[tri-med] A little-Oops! I mean long!- Keren note :)

Dear all,
I've been wanting to put in a little Keren update and thought that 
since she turned 13 months old today it was a good time to do it!  Not 
too much new, but it's been fun to see how much she's grown and 
developed just since her birthday a month ago.  We saw her PT today for 
our weekly visit and did a "report card" which showed improvements in 
almost all areas--very encouraging!

We had a big exciting event yesterday!  Keren comes to Kraig and my 
adult Sunday school class and hangs out with the big folks each 
week--fortunately she's still quiet enough and everyone in the class 
knows her and loves to see her, too, which helps.  Anyway, I had her on 
the floor on her blanket and she was enjoying rolling onto her sides as 
she often does.  Only this time she just kept on going and went from 
her back ALL the way onto her front!!!!!   The class was thrilled!  
Poor Kraig, though, missed it 'cause he was practicing on the 
soundboard for the service :( .  Keren's been able to do front to back 
for a while, but this was the first time she did back to front.  Once 
she got there you could tell she wanted to get up on her hands and 
knees, but that upper body strength just isn't there yet--watching her 
little butt stuck up in the air was a treat though :) !  Her legs are 
getting stronger all the time and she enjoys standing up against a 
table and checking things out.  We're watching that carefully with PT, 
though--braces on the feet and making sure her back is strong enough 
and in line.  She gets a grin on her face every time she does it, 
though--it's so fun to see her getting excited about an accomplishment!

Spitting up is still an issue (back to the line we had going a month 
ago :) ....).  She had a stomach bug (at least, we're pretty sure 
that's what it was) a few weeks back (I wrote about that) where her 
stomach got irritated from the retching and she was spitting up clear 
brown stuff.  The doc recommended Maalox for a bit and wouldn't you 
know we had two full weeks that were practically spitting and gag free. 
  She also started pooping regularly without a suppository....  After 
two weeks weaned her off the Maalox--figured she shouldn't be on it 
forever--and two days later she started spitting up again and stopped 
pooping--weird!  I thought I'd go back to the Maalox (we'll see her ped 
surgeon next week to talk more about it--since she does have a fundo 
and we recently did a contrast study), but the magic hasn't returned.  
I have to try the parsley (Catherine!)....  The good news is, that's 
about the extent of health stuff.  One year abdominal US was clear, and 
cardiology report was good.  Oh yeah, she's been more congested lately 
and so obstructing more again--c-pap, here we come!  I think part of 
that is the spitting up, part is the colder, drier weather, and part is 
the fact she's teething again--the front two top teeth just came 
through and another on the bottom.

Every now and then discouragement washes over me.  We have her Thursday 
morning group time with the other Early On kids in the district, and 
when I see the kids younger than Keren doing things she's not I have to 
try not to think about it.  Even the one little Down's boy is way ahead 
of her in certain things....  I find, though, that when it's just us, 
or us out and about without other kids, things are just fine.  Our own 
little world is full of continual growth and adventure....

Next month will be busy again with some follow-up appointments.  We'll 
see ped surgery about reflux and fundo stuff (surgery needed again or 
not...options).  We're also going to have another, more thorough ABR 
done under anesthesia this time (last time we did it she obstructed too 
much and we couldn't get all the info).  I'm not thrilled about that, 
but the good thing is we'll also have a CT scan done on her ears to get 
a better picture of there structure.  Her ENT is really on top of 
things and I'm pretty confident in his take.  He understands Keren's 
idiosyncrasies without making it out to be a lost cause, or, on the 
other hand, the most amazing thing he's ever seen.  Sometimes it's nice 
not to be considered an anomaly!

Okay, I've rambled enough!  Always good to hear how all of you are 
doing!

Loren (wife to Kraig, mom to Keren, T18, 13 mo. and counting! :) )
Southeast Michigan
http://webpages.eng.wayne.edu/~ad6075


                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
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