April catchup!

Well we are finally in our new house. We moved the majority of our stuff last Sat. We still have some odds and ends at the condo but we have till the end of the month to get out of there. Right now my priority is to get my house in order by Gracie's 1st birthday party on the 25th! That's right! My baby is going to be 1 year old in 6 days! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.

She started cutting four teeth about a week ago and then another two in the past few days! But she's sleeping better than ever and it doesn't seem to bother her. She also is looking less and less like a baby and more and more like a little girl! Here is one of my recent favorites! Her eyes just mesmerize me!

Gracie is going to spend the weekend with her Aunt Bethany, Uncle Jeremy, and Grandma and Grandpap Turnock. My mom turned 60 on Easter so we are going to good old Winchester, VA to celebrate. We are also going to celebrate Gracie's 1st with friends and family up there on Sunday.
However, Mommy is getting a break and is going to a much needed girls weekend to celebrate good friend, Natalia's bachelorette party! I'm headed to DC area tonight with 5 other girls and we are going to have a fabulous time. Tonight we are having wine tastings from different countries. I, of course, will have some wonderful sparkling cider. Then we have some fun things planned tomorrow and a catered dinner tomorrow night. From there I will say my goodbyes and head back to Winchester to mom and dad's. The girls will head out in a limo to down town DC for an evening of fun and dancing. I didn't think a 4 1/2 month pregnant chick would like right breaking it down plus I don't think I'm ready yet for two nights away from my little pumpkin. So that is the latest. I'm all packed and ready to go! I will post pics of our get-a-way in my next blog!

Moving!

Matt and I are moving into our new home next weekend. We are so excited and ready for a change. The house is double the size of the condo we currently are in. Matt has been working hard on weekends, evenings, and any spare time he has to get the house ready. The most impressive is his handy work in the kitchen. He took an outdated, ugly kitchen and turned into a new, modern kitchen. Of course I picked out the colors but he did the hard work by refinishing the cabinets and painting it all.



I started packing but there is much to do. I'm excited to get rid of a lot of things that we haven't used in forever! Fresh start!! And even though it will take some time to fill all the extra space, I'm looking forward to less clutter due to more storage and space.

Picking out colors has been fun but sometimes frustrating. I never realized how difficult it can be to pick out a beige or tan color. I finally decided on one and am pleased with how it looks on the walls. I still have to pick out colors for the kids room, our room, and 3 bathrooms. But I have some ideas. I just know I can't do white walls!

We have a pretty crazy month. Not only are we moving but Bethany and Andy just bought a house and are closing next week. We are both going to be moving in the same week! Then we are having Gracie's 1st birthday at the new house on the 25th so that will be my motivation to get unpacked and settled. I'll post more pics as Matt gets more done.

Week of the Dr visits!

Just a quick review for all of you who have been waiting for the highlights of the 5 dr's appt's Grace and I had the past few weeks. Sorry this has taken me a while to update. It's just been one of the crazy busy weeks.

1st appt. on Wed 3/18/09 with Dr. Werran with Children's Hematology at Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters in Norfolk, VA:

Grace had several blood tests run to see if she had any blood clotting disorders that might have caused or could cause a blood clot (stroke) in the future. She was found to have low Protein S but from what I could understand (and this was the most confusing of the tests run) that she does not need to have any medical treatment for this. The chances of her bleeding from a blood thinner are greater than those of a stroke. So, all in all this is very good news. Her Dr. was curious to see the results of my blood test, however, to know if there was anything else he should be testing her for. This is an ever changing and growing diagnostic with the type of testing changing every day. She will go back in 6 months for another follow up. This is the best I can do in explaining this. We just know it is good news and are praising God it isn't something that requires medication!

2nd appt on Thursday with Dr. Lewis, Head Paediatric Neurologist at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughter in Norfolk, VA:

This was a follow up with Dr. Lewis to go over different tests we had done. He still concludes that we may never find what caused the stroke in utero. Most likely it was caused by a blood clot in the placenta. He also assured me that the chances of it happening with this next child is 1-3%. So that was reassuring to say the least. He reminded us that the risk of seizures with children who have experienced a stroke are higher and went over what to do if she does have a seizure. He also went over the importance of stretching her right leg and arm because the spacticity and tone are what cause the muscles to be so tight. By stretching them daily you are relaxing them and preventing them from getting tighter or worsening. Other than that he seemed very pleased with her cognitively. She is speaking at an age level above her 11 months. We go back to see him in 6 months. Overall a very encouraging appt. A lot more so than the first time we saw him and got her original diagnosis.

3rd appt with Dr. Ferebbe, OB ( this appt was for me and baby surprise)

I had an ultrasound and saw the baby. His/Her heartbeat was strong at 155 bpm. It's so amazing to see how fast they grow in just four short weeks. Baby surprise went from looking like a peanut to an actual baby with arms, legs, and moving all around. It's truly a miracle. Matt and I are anxiously waiting to see if baby is a little brother or a little sister. Either way we are praying for a healthy, happy baby. If we could have another little Grace life would be wonderful!
I did get the results of my blood work but I have to go back on April 1st for clarification. My OB was away so I saw the nurse practitioner who consulted with another on duty OB and concluded that I was not a High Risk Pregnancy! PRAISE GOD! But I will find out more details at the next visit with my OB.

4th appt with Dr. Shelton, Dr. of Rehabilitation

We were referred to Dr. Shelton by our pediatrician. She was great! They basically make sure you are receiving all the resources available to you including PT, OT, equipment such as braces, or whatever the child might need. She was very impressed with Grace and said she is a very mild case and will do wonderful with her assigned treatment plan. She went over the importance of stretching, told us about botox injections that helps with the tightness in the muscles. It's also a less invasive treatment as opposed to surgery. Basically if we decide this would work for Grace, she would get injections every 4-6 months. Can't believe Gracie will get botox before me! hahahah!
She did say Gracie will need a special glove (made from the same material of a wet suit) and an AFO (ankle foot osulator). The glove she will wear during the day (this helps her keep her thumb out and her hand more relaxed). The AFO she will only have to wear when she is putting weight on her legs. I was able to see both from her PT. This is hard to hear but if it will help her then of course we are on board. We are also starting OT very soon. Lots to learn but everyone is very optimistic and wants nothing but the best for Grace. It's just overwhelming sometimes because I still feel so new at being a parent let alone being a parent of a child with a special need. But God is good and He promises not to give us more than we can handle.

5th appt. suppose to be hearing test but ended up at the Pediatrician

Gracie had an extremely high temp. and wasn't eating or sleeping much at all for a few days. The did a flu and strep test, blood work to look for a bacterial infection, and checked her ears. All came back negative. They attempted to collect a urine sample (impossible if you ask me for anyone who is still in diapers). Luckily her temp. broke the next day and she is sleeping longer and eating more than ever. She has even transitioned into one nap a day which helps me get alot more done and allows me more time to play and focus on her when she is awake cause I'm not wondering when she is going to go back to sleep. My little girl is growing up!

That's all the dr's appt's for now. THANK GOD! I am worn out! Thanks for all your prayers and continue to pray for wisdom and guidance for Matt and I as we are on this journey with Grace and are trying to make sure we are doing everything possible to give her everything she needs!

Gracie's first Hair cut!

1st Haircut!!!

So I am about a month past when this haircut occurred but I just got the pics from my friend who is also our hairdresser. Gracie's hair grows like her mothers so she needed her first hair cut at 10 months. She had some hair trimmed around the ears and she did good for the most part. Here are the pics of her first hair cut. I have her first locks saved in a plastic baggy and will put in her scrapbook (once I get around to putting it together)!

Catch up!

A good friend of mine recently told me I need to update my blog! I forget sometimes that I have this! I'm blaming it on pregnancy brain!! We have had some really great things going on in our lives this past month. First, we found a great home that has plenty of space and a play ground at the end of our culdisac. We are in the middle of picking out colors now (it pays to be married to a custom painter) and are planning on moving in mid April.

Gracie's had three PT sessions so far and her therapist, Erin is great! She said Gracie is going to sail through therapy and is already doing things far beyond what she should be able to do. We just feel so blessed to have her in our lives and every little thing she does makes us so proud. She is going to be able to overcome any trial in her life, that is evident by seeing her so determined now.

Matty celebrated his 30th birthday on March 8th. We had the best weather over the weekend..it was in the high 70's, low 80's. I threw a surprise birthday party for him on Sat. night at one of his favorite Mexican restaurants. We had a great turn out and he was truly surprised. It was a very memorable night.

Then Sunday after church we went to the Virginia Aquarium which we had never been to before in all the years we have lived here. It was a lot of fun! Gracie loved all the fish, especially the sharks! As you can see they really liked her too!

I am currently awaiting the return of my husband. My birthday gift to him is a new tattoo. He's getting a sleeve done on his right forearm. Don't worry..pics are coming soon! I think that is about it to catch you up with the McClain Clan. I will try harder to keep up with this! I'm just glad someone is actually reading this! Thanks April! ;)

Bad Week!

You ever have one of those weeks that starts out bad and continues to get worse? They say when it rains it pours. Well this past week was one of those.

First, after having our hopes set on buying a house this year, we realize that it is not the right timing. We need to work on getting some debt (two car notes and school loans) knocked out to be able to get the kind of home we need. Now for those of you who aren't familiar with Virginia Beach real estate, it is astoundingly high! I often wish we lived further down south so that we could build a brand new home for what they want for a 'starter' home here. It's very discouraging. However, the prices have recently been going down slightly. So we have decided to find a single family home to rent for the next year or two and really work on knocking out some debt. Needless to say, we are moving in the next month and a half (we have outgrown our condo) but don't have a place as of yet. So if you think about us please say a prayer that we'll find a great space that will work for our growing family.

Then on Tuesday I get a call from Matt early am. Someone had broken into his work trailor and cleaned it out. They stole over $5,000 of equipment. They must have worked for a long time to pry open the lock because it was the kind of lock you can't cut with bolt cutters and there was some damage to the clasp. He was mad but we thought it would be covered by insurance. He called the company he has his business insurance through only to find out that his policy covered literally everything except theft! Unbelievable! So I decide to call our renter's insurance. No luck there either. Because the trailer was parked on the job site and not on our property the best they could do was send Matt a check for $250!!! Talk about being really mad. We pay alot of money to these insurance places just to find out that if they had taken a few minutes to go over the specifics of coverage, we would have been properly covered, but we aren't so we are screwed! So basically Matt has to start over and build up what took him almost four years to acquire! Thankfully he has been able to replace two paint sprayers for very good price and the rest will come with time.

We know this is an attack and we are just going to keep pressing forward. We have too many things in our life that are good and too many blessings to let this get us down. God is in control but sometimes we have to go through the valley's to get to the mountain top!

Waiting rooms

I've fallen off the blog wagon. These past few weeks have been crazy. We've spent a lot of time in waiting rooms at the Dr's office. First we went to the Children's Cancer and Blood Disorder at the Children's Hospital on Feb. 13th. All the Dr's and nurses loved her! She was so good even though she was obviously exhausted as we were there during her nap time. The nurse had to wake her up to "find a vein" and she didn't even cry. Finally she found a plump vein in her right foot. She only cried for a sec but the was soon distracted by her daddy who had taken a surgical glove, blew it up like a balloon, and was dancing around. Leave it to daddy to put a smile on Gracie face. She loves her daddy. They had to take A LOT of blood but we should know something in the next few weeks. The Dr also gave me a list of blood work that he wanted my OB to test me for.

The next Dr's appt was for Momma. We took Gracie with us so Dr. Ferebee could see her now. The last time she saw Grace she was delivering her. She loved her and said she should be on the cover of a magazine. I ended up getting an ultrasound (I'll post the pic of the little peanut soon) and we saw the heartbeat. According to the size of the baby I'm due Oct. 3rd. I think seeing baby surprise made it more real. I think I was in denial up until that point. It also made me and Matt excited at the thought of new life and a new addition to our little family. For those of you that don't know, this baby came a HUGE surprise to us both. We had planned on taking a few years to focus on Grace but the Lord had a different plan and we all know his plans are much better than any plan we could have for our lives. Anyways, back to the Dr's appt, they had to take 12 viles of blood from me. They let me go get something to eat first so I wouldn't be queasy. I go back on March 19th.

Lastly, we went to see the cardiologist on Feb. 24th. They did and EKG and some other heart test. Grace did great for both and the best part is that there is nothing wrong with her heart. It is perfectly fine. So we can scratch that off the list and be assured that her heart didn't cause the stroke in utero. Praise God!!