July 17, 2009

Busy week

Last week Monday we had Whitney's 18 month appointment at the pediatritian. Here are her current stats for you:

Head circumference: 44 1/2cm (10th percentile)
Height: 32 1/2" (80th percentile)
Weight: 22# 6oz (30th percentile)
I have been asked a few times if they are concerned about her small head size and the answer is, no. She has always had a small head and it is growing at a steady rate. We would be concerned if it grew too much too quickly.

Wednesday we had our first group therapy at the Conductive Learning Center. There were two other children and two conductors plus the three parents. The other two children are older and have been in a group setting previously. Whitney was very overwhelmed and cried/whined for the first hour. The second half of the session went better as we both got used to things. She is still pretty young to follow directions and is not always sure she wants to. (: I was very impressed by how organized the session ran even with all the noise Whitney was projecting. We did many exercises trying to do them simultaneously with the other children. It was fun to see Whitney watching the other two very carefully. When we got home she tried a few new things like it was no big deal. Sometimes peer pressure can be positive. We have our second and last summer session tomorrow and plan to go daily in September.

Thursday we saw her pediatric orthopaedic doctor or as we call her, the hip doctor. All is looking well! Every time I have anxiety as we wait for the x rays and once again I breathed a sigh of relief. The femoral head is continuing to develop very nicely. It is always amazing to see the x rays side by side from where we started. What a miracle that if you put the bone where it is intended to be it will start to form and grow. How amazing our Creator is! The current plan is to be in the hip brace for night time sleeping for the next 3 months and then if all is progressing well we will do a four week test. This would mean going without the brace for a week and then checking to see if the hip continues to form. We would do this for four consecutive weeks.

Thank you for checking in. We are so thankful for all of you.

7 comments:

Becky said...

Sounds like it may have been busy but was also very exciting. We thank God for the wonderful news on her hip and pray that it will continue to grow & mature as it was intended. He truly is an Amazing God! Hope all goes well with the group therapy sessions and that Whitney continues to use that peer pressure positively. With love & prayers- VJ & Becky Verduin & family

Anonymous said...

Wow, what great news! I am glad to hear that everything is going so well. Praying for you as you handle the busyness that comes with all the appointments as well as taking care of your beautiful girls! Thanks for the update! Hugs and Prayers!

Laura Wiese

ErinM said...

Whitney continues to impress and amaze me with how fabulously she is adapting! The same goes for the rest of her family, too. :)

Kim said...

Hi, I came across your blog by a google search. We are considering adopting a baby girl with spina bifida. If you would be willing to share more about your journey could you please email me at adoptinghaiti@yahoo.com.
Blessings!
Kim

jennifer said...

So glad to hear that Whitney's hip is doing well! Sorry I never responded to your last message - I was out of town and had no access to the internet. :)

I will let you know as soon as I find out what is happening with the stander. At this point, it sounds like the insurance may not cover both the stander and a walker, and we may have to continue using the stander that we have for as long as we can.

Quite a number of months ago I left a comment... I'm not sure if you caught it or not... but I noticed in an older post that you visited an OPC one Sunday. We are members of an OP congregation in the Chicagoland area... it's a small world, but I was still surprised by how I happened across that particular comment on your blog while randomly searching the internet for spina bifida related blogs. :)

Anyhow - I will contact you as soon as I hear about the stander!

Jennifer said...

Hello Susan, My name is Jennifer. I came across your blog a few days ago and could not stop reading it. Your sweet family's story was such a blessing to me. My husband and I recently had our first child, Caroline. Shortly after her delivery we received the news that she has spina bifida. Caroline is now 11 weeks old. I really enjoyed your blog not only for the information I received about things to expect, but also the strength you've shown through it all. It is very obvious where you get your strength.
I would love to talk to you further if you have the time. Thanks again for sharing your story.

Susan M. Nelson said...

Jennifer, Thank you for your comment. I would love to chat further with you. email?