This is the third time I'm trying to write this post, it seems there is always something getting in the way! Hopefully this time I can get it done! How was everybody's Easter? We had a really nice time with friends and good food! Now that Easter is over I notice May is right around the corner and I realize that I haven't gotten anywhere with my Strikes for Stroke :( Shame on me, I need to hurry up and make things happen! May is Pediatric Stroke Awareness Month, so I will have a few fundraisers coming up. I'm sure there will be something that will speak to you ;) One awesome idea came from Chandra Whitfield, one of our CHASA Facebook group members. She thought about penny jars! I love that idea and told her I will have to try it here. As a matter of fact, I think it is so great that I wanted to mention her idea here! Everyone can spare a penny, right? I just need to see who can print a couple of fact sheets for me to put with the jars. I also petitioned for a proclamation in ND but have yet to hear back from the Governor. I will let you know once I do!
By the way, we've got great news from Nancy from CHASA today, Isaiah's story is featured on the CHASA website: http://www.chasa.org/i-didnt-know-babies-could-have-a-stroke-isaiahs-journey/
It is a shorter version of the one I have on this blog but we will contribute more to it on a weekly basis. You can read about other stroke survivors in the "Meet our kids" section too. That way others can learn about Pediatric Stroke and families that just received the diagnosis can find hope. While most stories have a lot of things in common, each story, just as the person it talks about, still is very unique. I tell you, a lot of those encouraging testimonies of recovery have helped me keep me going! Everyone at CHASA has been so helpful and kind to us, I can't wait for the retreat in July!
While I'm writing this post, let me give you an update on Isaiah: Lately, he's been getting on his hands and knees a lot and starts rocking back and forth so I'm sure we're not far from crawling. He actually leaped like a frog the other day, sorta. It was hilarious! He just couldn't figure out that he also needs to move his arms so the second time he leaped forward he landed straight on his face! He'll get it eventually though. He already knows how to somewhat scoot across the room, mainly backwards or in circles but it gets him from A to B. That means we need to baby-proof the house soon! With Nia we never needed gates. In Germany we had doors in every room that we could close to section off the area she can crawl in without getting to the stairs, in our apartment here we didn't have any stairs so we never had to worry about that. By the time we moved into the house on base she was walking and thankfully smart enough to stop in front of the stairs and call for help. With the open concept in this house we'll have to get gates up for Isaiah though. He's already so fast that watching him and stopping him are NOT options. So let the baby-proofing begin!
Some of you might remember that Isaiah's physical therapist and I had talked about getting Isaiah a splint to keep his thumb in the right position when grasping things. He still tends to keep it tucked in rather than spreading it, not all the time but quite often. It gets him so frustrated when he tries to grasp or pick up things with his right hand that he immediately switches to his left and since we're trying to encourage him to use his right hand a lot more we need to fix this thumb situation. Anyway. At our last session Nancy (therapist) told us she decided against a classic splint as the material that keeps his thumb in place would be too hard and she wants it to merely be a reminder and not necessarily force him. So we improvised by using a thin strip of foam and loop it around Isaiah's wrist.
I'm glad we're going that route rather than using a traditional splint. Isaiah can pick up bigger objects with his right hand and I'm afraid a stiff splint would just hinder him. I caught him the other day picking up Nia's toy broom with his right hand and playing with the bristles with his left! I was so proud of him!
Well, let me get back to the kids now. Isaiah's nap is almost over and Nia seems to not have gotten the memo that it was nap time!
Until then. Love,
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