That was fast.
We started with our new physical therapy yesterday. The therapist is great- I really like her approach, so that's good. After the initial eval, she told me what direction we'd be headed. Well, not so much 'told' as 'we discussed', I suppose. She wants Noel in his HipHelpers all day, and shoes, too. Maybe some wee little orthotic inserts.
Other than that, though, she seemed impressed by his progress, and when we first got there, she asked if he had mosaic DS. Funny, from what I understand, having standard vs. mosaic really doesn't mean any better cognition/motor skills/verbal skills... but anytime a professional has to ask what his diagnosis is they ALWAYS follow that with, 'Oh. Is he mosaic?' This time was different- she knew the diagnosis, and it isn't that hard to see these days, really- but his muscle strength in the upper body was surprising, I guess, and the mosaic thing came up again.
So, my kid with Down syndrome surprises people. Eh, that's not new. He's been working at that for AGES. But all day hip helpers and the shoes? Geez. I don't disagree- he's rolling through his hips to get into and out of sitting, which needs to stop, and his ankles roll in when he's standing, which causes him to lock his knees, which is also not very good. So the advice is good, and we're taking it, of course. But it just feels like a lot, right off the bat.
I'm glad we're moving with PT, though.
And our bathroom still looks like crap.
What to do on a Monday night
So, last night, the husband mowed the front yard. The back needs to be cut, too, but it can wait until the weekend, we figure. Nobody sees it but us. He got done, came inside, and took a shower while I finished dinner.
He seemed to be taking a really long shower, but I was on the phone and wasn't paying a whole lot of attention. I get off the phone, the bathroom door opens. "Honey," he yells, "you off the phone?" Turns out, the water wouldn't turn off. Huh. Of course, it's an unexpected trip to the Despot, big box store of old houses. I'm really growing to hate the place- they never seem to have what we need, and we spend an awful lot of time there.
Only, we have to get to the pipes first, not that I know anything about plumbing, but apparently there's supposed to be a valve in there so the water can be turned off at the pipe. OK. Still have to get there- so the poorly constructed wall had to be punched through. The husband gets tools, and makes an exploratory hole in the side we think might have pipes. No pipes, but the wall? Made out of what appears to be cardboard. Great start!
So the other part of the wall comes down. All the way down- so there is prying of trim, ripping down the (not cardboard!) paneling that was used here, and inspecting the pipes that lay underneath. No valves. (oh, by the way, I've already turned off the water outside, so the shower's not running, but there's no water anywhere else, either)
The pipes, though, they leak. Not the reason the shower wouldn't turn off, just as an added bonus.
Off to HD. Back from HD. The husband goes to essentially replumb the bathroom (gawd, am I glad he knows how to do this... can you imagine the cost of an emergency plumber visit?) AND...
can't get to the pipes without taking down the built-in cabinets (not original to the house, promise), too. So, now we've ripped two walls, pulled out woodwork, discovered yet another thing the previous-previous owners screwed up, and still we have no water.
And whatever the husband got at HD isn't exactly right, and has to go back. But the thing he needs is only sold in whole sets; as in, buy the entire shower pipe kit, which we don't need. The helpful aisle clerk suggests maybe a plumbing supply store? Heh.
Sometime between eleven and twelve, the shower was not running and the water was back on. Doesn't even drip. Only now we HAVE to remodel the bathroom. When we moved in, we decided to do the kitchen first, when there was the cash for it, because while the bathroom is hideous, the kitchen is practically unusable. Huge, but unusable. The people who owned it before the guy we bought from fancied themselves as somewhat handy, which they were not.
The electrical mess they made is boggling. The tilework they did in the shower is atrocious. You should see how they opted to run a duct for a/c into the bathroom. They ruined the original brick fireplace by trying to re-mortar with plain old concrete (the concrete/cement, I never know which is which- is harder than the old brick, so the brick cracks and breaks, and hundred year old bricks are hard to replace)
I still love our house. There's a lot of fixing the fixing that has to happen. I'm going to be looking up the people that did this, though, and am considering sending a frowny face note.
Yay!
Two weeks. NOT five weeks, or even seven weeks. We're into our PT, thankfully, with a real appointment, even, not the 'we'll call you' that we had before.
Not only that, but just by virtue of having the PT started we're up at the top of the list for speech, which is still a long way off- but closer, now. This is all very good. Additionally, it won't even be like the whole two weeks to wait, as we'll be up north for a week, visiting the up north grandparents, so vacation, then a few days home, then we get into therapy. Whee!
As for the trip- hopefully all our luggage will follow us to our destination. I'm not concerned about the squirt travelling anymore- he's a champ. And airtravel these days just all around sucks, so I'm not expecting any miracles there, but we need clothes. And a car seat. So may the luggage gods be with us.
Very exciting
I felt the sproutlet bopping around last night! Yay! That's the first time it was for sure the baby- I'd been having some maybe/maybe not feelings for a couple of weeks, but when I'd notice those, they'd never happen again, so I was never sure. Now I'm sure. That's a kid in there.
And while my milk supply has been much lower than before, Noel didn't care so much. We still were nursing first thing in the morning (unless he had a bad night=overnight nursing), and before nap usually and always before bed at night. I guess we're in the end stages of his self-weaning, though. The switcheroo to colostrum has already started, and apparently Noel is not of those kids that doesn't mind. The first time he noticed a difference he popped on and off, on and off, clearly hoping each time that it would be just plain milk. It wasn't. Now he has to work really hard to get anything out, as the colostrum is so much thicker than milk, and when he finally gets something, he bites me. I think we both may be finished.
I always said at least a year. 2 would have been fine by me, and I think I would have tried tandem nursing, although I wonder how you do newborn cluster feeds plus toddler... and while Noel may go back to nursing after the baby comes, I have a feeling this is it. And that's ok.
