Cora's Baptism

We had Cora's Baptism this weekend. It was really nice. After church we had a small luncheon with immediate family at a local catering place. The food was great and everything went well.

Last week, I had some pics taken in her dress. The dress is the same dress that all my sisters and I wore. In fact, Colin wore the same dress 15 years ago for his baptism.

We also had a friend who is a freelance photographer take pictures yesterday - I will post those when I get them.

But, here are a few shots from last week

I am thankful

Yes, I know - Thanksgiving was yesterday. But, for me, it is more fitting that I post this blog post today.

Today is November 27th. This day last year is when I had loss number 4. It was an unmedicated cycle, which I could not believe. I was pregnant after over 2 years of trying. Pregnant on my own. At this point, positive pregnancy tests really did not mean that much to me anymore. I had had 3 losses up to that point, and I was almost not believing that it could be possible.

It is at this point that we had already started the fost/adopt process. In fact, we had just finished our PRIDE classes just a few days before.

While we were excited to start our family through fost/adopt, the thought of being pregnant on my own was just wonderful. Of course that feeling was short lived and I can honestly say it was a really low point in my life. Loss number 4. 4th loss in 8 months. 4th of 5 losses in 2008. How could things be so unfair.

BUT - it is because of those losses that I have what I have today. I have a beautiful family, one I would not have if I did not have loss after loss. Yes, I would have had a baby - maybe even another one by now. But, I would not have Lil J, or Cora. It is THEM that makes my family what it is today, one year later.

On Nov 27 of 2008, I would never have thought that I would have yet another loss, or would have a great 3 yr old, or that I would EVER have Cora.

So many things have changed in my life since last year. I am so grateful for my family and I am so very thankful for them. They are my world.

My cute girl

I am a blogger slacker - sorry. Anyway, we have been putting Cora under this playmat thing for weeks. She would usually just stare at the things and kick her legs.

But, now she is actually grabbing stuff and trying to actually kick the things. She makes herself smile and kinda giggle.

She is also starting to babble TONS. Just thought I would share. It is not exciting, sorry.

Cora is 2 Months!

Sorry, this is a little late.  But, Cora turned 2 months on Friday.  We went to the docs today and she is a chunker!  She gained 4.5 pounds and grew 2.5 inches.

She is now 11 pounds 7 oz and is 22.5 inches long.

Here are some pics from her 2 month "photo shoot"

I guess someone is watching LOL

Make sure your sound is all the way up, the sound is not that great.

This is what we just heard on Lil J's monitor. You can hear us laughing in the background - too funny :)

Cora - 1-7 Weeks

Got some good news yesterday

Lil J's case worker has changed yet again. this is number 3 since march.

Short Story:
Spoke to new CW, she will recommend adoption at the 10 month review!

Long Story:
I spoke to the new worker yesterday and went over some of the case details. There has been a lot going on with his mom and wanted to make sure we were on the same page.

In our state, each case has to be reviewed at the 10 month mark and it the actual plan for the child must be on record. Lil J has been in care since Feb (with us since march) so, 10 months would be Dec.

In our state, there could be 3 possible plans indicated:

1 - reunification. After this review, the child would make the transition to go back home. In this case, it is CLEAR that the bio parent(s) have done everything they can and followed all the rules, etc, etc, and there is no question that the child would be best if returned.

2 - concurrent planning. In this case, bios may have done some of their things, but still need more time to do everything. the caseworker may be unsure if the child will be returned to the bios.

3 - Adoption. this can be the plan for several reasons. If the bios have done nothing and basically abandoned their child (have not visited and have not contacted caseworkers). the bios could be doing a very small part of their court order and the worker feels a though they will not do anything (or enough) to get the kids back. There can be changes in the case that make reunification difficult. The caseworker is pretty sure that the kids will not go back

But, just because adoption is "declared', it does not mean that the bios still can't work their plan. but they would have to do a lot in a short amt of time. time lines get extended all the time.

Well - the 10 months is in December and his case worker is going to recommend adoption. His mom has not only NOT been following her court order at all (except for visits), but she has gotten herself into additional legal trouble (pretty bad stuff) . All of these things kinda only point in one way.

The caseworker explained this to his mom, told her that adoption was going to be her recommendation, etc, etc. the mom seemed indifferent about it. She also has been down this road 2x before, so it is not like she does not know how the system works.

So, yay for us! The CW had to confirm that we are interested in adopting him. Because if we weren't then after the review, he would be moved to a pre-adoptive home. Of course it will still be a very long while. But, we are excited (for us) that things might go towards adoption.

I do feel bad for his mom, she has some really serious issues in her life, issues that are never good for anyone.

We have H1N1 in our house :(

Lil J is SOO sick. He woke up this morning with a 104.5 fever and a bad cough. We threw him in the tub and gave him motrin.

This was at 6:45 this morning. The doc does not open until 9am.

He was bad, he had the shakes, and was barking like a dog. He has very loose stools yesterday, but I thought that was from all the treats from halloween.

Well, Cora gets up at 8am and she is hot too! I unwrapped her from her swaddle, and changed and fed her. After a half hour, she was still hot to me. I took her temp - it was 100.3. And, the doctor's is still not open :(

the doc finally opens and I call and tell them what is going on. They had me come in around noon - but only to check on Lil J. Said that Cora's fever is not really a fever until 100.4.

We went in and by this time it was a few hours after the motrin. I did not want to give him more before the recommended dosage chart without seeing the doc first.

Well, when they took his temp, it was already back up to 102.5. It had gone down a little in the am (not lower than 100 though). He looked horrible. Bloodshot eyes, red ears, and his little voice saying "mommy, i don't feel well" over and over again.

The doc came in and said, "Wow, Someone is not feeling well"

Well, the combination of the super high fever, the shakes, the cough, the loose stool, the sore thoat, he determined that he has probable H1N1.

The office does not do any type of test, because the treatment is the same. Since we do not have a full medical history and because we have a newborn at home, he decided that he should be treated with TamiFlu. We also have to continue with the motrin.

Well, while we were there, they took Cora's temp. Before they did, the doc said that anything over 100.4 needs to be addressed asap - probably at the hospital!!!!!

This got me so nervous! So, they took her temp ----- and it was 100.5 OMG!!!! I am starting to freak out. In the next 30-60 seconds, they take it a few times. It was 99.9, 100.3, 100.1.

so, because it was just that one random reading they are not doing anything. I have to watch her (like a hawk!!!) and if she has temps over 100.4 for more than an hour I have to call - no matter what time of day or night.

We get home and Lil J is just miserable. He looks so sick, and you can really tell that he is because he is quiet (lol). He is sleeping on the floor in the living room because he still has a high fever. we gave motrin again at 6:30 and his temp was 103.5 at that point. He went back in the tub and even after that it was only down to 102.5. It has been going down a teeny bit each hour.

So sad - he keeps waking up crying for me.

So far, Cora has not had any fever, although she feels really hot.

We are in for a long night.