Thinking

I've been thinking about things a lot lately and am curious what other parents experiences were when their children get older. Do their kids ask what is wrong with their arm? Do they get upset that they are different?How do you handle these things with your kids? One of my fears is not knowing how to handle these questions as Cam gets older. Were your kids ever bullied for being different or having Erb's Palsy? I want Camryn to start taking dance and gymnastics when she's 2 but I'm scared she'll get upset because she won't be able to do it the same as everyone else. How did you handle all these things?

Silly Putty

Cam may seem young but we've found an awesome therapy toy! Silly putty! She plays with hand and pulling it which helps her shoulder. It can be used in so many ways. We bought a bunch and are storing it in Tupperware so it doesn't dry out. Love it!

My Mother's Birthday

Today is a day of mixed emotions. It's my mother's birthday, she would have been 59 today. She passed away 4 years ago due to complications from Type 1 diabetes. I have so much to type about my mother but all I really want to say right now is how upset it makes me that she is not here to be with Camryn. She would be amazed about how much of a trooper she is and how smart she is. It upsets me that Camryn will never get to know her Grandma. Sometimes my husband and I see different aspects of Cam that remind me of my mom. Camryn is named after my mother and it makes today even more special. She will be forever missed and always remembered.

Owasso mother raising awareness after child's birth injury

Owasso mother raising awareness after child's birth injury

9/23/2013

Camryn loves this song! She just can't get enough of dancing with it :) BTW she was sick over the weekend again. She had conjunctivitis and another ear infection.  It's just one thing after another with her sometimes. I guess that's what happens when you start daycare. Yesterday we tried cheering her up with this song over and over again. Her knew thing this weekend was reading stories multiple times. 

For Fun

http://youtu.be/jofNR_WkoCE

Graduation

Today marked a huge milestone

for our family. Cam graduated from physical therapy! We've been going since she was 2 weeks old and she's now 16 months! I really love her therapists, we are still going to occupational therapy and will start speech therapy soon. I'm very excited to be staying at 2 therapies a week rather than 3. I can't believe how far Cam has come this year and all the hard work we both put into her recovery. I know she has a long way to go but we are at a point where if you didn't know you wouldn't be able to tell she had something wrong unless you were asking her to reach over head or really doing something that involved her fine motor skills. I'm so proud of her and when we finished PT today I was in tears because of how accomplished I felt as a mother. Here's to more graduations and milestones in the future! 

Allergies

We've always known Camryn was super sensitive to things. Since birth and breastfeeding I've had to change my diet and eventually put her on special formula which still didn't agree with her. Well, it turns out she is really allergic to mosquito bites. As you all know she has gotten bitten before and had bad reactions but this time it was worse. Her entire hand swelled up and was red. We went to the doctor yesterday and she is now on antibiotics and steroids for her bites. My poor baby. We are going to see an allergist in October so hopefully we can figure things out.

Texas Apparel

Lazy Sunday

Morning Love

Venting

 I've been thinking about this a lot the last couple of days and I think it's time I write about it. I really am annoyed with the whole early intervention steps system. When Camryn was born we were bombarded with phone calls from different organizations to help. Some we qualified for and some we didn't. Let's just say the last year really has been an eye opener for my husband and I. We've spent thousands of dollars out of pocket for procedures and treatment for Camryn's and we know that we are only a handful of people who pay out of pocket because we have private insurance and don't qualify for assistance. Fine, but the free program we do get early steps has made it really difficult for Camryn to even get the therapy she needs because I went back to work. It seems like the system wants you not to work in order for you to take your children to therapy etc. But in reality some of us even if we don't work still don't qualify for assistance because our spouses work. It made sense financially for me to go back to work this year but it seems harder for us to get therapy because the providers only working during the day and not after 5. I remember last year that someone told me to get divorced so I'd be considered a single parent so I could qualify for assistance. I just don't get our system.

Speech

We've decided along with Camryn's pediatrician that it might be time for some speech intervention. Camryn isn't really picking up vocabulary as quickly as we would have liked. She says a couple of words but they are on constant repeat. She says "YEAH" a ton. It's adorable but it's not soo adorable when it is the only thing she says. The problem we are having is first getting it started even though the proper people have all been contacted and I even have a prescription for it. There is a whole process for early steps. The only issue now being is when can we possibly schedule it. The speech therapist at Broward has no openings when I can come and is gone for the day when I bring Camryn for OT and PT. The only other options are for my husband to take her before work, (if he can even do that) have someone come to the house, or someone go to her school. Now the issue is, if early steps has someone available to do either one of those things. Now, I totally get why parents with special needs children find it so hard to work. With my schedule now I can't just drop everything and run to take Camryn to therapy whenever there is an opening. Now I know why some children are lacking in services and why parents just give up and do the best they can. It's because they have to.

Has anyone noticed that their Erb's baby also has speech delays?  Is there a correlation?

Face Plant

So Cam tripped today and of course landed on her head as usual. It brings up so many emotions when this happens because I know there is a reason that she hits her head and can't catch herself. She's also getting sick again and has a runny nose. Gotta love daycare. I had the past week off due to the Jewish Holidays but tomorrow is the start of a new week for me back to work. Camryn will also finally have some classmates joining her in her class at school. I'm very excited for her to make new friends. We are starting to teach Camryn sign language as well and she's got down more (of course not well with her left hand) and please. She's doing great with it!

Happy to be Home

Yesterday was a comedy of errors. We were scheduled for a 1:00 flight out of Newark and finally left around 10:45pm. We got to the airport at 11am and everything was running on time. We finally got an update on our flight around 1:15 that they couldn't find it and it had been circling around Baltimore because of a weather hold. Well, while circling it ran out of fuel so it had to be diverted to refuel. It kept getting pushed back. Finally, at around 4:00 it landed at Newark only to have a hydraulic leek and be out of service. (the flight got canceled) We were lucky enough that they had compassion for us because we were flying with Camryn and jetblue got us on the next flight. There were only 15 seats so most people either had to be rescheduled for the next day or get to a different airport. Well, the next flight was also delayed because of inclement weather on the east coast and didn't get in until 9:30. We finally got on the plane around 10:15 and home around 2:00 in the morning. Camryn was such a trooper. I have to say how lucky my husband and I are that we do a have a rather easy going baby. She's got the normal toddler stuff going on but she really went with the flow. She slept the whole flight because it was obviously past her bedtime and went right to sleep once we finally made it home. Oh wait, I almost forgot...they lost our luggage too and we are still waiting for it:)  Glad to be home with my dogs!  Thank you to JETBLUE for making sure we got on the next flight and for all your compensation after the fact.

Wonderful Weekend

This past weekend my husband and I had our best friends wedding. The wedding was gorgeous and it reminded us of our own wedding in so many ways. I should probably say this more often but I'm so grateful that I'm married to my husband. We've been through so much together and it has only made us stronger. Camryn came with us this weekend and spent the weekend with her great aunt and uncle. Today she got to meet all of her cousins that live in the northeast too.She had such a blast. Here are some pics of Cam! Btw her new obsession is drinking water from a regular water bottle.