Infant Massage Session!

Douglas loves playing with Alayna!
Alayna smiling at Douglas! She loves watching him. It must be the "littleness" she relates to.

Today, two developmental therapists who are trained in infant massage came to our house to begin training me how to do massage on Alayna. The benefits for both the baby and the parents are amazing. I guess that this technique is used in India daily and in many other countries. Some of the things it can help improve are weight gain, sleep patterns, muscle tone, encourage midline orientation and sensory awareness, and enhance neurological development. So I'm fully committed. Anything that will help Alayna out I'm devoted 100%.

The session went well. They stayed an hour and we covered legs, feet and lower abdomen. Our next session is next Tuesday and we will cover arms and hands and possibly get to face, head, and back. A natural, unscented oil is used to create heat and it allows your strokes to move more freely. They show me on a baby doll and I'm the only one massaging Alayna. The massage use a combination of Indian and Swedish strokes. I definitely learned a lot and don't we all love a massage. Alayna seemed to enjoy it and she responded to certain strokes more than others. It's supposed to improve bonding and hopefully I will recognize what she likes best by reading her body language. I admit I was hesitant about the whole thing at first, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone with a new baby. Douglas was the only other one here at the time and he played well outside. I promised him a massage later and he agreed! We'll see if he remembers. Right now he's napping and he wants to make cookies and lick the beaters after nap. What I won't do for a few moments of peace and quiet around here!

I put Alayna in the exercise saucer today and put a big blanket around her for support. She did quite well and we will be utilizing this position more often. I'd like to get her off of the back of her head more. She is flattening out nicely...not really what we want! She was really chatting with me after her 1:00pm bottle. I have all the hope that her verbal skills will be okay. She will have an ABR hearing test in August at OSF in Peoria. We go the same day for another vision check. It will be challenging though. They will not sedate any baby younger than 6 months. So, basically we will be trying sleep deprivation and keep her up as much as possible that day so she will hopefully sleep through the test. They allow 2 hours for the test, hoping to get a moment when the babies are asleep.

People comment to me about my strength through all of this. I'll tell you what, I'm just like all of you. I have my moments of real weakness and my emotional times where I just cry. It happened to me today in the van. How is it that music can so easily trigger feelings? I realize that our situation is not what I planned and I never expected myself to have to do these kinds of "things" and keep certain "appointments." And many days I'm overwhelmed, but I can't give up or quit. Alayna keeps me going. But, the biggest thing that keeps me going and gives me strength is the good Lord above. Knowing that he is right here with me every step of the way and that he loves me is my ultimate strength. He is my hope and I pray ALOT! And remember, God answers our prayers. Have a great day!