Yesterday we went to LA to see Mia's GI surgeon. It was a quick visit, the good news is that we only have to see him once or twice a year, which is great...I love that are visits are becoming much longer in between! And she doesn't need to be stretched anymore, which is great also. She still doesn't have completely normal bowel movements, but that has been improving since we started the gluten free diet. You can continue to pray for her bowel movements, that she would ultimately be able to control them.

Mia also weighed in around 22 pounds again. It's so frustrating for me because I think we are on the right track and moving forward and then we tend to stay at the same place. I do know that she has been much more active since she started walking, so I imagine that contributes to it. Just pray for patience and wisdom as we address her growth. :)

Tomorrow we are off to LA again, this time to see her neurologist, so pray for a safe trip and I'm curious what his thoughts are regarding her anti-seizure medicine, etc, we'll find out tomorrow.

VBAC

I've been meaning to post on this for sometime, but we've had so many great new things to report about Mia that I haven't had a chance. I've been doing quite a lot of research about having a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) because it really is my hearts to desire to not have another C-section. And Brad and I are both encouraged to try this, we have no clue whether or not my body will be able to deliver a baby vaginally, but we are encouraged to try for several reasons. The first being that I never had a chance to try a normal delivery with Mia, she was breech, I had no choice in the C-section. The second being that even though a VBAC comes with its own risks, those are actually lower than having a repeat C-section. A C-section is major abdominal surgery and even though it is so common these days, people often forget that it is a major surgery. With that, we have a few concerns about having the VBAC, one being that Brother has been measuring larger on his ultrasounds than his gestational age. That could be because of human error with the ultrasound or he is just a bigger baby, which wouldn't be completely unrealistic since Brad and I are not petite people. At my next appointment, we'll discuss whether or not we think we should have another ultrasound to get another size measurement, the good news is that I've been measuring exactly normal at my visits, so I'm encouraged that Brother could be a normal size baby.

I wanted a realistic view of a VBAC, so I read a bunch of horror stories and a bunch of positive stories of people who have had a VBAC and it was very informative. The biggest concern I learned was when they induced a VBAC delivery. It just causes your contractions to be much quicker faster and as a result often times causes the uterus to rupture. What was so amazing to me is that even in deliveries where a previous C-section had not happened, inducing a woman was still a significant cause of uterine ruptures. That was really interesting to me, inducing really isn't a great thing for our bodies and I know at some point that baby has to come out, so you have to weigh the risks of what is important. So, if this baby ends up having to be induced, it won't, it will definitely be a repeat C-section.

One of the other concerning factors of the horror stories were hospitals that just weren't prepared to deal with a VBAC. The good news about that is that our hospital is prepared with an anesthesia team on standby just because of this, so if that baby needs to come out in a hurry, it will. And of course most of the other problems came from women who had tried to deliver vaginally before and couldn't, but wanted to try again. And they weren't realistic in realizing that their baby wasn't dropping, they just kept trying for hours and hours and hours...so, knowing that and going in with a game plan, we are encouraged to try this out. So, you can be praying for the medical team, and us as we prepare for Brother's delivery, which hopefully won't be until August at least. :) Because there are still risks, but with everything, there are risks and I think going into it with our eyes wide open and as much information as possible will help us at the time, and of course, the most important factor, trusting God for this precious tiny life, that he would be delivered safely and be healthy...that's what we ultimately want, what's best for him and for me.

Yearly IEP Meeting

Today we had our annual review of Mia's IEP, well, technically it is a IFSP, they don't get an IEP until they are 3, but anyway, we reviewed the plan. They have an assessment to check off how Mia is doing in different areas and then we make goals based on her current needs. Currently she is 32 months old, so that's where they base everything off of. Her gross motor skills are the furthest behind because she has only begun walking right now, she was at the 15 month level in those. Her speech was at an 18 month level, but only because they don't adjust for all the sign language she uses. Her fine motor skills were at a 25 month level, she still struggles with tasks that require two hands, like stringing beads. The great news is that her cognitive ability was right at her age, 32 months. She is one smart cookie. :) I asked them where spelling words was on their chart and they told me that it isn't on there because it is so beyond a 3 year old that they don't include it. Her regional center representative told me that in her 16 years of servicing kids through the regional center, she's never encountered one who could spell at Mia's age. That's not to say that kids can't do it at her age, but it is especially uncommon with kids who are delayed.

So, what now? We wait until she is almost 3, probably sometime near the end of September, they will do a final assessment of her with a psychologist, speech pathologist, and her teacher. And then they'll decide what she qualifies for and where she should be placed. There is a strong chance that she won't qualify for services with the regional center because she is doing so well, but we'll see when the time comes. It's ok with us if she doesn't require services because that just reinforces how great she's doing. She will still qualify for services with our school district though because her speech is so delayed and she is still behind in several areas.

It's nice to see her progressing so well and continuing to improve. We know it's a God thing, she has quite a story to share. Praise God!

Down On The Farm

This past weekend Mia and I went to Palmdale to see my brother's family. They have some land on their property and what we consider a tiny farm...Pokey Pastures, that's what they like to call it. Mia's cousin Samantha is doing 4H and has a sheep, Norman, whom Mia was super excited to see. She kept saying "ba" on the way there because she was so excited. We had a great time, Mia loved being outside for anything, the sheep, their garden, whatever...and she would willingly go with anyone who was taking her outside. Often times when we were in the house she would tell me "ba" because she wanted to go see the sheep. Do we have a future farmer on our hands? I don't know, but it makes me excited for getting our backyard done because we plan on having our own little garden to work in.

We came back on Father's day and spent the day with "Addy" and "Papa" (Daddy and Grampa). Anything Grampa was doing, she wanted to being helping him...if he was leaving the room, she'd say, "help Papa". Of course she signs help, but says Papa. It was very sweet.

Since this weekend, I would say that Mia is officially a walker! Praise God! A very wobbly walker, but still a walker. In fact, if she's going places, she will stand and walk as far as she can rather than crawling, that's how I decided she officially became a walker, she now chooses to walk instead of crawl. We have to remind her to go "slow and steady" because she'll often rush things and fall down, but when she concentrates, she does great.

Mia also weighed in this morning close to 22 1/2 pounds, so I'm super excited that we are pretty much back to our highest weight...now to just get to 23 pounds...I know we'll get there, I just need to be patient.

So, lot's going on and much to be thankful for. Thank you for continuing to pray for our sweet little girl.

Plugging Along...

There isn't really anything new to report. Mia continues to eat really well, her cough is officially gone, so I think she is finally over her sickness. Of course, now Daddy has it. :(

All she wants to do lately is "walk". Of course, she mostly wants to hold my hand while she is walking, but I am encouraged that she wants to do more of it. And I do see improvement in her walking, so I know as she continues to get stronger, she'll keep getting better. That's exciting!

She got her first pair of prescription sunglasses today. I asked her if she liked them and she said, "yeah". She does appear to like them, so this should help quite a bit for when we are outside in the sun. We'll still wear a hat too, but this will be even better.

Hope everyone gets to enjoy their father's day weekend!

Mia is feeling much better and is eating much better. She weighed in at 22 pounds this morning, and I feel like we will soon be heading in the right direction again. :) She still has a cough, so pray that it would disappear, it has slowly been getting better.

Today at therapy she was walking quite a bit and yesterday she started doing what I call a mogley crawl, you know, from the Jungle Book...it's very cute, we'll have to get it on video.

Brother is 30 weeks today, he is doing great...kicking and moving all the time. Brad thinks there is an earthquake in my tummy sometimes. Mia is very excited to meet her brother and willingly gives him kisses. We were discussing how she can teach him so many things she already knows and she got very excited about that. Hopefully she'll feel the same love for him when he actually comes.

We've been battling a cold at our house. We ended up going to the doctor yesterday and Mia's tonsils were a bit swollen, so if she isn't better by tomorrow, then we are going to start her on some antibiotics. She seems to be a bit better today, so pray that she'd be substantially better by tomorrow, I just don't like giving her antibiotics unless it is necessary.

One of the new things Mia has been saying is "addy" for daddy. It is very sweet. She seems to be trying to say more words lately. She can say "hat", "up", "Mia" (although it sounds more like Nia), "mama", and now "addy". We just keep practicing those sounds. :)

And we keep pushing her to walk more, but ever since her cold, she's been rather stubborn and unwilling. I'm sure when she's feeling better she'll want to try more.

Yesterday I finally heard back about Mia's renal (kidney) ultrasound. The great news is that her kidneys are no longer dilated, everything looks completely normal. So now we no longer need to see the nephrologist...it is so nice to cross doctors off the list. :)

Mia weighed in at 22 pounds, she is getting over a cold and hasn't been eating very well. It's no fun having a cold, especially in the summer.

Today I had a check-up for Brother, everything is going well. August still seems so far away, but I know it will be here before we know it. I'm leaning towards having a normal vaginal birth after having Mia via c-section. Every time I go though, my doctor continues to remind me of the rate of complications with that, which could result in death of the baby, and then I get scared and have to rethink everything over again. Will you pray for wisdom on our part as for what is best for Brother?

Gable

Mia just received a very special doll today. Her name is Gable and she is too cute. The gal who makes these heard of Mia from a friend and wanted Mia to have this doll. Her hair is too adorable and she has all this green in her, which is so perfect because Mia loves green. Usually Mia is really scared of dolls, but she's been doing well with Gable, in fact, she even gave her a kiss. She is still a little hesitant to hold her completely, but she is warming up to her, which is quite a step to any doll in the past. You can check out her dolls on Etsy.

We've been super busy it seems lately. Daddy has been working on the backyard...we are finally ready to get rid of the big dirt pit. Mia signs "help daddy" all the time because she wants to be out in the backyard with him. He's been working on trenching and sprinklers...we have high hopes of having grass this summer and planting some trees.

Mia's last day of school was on Thursday, she has a two week break before summer school starts. She now loves school and Sunday school. She doesn't even miss me when I drop her off anymore. She's becoming such a big girl. It took us a long time to get there, but I'm glad I persisted because I know this is best for her.

When she turns three she'll be possibly switching schools. The good news is that if she qualifies for the pre-k program in our district (which I am fairly confident she will), then her school will only be about a mile away from our home, that would be so nice. We'll see what happens as we get closer.

We were doing so well eating until Thursday evening when Mia came down with a fever, which lasted until Saturday morning. She's better, but she lost her appetite and can't seem to find it again. I know it will come back, but I'd like it to be sooner than later. :)

Brother continues to do well, I can't believe in 11 weeks, plus or minus a few, we'll have another child...it will be here before we know it. I had a dream last night that he came out with dark black hair, I'm fairly certain that won't happen, but in my dream it was obvious he was a Jett, with 2 t's, we'll just have to keep pondering the names. :)

A Heart Visit and More...

Today we were in LA for an echo of Mia's heart and a visit with her cardiologist. It was just a routine follow-up, at this point we are scheduled to get one done every 6 months just to see how things are going. He said that overall her heart looks good, there is a tiny leak on her mitral valve, but nothing that warrants major concern at this point. Our prayer would be that God would heal this also or that it would not become worse.

Yesterday Mia weighed in less than she has been, she was around 22 pounds even. I wasn't surprised because we've cut out dairy from her diet and so she no longer gets cream in her milk. I have noticed quite a significant positive impact without dairy also, so we are going to continue that, I just need to get creative on adding in more calories elsewhere. :)

Brother is now 28 weeks, it's hard to imagine that in 12 more weeks there will be another little one around. We've been hashing through names for sometime now and have decided to let y'all weigh in on your thoughts for a baby name. So, here is list of possibilities, in no particular order. I'm fairly certain that the middle name will be David...so, let us know what you think...

Eli, Miles, Maximus, Jet, Levi, Max, Elijah

And of course we are still open to other possibilities, so if you think we are missing a great choice, feel free to tell us what it is!