Not about Mexico

I think I've given up on the hopes of writing about our experience in Mexico. It's overwhelming to me and so for those of you that would like to know more, feel free to call me up. Or you can use the link to my sister-in-law's blog and she wrote about a lot of it. Sorry to disappoint as I know you were on the edge of your seat waiting for all the goods.. :) I feel much better not stressing out about that unnecessary obligation I was putting on myself.

Yesterday Belle had her 15 month check up. She was 50% for height, 75% for weight and head. She was still falling into the 12 month range for developmental milestones on the sheet I fill out. We were talking about her development and I asked what we were looking at - is it still that she can catch up and grow out of it, will we get a diagnosis, etc. She said that she thinks we'll get a diagnosis, it just may take time and more symptoms to show up as she gets older. She also said that she doesn't think she'll fully catch up and that she will always take longer to catch onto things and be a bit behind her peers. She said, we're not looking at severe retardation here, more of a mild to moderate....um...what? Did she just say retardation? For some reason I felt like I was punched in the stomach or slapped across the face. I know she's delayed, I figured it was lifelong, but never did I think I'd here "retardation." That's a term they used to use often back in the day, but not much anymore. I looked up the definition of the word, and Belle does fit into it, but that word has such a bad connotation with it - a stigma that you just can't shake. This has been our dr. since audri was a baby and I trust her and she is usually very encouraging and supportive, so I know it wasn't her intention to hurt me or insult me. But it seemed to come out of left field. The last 4/5 months I've been thinking she's doing so well, and we have a good routine down so I wasn't expecting this conversation. So anyway, I was a bit shaken up about it yesterday and cried a lot, but feel better about it now. I know God has a plan and I will do what I need to do for Belle. Some days are harder then others, but I know God wouldn't give me something I couldn't handle. The dr. wants her to have her eyes checked. She says those with delays can have vision problems without knowing so it's worth checking into as a precaution. So I will be making an appointment for that. Other then that it was a non eventful appointment and she was perfect. We also saw the ear nose and throat dr to check into the tubes situation. We were told she's had an ear infection about 3 times since we were last there in December. The dr. said the tubes are fine and if she was having an infection she would have drainage. He is convinced that these dr's were seeing a bit of reddness and not investigating beyond the wax and there never were ear infections. He said ears get red just from having colds and viruses and it doesn't always mean infection. So he says to just do drops if I suspect one and to see him. So at least we dont' have to worry about another tube surgery. Tomorrow she goes in for her immunologist results and to get her new braces for her ankles. I'm excited for these - I think they'll help her immensely with standing and beginning to walk.
Isaiah seems to be doing better with his outbursts. I talked with the school and they know him from preschool and do not see any behavior issues there so they say it's more of a at home, mom busy with daycare type of thing. They gave me a few suggestions to try (which I already do). I'm hoping it was just a phase thing that will not be repeated. He started getting fevers right before we left on our trip and I started him on an antibiodic (the dr filled one for each kid for me to take with). He was great the whole time there and now yesterday had another one - no other symptoms just a fever. Weird.
Audri took lots of homework on the trip and got it all done. She had a ton of fun except for the last night when she threw up all night. We are thinking she ate too many fruits and vegetables there (they don't clean them well and they use the yucky water there too). No one else has had any trouble, so we'll see.
I got sick while we were there with a cold/sinus issue. I saw the dr yesterday while I had belle in and he gave me antibiodics. I'm starting to feel a bit better but I'm so wiped out. Very very tired.
Jose got a free car from my great aunt this weekend. She didn't want it anymore and had the word spread that she was going to donate if no family member wanted it. So we jumped on that - one car has not been easy with all these dr appointments and such. It's a 92 sundance. Manual (so I can't drive it) and in decent condition. We are very thankful that it worked out, so all we have to pay is liability insurance on it. It's come in handy already this week with three days of appointments!