18 Months

This post will be a bit different, because I could not go on any longer without expressing my extreme gratitude for this little miracle boy we're raising. I am constantly in awe lately watching him and wondering how in the world it is that I got so lucky to have him.

Please don't take any of this the wrong way, I love his sister and she owned my whole heart before he came along, and somehow it just grew bigger to encompass him too. But I don't think it's easy to explain to non special needs parents what it's like to find out the child you've been carrying for 9 months is not going to grow up in a "normal" existence. To have to face reality that she will never walk... Talk, or be that tiny little dancer on the stage you envisioned when you were first told she was a girl. But, I love her for who she is, all crooked feet and hips, tiny nosed, glasses wearing, prominent underbite, communicating in her own ways and proving experts wrong and making her parents proud every damn day! And for 5 years, she was my whole world. Every week was therapies, clinic appointments, sick doctor visits, IEP and care plan revisions, surgeries and another new thing to face. And I thought that would be my days forever, because try as we did, we were not very sure anymore that our family would ever get bigger. After years of trying, facing possible grueling fertility treatments, we had the biggest surprise and another great miracle. 

My pregnancy with him was anything but easy, but I didn't care. Emergency gallbladder removal at 20 weeks, severe bronchitis that resulted in a cracked rib and preterm labor at 30 weeks, thankfully they were able to keep that at bay and he held on for 8 more weeks, and then the most beautiful and perfect delivery anyone could ever ask for. After the trauma of Em's, I cannot tell you how much we needed that perfect delivery, and out he came, breathing fine, crying, eating fine and going home with us, not a single problem.... How did I get so lucky? He was a tough baby, cried a lot and had terrible reflux, but he hit every milestone, and he turned a corner at month four and became the happiest baby, and he brought so much joy to our world. That is why his milestones mean so much to me that I have to celebrate and throw it in everyone's face.... I'm sorry, but not really because I can't explain it to you, but I know it means more... Just like any and every "inch stone" Em hits means more, because you don't see the behind the scenes of what it takes to get her there. So yes he's hitting them with little to no effort at all, but I don't know that there's many that see it as the miracle that I do. He walks, he talks, he can follow commands. He knows what he needs and wants and he learns so much in the span of a day, it is just a phenomenal thing to get to see every day.

Anyway, now I got that out, here's a little update on our little man. 18 months hasn't brought all joy, we sadly found out the hard way when he was about 16 months that he, like his sister, has severe food allergies as well. He had two severe reactions to eggs within a week, one requiring hospital attention. Definitely that was the scariest moment I've ever had with him.... and after all that we went through with his sister, I have to be grateful. But he almost stopped breathing, and I cringe to think how much worse it could've been if I hadn't gotten him to the hospital when I did.



















But last week both he and Em underwent allergy testing together. Em was just a follow-up and her doctor is finally satisfied that it looks like her levels are going to stay put, so he won't put her through it again for at least a few more years. She did however show a significant increase in her reactions to dogs and cats, higher than her reaction to eggs, so we will have to be a little more preemptive when we know she'll be around them. Ry showed a significant reaction to eggs (but that wasn't surprising), but he also reacted to tree nuts. Luckily his blood work, that he also did that day, showed his IGE to the tree nuts fairly low, so the doctor thinks we can test him again in a year, and he thinks there's a good chance he could outgrow it.

I guess I should also announce in the blogging hemisphere that I am actually expecting our third child, a little girl coming in September. She was a bit of a surprise after Ry took us so long to get, but we are thrilled and so excited for her coming arrival..... and we hope her luck will fair a little better than her older siblings in the allergy department.

But here's where Ryker is at 18 months. He walks and runs, but I'm afraid he has completely inherited his mommy's clumsy nature, and he is constantly falling and always has bumps and bruises. He has about 20 words and even has a few 2-3 word phrases as well. Though he may need speech after his evaluation with the pediatric dentists at Primary. He has quite a significant lip tie that is affecting his teeth and affects the way he can use his tongue when talking. It will probably require a procedure under anesthesia, but I'm pretty sure it is necessary to do seeing how it is affecting him thus far. He has 10 teeth now, and four of those are molars, so four in the top front, and still only two in the bottom front. He can open doors.... yikes and is an amazing problem solver, and keeps me constantly on my toes and really wears his poor pregnant mommy out! 

He is FINALLY tipping the scale at 20 lbs 2 oz! Took him to 18 months to reach 20 lbs, but it took Emarie longer, so we're good with that! So he is in the 13th percentile for weight, so finally over the 10th! I remember when it took him so long to get over the 5th! He is 32 1/2 inches which puts him in the 54th percentile, so he has kind of slowed down in the length department, and his head is in the 40th percentile which is just surreal to me! He has always had a pretty small head until recently, and I actually noticed the other night when we were using our new bath visors, that his head is now bigger than Em's, but that's not surprising since her's is around the size of 1 year old's. 

Anyway that's him in a nutshell, but we sure love him and are so enjoying watching him grow and learn everyday!