21 Dec 2014

after a bunch more dr appointments – everything from hearing to kidney ultrasounds – he seems to be doing some better. he’s still spitting up far more than i would like and he’s not gaining weight nearly fast enough for me but he IS gaining finally. he’s only had a couple more instances of blood (extremely trace amount) in his diaper and none of the tests have shown any problems.  i’ve gone back to five feedings a day just to try to fatten him up some… i don’t know if that’s the right thing to do but i just feel like it’s what i should do.

14 Dec 2014

thanks to an unexpected business trip, we found ourselves right back in orlando again this past week. my sissy and bil both raved about how much growth they had seen in the turkey in just the week and a half since we last saw them. they said he is much more alert, much sturdier (neck and such), and more interactive. it’s nice to know that i’m not just imagining all of that. i took him up to the office to meet our bosses and coworkers and he was such a good boy. on the flip side, he was super fussy most of the week during the days. it was highly unlike him. he had a growth spurt the week before but he had gotten back to normal before we left town.

5 Dec 2014

the turkey has really started interacting with his environment more this week.  he’s reaching out and grabbing hold of more toys.  he’s also exploring our faces with his hands (he particularly likes to shove his very slobbery hand in my mouth to share the flavor).  and, my personal favorite, he’s giving kisses now.  i’ll start kissing his face like i usually do and he’ll open his mouth wide and move back and forth until he plants one on me.  even better, he gets super excited about it when he does land a good, sloppy kiss.  it’s so sweet and just melts my heart.

i just cannot believe that it’s been a quarter of a year already.  he has brought so much joy to our lives but it all just seems to be going so fast.  the pregnancy was over in the blink of an eye and he’s growing quicker than i can process.

our scale is wildly inaccurate so we’re not really sure what he weighs.  sometimes we get as low as 12lbs and sometimes we get over 13lbs.  it’s a crap shoot and i’m not really happy about it.

6 Nov 2014

after a truly awful monday with a super sleep-deprived and stressed momma-on-the edge, the turkey decided to take mercy on me and started sleeping through the nights again.  he’s even gone above and beyond by starting to pull 10 hour nights!  he’s been a bit on the cranky side at home this week – i still think he’s got some premature teething going on – but he’s been such an little trooper when we go out.  this week was our annual owner’s meeting and party and he did awesome at both events.  he gave smiles and was pleasant for everyone who held him.  no fussing at all.  today was his second week at church and he just slept right through it both times.  i’m such a proud momma!

in other news, i survived my first full week of being a working mommy.  it’s definitely going to continue to be a challenge but it’s manageable for right now.

as i mentioned in my previous post, i fully expected the effects of the stroke to be worse the next day but i honestly did think there would be a next day.  it never for a second occurred to me that those last few words we exchanged would be the last.  would i have said anything different?  i don’t know.  i guess i would have told him all those things he already knew but it would have been more for my benefit than his anyhow.  i am so fortunate to be so certain that he knew. Read the rest of this entry »

last sunday, we left alabama and started the long drive down to orlando.  shortly after crossing the florida line, i called my dad to let him know how the drive was going and what our plans were.  he again invited us to stay with them but i told him that they didn’t need a crying baby in the house, especially since he had only gotten home from the hospital on thursday and they needed their rest.  my plan was to stay at my sissy’s and we would leave right after the turkey’s first feeding of the day to spend all day tomorrow with him.  when i called, he was actually out back working in the yard and he was proud of himself for it because it had been weeks since he felt good enough to get outside at all.  we had a great conversation… he was feeling good, sounding like himself, and super excited to see the turkey again.

according to my phone history, i called him at 16:39 on sunday, 19 october 2014 and we talked for 16 mins and 2 secs.

two hours and ten minutes later, my world crashed. Read the rest of this entry »