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| Baby in a Box |
Reyna is making strides in her development. Last month we started her on a little exercise called Baby in a Box, its to help her learn to sit up and also for arm strength. What has happened is because she has low muscle tone she isn't very strong in her arms or core. Her legs and back on the other hand are very strong. We are doing everything we can to help remind her that her arms are there to help stop her body when she starts falling while sitting. On Friday May 4th, Reyna's Occupational Therapist Terrye came over to see how she was doing. She was doing such a good job in the box that she was upgraded to Baby In a Corner. As much as I love Dirty Dancing we had to do it. We put Reyna in the Corner and she is doing so well. I think she will have graduated out of the corner in about a month. We are still working on her arm strength. The reason that is so important is so that she can start crawling and then eventually walking. She is tucking her legs under her bottom and pushing with her feet on the ground but her chest and arms are still touching the floor and don't move. I feel like we are crazy for encouraging and helping her gain muscle strength so she can learn how to crawl. I know when she finally is able to do it we will be kicking ourselves. Right now we are only having to run after Omar and soon its going to be both of them in opposite directions.
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| Exercises with her occupational therapist (OT) Terrye |
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| Baby in a Corner |
Reyna also had her 9 month check-up where we were a little disappointed in her weight gain, only 2 ounces in 3 months. She has plateaued and I think its because she likes the instant gratification bottle feeding gives her,so when she is nursing she doesn't eat long enough to get the hind milk which is full of fat to help them chunk up. So we are now having to supplement with formula after she nurses. She doesn't mind and is doing great with formula, with the exception of having really stinky diapers. We have also started Reyna on solids, she gets all excited when we put her in her bouncy chair and take away her mobile because she knows food is coming. So we have a check-up again in 6 weeks and hopefully she has gained weight and we don't have to doing anything else.
Her cardiology appointment today went wonderful. To recap, her one week Echo showed that she had 2 ASD's (holes in the divider between her right and left atrium). At this Echo, "she only has one teeny tiny hole" as quoted from her cardiologist Dr. Wright, the other ASD closed on its own. So now we just see him at 2 years old to make sure that teeny tiny hole has closed. Even though having an ASD doesn't cause too many problems for people, its great to know that her's are closing and that she doesn't need any interventions.
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| kisses for mommy |
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| our happy little ladybug |
So what is next for our little family, well we have our hotel, airline and convention fees for the National Down Syndrome Convention in Washington, D.C. this July. We are so excited not only to network with other families but also to sight-see in the nations capitol. If you have ever been there please let us know places we must see and eat at. Then right after that our little ladybug is turning one. I can't believe that in a little more than 2 months she will be a year old, where has the time gone. She has come so far and we are so proud of her.
Ta-ta for now, we will have more info soon.
