Miracles Do Happen!

Therapy Session #1

Well, we had our first session with JD, Siahna's therapist. He kind of freaked us out because after interacting with Siahna for 10 minutes we asked what his initial thoughts were. He said possibly autism but he would rule that out because she is interested in faces, is interested in him as a new person and doesn't seem to carry any of the classic symptoms of autism. Next was cerebral palsy. He was 90% sure that that was not her case but there is a form of cerebral palsy (spastic diplegia) that affects the upper motor neuron. This is something that he'll monitor as he continues her therapy but assured us that at this point is not something we need to think about. Thank you for freaking us out!

He also told us that part of the reason she may be tense all the time (arms back and hands by her face) could be due to her reflux. Since reflux affects the stomach area she could be reacting to some pain there and pulling back to relieve stress on her stomach/esophagus area. This is something we can only really work on from the outside - trying to get her to relax her arms on her own.

He spent about an hour and a half with us discussing Siahna's symptoms, the progress we've seen since her referral and his thoughts. He is pretty sure that this is something she can outgrow and overcome but will be delayed in all milestones pertaining to motor skills for quite awhile. For now we are to work with her on relaxing her upper body. Easier said than done! We are to work on getting her to cross her arms at center which she has done more of lately. We are to keep working on her tracking an object from one side to another so that she will look for toys that are beside her. He gave us a list of about 5 things to work on with her throughout this next week and in the weeks to come. He assured us that with our active involvement we will see her progress in leaps and bounds.

All that said, we still worry that this could be a delay that she has to deal with her whole life. We pray (and ask you to pray with us) that this is something she will overcome. In the meantime, we are having to teach her the things that most babies automatically do on their own (rolling, reaching, walking, etc.).

We do praise God each day still for the little improvements that she makes all on her own. That gives us hope and encouragement. A month ago she would never have been interested in a toy hanging from her carseat. Today she immediately reaches for it and plays with it. A month ago she was not happy sitting or laying for more than two minutes. Today we can put her in her saucer or play with her on the floor for extended periods of time. A month ago she was not sitting on her own. Today, we can prop a ball between her legs, pull her arms forward and she can balance herself and sit up. We do see progress and every little thing gives us hope.

Tricked

Case is quite the stinker. About a week ago Jeff and I were talking about the fact that Case needs to be 4 years and 40lbs. in order to move to a booster seat in the car. At the rate he's going, he's going to be closer to 5 years before that happens. Well, last night Case ate two pieces of pizza and then said he was going to go weigh himself and see how big he was. He came back and said he was 4lbs.
Me - "Are you sure it was only 4? That's smaller than Siahna. Did you mean 40?"
Case - "Yeah, I am 40 pounds."
Me - "Wow, you're getting so big. 40 pounds is super big." Meanwhile I thought he was just making up numbers and had no clue how big he was.
Case - "Since I'm 40 pounds now can you buy me a booster seat?"

Stinker. That was his goal in getting me to believe he was 40 pounds. So, we had to go in and reweigh and I pointed to where the 40 was and how he's not quite there. No booster seat yet.

Therapy

I finally got a call from the physical therapist today. He is coming on Thursday to observe Siahna and learn more about what she can and can't do and then he'll start the actual therapy next week. I'm excited to get this process started.

Stole The Show

This morning, we dedicated Siahna at church. We were blessed to have my parents, Jeff's mom, Shiloh, her new friend Josh, Collin & kids and my aunt Lisa and her family there with us to celebrate. I didn't see it, but apparently when the pastor took Siahna from Jeff to pray for her she gave a huge smile to the congregation and everyone laughed and aaahhh'd. She stole the show!

Yay!

I just had to share because I'm super excited. It looks like I may be flying to Omaha in a few weeks to have a girls weekend with some dear, dear girlfriends. Here's to hoping that Jeff's boss will be around that weekend to take Jeff's on-call responsibilities because Jeff will be tied up watching Case & Siahna.

On another note, I meet with my principal tomorrow to discuss next year. I'm hoping to go back full-time because this part-time business as a teacher is really not part-time. It's a pain. I'm out of the loop and always running around trying to get things done before I pick up the kids. Case loves his school and we've decided it's a great environment for our kids and they need that social interaction. Plus, they learn things there that I would never think to teach them if they were home with me all day. If full-time isn't a possibility, then I'll take a leave of absence for a year and hope that our numbers go up for the following year. I'll keep you posted. And, apparently, Jeff has these great vacations planned in the next five years that we could only afford if I was working. So, I guess I'll buckle down and take it upon myself to earn an income.

On another note...I'm pretty sure that March will probably be my last month selling/buying Pampered Chef. So, if you're interested in buying or hosting a party, let me know ASAP. :)

Update

We took Siahna to the eye doctor on Friday to see if her eyesight was playing a factor in her slow development. Turns out she has perfect eyesight. It's amazing how they can examine someone's eyes and know what their eyesight is without them talking. Sigh of relief. Kind of. We, of course, are so relieved that we don't have to deal with her eyes and face surgery or patches over her eyes. On the other hand, we kind of were hoping we could blame her delays on something. As of now, we're waiting for a therapist to contact us and they'll start coming to the house once a week to work with her.

The OT said they saw a 33% delay which puts her at a little past a 4 1/2 month level. The encouraging thing is that we've already seen lots of progress in her in recent weeks which gives me encouragement that she just needs a little push in the right direction and she'll be back on track in no time. She's started putting both of her hands together - like she's praying - which we've never seen her do before. At the eye dr. she actually reached out and grabbed a toy and held it with both hands - another thing we've never seen her do. Things like this give me great hope that she's on the right track.

What a Week

Wednesday night Siahna woke up around 130am with 101 fever. Jeff stayed home with her and took her to the dr. and found out she had her first ear infection. They started her on amoxicillin. Jeff & Case are both allergic to amoxicillin so we kept a close eye on her to see if she'd have a reaction as well. She got her first dose at 10am and around 230pm I started to notice that her checks were getting bright red but thought it was from her fever. I ran some errands and got home around 5 and knew that she was breaking out in hives. A rash was on her cheeks, under her chin and starting on her tummy. I took her back to the dr. before they closed for the night to have them confirm. The dr. tried to convince me that you can't have an allergic reaction the first time you take something. She said it must have been a new food we've given Siahna recently - no, she hasn't had any new foods. Well, it must be her formula. No, she's been on this formula since she was 3 months old. Then, it's probably the tylenol you've given her for her fever. No, she's taken this same bottle of tylenol before. Anyway, the dr. prescribed a new antibiotic. After two nights of little sleep and no naps during the day, she is finally getting back to her normal self and we are thankful.

Quote of the Day

Case - "Mommy, remember when you were boring? And do you remember when Siahna was boring? When you pushed her out of your tummy?"

The Little Things

I have come to realize over the past month that there are so many things we take for granted. Life, for example. Life is precious. I think Jeff & I have realized this more and more as we have been going through a challenging month with Siahna.

I have known for quite a while that her development has been off-track but it wasn't until her 6 month appointment that it all unraveled. Long story short, we are in the process of meeting with therapists to help her development and get her back on track. But, through it all, I have realized that I take so many little things for granted. I don't remember the first time Case laughed as a baby because he probably did it so often. With Siahna, we burst into tears when we hear her giggle in delight because it is rare to hear her laugh. With Case I never thought about how great it was that he could play with a toy or reach for a toy. With Siahna, it is a struggle to get her interested in the toy you're holding or to even get her to open her fist to put it in her hand. We praise our baby girl for being able to sit in her saucer for 5 minutes without screaming because that is a rarity.

So many little things and yet through it all, God is teaching me to praise him and trust him for every little thing. Who says, "Thank you Jesus that my baby is laughing." We do. "Thank you Jesus that my baby looks at me when I say her name." "Thank you Jesus that she has a great big brother who can make her laugh because no one else can." "Thank you Jesus that she wasn't the first born." "Thank you Jesus that she opened her mouth today when she saw her bottle and recognized it." THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE LITTLE THINGS.

Christmas Letter 2010

Merry Christmas! We hope that this Christmas has found you full of joy and thanksgiving. We are thankful from the bottom of our hearts for all of our blessings. Here’s a recap of our past year.

January

*I had my 20 week ultrasound and much to our surprise, we found out we were having a girl!

*Jeff had his wisdom teeth removed and recovered quite nicely.

February

*Case ventured out and had his first play date with his best friend, Ian. I think they will be life-long friends.

March

*I attended a Pampered Chef party and decided to become a consultant. It’s much cheaper to replace my kitchen equipment if I am selling it and making an income off of it!

*Jeff and I took a quick trip to Seattle to visit our dear friends, Jonas & Heather.

April

*Case took a Sibling Safari tour of the hospital to see where his baby sister would be born.

*I had my first three Pampered Chef shows.

May

*Case started a tumbling class and loved it. He even got to take grandma and grandpa Nichols and wore them out.

*I ended my 11^th year teaching.

June

*We had my two nephews over to spend the night and I went into labor. Wouldn’t you know! My sister was 45 minutes away. It was the middle of the night. We had to call a dear friend to come over at midnight to watch the three little boys and we took off for the hospital.

*Siahna Grace was born June 3 (10 days early, hence the cousins coming over for a sleep over) and has red hair just like her brother and the most beautiful blue eyes like her daddy.

*Case had surgery on a herniated bellybutton five days after Siahna was born and let me tell you, we never want to do that again! He was pulling out IV’s, screaming, and trying to get off his bed. It was the worst day for all of us.

*Case turned 3, June 22.

July

*We took our first family trip with Siahna to Glenwood Springs for the 4^th of July and spent a great weekend with family and friends.

August

*Jeff and I celebrated our 5^th anniversary.

*I began my 12^th year teaching, working part-time.

September

*Jeff celebrated a major birthday and we went to Vegas with four friends to celebrate. We also enjoyed three nights of uninterrupted sleep!

October

*The whole family came down with the flu, one after the other. It was a miserable week for all of us.

November

*We made two trips back to NE to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. That’s more than we do in a whole year.

*I decided to start training for a half marathon in May 2011. Crazy, I know!

December

*We had breakfast with Santa.

Love, Jeff, Shannon, Case & Siahna