Physiotherapy

Last week I finally got a phone call from the BTHC physio dept. Madelyn was referred via her newborn follow up appointment in April. At that appointment I was shown how to do a few exercises to help Madelyn to learn to sit. She was sitting a few weeks later. But I was still anxiously awaiting the appointment with the physitherapist here to see what else we should be doing. So when they called last week Tuesday and asked if we could come the next morning I said we would be there.

Madelyn was is good spirits considering it was her nap time. The physiotherapist,Carla, was very friendly and Madelyn took to her nicely. We played on the floor and Carla assessed her well. I got a few more excersises to do with Madelyn that will help her crawl. She actually started crawling at the appointment. She had never done that yet, so I was very happy.

Since then, Madelyn is all over the place. She is not doing the proper technic of crawling on all fours, it is more like an army crawl with her tummy down on the floor. But we will continue to work on her core muscles, and help strengthen her shoulder gertal. Now I sound like a physiotherapist.

All in all, Madelyn is progressing nicely. Her muscle tone is weaker, but still in the normal range. And I am also happy about the fact that we also talked about her oral aversion, and next time I will get to talk to a OT, if Madelyn is still not eating with a spoon.

Newborn Follow-Up Appointment

The New Born Follow-Up program looks at all the babies that had a lengthy stay at the NICU and/or IMCN. Madelyn having been there for 35 days falls into this catagory. Her appointment was on Wednesday morning at 11. Carl contemplated not coming to this appointment since we didn't think it would really be a big deal. But since he has come to all the other appointments I think he was having some "Daddy Guilt" and decided that he might as well go. I was really glad he did. The appointment was long and very involved.

The appointment is well organized and they realize how babies like to work. Only one person is in the room at a time, the others involved in the exam observe from a one way mirror. Madelyn did very well with all her fine motor skills. I let them know from the begining that she still is not sitting on her own. No one else seemed to care in the last week, (public health nurse and Dr. Carson.) But to them it did, and I was so greatful. Madelyn was starting to want to sit at six months, she is now 7.5 months and she is just not progressing further. The physiotherapist showed me a few excersizes I can do with her to help strengthen her core/abdomenal muscles. And then she will referred to the physiotherapist at BTHC to follow up.

Everything was assessed in this appointment from, basic hearing and vision, fine and gross motor skills, plus I got to ask all my silly little questions that I have stuck in the back of my mind. Madelyn will be seen again in a year, or sooner if I have any concerns. I left feeling well taken care of.

Carl and I felt like reminising on old times so we went to the cafeteria for lunch. We had many a lunch, supper, and late night coffee there. Now we get to do it with Madelyn.

After lunch Carl and I stopped by NICU for a happy visit. We met Dr. Wiseman in the hall with his resident physician. He is just an amazing man. Doris the nurse clinician that ran the parent support meetings was there and super excited to see Madelyn doing so well. I chatted with a few nurses that cared for Madelyn while she was in NICU.

On a another note, Doris the nurse clinician, also organizes the grand rounds for the nurses. On May 14th they are focusing on diaphragmatic hernias, and how nurses play a roll. I almost jumped at the chance to showcase Madelyn. We had excellent nurses from fetal assessment until the day Madelyn was discharged.

Since I had never heard of CDH until the day of my ultra sound on April 28/08, I have found a passion about telling people Madelyn's story to spread more awareness for this birth defect. This is a great opportunity for me to follow through on that passion.