One month in....

We are one month into our new routine/regimen and it's going fairly well, I think.  We gradually added Maggie's medications and as of this week, we are fully medicated. Thankfully, we haven't seen any negative side effects from any of the medications -- other than the obvious increase in energy due to the high levels of B12 she's receiving. Kinda funny that one of the most active children I know is in great need of B12!

I am thankful that Maggie has always been a great medicine taker - no issues what.so.ever. She even swallows pills without water (yuck!) She's a trooper.

We have a pretty strict routine with her, as routine makes our lives and her life much easier and much more manageable.  She thrives on knowing what is going to happen and when. Any interruption to her routine and we could have a disaster on our hands. So, we do the same thing, at the same time, in the same order - every.single.day. (or well, we at least try to!)  We have a chart that shows all the different medications, when we take them, nap time, play time, therapy at home, therapy outside of the home...it's quite intensive but necessary, and definitely helps keep us on track of what we need to do for the day.

The tantrums/outbursts are further apart these days but do tend to be much more intense than they had been. So I'm not sure which is better - less frequent or more intense? You pick.  We are seeing some great steps in her ability to sit still for longer periods of time, to concentrate a little longer than normal and responding better to our requests.  She still has plenty of moments where she just doesn't "hear" us (she's totally zoned out), where it takes 20 minutes to do one simple task and when she doesn't understand why she can't something that she NEEDS! (ha!) But we're getting there.

She loves being at home with her Daddy in the mornings. Thankful for the ability for one of us to be with her at all times. It is critical to her healing.

Maggie is now attending OT (Occupational Therapy) and ST (Speech Therapy) twice a week for 2 hours. She had some adjustments to the new place and new therapists but now she can go in without any issues/fights and have good sessions. And momma gets to sit in the lobby and watch tv on my iPad :)  We've been able to reduce her behavioral therapy sessions back to just once a month (we were going every week, then every other week). This was a huge success!  Her therapist, Beth, just couldn't get over how much she has changed/developed/improved since we started seeing her in February. Maggie still has a long way to go, but we are seeing great changes.

As a parent, it's hard to see those changes sometimes...you are with your child 24/7 and you tend (or I should say, I tend) to remember the meltdowns, fights, challenges, disruptions, all the negative stuff.  I'm learning to really rejoice in the positive things.  But those close to us have seen and noticed the changes in her and have told us so - and that makes this Momma's heart swell. 

It's a lot of hard work...especially all the different therapy and creative discipline we've had to do. It hasn't been easy. It's very time consuming.  It would be fine if this is all that I had to do, but it's not.  I have a family, a home, a job, etc. There were plenty of times that I just wanted to say - no more. Can't do this. Don't get the point. What does rubbing her head have anything to do with her outbursts? etc, etc....but I have learned to trust in the professionals and do what they say. And all the hard work is paying off.

So many times I have questioned whether or not I'm doing the right thing, could I be doing more? Should I try this technique? See this doctor? Talk to this person? Read this book? Research this protocol? And I've learned that you do what you can, where you are at, with what you know and just keep pressing on. And then repeat!

The Lord has been so faithful to put just the right people in our lives at just the right time for us to do what is best for Maggie. We cling to Him ~ He will not let us go.

All over the place

We are on our 4th week of school. Hard to believe. But since school started, it seems like life is just flying by and we're busier than ever. Hence, the reason to a lack of blogging.

~SCHOOL~
Maggie has done really well in her class. She has adjusted well to the bigger classroom, new friends, new schedule, new room and her teacher. She has done really well with adjusting to going every day, versus just 3 days a week. I honestly knew that she would be just fine, but I'm just glad that I was right :)

There have been a few days that I have actually made good timing from work to school and picked Maggie up a little early. You'd think that was a good thing, but no. My sweet girl is not happy when Momma arrives early. This cuts into her play time with her friends. Her teacher says that it's a great compliment when the child cries upon leaving school - so I will take that for what it is. So, now, if I see that I'm running a little early, I just run an errand or sit in the car and catch up on my facebook or emails, until I think it's been long enough for her to enjoy some time outside.

We enrolled Maggie in gymnastics twice a week at school and she just loves it. Her little active self is doing so well and comes home after her classes to show off her new skills. Not only will it be great for her to release some energy (smile) but she's just a natural athlete. I'm just thankful that it's at school during the day and we're not having to add in something extra at the end of the day.

~THERAPY~
We're SUPPOSED to have play therapy once a week. However, it hasn't taken place in a month. Once because our therapist was out of town. The following week, I had a blow out on my way home from work. (yah- that was fun - NOT) The next week, her therapist was sick. And just last week, on my way to get Maggie from school, I had yet another flat tire. So, here's hoping that we can pick it back up next week and get back in the groove of things.

Speech therapy hasn't started yet, as we had to do another evaluation at the therapy center last week. I was a bit frustrated because they said that further testing needed to be done as they felt that the testing performed by Texas Children's wasn't in depth enough. Ok fine. However, they did the exact same testing. Word for word. Question for question. Ugh. I'm sure it was just another way of them getting paid. The conclusions/diagnosis were the same and they're supposed to contact us in a couple of weeks with their recommendations and go from there.

~ACTIVITIES~
The past few weekends have been busy. We've enjoyed playdates with our toddler friends, celebrating birthdays with family, going to the splashpad with our cousins, swimming with friends, and enjoying some nicer weather outside, with a few trips to the park. It's been raining for days but hopefully there will be some end in sight. We cannot wait for cooler weather, as Maggie loves being outside.

~HEALTH~
Maggie had her first dental procedure a few weeks ago. Due to the circumstances of her pre-natal "life", Maggie's teeth are extremely weak and therefore, this time around had 7 teeth that needed to be worked on. Poor thing. Due to her age, the dentist had to sedate her. She was a champ! They were able to work on 4 teeth the first time (more than they thought they would be able to do) and therefore just has to go back one more time at the end of the month to complete the work. She loves going to the dentist and was actually crying when she had to leave. Not a typical scene at the dentist's office. She handled the sedation just fine and did great without me being in the room with her. When they were done, they brought her out to me and she looked like a little drunken baby. She couldn't stand up or walk, although she thought she was just fine. I wish I had a video camera with me - it was hilarious. She came home and slept for almost 6 hours without any movement. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen that before :) She woke up and was back to her normal, active self. I'm just thankful that she did so well and pray that she continues to have a great affection for the dentist office.

We head out to TCH tomorrow to get the results of her latest sleep study test. It will be interesting to see if there were any changes in her sleep apnea in the past year and if there will be any changes to her treatment plan. I'm more than certain that it hasn't improved; I'm just hoping that it hasn't gotten any worse.

~Miscellaneous~
I have to interject that I am more than excited about my fall TV programming starting back up in the coming weeks.  TV is my "guilty pleasure/downtime".  I have my favorites and am curious about some of the new shows that have been advertised for months now. We rarely get to watch "live" TV ~ my DVR is one of my best friends.  He's been pretty lonely this summer, but have no fear, he's clear and ready to get back to work.

Michael & I are doing well. We have both lost a lot of weight this summer and feeling so good.  I've lost 20 pounds, 23 inches and down 2 sizes. Yay! I hope to lose just as much on my next round, starting in a few weeks. It hasn't been too bad and our lifestyle has truly changed. Thankful for the positive changes in our lives and how it has just blessed us a family of 3.

Well, I think that pretty much covers "all over the place".....until next time :)