Q&A

Chery Z said... Oh Meredith! How awesome!! I'm going to show this to our OT & PT people when the come next week, because our D has a huge, cumbersome stander that she HATES and I bet these would work just as well!!
How was Emma before these about putting weight on her legs? D refuses (curls her legs right up), did Emma have any interest before now???

Emma had just barely started putting bits of weight on her feet before we started working really intensely with her. Some of the things we did include tall kneeling (holding her there so she HAD to stay up!). I would sit on the couch with my feet apart and sit her on my hands then use my thumbs to press her knees down so she put pressure on her feet like this and bounce her slightly. Somewhat difficult to do (and she occasionally toppled forward so we kept the beanbag nearby) but this is what she stared pushing with her legs during! We also worked with the exercise ball with her on her tummy and would roll it up then down to put her feet on the ground and eventually she'd start pushing some with her feet to get it to bounce. She LOVES bouncing and LOVES music/lights so we've always got those things handy to encourage her! Both Brianna and Emma have had the "floppy legs" and Brianna is now walking, so all things are possible!

MamaPoRuski said... O wow! Does she seem to notice she is doing this? Z was so proud to show us each time he could do something new...then it wore off as it was WORK to keep it up LOL! Great start to the New Year!

She does! She LAUGHED the other day as I tried to walk her through the house- so excited to be upright and moving around!

Kim said... Wow! That is so great! I know part of her problem is the possible CP, but does any of this weakness or misalignment have to do with being crib bound for so many years? Or are you able to make such conclusions? Just wondering.
--K

We really don't know... We know the overall strength limitations are due to both the neglect/malnourishment and her heart, but one side being stronger than the other may be just that or may be in conjunction with the brain damage. We really don't know and probably won't unless the neurologist is able to draw any of those conclusions for us. We just know her right side is stronger than her left right now and that she tends to use it more as well.

Kristen said...

That was awesome! Thanks Mer! Ok, you are going to have to call me with some tutorials. How are your pictures always set up so perfect? And, how do you make a button for others to grab?

I use "Windows Live Writer" whenever I post any photos (and some other times too). It's a free download and lets you set up your post on your desktop including just dragging and dropping photos, resizing them, and even watermarking (but you have to do each individual pic so it does take a little time to watermark). Then you hit "publish" and it uploads everything for you and posts it! No more waiting for photos to upload, grabbing codes to post, or linking each picture! I LOVE IT!!

And the buttons... I have a long drawn out explanation of how to do it, so if you want the code and how to set it up e-mail me and I'll send it to you!