Happy New Year everyone! This year has had a busy kick-off so far. Allow me to bring you up to speed...
In preparation for going back to work we took Madison for some visits to the daycare she is attending. For the first one I stayed along with her, but for the second I left her with her one-on-one caregiver Jen and went to hang out up in the daycare staff room. For an hour and a half I worked on all the paperwork that one must complete when your child is attending a provincially licensed daycare (and I didn't get it all finished either!). She got along wonderfully without me by her side, no issues at all! We did one last test when I dropped her off for a full morning, and as we expected, she did fine then too!
Last week I started back to work so Maddi has been to daycare for three full days which all went well! She hasn't quite got used to a napping routine there yet but I am sure that will happen soon. She seems to love playing with all the kids and she doesn't even notice when I leaver her! On Tuesday this week Maddi's PT Michelle will be making a visit to the daycare to work with her one-on-one caregiver Jen and teach her about the therapy Maddi needs on a daily basis, and how to help her play and move so that she continues to develop as she should and doesn't compensate for her deficiencies in mobility in ways that will be harming.
Aside from daycare, mom and I took Madison to Saskatoon last Monday to see an Opthamologist. I had noticed since she was born that she seemed to have one eye that turned in. Her pediatrician noticed it as well and felt that it should be looked at. Thankfully though, in the time that passed since he made the referral several months ago, the problem seemed to have corrected itself. The Opthamologist did not notice that anything was wrong so that was a relief. The only downside to the day was that for two and a half hours we were "forgotten" in the waiting room. Maddi was a trooper though and was able to make the time pass by making everyone smile. At one point after we had been there almost two hours already, she was looking around at the people sitting by us and as soon as one would look at her she'd smile then look at the next person until they looked at her and so on. Then she started to tell everyone stories that must have been pretty funny because she would laugh and laugh, and then proceed to smile at everyone again. It was pretty entertaining!
While in Saskatoon we also made a stop at the Sk Abilities Council to get some adjustments to Maddi's AFOs (Ankle foot orthotics), and also at the KCC (Kinsmen Children's Centre). Since it wasn't a regular clinic day at KCC, we just had a little chat with the nurse coordinator to discuss a few questions I had, and then the PT Maddi sees up there had a look at her AFOs since having the adjustments. We also discussed standing frames and it was confirmed that Maddi would have a hip x-ray before her next Spina Bifida clinic on Feb 1 and if her Orthopedic Specialist is happy with how her hips look, she will order the standing frame so that we can get started in it right away!
This is truly exciting news. It seems like Maddi is hitting all of the developmental milestones, except being able to bear weight on her legs. This will be a huge step and is really the only way we can get her legs strengthened and ready to stand on her own. I am sooo very excited for her to experience the new perspective her stander will give her. She will finally be able to see eye-to-eye with her peers who for the most part have been standing for months. I am also relieved that she will start making progress again in terms of her development. I feel like things have been at a stand still for the past few months. She has really mastered the army crawl and rolling around to get to where she needs to go. I am ready to see more though and she is ready for a new challenge!
That's kind of where we are at now. Within the next 30 days Maddi will have another renal ultrasound, bloodwork, a hip x-ray, a trip to the Spina Bifida Clinic where she will see 8 different medical professionals from various disciplines, two visits at the daycare from her local PT Michelle, one year check ups with her pediatrician and her family doctor, and also her one year shots. Wow! We are going to be busy. With me being back to work I had to reassure my boss that it won't always be quite this crazy. Everything just seemed to land all at once!
I leave you now with some photos we took at Christmas:
Maddi with her cousin Preston on Christmas Eve. I tried so hard to get a good picture. I need to work on my camera skills! Luckily I received a new lens for Christmas so that will help!
In preparation for going back to work we took Madison for some visits to the daycare she is attending. For the first one I stayed along with her, but for the second I left her with her one-on-one caregiver Jen and went to hang out up in the daycare staff room. For an hour and a half I worked on all the paperwork that one must complete when your child is attending a provincially licensed daycare (and I didn't get it all finished either!). She got along wonderfully without me by her side, no issues at all! We did one last test when I dropped her off for a full morning, and as we expected, she did fine then too!
Last week I started back to work so Maddi has been to daycare for three full days which all went well! She hasn't quite got used to a napping routine there yet but I am sure that will happen soon. She seems to love playing with all the kids and she doesn't even notice when I leaver her! On Tuesday this week Maddi's PT Michelle will be making a visit to the daycare to work with her one-on-one caregiver Jen and teach her about the therapy Maddi needs on a daily basis, and how to help her play and move so that she continues to develop as she should and doesn't compensate for her deficiencies in mobility in ways that will be harming.
Aside from daycare, mom and I took Madison to Saskatoon last Monday to see an Opthamologist. I had noticed since she was born that she seemed to have one eye that turned in. Her pediatrician noticed it as well and felt that it should be looked at. Thankfully though, in the time that passed since he made the referral several months ago, the problem seemed to have corrected itself. The Opthamologist did not notice that anything was wrong so that was a relief. The only downside to the day was that for two and a half hours we were "forgotten" in the waiting room. Maddi was a trooper though and was able to make the time pass by making everyone smile. At one point after we had been there almost two hours already, she was looking around at the people sitting by us and as soon as one would look at her she'd smile then look at the next person until they looked at her and so on. Then she started to tell everyone stories that must have been pretty funny because she would laugh and laugh, and then proceed to smile at everyone again. It was pretty entertaining!
While in Saskatoon we also made a stop at the Sk Abilities Council to get some adjustments to Maddi's AFOs (Ankle foot orthotics), and also at the KCC (Kinsmen Children's Centre). Since it wasn't a regular clinic day at KCC, we just had a little chat with the nurse coordinator to discuss a few questions I had, and then the PT Maddi sees up there had a look at her AFOs since having the adjustments. We also discussed standing frames and it was confirmed that Maddi would have a hip x-ray before her next Spina Bifida clinic on Feb 1 and if her Orthopedic Specialist is happy with how her hips look, she will order the standing frame so that we can get started in it right away!
This is truly exciting news. It seems like Maddi is hitting all of the developmental milestones, except being able to bear weight on her legs. This will be a huge step and is really the only way we can get her legs strengthened and ready to stand on her own. I am sooo very excited for her to experience the new perspective her stander will give her. She will finally be able to see eye-to-eye with her peers who for the most part have been standing for months. I am also relieved that she will start making progress again in terms of her development. I feel like things have been at a stand still for the past few months. She has really mastered the army crawl and rolling around to get to where she needs to go. I am ready to see more though and she is ready for a new challenge!
That's kind of where we are at now. Within the next 30 days Maddi will have another renal ultrasound, bloodwork, a hip x-ray, a trip to the Spina Bifida Clinic where she will see 8 different medical professionals from various disciplines, two visits at the daycare from her local PT Michelle, one year check ups with her pediatrician and her family doctor, and also her one year shots. Wow! We are going to be busy. With me being back to work I had to reassure my boss that it won't always be quite this crazy. Everything just seemed to land all at once!
I leave you now with some photos we took at Christmas:
Maddi with her cousin Preston on Christmas Eve. I tried so hard to get a good picture. I need to work on my camera skills! Luckily I received a new lens for Christmas so that will help!
Madison on Christmas morning:
I can't help but laugh when I look at this picture. For some reason she made this face non-stop for a couple of weeks around Christmas time!
