It's Been a Long Time!

Holy moly, it's been a long time. I do miss my blog, as it has provided for some much needed venting, comfort, and healing. The majority of the blogs are from when Aeva first came home, and it's so nice to reflect back and see how far she really has come.

There's been a lot going on since I last posted...Aeva is just about 2.5 YEARS old now, talking, stubborn as hell, WALKING (okay running), and a bundle of fire and energy. She has her struggles, she's still fighting her fight, but we're so much closer to "normal" that it almost hurts.

She started preschool right after she turned 2 to catch up on some developmental "delays" the NICU follow up said she had. (She's since caught up on them) She's FINALLY off the stinkin' bottle, as of 3 weeks ago.

When she was 2, (the same week), she started thyroid hormone replacement treatment, as her thyroid was not functioning correctly. Who was right? Yea, THIS MOM WAS! I pushed and pushed and pushed for so long for her GI to do testing rather than push the stupid gtube, and they FINALLY did. Symptoms of hypothyroidism in children presents as poor weight growth, poor appetite, and delayed tooth eruption. Helllloooo, this kid is a poster child. She's never cried, ever ever, for a bottle, even as a small infant, never wanted to eat. She's 2.5 years old and JUST NOW getting her canines and bicuspid teeth, and her peers have had those for a YEAR!! In a few more months we should be seeing how the medicine has helped. She's eating SO SO SO mcuh now, I can't beleve she's still not gaining weight!

Her last fight to fight is the gtube with her GI. Cross your fingers.

She got tubes in her ears last week to alleviate all the fluid in her ears causing infections.

Next month we see speech therapy.
Feeding therapy still happens, but its working its way on out!

She's pint sized and full of life, and there's really nothing else I can ask for.

*******

As for me, I've had a lot going on myself since my last post. I went back to work when Aeva was 19 months old, and have loved ((almost)) every minute of it. Coming home to see what she's learned each day from Lindsey or from school makes every minute ((though not many)) I'm away from her worth it.

I finished my MA in history last summer, and the next month I started TEACHING! Each semester I get more and more classes, and I LOVE all my students! Each one brings such different things to my class, and I love getting to know them all and guide them in their academic careers. This upcoming semester I have 2 normal history classes, 2 "intro to university life" courses, and one special project of a learning community. I'm hoping to get a full time position next fall where I can teach part online, and part on campus.

I was given a really cool opportunity to teach in a learning community, where 18 freshman will take 6 of their core courses together over the next year. The curriculum is linked between the classes. Hard to explain effectively.

Other than that, life remains normal. My days are spent focused on Aeva and doing mommy duties. My nights are filled with projects and class prep. Craziness doesnt even begin to describe it.

Welcome to Holland

This "poem" is often referred to in the preemie momma world....just thought I'd post it for everyone to read because it's beautiful either way.



I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
 Written by 

Emily Perl Kingsley.