Long Overdue Family Update
Okay, so this is a very long overdue family update, but since we just got some wonderful news, I had to tell you all! We just got a court date for June 20 to make the adoption of our 5th child JT final! Now that I've blurted it out, let me tell those of you who may not know how JT came to be in our lives. After Ryan was born (god was that an awful pregnancy), Matt and I decided that there would be no more babies for us. We both got fixed. He got snipped, though the guy acted as if he were being taken to the gallows for execution. lol I got this neat procedure called Essure. It was actually really easy; I was in and out of the doctors office in about an hour! That was in July.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving. Matt's got two sisters, and Kasey, the youngest had been having a hard time the past 3yrs. First she was present when that shooting took place at Virginia Tech. So we took her in with us when she couldn't stay on campus anymore- and it was great! I'd just had our 3rd child and she loved to watch the kids, so it was a win-win situation. Then when I unexpectedly got pregnant with Ryan (massive birth control failure....that I'm ecstatic about 14mths later), she moved out since we needed the room for the new baby. That's where things went bad for her. She started hanging out with a bad crowd, binge drinking, sleeping around, and using drugs. That was in March of 2009. Ryan was born on Easter Day (April 4th) 2009. Well, the day before Thanksgiving...dip shit Kasey shows back up married to some douche and PREGNANT! So her family freaked out all over her and I took her to see my midwife the following Monday to see how far along she was. She didn't know how far, but she told them she thought between 12-15wks. But once the math with her cycles was done, it was calculated to be 22wks pregnant. Yes, I had a heart attack. So, they did a sonogram and the baby was measuring 20w 5d. I was barely controlling the panic at this point. So she was put on bed rest immediately and told to gain weight. She'd not said anything to the midwife about her substance abuse, so I did. They tested her that day, and she came up positive. Within the following week, she got arrested for theft, fraud, forgery, possession with intent to sell, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Once she was released on bond, we took her back to the midwife & she was admitted to the hospital for the duration of her pregnancy- she was 23wks along at this point. Already she was contracting, but it was thankfully stopped with little fuss. That's when we made the decision that we would adopt the baby once he was born- in April. We wanted her to be involved, so we chose to go the open private adoption route, and set about figuring out what to name him. Between the three of us, we agreed on Jasper Tobias. Well, JT decided to join the party on January 14, 2011. He weighed 1lb 12oz and was 13". It was a long road in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), but we all survived it. He came home the Friday before Easter and has had constant problems ever since. On June 3, he had to have a procedure to place a mickey button (feeding tube) into his stomach because his reflux was so severe and his suck was so weak. A typical feed with JT would take at least an hour for 3oz. When he had the surgery is when he got the news that he's got severe hypotonia, which is decreased muscle tone. His tongue, jaw and mouth are severely affected which is why he can't really suck. It also affects his breathing, so he has frequent apnea episodes and is attached to a monitor (and me) all the time. He also has reflux.
Now the rest of my brood is doing well. Hannah just finished up kindergarten and will be going on to 1st grade when school resumes on July 5th. She goes to a year round private school. This year, we're hoping to enroll her in soccer since that seems to be her passion, along with art. Darren is doing well also. He's using his words more, but who's around is a big factor in how much he talks. With all the cuts to the disability services in the state, we're having to take on more and more of his therapy ourselves, but I feel that homeschooling him has really helped with that since I can work with him on the areas that he needs help in while also teaching him academically at a level he can understand. He loves reptiles and got a Bearded Dragon for his 4th birthday that he named Hank. He loves Hank and loves to help take care of him. Feeding time is his favorite, especially on cricket days. But then again, I like to sit there and watch Hank on his cricket days. lol Anna is going to be 3 in December! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! She's such a sweetie. She's definitely our girly girl. Right now we're embarking on the fascinating world of potty training. Ryan is a 28.7lb bruiser @ 14mths old. He's our mischievous one. He likes to test the limits and see just how much he can get away with. He's also the one who will eat whatever you put in front of him.
This entry is long enough already, so I am going to end it with some new-ish pictures of the kids:
This is Hannah on her first day of school:
This is Darren and Matt napping
Here's Anna telling me what she thinks of it being time for bed, lol
Ryan at just under 1yr old when I caught him trying to stand up on the bed. Notice his "I'm not doing anything expression"
And then we've got JT here! This was only a couple pounds ago for him, so in appearance he's not changed much except for a few less wires, monitors, and being 2lbs heavier.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving. Matt's got two sisters, and Kasey, the youngest had been having a hard time the past 3yrs. First she was present when that shooting took place at Virginia Tech. So we took her in with us when she couldn't stay on campus anymore- and it was great! I'd just had our 3rd child and she loved to watch the kids, so it was a win-win situation. Then when I unexpectedly got pregnant with Ryan (massive birth control failure....that I'm ecstatic about 14mths later), she moved out since we needed the room for the new baby. That's where things went bad for her. She started hanging out with a bad crowd, binge drinking, sleeping around, and using drugs. That was in March of 2009. Ryan was born on Easter Day (April 4th) 2009. Well, the day before Thanksgiving...dip shit Kasey shows back up married to some douche and PREGNANT! So her family freaked out all over her and I took her to see my midwife the following Monday to see how far along she was. She didn't know how far, but she told them she thought between 12-15wks. But once the math with her cycles was done, it was calculated to be 22wks pregnant. Yes, I had a heart attack. So, they did a sonogram and the baby was measuring 20w 5d. I was barely controlling the panic at this point. So she was put on bed rest immediately and told to gain weight. She'd not said anything to the midwife about her substance abuse, so I did. They tested her that day, and she came up positive. Within the following week, she got arrested for theft, fraud, forgery, possession with intent to sell, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Once she was released on bond, we took her back to the midwife & she was admitted to the hospital for the duration of her pregnancy- she was 23wks along at this point. Already she was contracting, but it was thankfully stopped with little fuss. That's when we made the decision that we would adopt the baby once he was born- in April. We wanted her to be involved, so we chose to go the open private adoption route, and set about figuring out what to name him. Between the three of us, we agreed on Jasper Tobias. Well, JT decided to join the party on January 14, 2011. He weighed 1lb 12oz and was 13". It was a long road in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), but we all survived it. He came home the Friday before Easter and has had constant problems ever since. On June 3, he had to have a procedure to place a mickey button (feeding tube) into his stomach because his reflux was so severe and his suck was so weak. A typical feed with JT would take at least an hour for 3oz. When he had the surgery is when he got the news that he's got severe hypotonia, which is decreased muscle tone. His tongue, jaw and mouth are severely affected which is why he can't really suck. It also affects his breathing, so he has frequent apnea episodes and is attached to a monitor (and me) all the time. He also has reflux.
Now the rest of my brood is doing well. Hannah just finished up kindergarten and will be going on to 1st grade when school resumes on July 5th. She goes to a year round private school. This year, we're hoping to enroll her in soccer since that seems to be her passion, along with art. Darren is doing well also. He's using his words more, but who's around is a big factor in how much he talks. With all the cuts to the disability services in the state, we're having to take on more and more of his therapy ourselves, but I feel that homeschooling him has really helped with that since I can work with him on the areas that he needs help in while also teaching him academically at a level he can understand. He loves reptiles and got a Bearded Dragon for his 4th birthday that he named Hank. He loves Hank and loves to help take care of him. Feeding time is his favorite, especially on cricket days. But then again, I like to sit there and watch Hank on his cricket days. lol Anna is going to be 3 in December! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! She's such a sweetie. She's definitely our girly girl. Right now we're embarking on the fascinating world of potty training. Ryan is a 28.7lb bruiser @ 14mths old. He's our mischievous one. He likes to test the limits and see just how much he can get away with. He's also the one who will eat whatever you put in front of him.
This entry is long enough already, so I am going to end it with some new-ish pictures of the kids:
This is Hannah on her first day of school:
This is Darren and Matt napping
Here's Anna telling me what she thinks of it being time for bed, lol
Ryan at just under 1yr old when I caught him trying to stand up on the bed. Notice his "I'm not doing anything expression"
And then we've got JT here! This was only a couple pounds ago for him, so in appearance he's not changed much except for a few less wires, monitors, and being 2lbs heavier.