I was just saying the other day how nice it is we haven't had any major illnesses or hospitalizations this year.

Poor B and Iz have been throwing up all day.  Let us hope they are better soon and we can still say no hospitalizations....

I heard back from the SLP yesterday morning.  Insurance wants her report to review and it will take them about two weeks to decide if they are going to approve Iz's speech therapy.  I'm not sure why I am surprised things are moving so slowly--should be used to it by now!!

I am getting very tired of this cold cold cold weather.

That is all ;)

Iz had her speech evaluation yesterday.  The SLP had some of the same concerns I do about some of Iz's speech patterns/habits.  She is going to score the evaluation and contact the insurance company to see if they will approve speech therapy.

Having three weeks off really messed up our routines but the kids seem to be settling back into them for the most part.  And thank goodness they are because poor B does not do well with disruptions to the routine and no school for three weeks was hard for him :p  At least in summer there are plenty of distractions outside but freezing cold means we were mostly trapped inside :p  I am already noticing less fighting between him and Iz so *whew* glad school is back in session!

We are finally making some progress with figuring out what B has.  ASD has been ruled out--he's had autism assessments in two places and both of them show he is not on the spectrum.  I don't have the full results yet for the second eval (waiting on that appointment) but the first one came back with a diagnosis of a communication disorder and a recommendation for more testing for OCD and a full assessment through the local mental health agency to see if he qualifies for services for the communication disorder and also to screen for other possible things than can cause the symptoms that made doctors/school think he may have autism.  So the pediatrician is reading over the results so she can decide what next step she wants to take and I need to find a time to take B in alone for the full assessment (our county is walk-in only so that makes things a bit difficult).  But at least we are moving forward and the more information we get, the better it is for the school to implement a plan to better help him :)

One disappointed kiddo

When last Sunday rolled around and it was looking like there would be a snow day on Monday, the first day back to school, S was happy and excited.  He wasn't quite ready for school to begin again.  And then we had another snow day.  And another.  And another.  By the time Friday rolled around, he was so ready to go back to school :p  Alas, it was not to be and he had one more snow day.  As long as the rain we've been having doesn't freeze overnight and turn the roads into an ice rink, the boys should FINALLY be going back to school tomorrow.  They are both so very ready--they miss their friends!!

I must admit, it makes me excited to hear B talk about his friends and say he misses him.  He can be a bit antisocial and still has a tendency to not interact with other kids but last year he didn't want much to do with the other students.  This year, though, he talks to them and sometimes plays with them and seems to enjoy going to see them at school and on the bus :)  Big improvements!!

We spent most of the day above zero!!

This has been quite a week!  The kids were supposed to go back to school this week but instead they got an extra week of vacation :p  And almost all of it trapped inside--yikes!  But today we got above zero and no crazy forty below windchills.  The roads are still pretty bad and every school in the county is closed again tomorrow.......except S's school :|  No bus service because its a charter school so they posted on facebook that they would be open but of course parents should use their own judgement on whether or not to bring their kids to school.  I told S that I would NOT take him first thing in the morning--we leave before the sun comes up and it will be cold and icy and I'm not taking all the kids out on those roads.  I told him if it was looking better a little later, I would take him in late and he could go for the rest of the day--he's very anxious about it because he wants the roads to be clear enough to go to school before morning recess :p  Someone wants to play with his friends!  However, it is snowing again and the temps are dropping so his school may very well decide to call it for one more day.

S goes to cardiology

I have wanted the boys to get checked out by cardiology since Iz was born but the old pediatrician didn't feel it was necessary.  The new ped, however, seemed surprised neither boy had ever been checked out so she referred S and told me to remind her to refer B next time he has an appointment.

So off we went to the Children's Hospital on Friday for our just in case appointment to get the all-clear on S's heart.

First up was the EKG......which was abnormal :/  Honestly, I was expecting everything they did to be normal normal normal so it was a little nerve wracking to hear abnormal instead.  So off we went for a very long, very thorough echo where the tech checked and rechecked and got a second opinion on a couple areas of S's heart.

Good news!  At this time, S's heart looks great and there are no problems.  The cardiologist said that, in his experience, EKGs like S's are usually seen in kids who have had holes that closed on their own.  It causes a little rewiring of the electrical impulses and that causes the abnormal EKG.  We will never know for sure but the theory is S had at least one hole in his heart that is now completely closed.  S did have symptoms as an infant--sweating (particularly when nursing), falling asleep while eating, slow weight gain, rapid/loud breathing, fast heart rate, cold extremities and bluish tint to hands, feet, and sometimes lips.  But I didn't know then that those things could be heart related and the pediatrician at the time said they were normal.  I'm just glad that today everything looks good, even if we have a funky EKG :)

Waiting for his echo

Happy New Year!