A Meltdown - In Pictures

Austin is exactly 18 months old today...he had to pay Dr. C an unexpected visit because he hasn't been feeling so well lately.

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Wait for it...

Total Meltdown...

My little guy hasn't been eating or drinking. He's also very congested. He has a sinus infection and a very red throat (but NO Strep, so that's good.) His throat and sinus infection do explain why he hasn't been eating or drinking much lately. Like most moms, I DO NOT like it when my baby doesn't feel well. Luckily, Austin has a SUPER doctor. I'm telling you, everyone needs a Dr. C. True to her super self, she fixed him up with some antibiotics and he should be feeling better soon.

We have our 18 month well child appointment on Friday...it will be interesting to see how much Austin's grown!

We received a HUGE answer to our prayers last week... Our health insurance company has agreed to pay for all of Austin's private therapies. They have stated on most of the claims for Private Therapy that they "do not cover early intervention." Of course, I have the right to appeal and I did. They want us to use ECI. As I've stated before, ECI is a state program. When Austin was not sitting independently at age 1, I KNEW I HAD TO MAKE A CHANGE! Private Therapy has been Austin's saving grace. More importantly, he has a relationship with each of his Private therapists and he KNOWS and RESPONDS to them. ECI services are not consistent, amongst other things. As a teacher, I know how important consistency is. It doesn't matter if you're working on discipline or toilet training...it all becomes pointless when you don't have consistency. We are finally parting ways with ECI. I will miss our service coordinator, as she's been with us since Austin was 6 weeks old. It's bittersweet.

Please feel free to email me if you’re having problems with insurance covering certain therapies. I can’t promise that I can fix your situation, but I can tell you what worked for me. In a nutshell, you need to be persistent and NEVER accept the word “no.” This task is easier said than done.

It’s late and we’ve had a long day, so I’m going to bring this a close. More later.

Blessings,
K

It Looks Like We'll Have A Walker Sooner Than Later

Well, life has been at it again…keeping me busy!

Austin is doing VERY well. I need to take some videos of all the new things he’s doing. He’s thisclose to walking! As you can imagine, this milestone is very exciting. They all are, but we’ve been working on this milestone for quite a while. Austin is also rocking in Speech Therapy. As far as language, he knows what several objects are. If you hold up a picture of a phone and a picture of a clock and ask him, “Where’s the clock?” He’ll grab the picture of the clock. He does this with several objects. He also makes the “rev it up” sound when he plays with a car…or anything with wheels. He puts the telephone to his ear to pretend like he’s talking. He “kisses” his baby doll, pats her back and pretends to feed her with the play bottle. This type of stuff might sound like basic toddler behavior, but children with Down syndrome are delayed when it comes to speech/word association. They struggle a lot more than typical children when it comes to recognizing objects and knowing what they do/sound make. The fact that Austin is doing all of this is very good and we’re so proud of our little man.

I’m unfortunately still breaking out into hives. The allergy doctor is about as helpful as a box of rocks. I fired her, so to speak. I had to go to the emergency room a few weeks ago because I felt like my throat was closing up. It was the most terrifying feeling I think I’ve ever experienced. Last week, my eyes started to swell. My primary doctor has been very helpful and proactive…he gave me a steroid shot last Tuesday that’s supposed to last for 28 days. I felt much better for about 4 days, but the hives were back in full swing by Sunday night. They “peak” at night and have even decided to show up all over my face. It’s frustrating, to say the least. I have no clue what I’m allergic to…I’ll let you know when I find out.

Until then, here are some pictures of my mystery allergic reaction:

It's NOT pretty.

Life is good and busy…just the way we like it! At the end of this month we have Austin's 18 month well child check up and at the beginning of September we will visit the heart doctor.  I'll have a lot of updates!

Blessings,
K