Therapies are going really well. She is tolerating tummy time better and better and isn't nearly so defensive about food getting near her face! With more time on her tummy has come some brand new attempts at crawling!!! She is getting the hang of army crawling and has been getting into all sorts of trouble already. We honestly weren't sure that she would crawl. It seemed like she was making so much progress with her standing that she might just skip crawling. Being on all fours is really challenging for her, but she's figured out a method that seemed to suit her just fine. We are so proud of her!!!
Speaking of standing progress, she has started pulling up to stand all by herself in the last month! Since she was actively showing an interest in standing, her PT started her in the gait-trainer (basically, a really supportive walker). She's only been in it a few times, but she's really catching on to the idea of using her legs to propel herself forward! We're working on getting her a gait-trainer to use at home as well, which I think she'll love.
We've had a lot of fun around here lately! Thanksgiving was great, we've been enjoying visiting family and lots of holiday festivities, including decorating the tree and lights at the zoo.
Aberdeen's medical appointments have continued to be frustrating and confusing following our crazy trip to Houston last month. Her local cardiologist insists that their measurements were NOT contaminated by the mitral valve regurgitation, and are still quite concerning, while TCH continues to feel that things are fairly stable at the moment. We just don't know what to think anymore. We're having all of her stuff sent off to Cincinnati for a second opinion, since we trust them wholeheartedly. Hopefully they can give us better insight on who to be listening to right now. We do our best to be informed and knowledgeable about Aberdeen's conditions, but in the end, we simply aren't cardiologists, and we need some help.
I won't lie, this past month or two have been immensely stressful for me. Between the complications associated with moving Aberdeen's care cross-country, and facing the one-year anniversary of so many of last year's difficulties, I've had to admit that I'm dealing with something akin to PTSD. I know that this is common amongst hospital parents, but up until recently, I thought I'd made it through everything ok. Dealing with so much doubt regarding her current care set-up is definitely not helping. Things just aren't running as smoothly here as they were in Cinci: I feel like we're constantly fighting the military to get her the care she needs, we're having issues with TRICARE that we never had in Ohio, and having everything split up amongst so many different facilities has run me pretty ragged.
Thankfully, I have some really wonderful friends and family who arranged for me to have a much-needed night off at a beautiful resort out here. It isn't easy for me to admit when I've hit a limit and I am so grateful that I have people in my life who can recognize it for me and make it possible for me to recharge a little. Thank you, thank you, dear people.
