little peanut update

Today was my first appointment with my old doctor I used with the triplets. I was unsure if I would be able to use her since she is highly specialized for high risk patients. Apparently, I am high risk because of nearly dying when I had the triplets. Anyway, she walked in and shook my hand then asked if she could give me a hug. She said she was so happy that I made it through that pregnancy and asked many details about the kids. It literally pained her to have to take the kids at 25 weeks and I was her only patient in over 8 years she had to deliver so early. I told her all about the kids, showed her pictures, etc. She read over my chart and said I would for sure need another stitch. The ultrasound tech did my ultrasound and I got to hear little peanuts heart beat for the first time :) she said everything looked really great. The doctor came in and did her ultrasound too and she said everything was looking really great and even pointed out little one's arms. She said she would try to stretch my appointments out to every 2 to 3 weeks but she would like me in the office every 2. I don't mind, I get to see the little one every appointment so we settled for every 2 weeks. My surgery will be the week before Thanksgiving. If I remember correctly, it wasn't a bad surgery and I think I was back to normal by the afternoon. Now a lot has changed as I was just 23 at the time and now I'm 27 and exhausted but I can only hope it will be as easy as I remember.
I am so happy I had the instinct to make an appointment with her. I really liked my regular doctor here in Kingwood but she wasn't even going to send me to the specialist to see if I needed this surgery until Christmas time and I wouldn't have the surgery until January! That is huge because they are stitching up my cervix so I don't go into preterm labor! Plus, this doctor saving my life puts my worries on the back burner.. I know I'm in good hands and Ricky does too.

KP

A man needs a woman with vision. Her perspective, faith, and support will change his reality. If she doesn't challenge you, then she's no good for you. Men who want to stay ordinary will tell you not have expectations of them. Men who want to be great will expect you to push them, pray with them, and invest in them. -unknown

Madi: Mommy, you are best my friend.
Me: caught off guard I asked, did you say I'm your best friend?
Madi: Yes, you are my best friend.
Me: Thank you Madi. You are my best friend too.
Madi: I love you Mommy.
Me: I love you too sweet girl.

It's been a really busy time in our lives. It seems the end of the year will be here in the blink of an eye. Ricky and I are both plugging away at school. He just finished up one of his classes. It was a fast track but still the same work load as a full semester class. Anyway, he finished with an A. Super awesome considering the fact he is taking a full time class schedule and working over 40 hours per week. I have a class finishing in a couple weeks, and we both have new classes that start on Monday. It might be taking up forever but we are accomplishing something.
Friday we had a meeting with the school staff and district employees. I think we did get a lot of things accomplished but it was brought to our attention that Brody and Gracie are probably in the wrong program. The district employee thinks another program might be a better fit since they've mastered almost every goal for the school year and they've not even been in a full grading period. I've thought this all along. To be very honest, they are the only verbal kids that are capable of learning in their class. I never wanted them to be the smartest kids in any class. That shouldn't be read into more than what I said because I realize how big of a blessing that is. Anyway, we will meet with her this coming week to  check out the new program and decide if we should move them. It would be a new school with all new support staff as well as teacher so we need to take that into consideration.
Madi is doing really good in school. Ricky met me at her school this week so we could decide on which pictures to buy (they did 3 poses for crying out loud!) and one of her teachers and the director had the nicest things to say about her. She might be a foot smaller than her classmates but from what they tell us, she is fearless. They said they get so nervous because they think she is to small to do this or that but she will tackle whatever it might be without hesitation. The work she is doing and bring home is amazing. She is can count on her fingers now, tell us what number is written as well as letter. Her pre handwriting skills are impressive as well. They have them trace different lines and she is well on her way to perfection. They are also learning shapes. This week was triangle. She is so excited to show us her folder of the work she did at school that day and if Ricky isn't home to see it, we have to save it for the next day when he is home. We are blown away at the things she is learning and the amount of work they accomplish in the few short hours she is there. The day we were picking up pictures, we walked by her room on the way out. Me being me, I had to peek. She was one of the only ones following along with the teacher as they stood there singing head, shoulders, knees, and toes and doing the little dance that goes with it. She loves to learn.
Ricky found the last puppy a home yesterday. He said that they all went to people that seemed to be normal, nice, and that knew how to take care of a dog. Harper now cries/ howls. It's horrible and we will never do that again. I'm sure she is so lonely now that her puppies are gone and since Hoss is gone too. It's so sad.
Tomorrow I have an appointment to check on our little one. It's my first appointment with my old doctor who delivered the triplets. She told me after I had them that she would see me again in a couple years. Of course at that time, I said there was no way in this world but I guess she just knew better. Full on all day sickness has kicked in. Ricky and I have a theory that as long as I don't actually throw up then it'll be fine but if I throw up one time, it's all over with and I'll be throwing up all day long for months like what happened with the trips. I jokingly said maybe I should throw up so I won't gain a lot of weight but he didn't like that idea. It worked with the trips, I only gained 20 pounds with them. All kidding aside, I don't want to throw up at all and I'd love to not feel like I need to. I've given in and decided to find out what we will be having. Michelle and I have some super cute gender reveal ideas in mind. I believe we will find out the week before Christmas if we will have a baby Truett or a baby no name since Ricky still refuses any girl names.
Speaking of Christmas, I'm so ready for the holidays. It's going to be an exciting season. The kids are super excited about their Halloween outfits. The other day we had some Christmas gifts arrive and Madi wanted to open the box. I told her she couldn't because it was for Christmas. Without skipping a beat, she said, "It's Christmas Mommy, jingle bells, jingle all the way". We cannot wait to see their excitement. The really great news is I'm done shopping for Brody and the girls only need two more things each. Oh, and the gifts I do have are already wrapped and ready to go!! We have to get to a pumpkin patch soon. Time has slipped away. We will be going to Old McDonald Farm next weekend and they have one there so some way some how, I'll get some pumpkin pictures.

That's all she wrote... for now.

KP

Trust yourself and don't let other sway you

We've had a bit of a crisis we've been dealing with. This week marked 6 weeks the kids have been in school. For six weeks without fail, Brody and Gracie have been hurt every single week. Sometimes multiple times per week. At first we were sometimes notified by a note but when we really started asking questions, all communication stopped. This meant I was getting my children off the school bus to find swollen eye that turned black, huge knots on the head, scratches on the face, 17 mosquito bites on one arm, scratches that had been bleeding down the entire leg, etc. Ricky and I went to view the classroom, wrote notes, contacted the principal, spoke to the teacher, etc and week after week they came home hurt. Finally at the beginning of October I was encouraged to find the school handbook online and see what the policy is for when kids are hurt at school. Sure enough, it stated that the school nurse or principal were to contact the parent any time a student is injured at school. With this new information, I wrote a letter to the school and included the paragraph from the handbook. Thursday morning Ricky and I were running some errands and were talking about maybe the school has got a handle on things and the injuries were not going to keep happening. Not even an hour later the school nurse called. She stated she was unsure how the injury occurred but Brody hurt his chin and neck. It was the final straw. This is 6 weeks of injuries. Brody and Gracie are 2 of only 4 students in their class. There is a teacher, a teacher aid, and at any given time a specialist teacher working with whichever student needs that specialized discipline. So that means there are 3 adults to 4 kids but yet my kids are getting really injured every single week at school. Gone was trying to nicely press the issue. Gone was reasoning. Gone was us putting up with the very apparent neglect. I called and left messages for an emergency ARD. I also added that my children would not be attending until an ARD happened and a safety plan was in place. I also called the Director of Special Education for the school district and left a message with her office. The teacher ended up calling me to inform me on Brody's injury and before she got into how it happened, I told her this was excessive, that they would not be back until a safety plan was in place, that I did not like them being with the Pre-K class at all, etc. This BLOWS my mind but she has known all along that changes needed to be made but said NOTHING! She also has known that Pre- K kids have been hurting my two little 3 year olds on the playground but said NOTHING! She also stated she didn't understand certain things in their ARD paperwork. I was so pissed off. I was literally shaking. To find out that she has known all along my kids are in danger and did nothing makes me sick. The more I think about it the more angry I get. There is NO excuse! Right after that, the principal called and had the nerve to state she didn't understand why I was so upset. I asked her if any other student in her school under HER care has been hurt weekly since school started and when she said no, I informed her that was the reason I was so upset. I enlightened her on the entire situation and that I was in contact with people way beyond her. Fast forward to last night, I get a phone call from the Director of Special Education. She was actually really awesome. I told her every single thing that has happened since the kids started. From Brody's lens in his glasses missing and the teacher having no clue when or where and turning out it fell out of the bus that morning but yet she was clueless until he was going home, to both kids getting hurt on faulty equipment a week apart in the classroom that they didn't remove until Brody was hurt much worse than Gracie and I had to say something, to Gracie's swollen eye that turned black, her collar of her shirt being so stretched out it fell off both shoulders, to the huge goose eggs on both their head. I told her we were not being notified, that we tried to speak to the teacher and principal but nothing changed. She knew everything. She also knew there was no negotiating my kids going back to that school until an ARD was called. She understood where I was coming from, apologized, and is launching a full investigation. It should be concluded by next Friday.
I share this to say this: I did not want Brody and Gracie going to PPCD. In fact, I was literally sick about it. I allowed others to talk me into putting them into the program because they would "benefit" so greatly from PPCD. This is the worse thing I've done. I should have listened to myself. I felt those feelings for a reason. Instead I trusted my kids were safe and well taken care of but they were not. In fact, they've been hurt more in the six weeks they've been in the school than they've been in any environment. They were in preschool 1.5 years prior to entering Humble ISD and Brody was hurt 1 time and Gracie was never hurt. Finding out and getting the clear picture of what has taken place for 6 weeks literally makes me sick and enrages me. I'm so pissed off that I know I have to stay away from that school for a while. You don't mess with my kids! You don't put them in danger week after week when you know what the problem is. Shame on that damn school!
Anyway, Brody and Gracie are currently home until that ISD can figure out there ass from a leaf and can prove and insure me that my kids are safe.

KP

False alarms and false starts, All made better by the sound of your heart, All the pain of the last time, I prayed so hard it was the last time

Today I met my ONE HEALTHY little peanut that has a STRONG heart beat. We had a big scare over the weekend. The doctor sent me to the ER and I had an ultrasound tech give me some very incorrect information. It lead to a lot of unnecessary worry. I mean a LOT. Anyway, all my blood work still looks awesome and the little one is measuring correctly. The doctor was very surprised we could see the heart beat already and that it was so strong. I love that!
I am still trying to talk Ricky into not finding out if little peanut is a boy or girl. He still insist we find out.
We still only have a boy name which is Truett Allen. Although I still Love Sophie Hope and I also like the names Lacey and Quinn. Of course Ricky does not love any of the girl names.
Brody and Gracie still don't really understand. They think when I have to go to the doctor it's because of my back. Speaking of my back, I will have to suffer through any additional pain until after the baby is born. Knock on wood, it's not been bad. They also think it will be safe to get an epidural for my c section which is great because the other option is to be totally under and I don't want that. I also found out today that the doctor will remove my old c section scare and I'll have a new one that is smaller. Kind of freaks me out to think about. Makes sense it will be smaller since there is only one baby.
I have another appointment in two weeks.

KP