Ohhhh the Ellie Beaners...where do I start? Actually, Ellie is doing really good.
I think the last thing I mentioned about her was that she was having a MRI and they had over sedated her and she wouldn't wake up. That was quite awhile ago. We saw the neurosurgeon in early October and he reviewed her MRI results with us. He showed us the pictures of her brain just after the first shunt was placed and then compared them to her brain at the time of the MRI. Now that the excess fluid is drained, her brain has completely reclaimed the space. He said that her brain is structurally normal now. Hooray! Of course, she will always need a shunt, but things look really good right now. Unless her shunt fails again, we only have to see the neurosurgeon every three months until she is one year old.
I also mentioned to the neurosurgeon my concerns about her eyesight. She hadn't been tracking objects, looking at faces, or looking to find the source of sounds. She would move her eyes around so I didn't think she was blind, but something clearly wasn't right. He shined a light into her eyes and declared, "Well, her eyes are reacting to the light because her pupils are dilating, but she is not reacting to the light." He believes now that her brain is healing, it will eventually learn how to see. However, its going to take a little bit of extra time. In recent weeks, I have seen evidence of her brain learning to see. She has begun tracking objects (with her eyes only but not moving her head to do so). She has also started to look at my face, particularly if I'm talking to her. Mostly though, she has been watching Gabe. Even still, we have an appointment with opthalmology on November 23rd to have her eyes examined at the Children's Hospital. The neurosurgeon recommended we have everything checked out to rule out any structural issues with her eyes.
As I posted before, Ellie finished her serial casting on her club foot. We had a follow up appointment with orthopedics. I was convinced that they were going to cast her foot again. It had begun turning back in shortly after the last cast was removed. The doctor examined her and said while its not quite as flexible as it had been, its still bending appropriately. He decided we should start putting a brace on her foot overnight. So I met with another company who measured her foot and said the brace would be ready in about a week. I waited and waited for a call but none came. I finally broke down and called them (thankfully he had given me his card) and they said, "oh yeah, its been here awhile". Great service, I tell ya. So I drove back down to Detroit to have the brace fitted. Ellie hates the brace. She screams and screams. Plus, I'm not convinced its doing exactly what it should. It is made of two parts, one that hold her foot up at a 90 degree angle and then a second larger part the bends the knee and turns the foot outward. The part that holds the foot up is fine, but the bigger part turns her foot out at the knee and not the ankle. Her knee is fine, its the ankle that needs to be stretched. I've been using only the smaller part and she will wear that one for at least a few hours. I also manually stretch her foot every time I change her diaper.
We saw the pediatrician for Ellie's four month appointment a few weeks ago. Ellie was weighing in a 9lbs 14 ozs and 23 3/4 inches long. She is finally on the charts for length and slowly inching closer for weight. Although, she had just had a huge growth spurt and had been eating really good. The following day she decided eating was for wussies and promptly slowed that down. I doubt she's gained any weight since that appointment. Ba-bye charts.
The pediatrician also noted that her spine is curved like an "S", in other word, she has scoliosis. She said it could correct itself with time and as she learns to push up on her arms and sit up. If not, well, at least I'm familiar with orthopedics. She recommended I have some films taken of her spine. I have yet to go do that. I'm not sure of the point at this juncture. If the only treatment right now is physical therapy, why bother.
Speaking of physical therapy, we are currently awaiting an evaluation from early intervention so Ellie can start physical therapy. I was going to go through Children's Hospital but I got tired of waiting for a call back from them plus, EI will come to my house. I am anxious to get this show on the road. Currently, Ellie has no neck control even though she is 4.5 months old. I acknowledge that she is going to take longer to do the normal baby things, but I will gladly take any help we can give her.
So I've talked a lot about what Ellie cannot do. Let's talk about what she can do. She is very smiley and reacts to Gabe's, Ben's, and my voice with big smiles. She is also cooing up a storm and its so awesome to hear her "talking" to me. I've even heard her laugh a few times. She has discovered both of her hands and she enjoys chewing them into a soggy mess. She even will hold onto a toy if you put it into her hand. Gabe particularly enjoys this skill. I often find him putting various toys into her hand and then laughing as she pokes herself in the face with them.
Ellie is really the sweetest, easy going baby. She hardly ever cries, she sleeps good, and she's just a sweetheart. I mean, the poor thing cries whenever her big brother cries. Its so sad. He will be crying in the corner and her bottom lip will turn down and her eyes will fill up with tears. She loves her big brother. True, she is a difficult eater and she has a lot of medical issues, but she is the greatest baby.
