PT Progress

I completely forgot to mention Sophia's PT appt this past Friday. The first thing B said was "wow, she's looking really good!" She'd doing really well holding her head at midline, but does need some added endurance to hold it there for longer periods of time. We'll continue to work on that, as well as continue to strengthen her left neck muscle.

Sophie was having NO part of PT. We really didn't get much accomplished. She was a crank-meister, and cried everytime B or I attempted to put her into a stretching position. The good news is we don't have to go back until July 25. B said as long as we continue to do her excercises there's no need to come in so frequently. I hate to admit it but we HAVE been slacking in that department. It's not that it's hard, it's just not routine to remember to do them. Inevitably, I will have already picked her up from the changing table when I remember the excercises. Nine times out of ten I'll put her back down and do them, but sometimes not. Dan is the same way. So, I feel like we got off easy, but vow to keep it up like we should.

Oh, and PSA about the Jumparoo. Dan mentioned to B that we have one (and that Sophie loves it). She cringed at the mention of it, so of course I probed for more info. She said that alot of times parents will come in when there kid is learning to walk, and report issues with them wanting to bounce, not walk. According to her, it's a result of the jumparoo. I told her we didn't leave her in for hours at a time. Her primary concern was that Sophie is getting enough opportunity to stand outside of the Jumparoo. She said the excersaucer is completely fine, and I also showed her how she stands while holding on to me, which was totally acceptable.


And for your viewing pleasure, here's our first glimpse of her teeth. She is very guarded about her mouth right now, so this pic is actually a still shot of a video I took of her giggling:)

Torticollis update

arePhew. This has been the week of dr appts. Yesterday was Sophia's PT appt--ok, so not a dr really, but whatever.
Her neck rotation to the right is MUCH improved. Her tilt to the left still needs alot of work, although it's better. PT gave us some alternatives to the excercise that she's been fighting so hopefully that will help. We also have a new excercise called "head righting." Basically, we have to position her on our lap (or excercise ball) and tilt her whole body to the right, which automatically makes her head correct to the left (or "right" itself). We do this 3x per day, 10-15 times each, or until she is obviously tired.

I also mentioned that she seems to use her left hand most of the time. PT said that that is also a sx of torticollis, b/c of the way the head is rotated/tilted. Basically, she SEES her left hand more , and it's easier for her to track her left hand. So, we will start working to encourage her to use her right hand more. This is, thankfully, fairly simple. When we're holding her, we can just hold down/pin (sounds more harsh than it is) her left arm to her side or behind her a bit, which will force her to use her right arm. Also, we have to encourage her to lift her right arm over her head. This is a bit trickier, but can be done with the help of toys. Last night, for example, I held her links above her head, to her right, and held down her left arm. Worked like a charm:)

So, we get to work on these new excercises and go back to PT next Friday. She did mention that we really have to keep at this. She said so many times parents see their child getting "fixed" and start to taper off/completely stop the excercises. She made it clear that what we are fixing CAN be "undone" so we have to keep it up.

I asked about the flat spot on her head and PT said it's better, so I feel good about that. I've done all I can possibly do to get her off of her back. We mentioned that we are about to put her Bumbo away (for size reasons mostly), and PT said "no, she's done with the Bumbo." She was adament. She said that it's only to be used to assist with learning how to sit, and since she can do that now, we don't need nor should we use the Bumbo. Another piece of baby gear bights the dust...

Next stop, 6 month pedi appt today...

Physical Therapist

Can I just say that I love the physical therapist? I liked the one last time too, but this one really got down and played with her. Last visit was mostly evaluation so maybe that's why there was a difference. Anyhoo...the PT (Nicole) is very pregnant, with a cute little skinny stick body and a big bump. I think this is the first time I've seen a pregnant woman and not felt jealousy, not a hint of it. Don't get me wrong, seeing her made me *want* to be pregnant again, but not jealous because she was pregnant and I'm not. I think that's progress.

Sophia spent at least 15 minutes on her tummy. Nicole probably thought we were nuts b/c Dan and I had just told her how she HATES tummy time. She taught us a "pull to sit" excercise that we'll be doing also. She said SOphie is doing great with grabbing her toes, which means her abs are strengthening nicely. She taught us a "game" of putting a link or two on Sophie's toes and encouraging her to grab at them.

I got the courage to ask about the flat spot. She said it was very mimimal and at this time not cause for any concern. Phew.

Our to do list:
1. keep doing the excercises after each diaper change
2. as much tummy time as she'll tolerate
3. encouraging her to sit, which she loves
4. holding her in certain positions that encourage her to look right

We go back in 3 weeks, and then 2 weeks after that.

"tortellini" neck confirmed

We had our visit with the physical therapist yesterday and they confirmed Dr. R's dx of congenital muscular torticollis. They also reiterated what I had discovered, that there is a connection b/t hip dysplasia and torticollis. So, go figure our pretty girl would get the double whammy:(

http://www.torticolliskids.org/

PT gave us two excercises to do with her, recommended at each diaper change, ~5-6 times a day. We have to hold the pose for 30 seconds, so really it's just about 5 minutes of PT per day, for now. We also have to work up to 1 hour of tummy time. Good grief, that will be like pulling teeth. It doesn't have to happen all at once, but over the course of 24 hours, at least 1 hour has to be spent lying on her tummy. We also have to position her in ways that will allow lengthening and strengthening of the neck muscles. The advice at this link was almost word for word what PT suggested. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Treat-Muscular-Torticollis-Naturally

We were told if we do everything they ask of us, the issue should correct itself in about 6 months.

Overall, they said hers is very minor and rated it a "5." They've seen as bad as "40" so that made me feel better. They also mentioned a VERY minor flat spot on her head. I freaked about this a little, but didn't say anything. I've always feared the helmets:(

Oh, and they busted our proud parent bubble by saying that she DOESN'T roll from back to belly. Since she can't get her arm out of the way, https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKn7dRVCgbtiB2TkTOR7KcHo9WgQ4J2Pm2HrYlrE-8vY0LM1QNbZe35ew8U_FYxz9XqM8RevXDX17dBrDxGWrsFApCiqkYUipPPDi2JHU8hRW14T0SxwkjAdmW-TsiI-OTdkusDj6TQ-U/s1600/IMG_0745.JPGit's not considered a roll. Oh well.