Good News

The picture says it all! Joshua's heart function is great! No problems seen on the echo, the EKG looked great & his pacemaker is doing it's job (nothing at all, just back up)! What a relief and an answer to prayers.

I had an arsenal of food with me, including lollipops (thanks for the tip Gina) and lets just say we made it through the echo. There were a lot of tears, but he just laid there in my arms, didn't fight or squirm. He is such a good boy I hate to see him undergo stress, but it's over with.

Dr. Rivera (the cardiologist) called me this evening and told me that he decided that he'd like to have a full blood draw done :( because it's been a while. I thought we dodged that bullet. So I'll take him in & just pray for only one poke.

Thanks everyone for the prayers & well wishes, it feels good to know that Joshua has a place in so many hearts!

Any advice?

Joshua has an echo (ultrasound of the heart) coming up this Thursday. The anticipation always causes worry, loss of sleep, etc. for me. Really, he has been doing well lately, but I've noticed on more than one occasion over the past couple of weeks Joshua sweating (a sign that his heart is working extra hard). I also feel like he has been more pale, and bluer than usual. So Joshua's cardiologist decided it was time for a check up. I agreed.

This is the part where I need your advice...in the past Joshua has done pretty well with echos, but now that he's an expert walker there is no chance he'll lay still for an hour. It is hard for me to sit still in that room for so long, so I can't blame him. He doesn't watch movies or t.v. so that is out of the question. I may be able to distract him with food, that's his weakness. He is too young for bribes. So any other tips? I would love to hear them!

And please if you have any spare room in your nightly prayers - squeeze Josh in there!

The hope is that we'll have a good report to post come Thursday evening!

How do you know when your baby's spent too much time in the hospital?

When you watch him casually put a stethoscope around his shoulders...just like a pro, & then go about his business. It's a sure sign.

OT appointment

I'll bet you didn't know he has a serious side...

Joshua was assessed by an occupational therapist a while back to ensure that his development was on track. The results of the assessment showed that Josh was right on track for just about everything. His case worker didn't want to close his case, because he's still so young so she authorized six hours of therapy. His OT came last week and she was amazed that he had already accomplished all of the goals that we had hoped he'd accomplish by June. Because he's doing so well, we looked ahead to his 18 month milestones & the OT gave me lots of tips to help him develop these skills. We are really blessed to have a little go-getter who tries his hardest to keep up with his sisters & cousins...and he does a great job at it!

Okay, not serious for long!

Daily medications? Yikes!

I am not going to lie, one of the things that made me nervous about Joshua's condition was the fact that he'd need daily medications. Most people don't give it a second thought- sure the child cries- but they need it, so they get it no questions asked. Josh has always gotten his medicine, don't get me wrong, but it has been very hard for me, even dreadful. I hate causing him stress & discomfort, or upsetting him at all, even if it's for his own good. I am just a total softy I guess.

As much as I'd like to pretend this didn't happen; one time at a support group meeting I broke down in tears asking the other mothers for tips on giving a baby medicine. I am seriously a softy. One of the mothers asked if I had tried his medications in pill form. No, I had not. But I was willing to try anything. I put in a call to the pharmacy & had his medications in pill form by the end of the week. And since my life has been pure bliss! Seriously.

This is our daily routine:

We wake up go downstairs, I get out his pills, cut them to size & say "Time for your nummies!" Josh walks up grabs the first pill from my hand, pops it in! Then he does the same with his second pill. What a good little boy! We have the same routine at night. It is awesome. He willingly takes his "nummies" no complaints. In fact a couple of times he's walked up to the medicine cabinet & reached up calling "momma, momma" I ask "do you want your nummies?" he nods "yes" ....unbelievable! I know it was silly for me to dread giving him medicine, but I really did. I'd push it off as long as I could & just hated forcing that nasty stuff in his mouth, watch him cry, then choke, and spit out what he could. Day in and day out it took a toll on me. Thank heaven for pills!