It Was A Crazy Week!

Alayna really enjoys her 1 hour a day with the helmet off!
Her grin is becoming more "toothy." She is cutting another one on the bottom and about 4 on the top!

This position right here is actually a "reflex" that we need to try and break up. I can't say I completely understand babies development quite like the therapists do, but I've learned that the position she is holding is common for babies who have delays. I think that these reflexes aren't too bad, but they do somewhat get in the way of doing other things like rolling, grasping, etc.
Alayna has really taken to this frog she got for her birthday from Bella and Uncle Ron. If you squeeze its foot it "ribbetts" and she loves it! I think she enjoys its big eyes too!
Today, Dana and I got to attend one of Alayna's therapy sessions at Comprehensive Rehab in Muscatine. This is Kelly, one of Alayna's OT's. She was one of my students my first year of teaching!
Kelly really knows her stuff. Here she is stretching her arms up and then back down.

Sitting is a big issue for Alayna. In the beginning, she would get fatigued so easily, but Kelly has definitely seen a difference with that over the past few months. We have too! Alayna is getting so much better with her head control and when you pull her to a sitting position, her head doesn't lag behind as much and she can keep her head up for a longer amount of time. It used to drop within seconds.
Alayna has a few reflexes that seem to inhibit her completing a task like rolling over. As you can see, her arm gets stuck and that is because she isn't getting her arm up before she rolls over. And she prefers to roll to one side compared to the other. But this is improving too!
Practicing sitting some more! Kelly pulled her up from a laying position to a sitting position a minimum of 5 times and she was still holding her head pretty good by the end.
Hi mom! I guess I'll give you a look! We are so proud of you Alayna! She is doing a really good job of bringing her hands together at mid-line and keeping them together. She's beginning to enjoy playing with her hands and fingers. Hopefully grabbing objects and toys will be a milestone right around the corner.
Alayna likes to roll to her right side over her left. So this is a picture of the PT using a blue peanut to block her on the right and force her to go to the left. She will go to the left if that is the only option.

Hi everyone! Sorry for being behind on posts. This past week was very hectic. Alayna had been battling a cold since her birthday and last Sunday she would barely eat and she was extremely fussy and wheezing in her chest. She's the kind of kid that never cries and she cried a lot that night. She slept next to me and I got fearful that we were going to be heading to Iowa City. Alayna was very sick and I knew it and I took off work on Monday. I was up at the Pediatric Group walk-in clinic by 7:00 am that morning, but unfortunately her pediatrician doesn't work Monday's in the clinic. We had to see a different doctor that is unfamiliar to her diagnosis and she wasn't given anything but an oral steriod and we were directed to continue albuterol treatments. It's very difficult to see other doctors because they just don't know Alayna's history and no matter how hard I try to express my concerns and fears, it just isn't enough sometimes. I felt like I was repeating the visit we had prior to Iowa City.

Dana took her in the next day to see her pediatrician and she ended up having an ear infection and enough junk in the lungs to put her on an antibiotic. I don't know what was different from the day before? We continued breathing treatments every hour alternating water and albuterol. We even took the step as to calling the Pulmonary doctors in Iowa City to see if they could see her that day. They were swamped though. So, this week has been long with lots of interrupted sleep. I am beginning to think I have a newborn baby again. And I'm sure you understand that posting was just not the top priority this week.

But, I can say that she is doing much better. She is still a bit rattly in the chest and back, but she has some strong coughs now to help get rid of it. We got to her therapy session today and she did wonderful. I've seen so much improvement since Christmas time. I learn something new every time too.

Alayna also goes to the CTC tomorrow with Grandpa Denny and on Friday she has her 1 year check-up. I'll let you know how both of those go later this week.

She continues to make us smile each day. She just has this adorableness about her that we can't get enough of. We are so proud of how she is progressing. I still have the ultimate faith that she will get "there" someday, it'll just take a little more time.