I am very happy to announce that Karter is now smiling A LOT more!! She was smiling quite a bit before her surgery but somehow lost it, but it is back! She is by no means smiling all the time but she is smiling a lot more everyday. God is awesome, a smile from my girls shows me this daily!
So we finally were able to get our test results back in to determine which type of Downs Syndrome Karter has been diagnosed with for medical intentions. If you missed our previous post there are basically two types, the famila and non-famila. The famila type can happen if one of the parents has some type of glitch in one of their chromosomes and leads to greater chances of having another child with this syndrome, while the non-famila type is basically just a complete random act. According to their test Karter has the non-famila kind, this to me just signifies God's great plan for us. We are one of the lowest chances and also one of the youngest couples to have a child with Downs syndrome. There is no medical rhyme or reason for it, it just happened.
It always shocks me daily on how at ease I have become with telling people about Karter. Sometimes I even forget to mention that she has Downs syndrome, and I think that this is in large part because I sometimes completely forget myself . She to me is my sweet Karter Bear. I am not going to lie though and say that I do not have "those" days. To put it in other terms I feel as if I am slowly making my way up to the top of the mountain with our new life. There are always a few rocks that fall, and some slips here and there but for the main part I can almost see the peak. Karter's appearance is now showing more facial attributes of a Downs baby. Her physical capabilities are also starting to prevail with some key signs. She is making good strides in the right direction, in large part to her physical & occupational therapy. At the tender age of four months she is not able to hold her head up or even attempt to be seated up with just the reassurance of our hands behind her back. She is still very floppy and these tasks are very hard for her right now. It is sometimes hard to watch her struggle so much to do what should be very natural by now. She is a good fighter though! She has now learned how to keep her hands together for a better part of the day, before she use to just let them hang out to the side. With her new found skill she has mastered two things. She can for one suck her thumb perfectly, and now she is also able to ripe out her oxygen. This has kept me very busy and has lead me to keep tape around me at all times for a quick repair! I am glad though that she is finally showing her little rebel personality.
So it finally happened. Last night Addison finally had a two year old moment and swatted poor Karter on the head. I had give Miss Karter a beaded necklace to play with, and apparently it belonged to Addison. So after discovering that Karter had the necklace Addison tried to take it away from her. Karter had a pretty good grip on the necklace and did not let go when Addison tugged which lead to a small pop from Addison to Karter on the head. After a moment of complete shock I gave Addison a "tap" of her own, and the put her in time out. Upon completing her time out sentence she came back over and gave baby Karter a sweet kiss, hug, and an apology. It was sweet to see that she actually had some remorse over the situation. I knew it was only a matter of time before something like this happened I just was hoping that it would be later rather than sooner. Other than this instance though Addison is very loving to "her" baby. By the way Karter was very tough during this incident and did not even cry, she just looked shocked herself!
All in all we are set to have a great weekend. We will be finishing up a garage sale with my mom tomorrow and then we plan on having a nice family day together. Karter is scheduled to go back to the cardiologist on Monday so I am going to try and rest up till then. Addison also has her first dentist visit earlier that day so it is going to be a long day!! We are still keeping our fingers crossed that Karter does not have to have a NG tube (feeding tube) put in on Monday. Although she gained an ounce or two this week they would have liked for her to gain more. She is eating really well but she is burning her calories a little too fast. So we will see, I know this too shall pass!
Love & God Bless,
The McHams'
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