He Can Walk and Other Thoughts

I guess I thought once Anastasia was released from the hospital that would be the end of the NICU Journey. That was niavie of me. One is not born 3 months early and have no side effects. Some we know about (like her small size, special caloric needs, and severe acid reflex). Others the severity is still unknown (like the ROP, the need of oxygen, heart murmurs, and Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Then there are a host of side effects and disorders that she may or may not have but needs to be monitored for, for example speech delays, movement delays, vision issues, just plain being behind her peers, or things like ADHD. Luckily, we're learning with Heidi Anne how to deal with child with ADHD.   

I guess I was in denial, I honestly thought for the longest time once she's home everything would go back to normal. I didn't plan on all these doctor appointments that are very far away, medications and having 2 different bottles each feeding. 

Today Rory was walking so much! Like it just clicked. He finally went "Hey, I like walking!!". He had a smile on his face and would walk back and forth across the room. However, if we praised him, he would sit down or pause and clap. We would just whisper to each other "Look at Rory, he's doing great!". Furthermore, when he steps on a different texture other than carpet, he will slowly get down onto his hands and knees and start crawling again. 

We've been doing spring cleaning these last few weeks (that's been taking up all my spare time). We're trying to minimize our things as much as possible since the next place we're going to live in will be either a townhouse or apartment. We haven't really de-cluttered in nearly 10 years of marriage. It was hard at first but once I realized we hadn't used some of these things in years and the thought of moving it (again) made donating the items much easier.  I'm talking at least 3 carloads of donations and a trailer full to the dump. We just have the kitchen left to go through. I think that's Saturday's project. 

I haven't really talked about it but this has been the hardest school year for Heidi Anne. The school work is easy, but she's been picked on and teased relentlessly. She says she loves school, which she's doing great academic wise, but dislikes the people part of it. Every morning she begs to stay home. She suffers from headaches, stomach aches and has become depressed. For example, someone at school kept teasing her until she shoved him (which was wrong of her). She lost the privilege of pool party day. Later that same day, the same boy PUNCHED her. He just got a talking to. These bullies are just getting smarter. The school says they crack down on bullies but it sure doesn't seem like it. If we're unable to move this summer we're seriously considering homeschooling her next school year. 

The babies have developed nicknames. Anastasia is; Lady, Ladybug and Stacy. Rory is our little Tiger. Heidi Anne wants to be called Chipmunk, not sure why on that one.