Redefining Perfect

Angel had her go-round with the Developmental Pediatrician on Monday. Avoiding discussion of the horror of a day surrounding said appointment, I’ll get right into the actual facts and (lack of) diagnosis!

The short of it – we may never know what causes our little one to struggle.  It may be that she was born so early, or just a quirk in her brain that makes her crooked physically and mentally. 

However, that won’t stop us from a) looking for a cause and b) getting her all the help she needs.

To that end, the Ped did see her unevenness in her gait (we walked and/or ran down a long hall to display), and tone.  She again listened and heard all I had to say on everything we’ve been through the past couple of years with her.  She gave advice and took a good look over her, just as she had with Riley.

Her solutions here were a little more complex, but not by much.

1. We are doing an MRI on her brain.  Taking a good hard look to be sure that there is nothing specific or noteworthy that could have caused this.

2. We are doing a full-run genetic test. AFter a pre-approval by her dual insurance plans, of course. 

Why are we doing these?  Because the ped recognized that almost as much as we want to learn the HOW’s of Angel’s issues…we also would like to know WHY’s.  She said that while it is likely just her early birth date, we should exhaust the remaining bit of question.

And onto the HOW’s…

1. Restarting Speech Therapy
2. Restarting Occupational Therapy
3. Having a psychological exam done to determine need for Behavioral Therapy
4. Returning to the Feeding specialist for  monthly visits
5. Restarting Physical Therapy

All of this will be done at Riley Hospital, and all should be covered by insurance (if not primary, then secondary) as part of her diagnosed issues.  Thank goodness for Indiana’s wonderful Special Needs insurance (now if only we could get Riley qualified for it *sigh*)…it has saved us more than I can ever say.

And that is where we stand now.  Therapy, therapy…and more therapy.  I’ll be doing a bit more traveling once it all gets started…but if it helps, it’s all worth it.

I’m in heaven today…Molly said MOMMY!!!! This is huge huge huge for us!! Neither of my girls says Mommy on a regular basis (we’re all about Daddy in this house)…and Molly has NEVER said it!! I was very excited to hear it Now I’m a proud Mama!!

More stuffs coming soon, later today…It’s time to get the little brats out of bed!

Yesterday I promised updates of another Molly accomplishment, and here it is…

Wednesday I took the girls into the bedroom where DH was watching a movie. They were playing on the bed, climbing all over him and me…just have a grand old time.

While playing, I often play ‘word games’ with the girls, trying to get them to repeat the sounds. K is always game, copying to the best of her abilities. So somehow that night we ended up saying “Up, Down.” I think K had said ‘happy’, and it sounded similar to up/down, so I went with it. Anyway, I start saying “Up, Down. Up, Down.” K is copying it…and suddenly I take note of Molly.

She’s standing up, and sitting down. Standing up, sitting down. She KNOWS what Up/Down means!!! Thinking it was a fluke, we moved on…and then started again…and she started doing it again! Up, down, up down…Then she started jumping to get us to say it faster!!!

We always suspected (pretty much knew) there was more knowledge in her head than she could express…to see it evidenced in action is HUGE!!! Big day!! We’re very happy

My girls are like night and day with their disabilities. K’s weaknesses are M’s strengths, and vice versa. So, despite the fact that 9 years ago I had a son that developed “normally”…it always surprises me when one of the girls does something developmentally sound. Yesterday was one of those days.

I was sitting on the couch while the girls played when K struggled her way up onto the couch, crawled up to me and pointed to my pajamas. “Kitty-cat.” I blinked and looked down in surprise, had she just said kitty-cat? So I repeated it and said, “Yes, that’s a kitty cat.” (they were all over my shirt). A few seconds later it was repeated, “Kitty-cat.” Yup, out of nowhere and with no previous prompting from me, she said kitty cat!!

I think she learned the word from her speech therapist, who has a puzzle with a cat in it. But to translate it from the puzzle (with a blue cat) to my shirt just amazed me!!

In other news both girl are walking around saying “NO WAY!!” It’s the most adorable thing right now…because they aren’t using it appropriately *lol* Give it time.