December 29, 2009

PT / OT Evaluation 12/29/09

We met with two therapists (PT & OT) through the California Children's Services Medical Therapy Unit (MTU) today over at Tucker school. I was a little nervous what there were going to say about Annabelle. Of course, I wanted them to be impressed with her and her strength (typical mom) but also wanted them to see her need for therapy knowing how critical it is for her development.




They were super impressed with her and thought she was adorable. They loved how strong she was and how well she held her head while lying on her belly. They loved that she endured and hour and a half evaluation with very minimal complaining but with lots of smiling and cooing. The PT was excited about Annabelle and her potential. She commented that Annabelle seemed very motivated to do all that they asked of her - she was reaching, grabbing, holding. She is recommending once a week to start and see how it goes from there. This will replace our current in-home PT we have on Thursday's (bummer, I know!). The OT didn't think Annabelle needed any right now but will reassess in a few months. I was very pleased with the therapists, the facility, the evaluation and their recommendations. This was a good start to a long relationship. The MTU will cover Annabelle's PT/OT and equipment needs until she is 21 so I am pleased it is starting off so well. As long as all of the paperwork (red tape) is signed off we will start on January 14th.

December 26, 2009

Playing with some of her new Christmas toys




Benjamin loves spending time with Annabelle. He is so cute with her. He always talks in a quite voice to her and he gives her a play-by-play of what he's doing and where he is going. I am confident they will have a very special bond. Yes, he's wearing a Snow White dress. WHat can I say, he's following in his brothers footsteps :-0

December 23, 2009

Dr. visit recap

Today I took Annabelle to see the pediatrician because she continues to spit it large volumes after every meal. The doctor and I are both concerned that it's reflux but are hoping it's mild and can be managed through positioning and increased burping after meals. She wrote us a prescription for Zantac to be used if we don't see a difference in 1 week.

She weighed 11 lbs 8 oz

December 22, 2009

December 16, 2009

Annabelle in her Bumbo Seat

We were so excited when we got the go ahead from the Orthopedist yesterday at clinic allowing Annabelle to start using her Bumbo seat. When the boys went down for their nap we decided to give it a try. She loved it! Check her out. As one friend put it "she seemed thrilled to be sitting up and enjoying the world on her own". Our little girl is getting SO big.


Whoo hoo this seat is super fun!

Today was a good day!

December 10, 2009

Loving her new hat

Too cute not to post.

This hat was made by Elizabeth - a friend from my mom's work, The Tall Mouse. If you've never been there you should check it out. http://tallmouse.com/

December 9, 2009

Annabelle with her BIG brother Jack

Jack has been begging me to hold his sister since she was born. I have to admit we were definitely to protective of her but keeping in mind that he is only 4 years old and she has had 4 surgeries I think it's a bit understandable.

When Jack woke up from his nap on this day (12/9) I was in a particularly good mood and Benjamin was still sleeping so I asked him if he wanted to hold her. I'm sure you can imagine his excitement after waiting 4 months. He was so gentle and sweet with her. His smile tells it all. She was actually happy as well, but for some reason I can not capture her beautiful smile on camera. She actually gets this face (see picture below) every time I pull out the camera - ugh!!! What to do?? We know that she is a happy, smiling baby so I guess you will just need to take our word for it.

If you would like to see a short video of Jack singing to her please click here.

December 8, 2009

More great PT pictures - 12/8/09

It seems that I get some of Annabelle's best pictures when she is at therapy. I guess that's because my hands are finally free :-)

Annabelle and her physical therapist Stacey work so good together. Stacey works with Annabelle every Tuesday focusing on her neck which was diagnosed with a mild case of Torticollis (surgery induced). Amazingly she can tolerate almost a full hour - quite impressive!


Stretching that neck







Annabelle is such a happy baby even after 45 minutes of "exercise"

December 2, 2009

Meeting Santa for the first time



She quickly became an old pro just like her big brothers

December 1, 2009

The preliminary results are in!

It was pretty bad. Actually worse that I expected, but it's over! I need to get ready for Annabelle physical therapy today at 2pm but I wanted to pass along the preliminary results. They indicated that there was NO REFLUX dected!! Yeah, I couldn't have been happier. I was still pretty shook up by the whole experience and Annabelle was hysterical (no joke) so I still have some unanswered questions. I was told that the official report will be written and sent to the SB be clinic and her Neurologist. I am just so very grateful that no reflux was found and will continue to pray that it stays that way.

I will write more about the "experience" later tonight so to document our first VCUG.

VCUG Today

Children's (Pediatric) Voiding Cystourethrogram

Annabelle is having this test done today at 10:30. Please keep us in your prayers that all goes well and the the results indicate NO reflux. I will update once we have results.

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=voidcysto