Celebrating Inchstones: My softball star

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

My softball star

Gracie has just finished an great season of softball! She has always loved playing and has some natural talent that obviously doesn't come from me! When it came time to sign up for spring ball, she said she didn't want to play though. Being the good mom that I am, I signed her up anyway! Turns out she is glad I did!

This is Gracie's league team. Bless her heart, it seems like every season she is on a team that is in a building year. Most of these girls were new to softball and they only won a few games but they learned and improved soooo much! Next season is their season! I'm really proud of her team and coaches. Each girl just improved every game!

Her great coaches got the girls a trophy at their last game. Isn't that why you play ball, for the cool trophy?!

Gracie really improved this year. The week of her 8th birthday she hit her first home run. And she hit one nearly every game after that! She loved this and would grin from ear to ear. And don't think she needed the boost in confidence. She is quick to tell you that she is the best hitter, best fielder, fastest runner and she can jump tall buildings! And that goes for any sport! She is the best smack talker ever. Again, I don't know where she gets this! hehehehe

Near the end of the season we got word that she made the All Star team! She was so excited. The only problem was the regular season wasn't over yet. That'd mean double practices and double games. Plus Cade plays and Anna and Asa have activities. We had to decline for my sanity. But just after the season ended, the coach called back to see if Gracie could play. And she has loved it!

Yes, I painted my van! Barry and Anna didn't get the "G-softball". It should look like "Go Gracie Go". Oh, well.

Her team came in 3rd in the district, not making it to the state tournament. I'm proud that Gracie learned and held her own with these girls who are older than her.

It was a blast but I don't think any of us are too sad that the season is over!

Don't worry though, Cade's All Star tournament starts July 15th so we aren't completely away from the ball field for another few weeks!

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Asa's story

Asa is the 4th and youngest in this family. We thought he'd come into this world and our lives would flow right along as it had the other 3 times we brought babies into this world.

We were wrong! After a normal pregnancy and delivery, Asa had to be sent to the NICU because he wasn't sucking, blood sugar dropping, floppy muscles, exaggerated startle reflex and jaundice.

He stayed 5 days were he learned to suck and eat enough to come home. He began nursing well but would scream in pain 30 minutes after each feeding. He had so much mucus and drooled so much. He had a terrible rash on his face. He wasn't making eye contact and was not hitting any milestones.

I kept taking him to the pediatrician but got nowhere until his 2 month checkup when he had only gained one pound since birth. That earned him an appt with a pediatric GI and a change to Neocate formula. Odd gasping spells and eye rolling got him into a pediatric neurologist before the GI appt. The neurologist (he was actually the head of the pediatric neurology dept) personally walked us over to the GI clinic and sat us in an exam room. That kinda makes you worry! That is when we really got the ball rolling. Asa was 3 months old.

At 4 months he was admitted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. He stayed 8 days and had a NG tube inserted so we could feed him directly into his stomach. He kept this for 2 months. Also during this time he had an EEG, CT scan, MRI, upper GI endoscopy with biopsy, flex sig, numerous blood tests, a genetics consult, and an ophthalmology consult and many other pokes and prods! So began our relationship with specialist!!

After 2 months on the NG tube, we removed it and tried to get Asa to eat enough to gain weight. He did OK for a little while but by 9 months old, he was fighting each feeding and not gaining weight despite being on Neocate formula at 30cal/oz. The decision was made to have a G-tube put in. The G-tube is a feeding tube that is inserted directly into Asa's belly. He can eat orally but won't so he gets feed into his belly.

Since he was going to have to be sedated for the surgery, it was agreed he should have a muscle biopsy at the same time. By 9 months he had finally began making eye contact. He smiled some but not very social. He was still very hypotonic (floppy) and didn't even have head control. Something was obviously going on with his muscles. All of his brain scans had been normal.

In Nov. 2008, when Asa was 13 months old, we found out the results of the muscle biopsy. Yes, it took 3+ months to get all of the results! He was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy. He is deficient in Complex IV for all of you medical junkies out there.

What this means is that his cells can't make enough energy to fuel his body....specifically for him, his muscles and GI system, that we know of. If his body has to burn energy to fight off infection, or a stress, then he looses energy in another system. Mito is a progressive disease with no treatment or cure. We try to keep him as healthy and happy as possible. We use the feeding tube to keep him feed so he doesn't have to struggle there. He takes numerous supplements and vitamins in the hope that they will keep him cells healthier. We check his eyes, hearing, heart, kidneys, liver, brain and lots of blood work yearly. Mito can affect any system so it is important to have baseline and watch for changes. He has a GI, neuro, geneticist, optometrist, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, developmental ped, regular ped and a mito specialist.

He gets OT, PT, speech/feeding and a home teacher weekly. He has some sensory issues with touch, sound, taste and texture. This plays into almost all areas of our lives! He is still very hypotonic but gained head control at just over a year (right after we started supplements!). He learned to sit when placed in a sitting position at 18 months. He still can't get into sitting alone. He learned to bottom scoot at just over 2. He does not crawl or walk.

He knows the signs for "moma", "daddy", "more" and "all done". He can show them when prompted but we are still waiting for him to initiate. He waves "bye-bye" and points all the time now. He loves to take a bath and water in general. He has a contagious laugh and can flash the most flirty grin ever!

We learned, with Asa, not take the small things for granted. Each smile, sound, word, bite or even trouble!! You just never know when they might not be so easy to come by or even if you'll have them at all!