Starting Occupational Therapy

Clare started her occupational therapy (OT) today. Jessica, her therapist, came over to the house for the first time. Clare's OT will concentrate on her fine motor skills right now - such as grasping objects with her hands, bringing them to her mouth, etc. Since OT and PT overlap, Jessica is also going to work on helping Clare learn to roll and gain better head control. Once Clare is a little older, she will most likely have an occupational therapist and a physical therapist, but for now, she will do only OT once a week.

We really liked Jessica. She was super-friendly and great with both Clare and Jamie. It's hard for Jamie to not be the center of attention (after all, he is so used to it - with all his adoring aunties, uncle, and grandparents!!), so he often tried to "help out" with the therapy session. Jessica was very patient with him, and we are incorporating Jamie into Clare's therapy so he is included. I was told by a good friend (who has a disabled daughter) that the siblings are sometimes the best therapists because they will push their sibling beyond what the parents will. Jamie doesn't care if Clare is turning away from a toy or starting to fuss - he continues to play with her and get her to play with him. But I am digressing....

Anyway, Jessica commented that Clare has made a lot of progress since her initial evaluation a month ago and was very pleased with what she saw. Clare is doing very well with continuing to develop her skill at grasping objects and bringing her hands together. She is right on track developmentally when it comes to rolling (can get almost all the way from front-to-back and back-to-front), but will most likely have a little trouble with the last step because of the weakness in her left side. She needs more tummy time but that gets a little tough because Clare does not like tummy time since it is very hard for her, and we aren't supposed to let her get too worked up because of her heart. But she needs the tummy time to strengthen her neck muscles and head control and the lifting up on her arms will help increase the strength in her left side. It's a bit of a Catch-22, but we've developed a plan to do a little tummy time many times throughout the day instead of doing a lot all at once. So that's one of our main concentrations right now.

In other news, Clare's second catheterization is scheduled for October 7. It is our understanding that the plan, at this time, is to re-dilate the four pulmonary arteries from the last cath plus dilate some of the smaller ones as well. Clare sees all her doctors this month plus meets a new doctor (her ENT doctor who will most likely clip her tongue-tied next week), so we are eager to hear how everyone thinks she's doing.

Clare continues to do great at home. She is getting back into her sleep pattern again, so Shawn does not have to drive her around every night anymore! It is hard to believe she is already four months old. In some ways, it feels like she has been with us forever, but in other ways, I am constantly reminded of how time flies when your children are growing before your eyes.