Posts filed under 'Parenting'
Our neurologist called yesterday evening and gave us the results of Anna’s MRI. The MRI confirmed the initial diagnosis – Anna did indeed have a small stroke on the right side of her brain. We have been referred to the stroke clinic at Children’s. Hopefully, after our appointment with them we will know a bit more about what may have caused the stroke and the full extent of the damage to Anna’s brain. We’re waiting for them to call us to set up an appointment.
Meanwhile, we’ve been working with the folks at Imagine!. Imagine! is a local, private, non-profit organization established in 1963 that provides support services to people with cognitive disabilities (including epilepsy, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and autism). We’ve been assigned a social worker (she’s wonderful — caring, engaged, efficient, knowledgeable) who is helping us navigate the various national, state, and county-wide support systems for kids with CP. So far this has been a fantastic experience, and we’re amazed at how fast all this is moving. Since our initial diagnosis on September 12, we’ve met with our case worker at our house to our many options. To get the process moving we took Anna for an “interview” with a physical therapist (gross motor), an occupational therapist (fine motor), and a school district nurse (hearing, vision) with the folks at ChildFind on Monday morning. (ChildFind is a national screening and evaluation program “designed to locate, identify, and refer as early as possible all young children with disabilities and their families who are in need of Early Intervention Program (Part C) or Preschool Special Education (Part B/619) services of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)“). After her interview we were told that Anna’s been approved for both PT and OT, and that the next step would be to locate physical and occupational therapists to work with Anna.
Well, last night (just a day later!) we learned that our Imagine! social worker sent us an email:
I have located therapists that have availability through an agency called Tiny Tim Therapeutic Outreach. This is a program in Longmont that serves children birth to three and beyond. They have a developmental preschool program as well. I have several families using their services and have been very happy. I am planning to get all the information to them by this Friday so they can hopefully be ready to start the week of [October] 16th.
We couldn’t be happier. Tara had already heard about Tiny Tim from the director of our daycare (Sunset Academy). Tiny Tim is located literally around the corner from Sunset, and there are kids from Sunset who spend afternoons at Tiny Tim. And so it turns out that the directors of both facilities are good friends who’ve worked together for years. We’re hoping that Anna will be able to enroll in the Tiny Tim daycare when she gets to be about three years old if she still needs help at that point.
All in all we think this is great news. The MRI confirmed the initial diagnosis, and while there’s more to learn on that front it’s still good to know what we’re dealing with. Meanwhile, with the help of the folks at Imagine! we’ve been able to start to navigate the support systems available to Anna, and to get moving on the path of therapy.
Therapy, we feel, is the key. Even just working with Anna ourselves we’ve seen such enormous improvement in her motor skills over the past few weeks and months, and we’re eager to get her paired up with some professionals who can show us how to do this right.
Moreover, it’s been great to get confirmation from our doctors, our social worker, and the therapists at ChildFind that Anna is developmentally “on track” in all other areas (and even ahead of the game in some areas like social skills). At a time like this it’s been important to get some confirmation of what we, as parents, already believe: That despite some relatively minor problems with her left side, she’s a healthy, happy, bright, curious, active, engaging, wonderful little girl.
October 4th, 2006
Anna had her MRI today, and we’re happy and relieved that it is over! We weren’t allowed to watch the procedure or be there when they put her under, but maybe that was for the best. I guess they had a very hard time finding a vein for her IV. She has stick marks on each of her hands and feet and a couple on her arms (thank goodness she was already mildly sedated with gas while they were sticking her!). The MRI went well except that she woke up half-way through! The doctor and technician noticed she was moving her feet…and then all of the sudden she was waving her arm around. They had to give her a bit more medicine to keep her under during the rest of the scan. When they called us back to her recovery room she was pretty limp and uncoordinated. Within 1/2 hour she was mostly back to normal. She was rather grumpy and very hungry. Understandable, considering she hadn’t eaten anything for over 6 hours at that point.
What a stressful day. My body feels like I’ve been excercising heavily or something…must be due to the fact that I’ve been tensing my muscles all day long. I’m ready for some sleep. I think Neal is too.
Incidentally, we won’t know the results of the MRI for some time. We have an appointment with the neurologist for late October (her first available appointment). We’re going to see if we can move that date up some, but that’ll more than likely be possible only if someone else cancels. We’ll see what we can do.
For now…sleep. Good Night.
September 28th, 2006
The “firsts” are turning out to be just as amazing as everyone says they will be. Last night at dinner Ms. Anna started laughing at her silly mom, and then laughing at me when I tickled her ribs. Absolutely amazing, and one of those moments in parenthood that makes the whole “lack-of-sleep-and-no-time-for-yourself” thing seem meaningless by comparison.
August 15th, 2006
One week later and we’re still sleeping through the night! Most nights she cries for anywhere from 15-30 minutes before nodding off, but the last couple of nights she’s gone to sleep within 3-10 minutes. We’ve managed to keep her on the bedtime schedule, which sometimes proves to be a little difficult. I still think it’s worth it! More sleep for her, more sleep for us!
August 8th, 2006
It took two horrible nights for Mom to come to the realization that maybe Anna should be sleeping in her own room. Sunday night was perhaps the worst night since she was an itty-bitty baby. She was up every hour and was in no mood to sleep from 2-4 am! I was so incredibly exhausted on Monday and so was she, which meant she was kind of crabby. Crabby baby and sleepy mom…not a good combination.
So yesterday I made the gut-wrenching decision to move Anna to her room (yes, I know, it sounds silly and melodramatic, but it was very difficult). All day yesterday I put her in her crib for naps and we continued when it was time for bed. She only screamed for 30 minutes (broken into 5, 10, and 15 minute intervals) before she nodded off. She woke up once at 11-ish and then slept solidly until 5:30 this morning! Here’s hoping we’re starting a positive trend and that this wasn’t a fluke.
My sleep was rather fitful, but mostly uninterrupted. I’m kind of paranoid about the SIDS thing. When she was sleeping beside our bed in the bassinet, I could hear her breathing or peek in to make sure her chest was moving up and down. Not so when she’s in the other room! You can’t hear her breathing on the baby monitor and checking on her involves opening her bedroom door, which always runs the risk of waking her. I imagine it will get better with time.
On an unrelated note, Anna had her 4-month vaccinations on Friday. Whereas we didn’t have the 3-hours of crying, we still had the elevated temperature. She ran a fever for about 24 hours (up to 101.5 degrees), but seemed to be okay otherwise. The doctor did not give her the DTaP (the one with whooping cough), suspecting it caused her reaction last time, but maybe one of the others is causing the problem? We’ll have to see what happens at 6 months. Needless to say, I’m going to schedule her appointment for early in the day on Thursday. Be prepared!
This weekend Anna had her first day of full health in a little more than a month! Sunday was a great day (until the night, of course). I’m so happy to see her feeling better. What a drag to be sick for more than one quarter of your life.
August 1st, 2006
You there! Shhh! Heck, I’m probably typing too loudly as it is. And I’m honestly concerned that the crickets chirping away outside might wake the baby.
This realization hit me recently: It seems like we spend a lot of time tiptoeing around our own house these days.
I guess that’s just part of life with a new baby around. Especially when she’s been sick for so long. We try to do everything we can to make sure that when she’s sleepy she can actually go to sleep, and stay asleep for as long as she can. So we throw each other dirty looks as we’re putting away the dishes (that clink might wake Anna!) or get a drink (the ice maker is too loud!), and hope that the kid stays asleep.
Fortunately, the whole family had a good night last night. Tara slept. I slept. Max didn’t wake us up with his usual antics at three o’clock in the morning. And most importantly, Anna slept from about 9:00pm through to 4:30am — without coughing! I don’t think she’s entirely over her cold, but the antibiotics do appear to have helped a bit, and she’s seem to be on the upswing at this point.
I’m going to go and try to sneak off to the gym now. Very, very quietly…
July 26th, 2006
They say that children that attend day care are sick more often than those who don’t. Well, we’ve started down that road. Anna has her first cold. She’s started snoring louder than her Grandpa Rex (and that is saying something!). She’s been up for the last two nights coughing and snuffling. Needless to say, I’m very tired. When Anna doesn’t sleep, neither do the parents. I took her to the doctor yesterday because her pediatrician recommended she come in – seeing as this is her first cold and she’s still rather young. They confirmed that she has a good ol’ fashioned cold. They did give us some medication for the symptoms if the cold seems to get worse, and gave us the guidelines for when to bring Anna back if things get too much worse.
I realized that I haven’t posted anything about Anna’s new day care. Things seem to be going well there. She’s in a really good mood when Neal picks her up in the evening; wasted, but in a good mood. They have proclaimed that she is a “talker,” which from personal experience I’d say is true. Neal jokes that we should have named her Brook what with all the babbling she does. Ha ha. She’s becoming familiar with her surroundings and caregivers, and has started to enjoy herself! It has been a lot easier for Mom and Dad, too.
And on a very unrelated note: the sleeping through the night thing…a total fluke. She’s yet to do it again. We still get up at 3:30 or so every night. I guess you could say that I’m used to it now. I’ve learned to deal with fewer hours of sleep and interrupted sleep at that. I won’t cry again until she’s been sleeping through the night for a whole week! 
June 30th, 2006
It’s been a rough week emotionally for Mom. Last week I returned to work part-time (2 days a week), which meant that it was Anna’s first days at daycare. We found a nice, homey daycare on the north side of Longmont called the Cottage School where Anna would spend her two full days without Mom. Although it was a bit rough on Anna, I imagine it was more difficult for me. I guess you just don’t realize how accustomed you become to having this little being with you 24-7. We took her in on Tuesday morning and I cried; thank goodness Neal was there or I might not have left her! It was easier to leave her on Wednesday, but still tough. I ended up calling the school on both days to see how things were going. I’m sure they see this everytime a child is brought in to daycare for the first time, but I appreciate their calming my anxieties regarding Anna’s well-being. On Wednesday I picked her up from daycare and was greeted with a smile and squeal that made my heart melt. She seemed like she was having fun!
Last night was another milestone for Anna and me; she slept the whole night through! For three months now I’ve been dreaming of uninterrupted sleep, but somehow the event has left me with mixed feelings (yes, I know I’m being a bit melodramatic here). Anna still sleeps in our room and I kept telling myself that as soon as she can sleep through the night I’ll move her to her own room and her own crib. I’m not so sure I want to do that anymore! Afterall, her bedroom across the hall is so far away!! Just another sign that Miss Anna is growing up and that Mom needs to get a grip.
On a somewhat related, but different note: we’re moving Anna to a different daycare. Whereas we felt comfortable with Anna at the Cottage School, it was proving to be difficult for us logistically. The school is located on the north side of Longmont and we live on the south side. Dropping her off in the morning added about 30+ minutes to my commute and we were having troubles getting to the school on time to pick her up in the evenings – and that was without an accident on the highways. The new daycare, Sunset Academy, is just up the road from our house – about 3 minutes away, 5 if you miss the light at Ken Pratt. Sunset has the added advantage of having a 1 to 3 caregiver to child ratio (the Cottage school had a 1 to 5 ratio). The idea of having fewer infants to each caregiver is appealing; it means that Anna’s needs may be met more quickly.
When I started investigating daycare options back in April, I was excited about Sunset because of its ratios and proximity to our home. Unfortunately, they didn’t anticipate there being an opening in the infant room until November. We added our names to the waiting list and looked for other options. Imagine our surprise when we received a call on Friday indicating that they had an immediate opening. Knowing that the place satisfied our needs objectively, we had to determine whether it would satisfy our needs subjectively (i.e. did it give off a good vibe?). Anna and I went to visit on Friday and again on Monday and found the caregivers to be quite friendly and certainly on a par with those at the Cottage. The atmosphere was inviting and relaxed. We happened to be there on Friday when parents were picking up their children, and were happy to receive an unsolicted testimonial from one parent. She said that she lived in Boulder and willingly drove the 30 minutes to Longmont to drop off and pick-up her child at Sunset. Despite the inconvenience, she said she had absolutely no intentions of moving her daughter to a different daycare! Boulder has several top-notch daycare centers – so this truly says something about Sunset Academy.
Anna will spend this week at the Cottage and will move to Sunset starting next week! Let’s hope Mom doesn’t cry again next Tuesday.
June 13th, 2006
Anna was one month old yesterday evening. It is incredibly hard for me to believe that so much time has past. I suppose it is probably normal, but I’m having a difficult time remembering life PA (pre-Anna). Currently almost everything I do during the day revolves around taking care of this cute little being! What did I do before? (work, laundry, dishes, to name a few of the things that I used to do but do not do now!)
Anna is growing like a weed! She’s pretty much able to hold her head up on her own, but we still have bouts of the floppy-newborn head. At her 2-week check-up she was 22 inches in length. We were shocked to find out that her cousin Henry is only 24 inches and he’s over 4 months old! As Neal likes to joke, we’re in contact with WNBA recruiters already. I’m anxious to see how much she’s grown by the time we go in for her next doctor’s appointment. One month old brings us to the point where most of her newborn clothing no longer fits! Her 0-3 month clothing just fits and in some cases is getting a little snug. Time for me to go shopping. And for those of you who know me, this is a daunting task.
I’m finally feeling better – not 100%, but decidedly better than before. I have a doctor’s visit coming in the next couple of weeks and hopefully my iron levels will have returned to normal. It is tough being tired and weak all the time – especially with a newborn that doesn’t yet sleep through the night! I think another part of the “feeling better” has to do with my comfort level with Anna. That’s not to say that I understand why she freaks out sometimes and screams bloody murder, but I do understand that those noises she makes while sleeping aren’t anything to worry about, and that the scrunched up face she makes usually indicates that a diaper change is in my future. I guess you could say we’re getting to know one another.
Max is looking skinny these days. We think it is the stress – that or he’s just shedding his winter coat. I like to think it is the latter. He’s supremely interested in Anna and enjoys sniffing her head and car-carrier, but when she starts crying he seeks out quiet hiding places in the basement. He’s certainly missing all the attention he used to get and has begun acting like a small child who misbehaves only to have someone pay attention to him. I often feel like a broken record when it comes to Max – “no, no, no.” We have one chair that will never be the same because he’s taken to scratching the crap out of it – especially in our presence. Luckily the weather is warming up so that we can take Max outside on his lead. This tends to calm the savage beast (actually it wears him out what with all the birds to watch and grass to eat).
So as you can see, life here at the Enssle/Hess house is going well. We’re all a little sleep-deprived (including Max), but enjoying ourselves. Hopefully we’ll have some new pictures soon. I need to upload them from the camera.
April 13th, 2006
We’ve been spending a good amount of time lately in any one of a variety of baby education classes. Seems like three nights a week for the last month we’ve been over at Avista Hospital in Louisville studying how to have a baby, and what to do with the kid once s/he arives.
Right now, having completed a breastfeeding course and a “baby CPR” course, we’re in the fourth week of a six-week long “birthing” class. You know, that’s the one where you learn how to “relax and breathe” through some of the most absolutely intense pain you’ll ever feel in your entire life. You also learn that labor can last quite a long while indeed (bring a couple of books), and that epidurals, while very scary someone like Tara who’s never been a fan of needles, are nevertheless a heckuva way to make all those long hours much, much less painful.
Personally, as a someone who’s honestly never changed a diaper in his entire life (soon to change!) I enjoyed the “Baby Care 101″ class the most. I think I gained some much-needed confidence, having learned how to hold, diaper, and swaddle the heck out of my very own plastic baby.
January 31st, 2006
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