Why I’m absolutely exhausted today

berries

Chickpea and I had a much-needed mother/daughter date yesterday. We joined some friends at Sweet Berry Farms for berry picking and a picnic.

The pros: Good time chatting on the road just us; a basket full of blackberries – more than we know what to do with.

The cons: 90+ degree weather while 37 weeks pregnant, in direct sun, with lots of bending down, heavy lifting, and swollen ankles.

We had a great time, but by the time we got home, I was so tired I was literally shaking. My feet were unrecognizable and I was dizzy with exhaustion.

Yeah, that’s the last time I pick blackberries at 8 months pregnant.

posted: 10 May 28
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comments: 1


A Plausible Answer

So awesome news…  Garbanzo failed his hearing test with flying colors.

charlie browns teacher

It was a total shock to us, since he can hear us and respond accordingly (not with words, but with responses in some form).  But apparently, his eardrums aren’t moving at all, and in studying the results of his test, the audiologist looks as though his hearing is basically “Charlie Brown teacher style.”  This explains a lot of his speech delay.

The ENT said that the correlation with muffled hearing and language all has to do with his specific age and developmental stage, where his language acquisition skills are at their peak.  If Chickpea was hearing this way at her age, it wouldn’t be as big a deal, since she’s already mastered language skills (and then some, in her case).  But the combination of him being at the age where one learns to talk, plus really muffled hearing, means that he’s not mimicking because…  well, he can’t hear anything to mimic.

The other piece of good news to this is that it looks like the main plausible cause of the hearing loss is nothing more than a serious backup of fluid in his ears.  The ENT guesses by the look of things, this fluid has been there at least six months, probably closer to a year.  It’s so built up that it’s making his eardrums not move at all.

So Garbanzo is getting tubes, which will immediately show results since that will drain his ears.  His speech should improve within two weeks of this surgery, should this be the cause of his speech delay.  He will get his hearing rechecked then, and the speech therapist will do a whole new evaluation on him.  We’ll know how to proceed from then on.

So we’re really excited!  It’s great to get a specific answer to Garbanzo’s rather serious speech delay, and to have a game plan that will hopefully give us some quick results.  He’ll probably still need speech therapy, since he’s pretty far behind, but once he can hear again, things will hopefully move forward instead of stagnant, as they have been.

Of course, we feel horribly that his hearing has been this bad for this long.  He’s such a laid-back, easy-going guy, he just doesn’t complain about anything.  We had no reason to think anything was up because, well, he was acting pretty much the same as he always does.  His hearing loss just coincidentally aligned right with when he should have started speaking.

Praise God!

p.s. – I went ahead and added back comments.  Not sure if I’ll leave it, but it’s there for now, should you be so inspired.

posted: 10 May 26
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comments: 10


5 going on 18

Earlier this week Chickpea and I had this conversation…

  • CHICK: What is it that Garbanzo’s called?  He’s not quite a baby but he’s not quite a kid either.
  • ME: You mean a toddler?
  • CHICK: Yes, a toddler.  Okay, so what is it that I’m called?  Where I’m not quite a kid but I’m not quite a grown-up either.
  • ME: Um…  (thinking)  Well, Chick, I’d say you’re still a kid.
  • CHICK: No no, I’m past that.  I mean when I’m older than a kid but not a grown-up.
  • ME: Lots of people would say that being a five-year-old means still being a kid.
  • CHICK: Well, don’t I look all grown-upish to you?  I really am growing up a lot.
  • ME: (hesitating, not sure how to answer without being offensive) … Yes, you do.
  • CHICK: (silence, obviously thinking)
  • ME: Chick, enjoy being a kid while you’re still a kid.  It goes by really quickly.
  • CHICK: Mom, how old will I be when I’m allowed to go to a store by myself?  Seven?

Lord, save me now from the pre-teen years.

posted: 10 May 24
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comments: 0


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