January 26, 2011
At today's check up Helena weighed 17.1 lbs and was 27 inches long. She is growing!
Helena had a check up appointment. It was originally set up as her pre-sedation physical. Helena will be having an MRI next week. The doctors think that she may have had a stroke in utero so they are going to do an MRI to check to see if there are signs of it on her brain. Helena is non-verbal and she doesn't use the left side of her body nearly as well as the right. She can only roll to her right, she can do most everything with her right side but not her left. She is still not sitting up and doesn't use her hands to try to prop up or catch herself when she is in a sitting position. At the doctors appointment the doctor ordered all kinds of tests on Helena. He said he was glad that we had great insurance because he ordered more than $4000.00 in tests. We don't think that she can feel pain. She gets bleeding diaper rash and doesn't even flinch when we wipe her bum. She cries when she is bumped into but the doctor thinks it is a startle reaction, not a pain reaction. So they are going to do extensive tests on Helena to see if chromosomes are missing or mixed up or if it is something else entirely. We were told the tests wouldn't be back for about 6 weeks.. so now it is a waiting game.
Helena is going to start working with H-KISS which is an early intervention for delays for children 1-3 years old. Helena was evaluated and although she is almost 8 months old she is tracking at about 3 to 4 months old for most things and below that in a few areas. She has a long road ahead of her to help her get caught up on her milestones, but we are here to help her every step of the way.
She is a great baby. She is happy and smiles so easily for those she recognizes. She loves her brothers and sister and loves to interact with people. Although she isn't verbal, she can make clicking sounds with her tongue and loves if we do it too. She loves to play with her toys and can "Army crawl" on the floor. She doesn't put things in her mouth so it is nice to have her down on the floor to play with Sophia. Helena is very engaging and inquisitive and wants to explore everything. We are very grateful to have her in our family!
