Here's what we've got!
1) June 5th The Baby Shower
I had posted pictures of my baby shower invitations on here earlier. I thought they were adorable!
Anyway, considering my non-existant lack of experience in planning showers or couples' showers, I thought it went fantastic! We had a good turnout--about 40 people. The food went fast. My mom, MIL, and grandmother complimented me on how well-planned it was. (I suppose it's worth mentioning that my professors often called me a "free-organizer", as in I have no plan. I like to wing it.) I got several compliments about the venue and the party. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Even the guys said, hey, that wasn't bad.
Aaron and I did get some doubles of things that we'll have to go through, but that's okay. Those items will probably get exchanged for diapers, wipes or formula. (Although, I was recently given a recipe for making my own baby wipes...)
Do I need a bottle sterilizer or can you really sterilize that stuff in a veggie steamer? I'm not sure.
Anyway. We were very pleased with how everything turned out! Here are some pictures for your entertainment!
We had people decorate onesies with fabric markers. This was my favorite. On the front it says "Unicorns poop glitter!" On the back, there is glitter and it reads "Babies do not."
2) June 8th The Doctor's Appointment
No, not a prenatal visit. Evan's progress review with his autism doctor.
I guess I should preface this portion by saying that the company we are receiving services from used to employ me. I left last fall so that I could go through them when it came time for Evan to get services. I'd worked for them and knew there were good therapists and bad therapists but was confident that I would be well cared for.
So not the case.
Everything had started off well but things deteriorated quickly. We lost our senior therapist to her husband's relocation to a different state, our best therapist resigned due to personal issues, and our clinic supervisor was ordered a decrease in hours. Long story short, not much has changed since we got a new senior therapist in late February. I've been pushing for changes as well as the clinic supervisor, but we just weren't getting any results. My son knows his action labels, thank you, let's move on. I mean, he's really smart and he catches on quickly. He is mild-moderate. Our county case worker even said she would be really surprised if he qualifies for another year of services.
You have to understand that I felt pushed, cornered. I'd asked our senior therapist to do her job--pleaded almost--but didn't get any changes. We weren't moving on to different programs or targets, my son was getting more rigid in his play and his behaviors were worsening. It seemed like therapy was doing more harm than good.
So I basically spent the hour of Evan's progress review embarassing his senior therapist. (Also note that the doctor that Evan sees is also the founder of the company and did a great amount of research with Dr. Ivan Lovaas.) The first thing he said to me when I walked in was that the senior had told him that my son was demonstrating some rigid behaviors. I had two points for him. First, Evan learns some rigidity, such as lining up, from school. We can simply explain that there are some things we do at school that we don't do at home. My second point was that five days of the week, he was in the same room, with the same toys and games, with the same people and the same programs. Programs weren't being moved along quickly enough, no one was using the other toys I had offered, and no one was leaving the therapy room to try doing sessions outside or in the living room as I had suggested. I told the doctor Evan can't be expected to behave flexibly if it's not being modeled for him and that we ought to change the way we're doing things. And it just got worse from there...
Basically, the progress review ended with Evan's county case worker, the doctor, the clinic supervisor and myself agreeing that serious changes needed to be made. And the senior therapist looked like she wanted to disappear.
In short, things have changed around here. Not quite enough, in my opinion, but the message was sent.
3) June 9th The Big Day
So the day after Evan's progress review we had planned for a "Big Day". A Big Day is when therapists come for their scheduled shifts but instead of doing any programs, they camp out in the bathroom playing, entertaining the child, and focusing on going on the potty.
It's been a week, and I have been adamant that if we aren't leaving the house, he doesn't get to wear a diaper or pull-up. I don't care how many accidents he has, how much laundry I have to do, or how many carpets I have to scrub. This kid is getting potty trained this summer!
How's it going? Well, we're successful a little over 50% of the time. I would say it was higher, but the problem is that Evan often starts in his underwear, holds it, runs to the bathroom, and finishes. (Personally, I think this is so he gets to pick out a new pair of underwear.) The majority of his bodily waste is going in the toilet. He's rewarded by picking a small prize every time he pees, such as a whistle, balloon, rubber duck, small piece of candy or sucker, and is rewarded with big prizes, such as a t-shirt, notebook, book, cd or dvd (all compliments of Goodwill), when he has a bowel movement on the potty. The small prizes were highly motivated in the beginning. Now I don't offer unless he remembers. The bag of prizes is in eyesight in the bathroom and I figure he isn't going to get a snack size Hershey bar every time he goes to the bathroom when he's in high school; he's got to learn to just do it at some point.
4) The Horrors of Pregnancy
Oh, where to begin with this one?
How about my bladder? My fetus thinks my bladder is its own personal trampoline or punching bag or whatever. I'm now forced to carry a change of clothes with me wherever and whenever I go some where.
The weight gain is still pretty minimal, but let's face it. I don't have abs of steel. I'm still smaller around than I am tall, but my belly is definitely protruding.
Oh, energy! How I miss you! Long gone are the days when I didn't need a nap every three hours.
And nesting instincts... On the one hand, all of this cleaning needs to get done. On the other hand, it's completely unnecessary to flip out whenever someone walks on the carpet with their shoes on. And I don't believe I've ever had to make myself wash the dishes only once per day. The compulsion to scrub every at every moment is nearly overwhelming.
Okay, now let's go back to that protruding stomach for a minute. At my baby shower, several women who have yet to experience pregnancy commented that they think it's beautiful. (Okay, which part? The 40 weeks of total sobriety, the leaky bladder, the swollen ankles, the rollercoaster mood swings, or the physical limitations of my size?) Pregnancy is not beautiful, my friends. It is the most horrible thing in the world, designed to make women so miserable that they seriously consider having more than one child and that they are motivated to do anything they have to do to get that little bowling ball out of their crotch at the end of week 40. I don't know about you, but there's nothing beautiful about not being able to see where you're wiping or forgetting what you're feet look like or needing a "Wide Load" sign when going through crowded public places. And that "pregnant glow"? Oh, that's sweat from my increased body temperature.
Jeez, I can't wait for this to be over!
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Hey! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!