Toof!

Ellie's tooth finally poked through a bit today. I'm so excited! I'm also happy to report that PT is still showing its benefits. Today we put her in the shopping cart, which normally she hates! Today, however, she was able to sit in it with little problem. She did fall a bit to the side, but I think that may have something to do with the fact that she was trying to swill down as much as juice as possible as quickly as possible and not really paying attention to what else was going on around her.

On a side note Ellie seemed to have food poisoning yesterday. I was not happy. Daddy wasn't happy, either. When I opened the container of baby food I thought it looked weird, that water seemed to come out first and the rest of it was thicker than normal. She didn't really want to eat it, but I thought well, maybe she's just being a picky eater, she's like that sometimes. Every two hours after that, however, she vomited. She threw up three times in her bed; we almost ran out of sheets. Around midnight we called the 800# for the nurse line because Daddy was so worried about her. They told him the same thing I had told him, we just have to wait for her to get it out of her system, and she'll be fine. No fever, no rash, no bump to the head. We also had to watch her hydration level (which is why at Walmart she drank juice). It seems to be gone for the most part now, but the family got 5 hours sleep total. She finally drifted off to sleep around 2, so we were allowed to follow suit.

Physical Therapy

PT went very well! Ellie is a champ! She's still cheating at some things, she'll act like she wants to knock over the tower of cups, then stop, then roll on her back like she doesn't want to play anymore, and then knock them over because she's closer now. Karen the PT called her a turkey lol. I called her a cheater. Anyway, the step stool we bought her (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JVZWY4) works like a dream. She has to put her legs side by side underneath it to use it as a table. So we do that and make her look up and down while maintaining balance. She also has to sit on it, keeping her feet flat while looking up and down. We also get her to kneel at it for a minute or so. We still have to have her lay over the boppy and reach for things. It seems to be working though because we've been practicing those moves for the last 2 days and she acts like she doesn't even need to do them. Her balance is amazing! She was even up on all fours rocking again for a bit. She hadn't done that in a while. I was so happy!

Update

Although this is probably premature since PT is tomorrow at 2:15. Ellie's babbling has just skyrocketed. She's trying desperately to communicate with her mouth. She's pulling up on everything. She still hates Gymboree. She has learned to get into sitting position by laying on her stomach and walking herself back up with her hands. She has been using her pointer finger to point and push things. She says "YEAH" when she's excited and happy about something. I also feel like she's using her arms less to balance. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Physical Therapy

The PT lady was nice enough. Ellie has a very weak trunk and weak joints, which is probably due to the Sticklers. Ellie was also very shy and reserved. She didn't want to talk much, or really do a lot of anything. It was still a good eval, I guess. The lady said that Ellie had low tone but that it was easily correctable. However, it was interesting to note, even by her, that Ellie seems to have all the necessary skills but for whatever reason won't compile them all together so she can do more. PT Lady noted that Ellie clearly shows a desire to do more, but for whatever reason just can't coordinate it well enough to do it. I mentioned Ellie can get up on all 4s but only in her crib. She said that she was working with another kid who will only walk unassisted when on the couch or bed. The minute he touches the floor he sits like he's fully incapable. Welcome to the party, champ. She also said to keep going to my free sessions of gymboree, it can't hurt and if nothing else will help ease the stranger/separation anxiety Ellie seems to have. At any rate, Ellie was showing enough that it seemed to me PT Lady got what she needed. She saw Ellie roll around, coo, get up on her elbows, put her butt in the air, keep her hands up like she's being robbed at gunpoint, sit for a long time, play with toys, etc. She showed me how to get Ellie up into sitting position from laying down. At least it seems this is one thing that's not my fault. And if she's right, easily curable. Just still makes me sad.

Gymboree

Mother's day was fine. I enjoyed my Italian restaurant meal.

I got a call Monday that her PT eval is Weds @ 2:15 pm. This was timely since today was Gymboree play and music (or something like that) day. She hated it. The current theory is that she was tired b/c I had to wake her up to get her out of the car and into Gymboree. So in her head- she's asleep in the car, awake in the heat and sun, then cold room filed with babies, loud music, and a ton of color stuff. She clung to me for dear life the entire time, and cried a few times. When we did the same moves at home tonight she didn't seem quite as resistant. After the class I gave her a bottle and all through the mall she was a delight- squealing, playing, giggling. She even slept on the way home and in the house when I brought her in. In any event, I paid for 4 more classes so we're going to keep going. Hope PT goes well.

Happy Mother's Day

I'm so happy this Mother's Day. Not only because it's my first one ever, which is exciting unto itself, but because Ellie has made it the best one there ever could be. :D This morning she pulled herself up from sitting to standing all on her own, and then later she gave me a kiss. We've been filming her walking towards me for a while now, so perhaps physical therapy won't be as much in the picture as we previously thought. Her attempts at crawling are coming along nicely as well. I've also gotten 50 free prints from Shutterfly and a groupon for 53% off KidtoKid! I was planning to go there today anyway, but I should find out if its open or not first :D I plan on going to my favorite Italian restaurant for an early dinner, so let's hope the rest of the day plays out as well, if not better.

Guilt

I was casually watching television (as in, it was on while I was doing other things) and one of those commercials came on. You know the ones- "If you took XXXX and XXXXXX happened to you, please call the law firm of XXXXX." I hate them. Or I did. Maybe. Then I heard the word "cleft palate" and I stopped dead in my tracks. "If you took an antidepressant and your child was born with a cleft palate, please contact us." My husband even walked in the room and asked "Did you hear that?" We were shocked. Stunned. While we had been asked post-birth about everything I had ever done during pregnancy- eating, drinking, exercise, vitamins, drugs, etc- no one had mention a potential link between antidepressants and birth issues. No one. I was on antidepressants for the first trimester, but then stopped taking them voluntarily. Of course research indicates PRS starts between 7 and 12 weeks, so by then it was clearly too late. All PRS moms are searching for answers, and there is a huge debate about what causes PRS. Some say its a genetic issue, but for those of us who have had clean genetics testing results- what then? We have an unconfirmed case of Sticklers. We declined that particular genetic testing. It's not entirely certain, at least of the research I've seen, that Sticklers actually causes PRS. They says PRS is caused by an underlying genetic condition (not proven 100%) and Sticklers could be one of those underlying conditions (again, not proven). I may ask a medical research mama friend to help me out. In any event, I called the doctor and the pharmacy and both confirmed I was on cymbalta. My husband instantly saw dollar signs, especially when he had heard that the Paxil group had each received $1m. I felt an unreal amount of guilt. Everyone says not to, that I couldn't have possibly known, but I do. There's a very real possibility I did this to my daughter. So I'm not sure I want the money. I'm almost hoping they won't take my case because then it means it's not my fault.