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So this is a random post…but I’ve had several updates I wanted to put on the blog so I decided to combine them all in one! Some of you already know that Emmy went down to see a pediatric neurologist last month.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, we just got the write up from him so I wanted to share basically what it says!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s really hard to get into this specific doctor since he is the head of the Mind Institute of UNM.\u00c2\u00a0 So even though we’ve had the appointment for 4 months we waited about 3 hours past our appointment time to see him!\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I was a little nervous how Emmy was going to do during his evaluation since we’d been waiting so long but she did great!\u00c2\u00a0 Alex had taken the day off to come with us, so between the two of us she was pretty entertained!<\/p>\n
Anyway, basically he asked us a lot of questions about her birth and our family and her milestones and things like that.\u00c2\u00a0 The funniest question to me was if there was any chance Alex and I were first cousins.\u00c2\u00a0 Which I guess I must have smiled at or something when I answered, because he suddenly got very serious and was like, “It happens more than you think!”.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 So I got in trouble from the doctor for being unruly I guess! \ud83d\ude42 Anyway, after observing her walk and talk and interact he determined that she has mild spastic diplegia<\/a>, a form of cerebral palsy.\u00c2\u00a0 Spastic means that her muscles are overly tight and diplegia means it is mostly showing in her lower extremities.\u00c2\u00a0 Cerebral palsy means that at some point there was damage done to the brain.\u00c2\u00a0 Emmy’s happened at birth when she didn’t have oxygen for 23 minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 However, they aren’t sure if the onset of CP happens because she didn’t breathe at birth or if she didn’t breathe because the condition was already present (possibly due to an infection during my pregnancy).\u00c2\u00a0 Cerebral palsy itself has a huge range of severity and can include a huge range of disabilities.\u00c2\u00a0 Emmy’s case however is very mild and seems to be completely contained within gross motor skills.\u00c2\u00a0 CP is a physical disability but it can effect many other things as well. Her verbal and cognitive are both actually a little accelerated.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Our physical therapist says that a lot of kids who have trouble moving find other ways to entertain themselves such as talking.<\/p>\n So what does this mean for Emmy’s future?\u00c2\u00a0 CP doesn’t really have a cure but it is non-progressive, which means it doesn’t ever really get any better or worse.\u00c2\u00a0 However, even though the CP doesn’t ever go away there are several treatments and preventions for the complications it creates.\u00c2\u00a0 So in time, since we caught it so early, Emmy’s motor troubles may become unnoticeable to the rest of the world. \u00c2\u00a0 So for now, we are going to continue with the physical therapy and orthodics until she is 3, at which point she will enter into the school district’s preschool for special needs kids. This is actually awesome because preschool is really expensive here and she will go for free!\u00c2\u00a0 So the school’s testing will happen in the next few weeks and we will transition in August.\u00c2\u00a0 Some other options in the future could include casting the feet, botox injections, and\/or surgery.\u00c2\u00a0 But those things wouldn’t happen until like 4th or 5th grade and I have to admit that I haven’t really read a ton on any of them yet…because I’m not sure Emmy will need anything like that.<\/p>\n I have to admit that it was kind of bitter-sweet to get the diagnosis.\u00c2\u00a0 I really thought I would be excited to get an actual diagnosis so that we could have some answers about what happened at her birth and what we can be doing to help her grow and be happy!\u00c2\u00a0 And while it is nice to be able to look it up on the internet and read about what’s going on with her…I still feel kind of sad that she has to go through this.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s hard for a mom to not feel guilt about stuff like this I guess.\u00c2\u00a0 I still wonder what I did or didn’t do while I was pregnant…but anyway…I think I’m rambling now.\u00c2\u00a0 Anyway, I’m sure those of you going through things like this understand what I mean.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s nice to have answers…but at the same time you kind of wish the answer was “everything is totally fine!” but that isn’t always Heavenly Father’s plan!\u00c2\u00a0 I am so glad that Emmy came to our family!\u00c2\u00a0 And I am so grateful to all of the people who have helped with her birth, recovery and development.\u00c2\u00a0 So many of them have shared stories of what a miraculous situation it was and how they literally felt the presence of Heavenly Father and\/or angels\u00c2\u00a0 in the delivery room!\u00c2\u00a0 (It’s funny to me how many people preface their story to me with “I wasn’t really a religious person…but…) Given her medical history there is just no way she should be doing this well.\u00c2\u00a0 But she is!! Total miracle child!<\/p>\n Anyway, now that I’ve bored everyone to death!\u00c2\u00a0 I wanted to share some other exciting Emmy info!\u00c2\u00a0 First of all she is potty training…which she is doing great with and she loves being a “BIG GIRL”.\u00c2\u00a0 Also, she is working on her ABC’s!\u00c2\u00a0 She loves singing the song…which she gets a little out of order but is getting better.\u00c2\u00a0 And she can read A-E !\u00c2\u00a0 We play a game where we put the letters on the floor and she has to run to the letter I say!\u00c2\u00a0 Also, she is working on counting.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s been able to count to 10 for a long time but she recently started working on 11-20.\u00c2\u00a0 However, once she says eleven she goes back to 8…and gets stuck in an infinite loop.\u00c2\u00a0 I finally figured out it’s because 11 sounds like 7 so she gets confused.\u00c2\u00a0 So she walks around the house counting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (or elezen) 8 9 10 11 8 9 10 11.\u00c2\u00a0 And she’ll keep doing that loop until you say 12 and then she moves on to 13 and 14.\u00c2\u00a0 It totally cracks me up.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes she’ll do it for a couple minutes before I realize and help her out!\u00c2\u00a0 Funny!\u00c2\u00a0 She is growing so fast!\u00c2\u00a0 As is Kaylee by the way!<\/p>\n Anyway, long post!\u00c2\u00a0 Feel free to ask questions in your comments!\u00c2\u00a0 I’m getting pretty good at explaining it all!\u00c2\u00a0 Plus I love comments on my blog…it helps make the day go faster!<\/p>\n So this is a random post…but I’ve had several updates I wanted to put on the blog so I decided to combine them all in one! Some of you already know that Emmy went down to see a pediatric neurologist last month.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, we just got the write up from him so I wanted to … Continue reading Cerebral Palsy, potty training, and other Emmy updates!<\/span> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lh4.ggpht.com\/_O6y5XWIO4Vc\/SaCOKwNEeEI\/AAAAAAAAAeI\/5caIEIGS7b4\/s400\/img_3197-1.jpg\")
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