Thank you to Julie for keeping the blog updated for us! The last few weeks have been crazy and we have felt bad bcz we couldn't keep in touch with everyone so it was a big help having the blog updated for us. Julie may continue to help post updates going forward as well because I am having problems typing; I'm down to typing w/ just my index finger on my left hand.

Joshua update: He gained 4oz this past week and now weighs 7lbs 4oz. He eats and poops non-stop now! =) We learned this past week that he has a hole in his heart. No one at the hospital mentioned it to us but it was in the cardiologist report to our pediatrician. The hope is that it will close on its own, but if it doesn't he will need surgery by age 5-6. We are learning about all of the medical issues children and adults w/ down syndrome are likely to face (i.e. 75% will suffer hearing loss at some point in their life). Joshua and I are now competing for the title of family member with the most medical bills! The little guy is gaining on me =) He is so cute and is really calm tempered. He definitely takes after Dad more than Mom!

Me update: I had a really hard time after the c-section. I couldn't stand, lift my head, or move my fingers on my right hand, all of which were pretty scary. Each day I recovered a bit more though and took my first steps w/ my walker four days after the surgery. I did fall again my first night home and was lucky I didn't reopen my incision. Within a week though I had regained all of my abilities prior to the surgery, with the exceptions of being able to shower and go to the bathroom on my own. Although these seem like big changes, I was barely able to do these things on my own prior to the c-section. I was hoping to regain my balance after having Joshua but that hasn't happened. The last two weeks have been really good though; I feel like it's the first time in probably 5-6 months that I haven't had changes in a two-week span. (Hopefully I didn't just jinx it!) I will be starting a drug trial in a couple of weeks and will post more on that as it gets closer, but I am more optimistic than I have been in months.

Thank you to all of you who have sent us well wishes via email, mail, phone calls and visits. It has meant a lot to us and we're sorry if we haven't been able to respond. I'll stop now because if I continue I'm liable to get sappy =)