Six week update

Sweet Pea has been here with us for six weeks now.  That time has flown by so quickly.  I've taken her to all her specialist appointments (cardiologist, pulmonologist, etc.) in the past week and those went really well.  The doctors were so patient and really took the time to explain all her diagnoses and prognoses to me.  Sometimes it's still scary because she seems just fine on a daily basis, but I know there are these issues inside of her that could cause problems.  Chances are, she may need another heart surgery when she gets older.  But as scary as all that is, I'm just glad to be able to understand what's going on and how we can best help her for the time being.  They are ordering a sleep study for her, which I am not looking forward to because that means I'll have to spend the night in the hospital too.  I'm already not sleeping great at home lately, I know I won't really sleep at all there.  Those first couple of weeks that we had her, I was so exhausted that I had no problem falling asleep.  Now my insomnia is coming back.  Sweet Pea is tending to sleep through the night more often now, but I'm up with my mind racing in the middle of the night.  So frustrating.

We are going to a court hearing for Sweet Pea next week.  It's a permanency review hearing where they'll just review her case and talk about their plan for her future, nothing too big.  I asked my stepsister (who worked for CPS for over 10 years) for advice on whether we should go or not and she was adamant we should be there.  She said Shannon and I should both go and take Sweet Pea if she's allowed in court (which we've since found out she is).  Show the judge, the lawyers, everyone there that we are a family and we care deeply about Sweet Pea and we want to be involved in this process to do what is best for her.  So we'll be there.  I'm nervous about it, mostly because I don't know exactly what to expect.  Will the judge want to talk to us?  Will the lawyers like us?  Will any of Sweet Pea's biological family be there?  I've never been to anything like this and so want everything to go well.  Nothing really will be decided at this hearing, but it all means a lot to us.

Sweet Pea certainly keeps us busy.  With physical therapy twice a week, occupational therapy once a week, speech therapy about to begin, at least one doctor's appointment a week...  And I'm still keeping Cash (my friend's baby) too.  He's just starting to figure out how to crawl, so things are definitely getting even more interesting around here.  My mom and I were brave and took both the babies out to lunch yesterday.  I know people have twins and do this sort of thing everyday, but this was a huge first for me.  Going somewhere with both of them is daunting for me, especially because they're still pretty little.  Everyone ooohed and aaahed over them and asked silly questions like "Are they twins?"  I think we're going to try a trip to WalMart this afternoon.  Now that Cash can still up well on his own, I'm hoping he can sit in the seat of the cart so we don't have to have both in their car seats.

Sweet Pea is getting bigger, but is definitely still tiny.  Last doctor's appointment she weighed in at 11 pounds 6 ounces.  She's getting a little bit of a belly which is so cute to see on her tiny frame.  She's starting to roll over on her own a bit more.  She's reaching and grabbing way more purposefully now.  She's getting closer to being able to sit up on her own soon.  The OT wants her to imitate us doing something, so we've been sticking our tongues out at her and she is starting to do it back now.  This is a huge accomplishment at our house!  It may not be so cute later on, but is so stinking adorable now when she sticks out her little tongue and smiles real big at us.  It's been such a joy to have her here with us.  She's been such a wonderful addition to our little family.  I already can't imagine what it would be like not to have her here...