Early Intervention...(Finally).

I have been in contact with EI since MARCH, they are just now starting to give is services. It has been one problem after another, but finally we will be starting as of June. I understand that these case workers are over worked but this is my baby and she needs this therapy, do me a favor and call me back! Honestly, I called my service coordinator 2 times yesterday and 4 times today, leaving messages every time, she happened to answer on the fourth time. I basically told her that my insurance is running (if not out), and that I would not be able to afford to pay out of pocket for the therapy ($200 a session, twice a week...EEK) and I told her that she needed to hurry up, put the paperwork through and start it as of June. So, she did and now I have a huge weight lifted!!

Nothing new with Leah, she didn't have a good therapy session again today--bad timing, again. She lasted about a half hour and then was crabby. Lisa said she would like to see Leah grabbing more with lefty--she never does. We have to put everything in her hand for her. I asked if she thought that at some point Leah would be able to do it on her own and she said she thinks she will. Well, it's ok that our session ended early because I got to talk to Lisa about a bunch of different things. We had recently been talking about Leah starting some water therapy, which I'm all for! So, I was questioning doing water therapy and not doing regular PT; basically I wanted to know which one would be more beneficial for Leah. Water therapy sounds like fun--but is it what's best? At this point Leah hasn't seen the PT for awhile, so I guess we will have to wait and see what she says. We are going to make an appointment to see her next week. I'm thinking that since now that Leah is more mobile we should probably start some PT. Anyway, Lisa ended up suggesting that we do both PT and Water therapy. It kind of freaked me out at first---thinking that would mean 4 days of therapy, but after I realized this is the best time to do it. For one, Leah is so young and so mold able she should get all the therapy possible now, two--I'm not working right now, so I have the time and three--my husband and I would like to have more kids in the future, right now it's all Leah, all the time! So, after thinking about it--I love the idea of 4 days of therapy! Of course, water therapy does not take EI kids, so we would have to pay out of pocket, but it's not too expensive.

I was also concerned about Leah's eating. We started baby food at 6 months, she does OK with it. She doesn't eat much--but still nurses often and is gaining weight. The doctor said at 8 months to start finger foods, so I did. Leah just turned 8 months on Sunday, but I had been trying finger foods for a few weeks prior. Anyway, she does ok with the Gerber Puffs but flips out when I give her something with texture. For example, I gave her some cottage cheese and she was literally convulsing because it had chunks. So, of course I freaked out and immediately was thinking that there had to be more to that--like maybe she had some food sensory issues. Lisa (of course) calmed my fears again and said that there would be no correlation between hemiparesis and food sensory issues--that's not to say that some hemi kids don't have food issues. Anyway, she told me not to worry about it yet, since Leah JUST turned 8 months. She said that as far as cottage cheese, that it was too far of a jump from the smooth baby food. She suggested mashing it up a little more before giving it to her and she also said to try to give her Cheerios but to break them into fourths and start slow. I'm going to try it and see what happens. For the record, Lisa also runs a group with children who have food sensory issues. It's amazing how much a trust this women and I have only known her for a short period of time. I'm very thankful that Leah and I were blessed with such a wonderful therapist.

On a different note, I need some blog help--can anyone tell me how to space out my posts? Meaning after I post there is the comments area, but it's right on top of the previous post. How do I create a space? Thanks!!