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Friday 11/19/2010

Another good week!

Monday
Ethan and I stayed home and tried to relax! Although this is impossible to do, since he's getting to the point that he doesn't want to nap. He must be afraid that he's going to miss something exciting when he sleeps - like mom doing laundry, dishes, or trying to tidy up the house. :)

Tuesday
Ethan and I went to our weekly Baby Talk Times. I must admit that I look forward to this each week. :)

Wednesday
Ethan had his monthly physical therapy appointment today. She said that if she didn't know his diagnosis she'd think he was a "normal" 4 month old!!!! Yeah, we are still working on head control some, and strengthening his core, but she was very excited about the progress he is making! :) She has also recommended that Ethan get a helmet, so we are going to
begin that process soon.

Thursday
Ethan had a swallow study done at the hospital in the afternoon. I was glad that Jeff was able to take time off from work to come with us.

The purpose of the swallow study was to determine if Ethan was aspirating some of his milk - eating is still tough for him and he often chokes and coughs during his feedings.

Thankfully, the test came back ALL CLEAR - no signs of aspiration. We still have to be careful that he doesn't become tired during his feedings because it seems that he has the most trouble when he is fatigued.

Friday
This morning we went to the infant play group at Pershing Early Learning Center. Today's guest was a sign language interpreter. Although I already knew most of the signs she taught the group (I've been learning sign since we found out about Ethan's hearing impairment) it was still neat!

In the afternoon Ethan went to Dr. Smith for his 4 month check up!!! I can't believe it has already been four months (on Tuesday). We were hoping that he would weigh at least 13 lbs. and he weighed in at 13 pounds and 5 ounces and is 25 and 3/4 inches long.

I had several concerns that I shared with Dr. Smith, and overall he told me things were fine. I'm still a bit concerned about a few things, but I think that will be the continual nature of this beast of a disorder.

Dr. Smith seemed really pleased with how Ethan was presenting to him. All the doctors and therapists have been saying that he's doing better than expected, so we are feeling very blessed.

Next weekNext week will be another busy week. On Monday we are going to have Ethan's 4 month pictures taken. We get his portraits taken at JC Penney's - they have great coupons!!! On Tuesday we are headed to Springfield to get Ethan's hearing aids - Jeff gets to come with! Yeah. :) Wednesday we might just try to relax before the big Thanksgiving holiday. Thursday we will spend the day with Jeff's side of the family and get to see his family, including some cousins we haven't seen in a while. Friday we'll travel to my parent's house to spend some time with my side of the family. By the time that we make it back to our house on Saturday evening we will be very full of turkey and most likely very tired! :)

Prayer Requests

-Pray for Jeff and I to have wisdom when it comes to Ethan's health. When do we call the doctor, when do we just chill out - that's just a normal baby thing :)
-Pray for Jeff and I to enjoy and celebrate each day we have with Ethan, the good days and the not so good days. Pray that we will have the strength we need if/when things get really tough.
-Pray that Ethan will quickly adjust to his hearing aids and that he will LOVE them. We pray that increasing his hearing from such a young age that this will help his development and enjoyment of the world around him. Please pray that his hearing aids do not get broken or lost.
-This week one of the leading researchers of PBDs died. Please pray that the Lord will raise up additional doctors with a heart for understanding, treating, and curing PBDs.
-Pray for the families that are just learning about their child's diagnosis, we've had several new families join our parent group in recent weeks.
-Pray for all of the children and families impacted by PBDs.


Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We hope that everyone has an enjoyable Thanksgiving!

Love,
Jeff, Pamela and Ethan

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