The future is so bright
Emma started getting PT at the local children's hospital 2x/week about 14 months ago. When we started there was a little boy about the same age as Emma that had a session the same time as her and Emma just loved to see him. Both children were way behind on their milestones, but the little boy was able to sit up and use his hands better than Emma. However, he was a micro-preemie and had a lot of other complications that Emma did not have such as a feeding tube, bowel issues, etc. Eventually our PT time slots changed so Emma was no longer working out next to her buddy but we would see him in the halls and keep tabs on his progress.
This week Emma and her buddy had an overlapping PT session again. The little boy is now sitting, standing, pulling to stand, crawling, and walking with braces with a minimum of support and walking quite nicely in the gait trainer. He is also now talking and playing really well with toys. I was complimenting the little boy on all his hard work and a while later Emma's PT asked me if it is hard to see him doing all this. She was not asking in a bad way at all, but rather wanted a bit more insight into how us parents process this type of thing.
I was honest with her and said - no, he worked so hard to get to where he is at today and I applaud all his effort. I then said that I truly believe that it will be Emma walking like him in the not so distant future. (I didn't say too much about the other stuff like talking because that is not the point I wanted to get across to her PT. )
Now, I know not everyone thinks this about Emma, but I know my little girl. I know what makes her tick and I know how she acts outside of therapy sessions. I see the typical 2 1/2 year old personality she has trapped in a body that isn't letting her communicate this to everyone. I see great things in Emma's future, but they will happen in her own time.
After our conversation Emma's PT decided to put Emma in the gait trainer again to see what she could do. I smiled at that. I know she believes in Emma's potential or we wouldn't still see her, but I think our conversation reinforced her belief in Emma.
Here is a video I took of Emma last night right before bed time. She just had her bath so we didn't put her hair in a ponytail or tape her CIs on her head so they kept popping off, but we let it go since we were letting her have some fun walking to her Daddy. She is amazing.
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3 Comments from readers:
I am going to have to switch to the computer to watch the video, so I will catch up on that later. A few other things first, though!
We use skeleton ear molds now, instead of tape. It is so much easier, and holds the CI's in place much better. Have you tried ear molds? Can you even use ear molds with all the different brands?? I don't even know!
A lot of people told me what we could expect or not expect. I was told a whole lot of " she will never"s , and none of those things came true. I knew to keep pushing, because I could tell she wanted it. You know best what Emma is capable of. You know how far and hard to push her.
She was jumping! And after a long day when she was tired and relaxed from a bath even! She sure is amazing - and so are her sister and parents. xoxo
I so know how you feel Kristina. At 3 years old and after 2 hip surgeries (one Left and one right), Abby is taking steps and trying to use a gait trainer. She actually takes better and more consistenet steps outside the gait trainer, but we are getting there. I hope that one day we can meet. I have said this before, but everytime I see videos of Emma I am instantly reminded of Abby. They look and act very much alike.
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