned this the hard way early on in our marriage. I LOVE change ... so, I used to rearrange our kitchen and livingroom in our first apartment, all the time. the microwave would move, the toaster would move, the chair would move, the end table would move, etc. It took me quite some time to realize how hard it affected Tom. Once I figured that out ... I stopped doing the rearranging.
With Christopher, he received his dx at age 3. We started him on medications at that time, but quickly learned that he was NOT ready for the meds, and took him off of them. If you know Chris only at the school, you would never EVER guess he has ADD. Once he gets on the bus to go to school, he is able to put the ADD "on hold" ... and is such a fantastic student! He THRIVES on the structure of school. Though I try to continue the same structure at home, its just not the same. Then, when I pick him up from school .... all of the pent up energy, attitude, etc blows up all at once and he has a rough time for about half an hour. But you know, Id MUCH rather have it this way, because he does fantastic at school .. and I can deal with his blow ups at home. Im his mom, so its OK. Though, he has 'other' issues connected with the ADD. He has a very hard time sleeping. No matter how tired he is, he has a very hard time going to sleep before 10 or 11 pm. and thats when we are lucky. There have been times when we have had to lay with him until past midnight ... hoping he would finally fall asleep. But, we are working with him, and that is all we can do at this time in his life.
Gina hasnt officially received her dx yet, but we are working on that. We are learning now that she has a very hard time concentrating in school. Her attn is elsewhere. Her teacher says that she can be looking at Gina, telling her some instructions, and Gina is just, there yet not. And then, Gina can not remember receiving those instructions. She doesnt have the excess energy that Chris has ... she doesnt blow up like he does ... but, she just cant seem to concentrate on one thing / task for very long.
My mother in law has a LOT of experience with ADD/ADHD, as her boys all have it. She has seen many different views on it. She has experienced many issues with teachers, school leaders, etc, because of the actions of her boys. She has watched the reactions of her sons as they tried many different medications ... some worked, some did not. Some worked for one, while not for another.
There are many people who think that ADD or ADHD is an excuse. well, for some, it might be. But for my family, it is NOT. It is a part of life, and we have learned, and are continuing to learn how to live with it, in its many forms and realities.
So, if you know someone, or have a family member or friend who has ADD / ADHD .. remember ... you can make it a "label" an "excuse" a "handicap" .... but you dont have to. Its not easy .... but its something that CAN be worked with and lived with ... :)
27.9.10
Gracie's 'stuff'
So, one of the problems we have had with Gracie, is her head tremors. She will be sitting, looking at something, and her head will begin to shake. They last normally between 5 and 30 seconds. then she goes out of it and is back to "normal" ... she has quite a few tremors a day. This evening alone, in the last 2 hours, I personally have seen her have 8 episodes. Gina tells me she has seen a couple as well. Tonight is worse than normal .. as far as we can tell. We dont know what is "different" tonight from any other night, to cause her to have more tremors ... but we will for sure keep a stronger eye on her through the night.
She has an appointment on Thursday with her Neurologist, and I am so thankful we will finally be seeing her. There are quite a few things I am wanting to discuss with Dr. Fike, but the fact that the tremors are increasing is really worrying me, and I am so thankful we are only a few short days away from being able to talk about them. I dont know what is causing the tremors .. if they have any relation to seizures, or whatever it may be. We are probably about to begin a lot of tests on the neurological side of things .. to add to the other tests we are already doing for other situations.
She is eating ... a "LITTLE" more .. meaning she is willing to swallow maybe a bite or two of puree's a day! THAT IS FANTASTIC NEWS for this little one! but ... she is beginning to lose ounces ... which is NOT a good thing. Now that she is crawling .. and getting better at doing so (she can crawl nearly half way across the livingroom in one go now before having to stop and rest!! YAYAYAY!) she is needing the calories more and more ... yet she is not getting them. We are more than likely going to start adding more calories to her bottles to try and keep up for her.
Nik is being so helpful. He loves to play "chase" with Grace ... he'll crawl a bit, then stop, look behind him towards Gracie, grinning, as if to say "are you gonna get me?" then Gracie giggles and follows him ... when she begins moving he moves again a ways, stops and looks back again .. its the cutest thing EVER! He wont go too far, as though he KNOWS that she can only go a little ways before she has to stop and rest... and he waits for her .. even though this boy can really BOOK it and MOVE FAST! LOL .. he waits for his sister. and she learns from him daily! Its fantastic. Nik truly is a blessing to our family ... and more to Gracie than any other in our home. Gracie has learned so much from him in the few months he has been in our family ... and now, they cant stand to be apart from one another.
The Lord truly knows what He is doing in our family. :)
She has an appointment on Thursday with her Neurologist, and I am so thankful we will finally be seeing her. There are quite a few things I am wanting to discuss with Dr. Fike, but the fact that the tremors are increasing is really worrying me, and I am so thankful we are only a few short days away from being able to talk about them. I dont know what is causing the tremors .. if they have any relation to seizures, or whatever it may be. We are probably about to begin a lot of tests on the neurological side of things .. to add to the other tests we are already doing for other situations.
She is eating ... a "LITTLE" more .. meaning she is willing to swallow maybe a bite or two of puree's a day! THAT IS FANTASTIC NEWS for this little one! but ... she is beginning to lose ounces ... which is NOT a good thing. Now that she is crawling .. and getting better at doing so (she can crawl nearly half way across the livingroom in one go now before having to stop and rest!! YAYAYAY!) she is needing the calories more and more ... yet she is not getting them. We are more than likely going to start adding more calories to her bottles to try and keep up for her.
Nik is being so helpful. He loves to play "chase" with Grace ... he'll crawl a bit, then stop, look behind him towards Gracie, grinning, as if to say "are you gonna get me?" then Gracie giggles and follows him ... when she begins moving he moves again a ways, stops and looks back again .. its the cutest thing EVER! He wont go too far, as though he KNOWS that she can only go a little ways before she has to stop and rest... and he waits for her .. even though this boy can really BOOK it and MOVE FAST! LOL .. he waits for his sister. and she learns from him daily! Its fantastic. Nik truly is a blessing to our family ... and more to Gracie than any other in our home. Gracie has learned so much from him in the few months he has been in our family ... and now, they cant stand to be apart from one another.
The Lord truly knows what He is doing in our family. :)
Day one.
So, I have begun day one of my 8 week challenge. Last night was officially the beginning, as I was to have 7 hours of sleep last night. You know, I think THAT is going to be my biggest challenge ... even over taking out junk food stuff ... because I have 2 babies who still dont sleep through the night, and they NEVER wake at the same time as the other ... BUT .. I scraped by last night and GOT my 7 hours! just barley, but I did it!
One of the things that I have decided with this challenge ... in the end, I want to have lost weight. Will I set a loss goal? no. Why? because my MAIN goal is to have gained better habits once more. Ive done it in the past, I can do it again. But, with this challenge, I have a better chance of doing it ... I do much better when I am "CHALLENGED" then when I just decide on my own to try this or that. So in the end of these 8 weeks, so long as I stick to this, and follow through, not only will I gain new, better habits, but, I WILL have lost weight. Its kind of an added bonus to this! with the eating better, and exercising for 45 minutes daily ... :) yay!
So, day one has begun, and I am going to be going out today to buy more veggies and fruit ... because my kids have decided that they want to do that part with me (wee ha!) Im also going to buy myself a better water bottle .. since I will be drinking more water (I already drink a lot, but, may as well add!)
So, I have a full day ahead of me, and I AM GOING to earn my 10 points today! PERIOD!
One of the things that I have decided with this challenge ... in the end, I want to have lost weight. Will I set a loss goal? no. Why? because my MAIN goal is to have gained better habits once more. Ive done it in the past, I can do it again. But, with this challenge, I have a better chance of doing it ... I do much better when I am "CHALLENGED" then when I just decide on my own to try this or that. So in the end of these 8 weeks, so long as I stick to this, and follow through, not only will I gain new, better habits, but, I WILL have lost weight. Its kind of an added bonus to this! with the eating better, and exercising for 45 minutes daily ... :) yay!
So, day one has begun, and I am going to be going out today to buy more veggies and fruit ... because my kids have decided that they want to do that part with me (wee ha!) Im also going to buy myself a better water bottle .. since I will be drinking more water (I already drink a lot, but, may as well add!)
So, I have a full day ahead of me, and I AM GOING to earn my 10 points today! PERIOD!
26.9.10
8 weeks to a better ME!
So, starting tomorrow morning, I am going to participate in a challenge, called "8 Weeks to a Better YOU!" ... Here is a link to the information . . ."heres the deal" .. 8 weeks to a better YOU! ..
So, one of the things that I am to do in this challenge, is to write for 15 minutes a day in my journal, or, in this case, my blog. SO . .. you will be seeing me blog EVERY day, for 15 minutes a day, for the next 8 weeks. You might get bored, and not read, and that is up to you. as for me, Ill do the writing anyways. lol
I am also going to be doing much more, to make myself better. there are about 20 of us that are doing this challenge right now. Im really nervous .. yet excited. my goal by the end of the 8 weeks .. is to have actually DONE it! LOL. one day at a time .. thats all it takes. and in the end, there WILL be a better me!
but, for now (tee hehehe!) Im taking one last opportunity to have a banana split ;) (cause there will be no more sweets for the nest 8 weeks!! gasp!). its now made and ready for me, so I guess Ill "talk" with ya tomorrow!
So, one of the things that I am to do in this challenge, is to write for 15 minutes a day in my journal, or, in this case, my blog. SO . .. you will be seeing me blog EVERY day, for 15 minutes a day, for the next 8 weeks. You might get bored, and not read, and that is up to you. as for me, Ill do the writing anyways. lol
I am also going to be doing much more, to make myself better. there are about 20 of us that are doing this challenge right now. Im really nervous .. yet excited. my goal by the end of the 8 weeks .. is to have actually DONE it! LOL. one day at a time .. thats all it takes. and in the end, there WILL be a better me!
but, for now (tee hehehe!) Im taking one last opportunity to have a banana split ;) (cause there will be no more sweets for the nest 8 weeks!! gasp!). its now made and ready for me, so I guess Ill "talk" with ya tomorrow!
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