Reid's Arrival

This past weekend we had some excitement around here. Luke's best friend finally arrived. I woke up to a text from my best friend Danielle at 7:30am on Friday...she was having contractions. Now, let me say this wasn't the first time I got my hopes up with her pregnancy. During the  past few weeks she had contractions, so I didn't want to get too excited. After checking in on her throughout the day, her wife Cassie finally texted me around 8pm and said they were headed to the hospital. That gave me 3 hours of a drive ahead of me. The way I was running around the house grabbing stuff, getting ready, and going over Luke's schedule with Jonathin you would have thought I was going in labor. I got on the road around 9:30pm and set off for Indianapolis. I kept getting check ups as I was driving. I got to the hospital around 12:30am. Around 8am things started to get exciting...time to push. Let me tell you, I am so glad I never had to go through that. I can't give Danielle more props. She pushed that little boy for over 3 hours. It was amazing when he was born. I am so proud of her and Cassie. They are going to be great moms to this little boy. I was able to stay till that afternoon and visit and hold that little mister. He is adorable. After I left he had a little setback in the eating category. He was in no mood to try to eat, he sure is Luke's friend. So he wanted his own little NICU story. After a few days he is getting the hang of eating now and will hopefully be home soon. I keep trying to explain to Luke he has to wait till we go back to Riley on the 15th to see Reid. He just can't understand that. Danielle says she keeps having to tell Reid that Luke isn't going to show up just cause he is in the NICU. I can only think about all the trouble these two are going to get into. 

As much of a happy day it was for everyone, it was a little bittersweet also. I knew I would cry when he was finally born, because I was so happy and excited. But I think I cried a little for myself also. I didn't get to experience labor or the typical birth. Believe me, I'm thankful for everything we went through also or we probably wouldn't have Luke right now. I just feel a little cheated out of the whole experience. It makes me think about having another child in a couple years and trying it again. I can honestly say I haven't really thought about it much, other than my known answer...NO! Jonathin wants at least one more sometime,  but right now Luke is my first priority. I couldn't imagine going through this all over again and this time having another child already that I need to be there for. I'd feel like I was cheating one of them if something did go wrong. Oh well....we are no where near this point and I guess it is just food for thought. Reid can fill my baby gap for the time being. Now we have more trips to Indy for play dates. Congratulations again to Danielle and Cassie!

First Steps

As a lot of you know, Luke has weekly therapy sessions. Weekly he has occupational and physical therapy and twice a month he has speech therapy. When Luke first came home from the hospital he only had occupational therapy twice a month. As we have watched Luke not progress like we want we have upped therapy and introduced other forms. His therapy is through the First Steps program. It is through the state of Indiana for children 0-3 years old that are developmentally and/or physically behind. After Luke's third birthday, he will move to a preschool program through the school system. He will have his therapy while in preschool.

Today we had a meeting with Luke's coordinator and I came with questions. I know that Luke will need therapy after his third birthday. I needed to know where we went with therapy after his birthday in a year. You might think I'm crazy, but I'm a planner. I want to know before it comes up and bites me. The answers came and a lot more. To go to school, Luke has to be mobile. The teachers can't carry Luke. He can't crawl. So...we had the talk about a wheelchair. As much as I can say it is shock, but it isn't. Jonathin calls me Negative Nancy, but I consider myself Rita Reality. He says it is the medical education, but I think it is just my mom instincts. So where does this leave us...we now have the thoughts of a wheelchair or stroller like wheelchair. While then talking to our physical therapist she brought up some other home medical equipment. If possible she would like to get a stander. It will allow Luke to "stand" and work on muscles. Our therapist also thinks we will end up needing a walker and maybe braces. Once again I am not surprised and am glad someone finally said it.

I didn't get upset until Jonathin came home. I shed a few tears. In the words of our PT, Luke will have to fight for everything he does. Crawling, walking, standing will not come easy for him. As much as I like the support from everyone saying he will catch up, it can drive a person crazy at the same time. Reality is this...Luke is no where near where he should be. I still can't get over all the hurdles he has jumped. He makes me proud daily. Just sometimes, I need someone to speak reality to me.