my goodness, i could go for a BIG glass of wine

So I'm 17 weeks pregnant. Yesterday, I had an appointment with the high-risk doctor. Ultrasound looked good. He came in and started looking at the baby's heart. Slow motion. Look again. Slow motion. You get the picture. He told me that in 4 weeks when I come back, they'll do another US and an EKG on the baby. I asked him if that was a "normal" test they did and he said that with diabetes being involved - yes. They do an EKG around 20-24 weeks on the baby's heart just to make sure everything's fine. I'm going to trust this guy and try not to give it a second thought, other than it's just normal procedure. Cletus is measuring right on track (17 weeks) and is about 1/2 a pound now. I've lost a total of 11 lbs since 8 weeks pregnant, and he didn't seem concerned, so I'm not going to be, either.

Last weekend, we all had the flu. All. Of. Us. All 4 of us. Stuck in this house together, puking and shitting our brains out. I'm not kidding when I say I was puking every 30 minutes for the first 4-5 hours, and shitting in between. Try doing that AND taking care of 2 kids who have the same thing. Not fun. We all slept out in the living room - kids on the floor with towels and me on the couch, wide awake every time one of them moved. Dietrich slept in the bedroom because he didn't start with all the yuckies until around midnight. Today's Thursday and we're just now getting back on track here. Thank god. Whatever it was - sucked major ass.

Holden finished his 2nd week of therapy today. He's now in ST and OT twice week (30 minutes each), so 2 hours total. I'm learning some techniques to do with him at home and he seems to be responding much better this week than last. I guess it takes some getting used to at his age. He's using the sign for "more" all the time now. Although, he uses it more for "I want", instead of just "more". He's also making much better eye contact, which is a good thing. I really think when he starts talking (hopefully soon), he'll be a much happier little boy. Right now, he gets extremely frustrated when he can't communicate what he wants.

I'm doing much better this week. I think the being sick thing was a blessing in disguise. I remember thinking, while we were all feeling near death, that we're incredibly lucky to have our health. Yes, this autism "thing" blows, but, overall - it could be much much worse. My kids are healthy and happy, and even though they may have some challenges to overcome - don't we all? Also, Dietrich's friend at work was telling him about his 9 year old nephew. He started having "fits" of vomitting and shaking - kind of like a seizure, and they found a cyst in his brain. I just. Wow. My heart goes out to his family. I know there's no cure for autism and I know that it's something we'll live with forever. But, with hard work and dedication - I think Holden can overcome this and continue to be the happy little boy that he is now.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'll be crying tomorrow. About something. Some days are good, some are bad, and some are just plain hormonal.