Monthly Archive for June, 2010

Baby Update

I thought I would post a little update on the biscuit. I had another ultrasound last week just to clear up that 5% chance that it might not be a boy. He’s still a boy and I swear he doubled in size in just 2 weeks time. He is in the funniest position too. He is bum over head with his legs spread wayy out. Check out this hilarious picture of him relaxing in the womb. You can see that he is DEFINITELY a boy. No doubt about it.

If you look below where it says 19 weeks you’ll see his little package. A leg to the left and a leg to the right and his head all the way at the bottom. He looks really uncomfortable in this position.

I am now halfway through my pregnancy and feeling the baby move all the time. He is always active from 10pm on. He sleeps all day though. I am hoping this is not how he is when he gets here. I deserve an excellent sleeper this time around.  I haven’t gained any weight yet. So that is awesome. My blood pressure has been fine so far. I have had a few days of swelling in my ankles from too much time out in the 90 degree heat. I am hoping its just a fluke though. Not much else to report on. I am getting a little energy back. But mostly I just feel like sleeping all day. I have no energy to clean or cook. So my family has been pretty neglected and we are all getting fat on fast food. Only 20 more weeks to go though, we can make it right?

Oh! We have a name picked out for the Biscuit. We are keeping it a secret until he’s born though. Well except for close friends and family. Who knows though, I may change the name before the baby is born. It happened with both the other boys.

Here are a couple of other photos from my ultrasound last week. I have my big ultrasound to check all the parts of the baby to make sure he’s whole on the 28th. So I should have more photos then.

Profile picture with his mouth open. His mouth was open in the last ultrasound too. He must like to sleep like that.

The money shot! Definitely a boy :)

You’re the good kind

For three years I’ve had a lot of explaining to do. I don’t think there is a day that goes by that I don’t mention how Gavin is autistic to someone. Whether it be John and I discussing it, someone asking, or me making excuses for Gavin’s cheekie and or bad behavior. The “A” word is big around here. Its used freely and often. We never shy away from discussing it. Sometimes with friends, family members, even complete strangers. As Gavin has gotten older he’s heard the word Autism quite often. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that he finally asked the dreaded question…

“Mom, do I have Autism?”

And the even more dreaded…

“well what is Autism?”

I guess I never thought about how we’d discuss this subject with him. I guess I never thought he’d be able to even ask me such a question. But here he is just 5 1/2 years old looking curiously at me behind those glasses wanting to know what the deal is with this whole “autism” thing.

I didn’t really know what to say. I didn’t know how to put into words what Autism is. I wanted to just hold him and tell him how crappy it can be. How it steals so much. How I feel like I missed out on so much of his life because he couldn’t tell me about it. Of course I didn’t want to confuse or scare the crap out of him. So instead I put it as simply as I could.

“Yes Gavin you do have autism. Autism is a word we use to describe someone who’s words and thoughts are trapped inside and they just can’t get out”.

Gavin thought about it for a minute “Exactly how are they trapped”

“Well when you were littler you couldn’t talk. Your words were just stuck. It took you a really long time to speak the way you do now. You were probably four-years-old before you could speak full sentences. And because your words were stuck inside and you couldn’t tell us what you wanted you spent a lot of time crying and throwing fits”.

He smiled really big and laughed, “Was I funny when I would throw fits?”

“Not really. They sort of made mom a little crazy”.

He thought for a second still smiling “Well I can talk now”.

“Yep, you sure can. You are so lucky. Your autism hasn’t stopped you from being so smart.”

G: “Yeah, yeah, I am so smart. So my autism is good. It made me smart”

“It sure did. Even though you have autism you are still so smart, funny, awesome, and all the other million things we love about you”

G: “Oh, Oh, its cause I have the Good kind of Autism”.

“Its the best kind”.

He really does. He has the best kind around. The kind were we feel so blessed. The kind that if you have to have a kid with autism, it might as well be the kind Gavin has. Even with the challenges he faces and the constant ups and downs. He is still just the awesomest kid around. He may drive me crazy on a daily basis. But its mostly for regular kid reasons now. And for that I am glad he has the good kind of Autism.

Gavin is now very into telling people all about how he has Autism and couldn’t talk until he was four. But its okay because he has the good kind of Autism and its made him smart :) . He’s also promised me that he will teach our new baby how to talk so he doesn’t get Autism.  Man I love this kid!