Busy Week

Last week was an extremely busy one, and it really took a toll on this mama. By Friday I had certainly reached the end of my rope and I was very thankful for the weekend once it arrived.

On Monday Lexi, Zachary and I made the trek to Wellesley to see Mr. Aaron, her orthotist. We enjoy visits with Mr. Aaron, although Gigi usually joins us for the trip so it means that I get a couple of relatively uninterrupted hours to talk to my mom (rare these days). Gigi wasn't available on this day, so we made the journey alone, and MAN is that a long drive. Mr. Aaron was pleased with the SMOs, but did give us a new stretch to start working on. I am glad for the stretch because I felt like the other one was too easy for Lexi to squirm out of...this one just seems more effective.

On Tuesday is was back down Rt. 95 to the Sports Spa with my dad. There we ran on this cool treadmill call the Alter G. You basically get zipped into this enormous space bag from the waist down which allows the machine to reduce your weight to up to 20% of your body weight. It's like running on the moon - very cool.

On Wednesday I had my 6 week follow up with Ruth. I was glad to see her, and she told me that things are healing nicely, but we're not there yet. That was no surprise to me, but I was glad to know that everything was normal. She was so excited to see how big Zachary has gotten, and was surprised to hear that he's already giving us 6-8 hour stretches just about every night. She said I must have good milk, which made me feel proud for some reason... :) It feels strange that I won't be back to see them for a whole year...I really love that practice so much, and I feel like they've all become close friends of mine. In the afternoon Ali came to visit, and I have to say that there is nothing better than having a girlfriend to come hang out with me. We went out for lunch and then ran some errands together, and it was just awesome.

On Thursday Zachary and I checked out a new Stroller Strides class down the street...well...I checked it out, Zach slept through the entire thing. It was an interesting class, though different from the Baby Boot Camp class I took after having Lexi. Mostly it's just nice having a group of moms all working out together. There's never a lack of conversation, and we all feel much better after working up a sweat and working out our frustrations. It's not easy to get exercise with a newborn in the middle of the winter, but it's so important...especially for me.

Friday was the busiest day of all... We had our "six month" (actually almost one full year) follow up with Dr. Raffalli, Lexi's neurologist. These appointment are always frustrating for me because Dr. R. is constantly pushing us to take Lexi for a repeat urodynamics test. If you don't remember the story about the original test that she had before her surgery, I'll just say that it was pure torture. Ahren usually allows me to make most of the medical decisions about the kids. We discuss them fully with each other, but he usually agrees with whatever I come up with, which is nice. This was the one medical issue that Ahren literally forbade me to go forward with. It was fine because I agreed with him, but he would not have allowed me to take her to repeat this unnecessary test - that's how horrific it was. Dr. R. seems upset that we flat out refused to take her for the test. It's designed to test whether or not the bladder is functioning, and since Lexi is fully potty trained we think that's pretty definitive. This appointment was no different from the rest, and I was pressured again to take her back for the test. In the end, my "punishment" was a threat to re-MRI her (which is fine with me) and send us back to Dr. Smith for a follow up to see what he thinks (also fine with me). So, now I'm just waiting to hear back from Dr. Raffalli once he has a chance to confer with Dr. Smith. I'm glad we have thorough doctors, but I truly feel that Dr. Raffalli is more focused on making the parents obey, than taking care of Lexi. He didn't even ask about her gross motor milestones until I just started telling him all the things she can do. I'm actually truly hoping that they will let us take her in for a repeat MRI and a visit with Dr. Smith. I feel like those two things will give me a better idea of where she is. He also recommended that we get her back into Physical Therapy, so that is my next agenda item...

It was a busy week, and it was hard for me to deal with the emotional aspect of Lexi's "issues" on top of the physical pain of some of my remaining issues. But, in the end I think it was good for me because it was hard, but I managed and made it through. What doesn't "kill" me, only makes me stronger.

Okay, off to see if I can console Zachary so that I can get a quick shower in before noon!