Huge Relief, I Think...

Today I had my annual dermatologist appointment which I have been quietly stressing over for months now. I was convinced I had melanoma or at least some bad moles that needed to be removed.


I had the whole gang with me which was another stresser to say the least because when I walked into the office which was terribly dated, there were 20 other people cramped in this tiny room and no seats left- great! My appointment was at 12:30 and Harper takes a nap at 1:30 so she was already started to act up a little bit and there was no room to act up! To my surprise my good friend Ginger who is a PA at an office near by popped in and saved the day! It was her lunch break so she offered to take the girls while I had my appointment-thank you Ginger!! Huge life saver! Of course Bennett had to eat right when the doctor came in but he (Bennett) waited patiently after I got about an ounce in him. The doctor said that none of my many moles looked suspicious but he would like me to come back in 6 months due to my history. I said "Really, are you sure, what about this one or this one" He just laughed and said to just be careful and watch for any new or changing moles. Thank you Lord!!


Of course I'm now thinking, was he really a good dermatologist? Maybe he missed something. I mean I feel like all my moles look like the ones they warn you about! But I guess I should relax now but seriously a day has not gone by that I haven't thought- yep, it's melanoma.

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On another note, Bennett had his first OT (occupational therapy) session yesterday and it went well. She didn't do much except ask me lots of questions and observe his eating. She did hold him for a while and talked so sweetly to him. She couldn't get over how cute he was, naturally:)

You know, ever since I found out about Bennett and started blogging and reading other blogs about DS I've learned the lingo and how it's better to say a baby or child or individual with DS rather than a Down's baby or a Down syndrome baby. She, however referred to children with DS as Down's kids or Down's babies and it kind of bothered me but then she spoke so sweetly to Bennett and you could tell she really felt he was cute and lovable and I thought to myself, she's not trying to be mean in any way by calling him a Down's baby, she just doesn't know about the whole people first before the condition, many people don't. And it made me realize maybe I shouldn't take things so personally. This woman is here to help my child and she obviously has a love for all children if this is her profession so if she says it incorrectly do I really need to correct her? Of course every time I asked her a question regarding babies with DS I said it correctly hoping she'd pick up on it.

I also liked the fact that she didn't try to compare Bennett to any other 6 week old. She never said oh, he's not holding his head up like he should or by 6 weeks most babies are doing this or that. She said he was doing great and babies with DS can and will do everything other children do just at their own pace and it may be at a typical pace for some things or it may take longer for some things. She also said I can do many of the exercises while doing daily activities like while changing his diaper or while holding him so it doesn't have to be this overwhelming pressure to have "therapy time" every day. She comes again next week so hopefully I will get more exercises to work on.

Bennett is definitely trying to coo and add to the noise around here. He's making all sorts of little faces and I'm pretty sure he's smiling every once in a while. He's starting to find his hands and his newest trick is to pull his paci out which can be annoying because then he starts crying. Still sleeping soundly from about 8pm-7am with a "dream feed" around 10:30 pm. He really is an easy baby. He weighed 9lbs 13 ounces last night! I'm hoping to be able to call the cardiologist next week maybe to get us scheduled for surgery. I can't believe he will be 7 weeks on Friday!