Today SG and I went for her evaluation with Early Intervention of Shelby County.  Owen had training, and we really wanted to get it over with, so we decided not to reschedule.

Early Intervention (EI) is a free program offered to anyone in the county to help your child “catch up” developmentally if need be. 

Every child can be evaluated to see if they meet the criteria to enter the program, but the child must lack at least 25% in one area of development.  Or have an extenuating circumstance…i.e. prematurity…to qualify.

Fortunately and unfortunately, SG does not qualify.  She is performing on a 5 month level in all but 2 areas, and those 2 areas (socialization & hand to hand transfer of toys) she is on an 8 month level. 

This is good news, because it means that developmentally she is right on target!  Which is awesome!  But semi bad news because we want her to get that extra “push” so that she doesn’t have to be held back a grade in school.

BUT!  Since she was born premature, they are going to let her in the program.  Here’s how it works…

Once a month, a therapist will come to our house and “play” with SG.  The therapist will then give us instructions on how we can “play” while they are not there, so that we can help her on a daily basis. 

For her, it’s just little things, like learning to roll over, reach for toys, etc.  But with this extra push from the therapist, she’ll get there faster than if we didn’t push her. 

So we’re excited for this opportunity.  It will be a good way to help me learn what she should me doing, so that I can help her.  And it’ll be a double bonus for Baby #2 (still not named), so that I’ll know the developmental milestones she’s supposed to hit and when, and I’ll know how to help her!

*Don’t forget to click on the link to the right to donate to our March of Dimes walk on April 24th!  Or better yet, sign up to come walk with us!!*

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Most people that are following this blog, started doing so last July when I unexpectedly went into premature labor when pregnant with our daughter Sayla Grace. If you're new, you can catch up on that part of our story by starting here.

As you may know, our doctors are still unsure as to why I delivered early...13 weeks early to be exact. And unfortunately, it happens all too often, and we don't hear about it.

One organization is working to change all of that. You may have heard of the March of Dimes before, but may be unaware of what they do. The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

I never thought twice about them as a charity, but now they are my life. It is because of research like theirs that we are now taking a different approach to our second pregnancy. Research like theirs that helped develop the methods used when Sayla Grace was born to help save her tiny life.

Our tiny miracle survived because of their mission. I want to give back to them, so that others can avoid the heartache and struggle we went through.

But I need your help.

I know times are tough right now, but this is an issue that holds such a special place in my heart, that I hope you are able to help too.

You can help in one of two ways, or both! First, you can simply donate. Click on the link to the right, and donate any amount you are able to help fight the fight against premature birth.

Or, you can join us!! Come walk with us on April 24th! Click on the link to the right and sign up to walk with us!! And if you sign up by April 17th, I will provide you with a Team Sayla Grace shirt to wear on our walk!! I haven't designed them yet, but I'll post a design once I do.

Or, get the best of both worlds and do both!! I'm hoping to raise at least $1,000 for this cause. (All donations go directly to March of Dimes to help fund their research in the areas of premature birth, infant mortality and birth defects.) It's really a small amount compared to the cost of having a premature baby. If we did not have insurance, our hospital bills would have been well over half a million dollars!!! And while these donations don't go towards any individual hospital stay, they will help families avoid those bills by avoiding premature birth due to their research.

As I mentioned, this is a very worthwhile charity. Won't you consider helping these tiny hearts?

We thank you for your support.

And most of all, our daughters thank you.

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Here are some slide shows for your amusement. They are random, and some pictures are a bit dated now. Ignore the pictures of the random house...we love to look at houses we might like to buy, but this one had some major issues. I made them "extra-large" so you can see them better. It's probably messing with the layout of the blog, but I figure you care more about the pictures than the layout!! The ones at the bottom are the most recent (taken this month).

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So I guess this is what it’s like for everyone to be sick all at once (minus me…yet).

On Monday afternoon SG and I went to her weekly Physical Therapy appointment at St Vincent’s.  It was a great appointment…in fact, she’s doing so great we don’t have to go back!

But then Monday night she started having tummy issues.  I’ll spare you the gory details, but let’s just say it was bad. 

By Tuesday evening I had changed 14 messy diapers, and she was getting dehydrated.  After a few conversations with the on-call nurse, a few tears shed by me and her, we fixed her up with some Pedialyte and put her to bed.

Wednesday we were at the doctor, seemingly better.  But wouldn’t you know it as soon as we got home, it started all over again.  But not as bad.

And today, she was vastly improved, but decided she no longer wanted to eat.  So we battled that all day, but by bedtime she was back to her old self.  I’m hoping she sleeps until morning and wakes up bright eyed and bushy tailed. 

But one thing she learned while she was sick was how to share!  Her Daddy had to leave work early today because he was so sick.

Straight to bed he went, with a nice little fever.  And Bitty and I were off to the store in the tornados to get some goodies.

Thank goodness Gatorade was BOGO free, and the Chicken Noodle soup was 3 for $5.  So we racked up and headed home.

So now both sick babies are in bed, and I’m finding some time for myself!!  It’s so nice I’m not sure what to do with myself! 

On the other baby front, as you see from the previous post, we’re 98.9% positive it’s another girl!!  I have to leave the 2.1% because we found out at 15 weeks, which is WAY early to find out, so I’m not allowed to paint the room until our next appointment.

Owen is still holding out that it’s a very modest boy, but I can tell you he’s wrong.  We saw her goods…she’s not shy. 

We have NO CLUE what we’re going to name her.  We can’t agree on anything, and are actually going quite the opposite way with our choices. 

I think we sort of backed ourselves into a corner with Sayla Grace’s name…it has so much meaning, and is so unique, that it’s hard to just name the next child something simple with no meaning.  But searching for that perfectly unique, deep meaning name sure is difficult. 

We have boy names out the wazoo, but it’ll be our luck that we never have any.  I told Owen he’s got one more shot at a boy after this, then we’re adopting. 

But that’ll be a ways down the road…hopefully!

As far as bed rest, as of right now I don’t have to be on it.  But that could change at a moment’s notice.  I still take the Procardia to prevent contractions, and starting at week 20 I’ll get the weekly Progesterone shots.  And hopefully between the two I’ll be on my feet for the rest of the 40 weeks, though we’ll take 32 weeks. 

I feel fabulous…much better than I did with SG.  I feel more healthy and smaller…although I’m still quite huge for this early. 

The bad thing is I’m not allowed to exercise, so I really have to watch what I eat.  And if you were at all involved with my last pregnancy, you know I LOVE to eat.  Heck, I love to eat even when I’m not preggers.  So it’s tough.  But I now know the consequences, so I’m being careful.

The girls will share SG’s room.  I’m going to paint one wall pink (finally) and add a few more decorations.  We ordered another crib to match SG’s the other day, so they will match.  They turn into twin size daybeds, so they will be in the same room for a while.

Sorry there are no pictures yet.  Somehow with 3 pc’s in our house, I never seem to find the time to get on the one with the pictures on it.  That, and I take most of them with my phone it seems, and I haven’t figured out how to get them off my phone onto the computer except through Facebook.  So there are tons of pictures there.  Look me up if you haven’t already.  Even if it’s just to see pictures!  I don’t mind. 

I’ll try my hardest to get some pictures on here for you.  I promised a few posts ago, and I haven’t lived up to that…so I’ll try harder!!

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GIRL!!!!!

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Where to begin...

I'm not even sure!! Many things have happened since my last update! Forgive me if I ramble. I think the only way to completely update you is to have sort of a "stream of consciousness" frame of mind.

Sayla Grace's Dedication went off without a hitch. She cooperated, and even let Pastor Scott hold her. Though if we had waited one more week that would've been a different story! She's well into recognizing "strangers" (aka anyone other than Mommy and Daddy), and is not afraid to let you know it! It was a beautiful service, and as soon as I can, I'll try to upload the video from it...no seriously...I'll find time somewhere!!

We've been to lots and lots of doctor's appointments. For me and SG. I'll let you in on SG's first:

In February we had her 3/6 month check up and a bazillion shots. She's not a fan of shots. And neither am I. We both cry. Every time. She didn't get the H1N1 vaccine...which we may reconsider (more on that later). She was a trooper though.

Then we had our visit to the "Newborn Follow Up Clinic" at The Sparks Institute at UAB. This is a research clinic for babies born weighing under 1,000 grams. SG weighed 650g when she was born, so naturally, we were perfect candidates. We were under the impression that this clinic would (for research purposes) tell us where SG is developmentally, include things like chest xrays, head ultrasounds...the whole nine yards. Why we thought this, I have no idea.

Boy were we wrong!! First of all, the appointment took 3 and a half hours (which is normal). We saw 2 Pediatricians...that did nothing more than examine her, make her cry and leave. Then we saw a Physical Therapist...which ended up being a good thing. (Hold that thought). And finally a Nutritionist...who told us that our 13 pound baby is "overweight." Yes, seriously. I laughed at her. She is apparently in the 50th percentile for weight (for a 4 month old), and 3rd percentile for height. Short and Fat! But somehow when you combine those 2 statistics, she's in the 95th percentile. Who knows. I don't get all that mumbo jumbo and don't put much stock in it.

So we left there quite bummed, not knowing any more than we did before we went. Except that she needs a bit of Physical Therapy. Her back muscles are tight, because she never had the "crowded" time in the womb to be hunched over in the fetal position. Before she was born, she had all the room in the world in my uterus. Then she was born and splayed out on a bed for 89 days...so naturally, it's hard for her to do things like bring her arms together in front of her body, and reach them above her head. Because of this, she can't roll over yet, or do things like "clap", etc.

So we're going to see the physical therapist at St. Vincent's every Monday in March to get her kinks worked out. And we've got a few "at home" exercises to do daily. Once of which is EATING!!! Solid foods that is. Well, mushy solids!

So far it's just rice cereal, which she's not a fan of. But she's getting better at it. The Physical Therapist told us that babies have a window from 4 to 6 months to learn how to eat that provides them with the best chance to perfect their "oral motor skills" (aka learning to talk). Now I'm sure that if you don't start feeding them solids until after 6 months, your child will still be able to talk, she was just saying it improves their abilities.

I've ordered the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker so that I can make her baby food. I was expecting it to arrive today, but UPS failed me, so hopefully it'll be here tomorrow. I had planned on making her food anyway, but the Nutritionist told us that babies who eat homemade baby food end up having a wider variety of foods they will eat when they start eating "real" food. Simply because that's all they've been introduced to...no preservatives, sugars, etc. Made sense to me. She also told us that "Organic" baby food is just a waste of money. There's no extra nutritional value in organic baby food. Take that for what it's worth to you. I'd probably buy organic if I wasn't making it.

Back to doctor visits...

Earlier this week we went to the Pediatric Ophthalmologist for our follow up from the NICU. If you have a baby, I recommend you take your baby (healthy or not) to the eye doctor. We learned very interesting things that we never would've known about her!! I don't think most parent's do this, because you don't think there's a need, but you'd be surprised at the number of things that can go wrong with their eyes that require glasses or even surgery to correct (if you don't know to look for it!).

Turns out SG is farsighted (as are all babies) at +5% in both eyes. This means that NEVER in her life will she be nearsighted! How cool is that! She totally avoided the nearsighted eyes both her father and I have. BUT...it comes with a price. The +5% means that muscle is short, and as it grows, could cause her to go cross eyed! There's a very small chance of this, but there's a chance. If it happens, it will happen between the ages of 15 and 24 months.

The second we notice it, we're supposed to go back to the eye doc to have her fitted with glasses. If we wait until we "see it all the time" she may need surgery. While we're praying the muscle grows the way it's supposed to, how cute are babies in glasses? I mean, really!?! The good thing is, the glasses would only be temporary, and she'd be out of them by Kindergarten. But...like I said, we're praying that doesn't happen.

SG doesn't go back to her Pedi until April, and other than PT on Monday's she should be doctor clear for a while!

Me, on the other hand, I have been going to the doctor like it's my job! We had our February OB appointment to check on the baby - all went well - but I was back 2 weeks later because I was feeling "Pelvic Pressure." Yikes! Turned out to be nothing, but I got to see the baby on ultrasound, and become a guinea pig at the same time!

I went on a Monday, and it turns out that the previous Thursday, my OB had been to a continuing education course about preterm labor. One of the docs that spoke, said that he was giving his previous preterm patients a certain medication that's usually reserved for later in the pregnancy, as soon as possible.

The medication is called "Procardia" and it's actually a blood pressure controlling medicine. But it also relaxes "smooth" muscles - aka the Uterus - and keeps it from contracting. I took it up until I gave birth to SG from 25 weeks to 27 weeks, and it's one of the only things that kept her inside for those 2 weeks (and of course prayer).

So the doc asked if I wanted to take it now (at then 13 weeks)...as a total guinea pig...I'm her first patient to try it. We went over the costs and benefits, and she wrote me a prescription. I took it home and prayed over it for almost a week. I was so torn on whether or not to take it.

I ultimately decided that God put this in front of me for a reason, and that we should give this baby every opportunity we're given to help him/her stay in my womb for 9 full months.

So far, after 2 weeks, I haven't had any side effects, other than occasionally being dizzy. I just can't stand up too fast, or my BP will drop and I'll likely hit the floor! But I can't stand up fast these days anyway, so it's not a problem!

Then I went to the doctor yesterday because I thought I had the swine flu. Owen was exposed to it on Tuesday, and we've been keeping ourselves "quarantined" from each other since then. But on Thursday morning I started feeling sick, and it only got worse as the day went on.

Since none of us got the H1N1 vaccine (which we are now reconsidering for SG), we were in panic mode. I mean, pregnant women who get H1N1 can die! Scary! So I went and got a flu test, and turns out it was negative (thank God!) and it's just a killer sinus infection! I'm pretty miserable, but it could be worse, so I'm not too upset!

We go back to the OB Monday for our March appointment, and hope to find out if Baby #2 is a boy or a girl! I'm leaning towards girl, but who knows!! Then we go back in 5 weeks for the "anatomy check" to make sure he/she is growing correctly. And at that point, I'll start weekly Progesterone shots.

Studies have shown that a certain type of Progesterone (not the kind used in early pregnancy to prevent miscarriage) helps prevent a recurrent preterm birth in women who have had a previous premature birth. Again, God put this option in front of us through a good friend who works in Neonatal Research at UAB, so we are going with it. Anything to help this baby have a chance!

Wow...are you tired of reading yet?!

SG and I go weekly to a Gymboree Play & Music class on 280. It is so much fun!! The class lasts about 45 minutes, in which we sing songs, play with bubbles, a giant parachute, hand puppets and have what I call "mommy chat" time. There are only 3 other moms/babies that come regularly, and we usually end up going out to lunch afterward.

I really enjoy the interaction with the other moms of babies the same age, and SG is loving the class and other babies! This week during class she sat up unassisted for the first time!!! Each week I can really see her growing and learning, and I'm so happy we found it! She's in the 0-6 month class, and once she can sit and scoot a bit, we'll try out the 6-10 month class. They really aren't strict on the age limit, and go more by the baby's progress. If you're home during the day with your baby, you should come check it out! Your first class is free!

Monkey is loving Sayla Grace! He licks her every opportunity he gets, and is very protective over her. Every morning he waits for her to make a peep, and as soon as she does, he's in her room, usually with his paws up on her crib, trying to lick her. She usually greets him with a smile in the mornings. She is her father's child!!! (I'm not a smiling person in the mornings!!)

Pictures...I know that's really all you want to see! But, unfortunately all of my recent pictures of her are on our other computer and haven't been uploaded to my online Picasa account. I'll do that tomorrow though and post all the recent ones. I promise!!

I'm sure there's a ton I'm missing, but I really am going to try to get better about keeping up with things. But right now I need to get some sleep! Baby#2 is kicking me like crazy, a sure sign we've got another fighter on our hands!!

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