For the past week, though, he’s woken up wet every morning, regardless of any of the other measures. We can’t increase his medicine because he’s already at the max. And, short of me setting my alarm and waking him every couple of hours, I’m not sure what else can be done. I’ve been contemplating talking to his doctor and seeing if we shouldn’t do some sort of physical measure of his bladder. In other words, I’ve been wondering if we should do an x-ray or something like that to see if it’s smaller than normal. I don’t know that anything can be done if it is, but maybe there is something that I’m missing, like a way to grow his bladder and make it bigger (not sure that can be done, but it’s worth looking into).

I really feel bad for the kid. His self-esteem isn’t very high to begin with and I can always see just how dejected he is when he wakes up in the morning wet. He’ll cry and tell me he’s sorry, as if there is something he can do about it. I reassure him that it’s ok and that it’s not his fault. But short of a breakthrough where he stops wetting the bed for good, I’m not sure what else to do for him. I’ve considered putting him back in pull-ups for bed time, but I don’t think that will help him at all (other than he won’t wake up wet). I think when Alex finally stopped wetting the bed and had his plastic mattress taken off, it hit Zach pretty hard. Nothing really seems to console him. I know he’s getting to the age (just a month away from turning 9) where friends will start wanting to sleep over, or want him to sleep over and I worry that it will still be too soon for Zach. I don’t want him to be embarrassed by it because it’s not anything he can help. But I’m running out of options to help him. I realize that with each year older he gets, the probability of him growing out of the problem increases. It’s just really frustrating to not see that kind of progress, or in our case, to see it, embrace it, then see regression.

Anyone else had this problem and have any suggestions that we can try? Please keep in mind the monitor is NOT an option for us because of dh’s work schedule.

I went back to campus yesterday to turn in some necessary paperwork to fix something that should have been fixed a long time ago. I found out last week during my winter session class that I’m being counted as an out-of-state student for tuition purposes, despite the fact that I’m getting a state grant that’s only available to residents! No one had bothered to tell me that I needed to fill out a residency affidavit prior to the fall semester. I paid 3 times what I should have in tuition for last fall and the winter term! Had I known, and had everything been squared away last summer, I would never have had to take out student loans.

So, I had to take the residency form to school to get notarized and turned in so they’ll change my status. I’ll get a massive refund this semester, too, because of that. That’s nice, but it still stinks that I wouldn’t have had to take out the loans I’m getting refunded to me in the first place. The only good part about that is that I was able to pay for my text books out of that refund. And because I’m taking a political philosophy class AND a politics in literature class this semester, there are a LOT of books! It’s nice to know I’ll have them all when the semester starts, though.

I’m off to get dinner and enjoy a movie with the hubster. Later!

We have been moving for the last week. Not far. In fact, right across the parking lot. We had been living in a 2 bedroom townhouse and have moved into a 3 bedroom. Mostly, through last week, we moved smaller stuff over; boxes, clothes, tv’s, etc. This last weekend, we moved the big stuff. After that move, I’d been having some pain and numbness in my right shoulder/arm. I thought for sure I’d pinched a nerve. So, I made an appointment to see a chiropractor yesterday morning. As it turns out, a pinched nerve is not what I have. He’s 99% sure I have Carpal Tunnel.

Talk about a shock to the system. I had no idea that was coming. My mom was Dx with that and actually had surgery in Dec of 2002 (though I didn’t know she had the surgery). She wasn’t at all surprised to hear that that’s what is wrong with me. At least it’s manageable. It’s likely I caught it early enough so as not to have to have the surgery, but I guess only time will tell for that.

Today is National Fright for Preemies Day. If you’ve read my blog at all, you probably know by now that we have 3 preemie children, 2 of whom were micro preemies. If you don’t know our story, here is the short version (search my blog for the full story. I’ve posted it before, though it’s been quite awhile):

Our twins were born at 27 weeks gestation, 13 weeks early. They spent only 6 weeks in the NICU out of the 12 they were projected. We were very fortunate on every front. Though they came dangerously close to needing a transfusion (and being diagnosed with TTTS, or twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome) we never had to go through that. They were jaundiced, had their eyes fused shut for the first two weeks of their lives, were on oxygen and in temperature controlled isolettes, couldn’t be held for the first 2 weeks of life, had sleep apnea, and several other “minor” problems. They are 8 and a half and to this day, have no lasting effects of their prematurity. Unless you count the fact that they are a bit short for their age. Then again, if you know me, you know I’m only 5 feet tall, so it isn’t a stretch to equate the two things together

Prematurity is the #1 killer of newborns and can lead to lifelong disabilities. What’s worse is the number has increased 31% since 1981. It can happen without warning and for no known reason, much as what happened to me. Though I had a uterine infection due to loosing my mucus plug around 25 weeks with the twins, our youngest was born 4 weeks early for no apparent reason. I was on an oral medication for a month prior to his birth because I had gone into early labor (that’s 8 weeks early…not as early as his brothers, but early enough). My doctor had no idea why. She conceded that some women just aren’t made to carry a baby full term. I suppose, at least with my youngest (who will be 7 next month), that that is the category into which I belong.

Though the March of Dimes has made great strides in developing things to help premature babies survive and live healthy lives, we still have a long way to go. Won’t you join me in this fight? If you’d like to help, you can donate to our family team in anticipation of the 2010 March for Babies in May. You can also head over to the March of Dimes website and join the fight.

My final project is a diversity project, where we are to chose children’s books to read that have something to do with diversity. This can be race, gender, disability, identity, family, culture, etc. Originally I had thought of doing something with ASD (Asperger’s Syndrome…a high functioning form of Autism that one of the twins has). But something struck me as I was going through book lists…perhaps I should simply do something on twins themselves. They often struggle with identity…at least it’s something I see in mine, being identical twins. I was very surprised by how many children’s books I found on the subject. I am looking very forward to seeing how this comes together.

The final for this class requires a creaticve project for this diversity project. Something like a story, or lesson plan or quilt. My first thought was to do a scrapbook. But I’d LOVE to do a “Day in the life” movie. I don’t know if that’s even possible, but I’m exploring the possibilities of that. I just think it would be a neat idea to follow the twins around for a day and then have them narrate the movie. Has anyone ever done something like this before? Any pointers?

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