This weekend I had my 1st weekend “off” since Veronika was born. Tania from my mothers group from when Jordan was a baby(who will be celebrating his 9th birthday on Tuesday) invited me to her parents shack at Orford. We try to go once a year for a girls scrap booking weekend. We have been trying to get away since last year when I couldn’t go as Veronika was sick in Hospital. I went up Friday night after an early tea, and came home this afternoon. Saying it was great to get away is an understatement! It was so quite. The shack is by the beach, so watching the waves crashing on the beach, and listening to them while going to sleep brought back childhood memories of growing up in Lauderdale, listening to the waves of a night.

I managed to get more scrapbook pages completed than I thought I would, which is always a bonus! I was working on some of Veronika’s album, from just after her 1st Birthday to when she was around 20 months old. WOW has she grown. She was a little baby for a 39 week baby at 5lb 15oz. I still laugh when I think about how on her 1st Birthday I put away all her ‘000’ clothes, and on her 2nd Birthday I put away all her ‘0’ clothes. Looking back at the photos and the things she was doing to where she is today is just amazing. I remember talking with her Physio probably would of been around 3-4 months ago, about how everything “is just so slow”. I know learning new skills for Veronika is such a challenge, but over the last 8-9 months Veronika has just amazed me. She has progressed and met some pretty big milestones, one of which we thought she would never ever do, to crawl properly. Up on all 4’s. I guess that’s one of the reasons that I love to scrapbook, brings back the memories…..yes the good memories, and the lets call them challenging times too, the ones that make us stronger.

However all good things come to an end as they say, and tomorrow we are back to the usual….so we are off to meet Veronika’s new Physio, and the head Physio at St Giles and also we will be seeing her Occupational Therapist. Will be really interesting to see what her new Physio has to say….and see what her goals are for Veronika over the 6 months Veronika will be in her care, until her original Physio is back from long service leave. Wednesday we have Early Learning and after that we are off to Carers Tasmania to register Veronika for the Better Start Package. Thursday is a day I am surprisingly looking forward to. I was asked a couple of months ago if Veronika could be a long case study for the Australian Paediatrician Exams. We have done this the last 2 years and I always find it really interesting to see what questions they ask. As one physio said to me after last years exams, “I would love to be a fly on the wall in there, as they would come in and look at Veronika and think this will be easy, a little girl with Down Syndrome” but when then get started and realized there is more, actually much more to Veronika than her primary diagnosis you can see them get frazzled. But realistically that’s what its going to be like when they complete there studies…..

Just thought of another story to tell you. Last year when Veronika became really unwell and my GP took one look at her and called an ambulance, which got there really quick(our GP is in North Hobart). By the time we got to hospital Veronika was in severe respiratory distress and had a temperature of around 39.6 from memory. We were taken straight to resus where the Doctor was waiting to assess her. He asked for a fast medical history, while he was looking over her…..as he was listening to her chest he lost the colour in his face and asked if there was any other medical information I had forgotten to tell him…..ooppps sorry Veronika has an ASD(Atrial Septal Defect, her hole in her heart that was 19mm, so that’s pretty big!)…..the colour returned to his face as he said to me he was glad that I knew about that as he didn’t want to have to tell me that he heard a severe heart defect, especially when she was so unwell……wasn’t long after that they were drilling into her shin bone without an anaesethetic to get some fluids into her, as all her veins had collapsed. Something I never ever want to watch any child go through….it was horrific. It was actuall the 1st time since she was born that I actually thought we were going to loose her….

Anyway on a happier note Veronika is smashing it at the moment. She is getting stronger all the time. Her endurance has improved so much that she isn’t having a day sleep everday anymore. She is standing up at the couch straighter, instead of slouching forward. However I still am struggling getting her to keep her shoes and her foot orthotics on. She has figured out how to take her AFO off(her big foot orthotic on her left foot), something I will be discussing with the Physio tomorrow no doubt. Veronika is also signing more, and putting more signs together. A couple of weeks ago, we went into my work for a drink. Veronika ordered her usual, ‘coffee’ and a ‘biscuit’, (babycino and date scone). We were sharing the scone, when I went to eat some she signed “STOP” followed by “eating”…..then proceded to sign “more”. So yes I was compliant and stopped eating, and gave the rest to her, and the following day I was telling her teacher at ECIS that Veronika is now signing in sentences.