31 for 21... off topic... Nathan

One of my biggest concerns when we received Micah's diagnosis was that Nathan would no longer have the playmate close in age to him for which we were hoping.  It was exaggerated by the fact that we lost twins almost a year before conceiving Micah and that loss was still fairly fresh in our minds.

Fast forward to today.  I do receive little stabs to my heart when I see Nathan playing more with Matthew than with Micah.  And that occurs primarily, I think, because Matthew is a lot more mobile than Micah (I'll address Micah's lack of walking ability in a future post... thanks for the question, Colleen), which is understandable.  But Nathan has figured out that Micah loves to give hugs (well, not to just *anyone*), so he practically bowls Micah over with hugs these days.  It's insanely sweet.

We have learned a bit about siblings of individuals with Down syndrome since I was pregnant with Micah.  And Mark went to a seminar at the NDSC convention in July with Brian Skotko, MD, who is a sibling himself and a huge advocate for Down syndrome awareness (I hope to remember to blog a bit about him this month too).  I think I've already seen a benefit to Nathan having Micah as a sibling.  Nathan fits a lot of the stereotypes of a typical first-born.  He is VERY extroverted and likes to be the center of attention.  I wonder how much worse that would be if there weren't therapists coming to our house every week who spend time focusing on MICAH, not Nathan.  That drives him absolutely insane... to the point that I've tried to schedule most of Micah's in-home therapies while Nathan is in preschool.  But I KNOW that it's good for Nathan to see someone else in our house getting attention that he desires for himself.

We moved to MN a year ago.  Nathan had his first day of preschool in MN on October 12th, 2009.  It was a record snowfall that day.  Here's a pic:

Can you believe that was a year ago?  Today it's 80+ degrees here!!!

Anyway... I have also neglected to post pictures of Nathan's first day of preschool this year, as well as birthday photos.  So here ya go!

First day of school:

The first thing he finds in his new classroom is...

(do you think McD's donated all that stuff? brilliant, yet annoying, marketing, huh?)

 Ah, an art project... my very active little guy loves crafting!

And... Nathan turned FIVE years old in September.  Hard to believe... five years ago I brought home the little boy who made me a mommy (and he was the only one I got to bring home when I checked out!).  For a walk down memory lane... here is a video of us finding out that Nathan was a boy.  We had my perinatologist put the pictures in an envelope and we opened the envelope at a party with some friends.  On the phone on a conference call were friends and family who couldn't be at the party.  It was great fun to have the "gender reveal" be a fun event with everyone. (for those of you who are reading this post in your email and not on the blog, you'll have to click here to go to the blog posting to see the video)

And here's our little burrito

Age one

Age two

Age three

Age four

And the fifth birthday party...

Because it's just not enough to feed the kids cake... I had to make a "candy" cake

Happy birthday, my dear sweet boy.  I love your boundless energy, your love for life, your love for others (including your brothers), your love for God, and your snuggles.

31 for 21... Only 10% go to church?

Okay, I don't know what % of American children attend church.  So I don't know exactly how significant the following statistic is: Only 10% of families with children with special needs attend church.  Why?

There could be many explanations for this statistic.  In some cases, it's probably the family's choice (not "religious," or whatever).  But I'm inclined to believe that the number would be higher if it weren't so hard.

Exactly what's "hard" about going to church?  Have YOU tried to lug your child's wheelchair in and out of the car all day long?  Have YOU had to check the levels in your child's O2 tank to make sure you can make it a few more hours before changing it out?  Have YOU had to mix formula (only available by prescription via mail order) on the road?  Have YOU had to get a child out the door who doesn't want to go somewhere because he's going to be ridiculed for the way he walks/talks/eats (or doesn't)?  Have YOU had to worry about how a nursery worker is going to deal with a feeding pump attached to your child?

Enter Sunday.  A day of rest.  A day to refuel.  And if you're a Christian, a day to worship.  Is it any wonder that families with kids who are differently-abled don't want the hassle of hauling everyone out of the house to go to church?  Especially if it is even more of a hassle when they GET to church.

We are blessed!!!  We attend a church that has a very strong ministry to individuals with disabilities.  When we moved to MN last fall, we had been encouraged to head to two churches, both within 10 minutes of our house.  The first one we visited is where we had enrolled Nathan in preschool.  We headed for visitor parking.  Someone directed our car to a parking spot.  She used a walkie talkie to have someone come to the door to meet us and walk us to the childcare area.  The director of early childhood called in the director of the disability ministry and conversed with the pod leader for toddlers to determine the appropriate room for Micah.  It would have been really easy to just put him in the infants room with Matthew because they were both not walking at that time.

But I appreciate that they weren't interested in "easy."  They were interested in Micah.

So Micah was put in a toddler room (granted, with mostly new walkers so none of them could run over him).  But he stayed there all year as those children became runners.  And he can crawl about as fast as they run now. :-)

But my point is that they had Micah's growth in mind.  And so it is this fall as well.  As we approached "move up Sunday" (when the children move up a grade in Sunday school), I spent some time talking with the directors of early childhood and disability ministries again about how best to teach Micah this year.  There is a super sweet woman who had volunteered in Micah's toddler room last year who asked if she could move up with Micah.  She has now been trained by the disability ministry and she is Micah's Sunday school helper.  She is with him in the 2-year-old classroom during second service every week.  It's much more structured than the toddler room and it's very good for him to be with his peers.

We made the decision to have Micah go to a toddler classroom during third service (when we're in Sunday school) because I just didn't think he could handle two services without down time.  I was planning on picking him up between services and moving him to the other classroom.  But the sweet directors decided it would be a better transition for Micah if he didn't see us between services so Suzy is moving him to the other classroom for us.

All of this is possible because of people who have a heart to serve.  Sadly, not every church is like ours.  So to my friends out there who attend churches who don't have a disability ministry, my question is, "Why not?"  And what can you do to serve the body of Christ through serving families who might find attending church to be more of a burden than a joy?  Take a look at Jill's blog to read some other stories, not as pleasant as ours.

31 for 21... Pregnancy book online

http://downsyndromepregnancy.org/

This is a FABULOUS resource for families who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. The information these lovely individuals have assembled is extensive. And it's wonderful to have it all in one place.

When we were expecting Micah, I spent a lot of time Googling and asking questions on chat boards. Now women who have a prenatal diagnosis can find answers to tons of their questions. They can feel empowered to go to their doctors with (often) more knowledge than their doctors learned in medical school about Down syndrome.

Thank you, contributors, for serving "our community."

31 for 21... Holland is a pretty cool place

Have you read the short story, "Welcome to Holland," by Emily Perl Kingsley?  She wrote it in 1987.  She has a son with Down syndrome.  And she's a writer for Sesame Street.  I cried and cried when I first read this story when I was pregnant with Micah.


WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by Emily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved


I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.


After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."


"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."


But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.


The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.


So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.


It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.


But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."


And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.


But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.




My only "beef" with the story now is the second to last line: "And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss."  No, the pain might not ever go away.  But it definitely doesn't hurt as much anymore.  My latest inspiration from it is this: wouldn't it be great to give tulips to anyone you know who has found out that their child has "special needs?"  Okay, more on THAT later too... don't we ALL have special needs?

31 for 21... a result of the Kennedy-Brownback bill

Two years after the Kennedy-Brownback bill passed, there is now a booklet going to print that will be given to women when they receive a prenatal diagnosis that their baby has Down syndrome.  Unfortunately, the information that has been presented to women in recent years has largely been outdated and has filled women and families with fear about raising a child with Down syndrome.  My hope is that this new booklet will give women and their families more accurate information.

Here's the press release from NDSS.  I'd like to share more, but I'm getting a nasty cold and I must sleep.

But... going forward... does anyone have any questions about Down syndrome (or Micah, specifically) that you would like to ask?  It's Down syndrome awareness month, after all, and I'd really like to share what you want to hear.

31 for 21... our new family

When you get a diagnosis that your child has Down syndrome, whether you receive that diagnosis prenatally (as we did), at the hospital, or after your child has gone home, you *usually* go through some sort of grieving process.  Why?  Because Down syndrome is horrible?  No.  But let's face it... we all have dreams in our minds about what our family will look like.  We might not count on our child becoming President of the United States, a world-renowned cellist, or a CEO.  But we believe that anything is possible for our "perfect" child.  So when we hear that our child is not "perfect" (by the world's standards), we tend to grieve.

I certainly did.  Should you feel inclined, you can go back to those months leading up to Micah's birth to find out bits of ways in which I grieved.  I received a VERY informed piece of advice from a friend during that time.  Andrea advised me not to waste time grieving the little things, like "Micah won't be able to ride a bike when he's five."  As she said, there's time to grieve that later... like when he's five... because I'll probably grieve it then anyway, regardless of whether I grieved it before he was born.  Andrea is a member of my "parents of kids with special needs" family.  There's a subset to that group, and it's my "moms of kids with Down syndrome" family.

Frankly, it's a family I never expected nor wanted.  I was pretty content living in my little "Christian moms of typical kids" family.  But I LOVE my DS family (yes, I know that's not "people first language," but give me a bit of grace here, k?).  I've met some amazing people, all because Micah has Down syndrome.  For example... we went back to WI for the first annual DS awareness walk in the Fox Cities last weekend (see pictures from Saturday's post).  The night before the walk, there was a small event at which Rachel Coleman (Signing Time) shared a bit of her journey.  At the event, I was able to spend some time with some women who have helped me A LOT during the past 3 years since we received Micah' diagnosis.  Meeting some of their children before Micah was born took some of the fear away.

Anyway... here are some photos of some members of our new family.

L to R: Jennifer, Sherry, Debbie, Melanie, Danielle, yours truly

L to R: Sherry, Maria, me, Melanie, Rachel Coleman, Mary, Michelle, Danielle, Debbie

Melanie (our vision-casting walk coordinator) and Rachel Coleman

Melanie and Rachel signing "elk" (if you were to sign "deer," your thumbs would be touching your head... for "elk" your hands are not touching your head)

Anyway... I'm grateful for all of you, my friends of little ones with designer genes.  You bless me beyond words.  I feel privileged to walk this journey with you.  And if you haven't been to a national conference yet, please consider attending next year in San Antonio.  I was blown away in Orlando at NDSC.  I kept thinking, "Wow.  I've never seen a group of parents more passionate about their children." (to those of you not in the "parents of kids with special needs" family, please don't take offense... it's just that when you have to advocate DAILY for your child, that passion you have for your child tends to grow).

31 for 21... Tired

I drove two of the boys home to MN today. Matthew rode with my mom and threw up his lunch en route. Mark is in Chicago at a family wedding (congratulations, Kim and John!) and he will be there for business until Thursday night. Please pray that Matthew doesn't get the yuckies that Micah had.

Micah was much more himself today. I wish he had been more perky at the walk on Saturday, but I'm glad he's feeling better today. Back to therapies you go, little dude. It's too early for these two-week breaks!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

31 for 21... awareness walk

Wow, what a day.  Today was the first Down Syndrome Awareness Walk in Neenah, WI, and we chose to go back home to the Fox Cities and visit Mark's parents and invite our friends and family to join us on the walk.  I don't know the final numbers, but there were 800 people registered before the event and they were expecting about 1,000 people.  Fabulous turnout for the first year!

We are so grateful to everyone who contributed to our team.  The fundraisers for Micah's Mavericks raised a total of over $1,000 for Down syndrome awareness in the Fox Cities.

The walk coordinator, Melanie Baeten, deserves HUGE kudos (and a nice vacation).  There were many doubters around her, but she had vision and made it happen (along with many other awesome volunteers).

We had lots of friends join us to walk (over 40!!!).  Pictured below is our incredible Melissa, who started helping our family about a month after Micah came home from the NICU.  She was a nursing student at the time.  She has such a peaceful presence about her and she helped keep me sane during Micah's first year and beyond.  She has since graduated and now works at the NICU where both Micah and Matthew "did time."  Melissa brought her mom, boyfriend, sister, and her sister's family (including her 6-month-old godson). 

Here is Melissa (in the white jacket), along with her family and Mark's dad on the left.

Here's our team photo, and it didn't even include all of our walkers as 3 families arrived shortly after we took the photo.

Self-advocate, Eric Edwards, spoke before the walk.  He's amazing.  How many people do YOU know who have worked in the same job for 20 years.  People wait longer in his checkout line at the market because he is such a joy.

Here's Micah meeting Rachel Coleman (founder and hostess of Signing Time... more on that later) before the walk.  He was really tired and slightly confused.  He was also quite distressed because there had just been a lot of clapping.  Micah has "auditory defensiveness."  More on that later too.

Here we go... let's walk!  By the way... it was FREEZING!  The temperature was *maybe* 49 degrees and there was a hefty wind.

Did I mention Micah was tired?  I carried him for almost a mile before Mark took over.  I'll be sore tomorrow!

Nathan and his best girl, Gracie.  Can you tell he was cold?  My little Georgia peach was wearing two long-sleeve shirts (one with a hood), a jacket, a hat, and sunglasses.  I don't know how he could see!

Isn't this a lovely place for a walk?  Lake Winnebago is on the left.  Trivia for you for the day: Lake Winnebago is the largest fresh-water lake contained in one state in all of the United States.

Rachel Coleman, signing "Leah," who is Micah's favorite person on Signing Time.

Still quite traumatized...

This is Brian, holding Lilya and Ruby.  Lilya came home to her forever family, the Zoromski's, in July.

This little 3yr old was the sweetest girl I saw all day (and she had some SERIOUS competition).

Here is Micah with the younger Micah.  And our Micah is smiling.  Can you tell that the clapping and performing were finished?

Poor Rachel... it was so stinkin' cold, but she stuck around to meet every family who wanted to meet her.  Micah finally thought this was pretty neat.

Yes, we had to get Rachel a cheesehead.  Here she is, signing "Cheese!"

31 for 21... I'll give it a shot

Mark is going to flip when he finds out I'm even CONSIDERING blogging every day this month.  His question is going to be, "So what are you giving up?"  After much consideration, I've decided to give up checking others' Facebook status' this month in order to focus more on spreading awareness about this pesky and perky little extra 21st chromosome.


After all... it's Down Syndrome Awareness Month.  And it will be kicked off "live and in person" for us in WI tomorrow (10/2) when we do our awareness walk (it's in Neenah at Riverside Park).  Rachel Coleman of Signing Time will be doing a performance, which is very exciting for those of us whose ears hear, "It's signing time with Alex and Leah. Come and play," in our sleep.

Grab This Button

Last year I took questions about Down syndrome in general, or Micah in specifics.  I'll do the same this year.  So fire away!  I'm happy to share.

On the "Micah in specifics" front... we spent one night in the hospital this week as he's gone over a week with a GI bug.  Given his immunology issues as well as his gut history, his pediatrician determined it was in his best interest to spend a night inpatient for fluids.  Little did she know that the (wonderful) people in the ED at Children's would not be able to get an IV line into him (six tries... not fun).  They resorted to a finger prick to check electrolytes, CBC, etc., and then determine whether they had to pull out the big guns for the IV.  Eventually they decided to just give him high amounts of pedialite through his g-tube overnight and see if he tolerated it.  Fortunately, he did tolerate it and no IV was needed.  But it was a tedious overnight resulting in little sleep for anyone.

(Micah's illness somewhat explains why I haven't yet posted about Nathan's FIFTH BIRTHDAY. I will do that soon, but likely not until I can go through photos and that won't be until we're back in MN).

DS Awareness Walk - Fox Cities, WI

Wednesday, Sept. 22, is the last day you can register to walk with us in Neenah and get a t-shirt.  You can still register up to the date of the walk but you won't get a shirt.  We would love to have more people walking with Micah's Mavericks!  If you'd like to join us, click on the Donate button on the FirstGiving widget to the right here on the blog (from that link, you can join the team, with or without donating).  If you want to walk, please do let me know, even if you can't sign up online.  I'm working on making some hats for our team.

The same link can be used if you'd like to donate to our team, Micah's Mavericks.  After what our little guy went through back in April, we are continuously thankful that we are able to walk WITH Micah and not in his memory.  The money raised through this walk will go toward raising awareness and education in the local community.  The local organization provided us with our first information about Down syndrome.  It was given to us after we received Micah's prenatal diagnosis.

This is the first year there will be a walk in the Fox Cities (WI).  Though we no longer live there, we want to support that community and give back.  We're also thrilled that Rachel Coleman, hostess and creator of Signing Time, is doing a live performance.  Micah is completely addicted to Signing Time DVD's.  We haven't counted exactly, but he must know over 150 signs (ASL) thanks to Signing Time.

We set a fairly high goal for our team this year.  Can you help us meet it?


P.S. I promise to post some new photos soon.  And please pray for Micah as he is feeling rather crummy these days (lower GI and upper respiratory issues make for a very unhappy boy).

DownsEd conference in Atlanta

I had the great privilege of attending a DownsEd conference in Atlanta this week (Thur/Fri). They provided lots of great evidence-based practices regarding learning in children with Down syndrome.

There were 3 tracks from which you could choose: early years (birth-5), childhood, and speech. The speech track was primarily for SLP professionals. I went to the early years. There were 3 speakers that rotated between the rooms and the general sessions. I can't do hyperlinks when posting from my iPhone, so I'll share more info next week. Suffice it to say that I learned a lot of practical things to work on with Micah this year. And I met some Facebook and blogosphere friends! I've been given a two-day extension of my leave of absence so I will be returning home to my guys tomorrow evening. I'm hanging with some dear friends and having a great retreat.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

"I only have Down syndrome sometimes..."

Most of my readers who have a child with Down syndrome have likely seen this blog link already.  It's a FABULOUS reminder that our kids are not to be defined by this pesky and perky extra chromosome.

But we ALL can find some great encouragement through this post.  The root argument is that for those of us who are prone to over-parenting our children... don't.  And don't put them in a box based on a diagnosis... or a character trait... or birth order... or whatever.

I'm definitely not saying we should have a boundary-less parenting philosophy.  I think the key is having the wisdom to know when those boundary lines can be pushed out.

Thank you, Dave Hingsburger, for eavesdropping.  You shared something we ALL need to hear.

Orlando Photos - Miscellaneous

This looks says, "Smile? Are you kidding me? It's over 100 degrees out here!"

Yay!  We got to meet Laurie and Chase (and the rest of the fam too)

Some random hotel photos... Matthew in my sandals

and Micah being a cheeseball

I took this photo of a promo for I'm Down with You and look who was talking on his mobile phone on the side of the banner.  Yes, that's Chris Burke.  Don't know who he is?  He played the role of Corky in the series "Life Goes On."  Still don't know who he is?  Eek.  I'm old.  Or you're young.  Or weren't allowed to watch television back then.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers spoke on Sunday morning.  She was great!  My favorite quotes were, "I believe God sees us ALL as disabled," and "Happiness comes from purpose beyond self."  Oh, how true!  And how I wish I lived that out every day instead of spending too much time trying to find happiness for myself rather than trying to make others happy.

And I got to meet Kathy!  Kathy went through a journey similar to our Micah journey, almost exactly five years before us (prenatal diagnosis, duodenal atresia, AV Canal...).  She was a great encourager to me and it was such a joy to meet her (and her Kara) in person.

The next set of pictures is from the Orlando airport.  We decided to make one last attempt at a family photo since we didn't get one at the Magic Kingdom.

(please overlook Nathan's shirt... it lost a battle with chocolate ice cream)

Orlando Photos - Hollywood Studios

And just when you thought Nathan couldn't like a ride better than the Buzz Lightyear ride at Magic Kingdom, they go and put a 3-D Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios (it's like a moving arcade game... way cool!).  The waiting line for the ride felt like you were in Andy's room.  It was so fun.  We walked into the building and Nathan's face lit up and he said, "Wow!  We're in ANDY'S ROOM!!!"  This was definitely a time that we appreciated the "guest assistance pass" we received for Micah.  By the middle of the afternoon, the line for the Toy Story ride was 2 hours long.  Fast passes were gone by 1:00, I hear.  But we got to jump into the fast pass line with the guest assistance pass.  Keep in mind that the fast pass line still took 30 minutes!

Handy Manny was the only character we met after our Breakfast with Mickey a few days earlier.  Nathan made Handy Manny's day by telling him, "I just LOVE your show, Handy Manny!" (that's when Handy Manny clapped).  It was very cute.

I mentioned a few days ago when I posted pics of our day at Magic Kingdom that any time Matthew found water, the water found his bottom.  I don't have a picture of what happened five seconds after I took this picture.

But this is the result about three minutes later.  I just let him go to town in puddles for 15 minutes.  He had a blast!

Orlando Photos - Downtown Disney

So... after seeing those pictures, do you think Daddy caved and bought the boy a Winnie the Pooh?

I wasn't there, but it appeared they had a good time!  I spent that day in an in-depth physical therapy session for pre-walking and early walking skills.  I learned a TON from Patricia C. Winders.  She helped us with some ideas of what to do to encourage Micah's walking.  Micah is 2 1/2 and not walking, definitely in the lower quartile of kids with Down syndrome.  The encouraging thing is that what really matters is that the foundation is solid.  It doesn't matter WHEN he walks, just that he walks correctly.  He's getting there.

Quick Micah medical update

Micah saw his wonderful neurodevelopmental pediatrician, Dr. M, today.  She had some preliminary results from his immunology workup and his PSG (sleep study).  There were apparently a couple of things a bit "off" with his immunology labs, so it appears he might be in for another blood draw.  But I have yet to hear from the immunologist myself but all of the lab results were not back, so that's probably why she hasn't contacted me for a follow-up.

Micah's overnight oxygenation was very good, so it appears he does not have any apnea issues, praise God.  But as I mentioned the other day, Micah would have nothing to do with any electrodes on his head.  So we don't have any EEG readings.  The technician noted that Micah moaned and rolled a lot overnight, which is what he does at home.  Because we don't have the EEG stuff, we don't know whether he actually gets the deep sleep he needs overnight.  I'm waiting to hear back from ENT about what his plans are going forward.

Micah's height is now a concern.  He has only grown 1/2" since he first saw Dr. M last October.  So we get to add some more bloodwork (to check some growth hormones) and a visit to an endocrinologist (Micah also has hypothyroidism, fairly common with Down syndrome, so he probably needed to see an endocrinologist anyway).

We are probably going to add some private physical therapy to Micah's weekly regimen, not because I have any sort of opening in our schedule, but because he needs it.  He is 2 1/2 and not standing independently, let alone walking, and that is definitely "late" by today's standards for "our kids."  I've heard some parents say that the average age for walking is 3 years, but recent data does not show that to be true.

I'm so thankful that we have someone who has a holistic concern for Micah as it relates to Down syndrome.  We are blessed to have had an opportunity to get Micah in to see Dr. M when we first moved here.  She knows many specialists in the Twin Cities and knows which of them have a strong knowledge of "our kids."   Micah's medical issues are a bit more than the average kid with designer genes, so it has been especially helpful to have someone to help me coordinate his medical and therapy needs.  Micah's pediatrician is great too.  I've been impressed with how well Micah's doctors and therapists communicate with each other.

On a separate note, it was sort of an emotional day for me.  It was the first time we had seen Dr. M since Micah's toxic shock experience in April.  It brought back a lot of not-so-good memories.  I've tried to fill my mind today with thoughts of gratefulness that our sweet boy is still with us, rather than dwell on the horror of that experience.  But I even remember it every time I look at his toes.  Why toes?  Well, Micah lost all of his fingernails last month.  They broke off about halfway down the nail bed.  A few of them bled.  As you may know, toenails grow much more slowly than fingernails, so Micah is going to shed all his toenails soon too (he's already lost one... I'm not looking forward to the big toenails coming off, so I'm trying not to let him go barefoot very often in hopes of protecting the toenails).  Ugh.  Anyway... it was a rough morning, re-hashing some of the April events and the pending bloodwork, etc.

Then the memories came flooding back again this afternoon when Children's Hospital posted a link on Facebook to the now-completed renovation of the Emergency Department.  They featured the trauma room.  Curious?  Click here to see where Micah's life was saved.  Would you believe 13 medical professionals (and I) fit in that room?

On to more pleasant thoughts... For your viewing enjoyment, here is a video of Micah going a bit crazy over a toy in Dr. M's office (if you're reading this post in an email, you'll have to click through to my blog to see the video).

And some photos too