Christmas Gathering #1 and Other Things

I am sitting in our hotel room in McCall tonight with much thankfulness and a full heart. Yesterday morning, K had a doctor visit. I had been increasingly worried about K over the previous 48 hours because she had been sleeping even more than usual and was halfhearted, at best, during meals. I was concerned that perhaps we shouldn't take her to McCall at all, should keep her home in a safe and serene cocoon instead. The doctor encouraged us to go, but to take precautions to avoid the flu as it could still be life threatening for Keira. So when we left for McCall I was prepared to spend all weekend with K in the corner of the hotel room if I had to.

We got here yesterday evening. I was able to keep Keira calm the whole way up (Okay, okay, I held her in my arms while we drove). She began eating consistently again. Then this morning.. This morning! While the boys were still a flurry of wrapping paper and Legos and flying monkeys Keira was taking the stage in Aunt Shelly's arms SMILING and LAUGHING and RESPONDING like she's never done before. It was wonderful, to say the least.

So what's the big deal? Last week we finally met with the occupational therapist (OT) for the first time. She drew our attention to the fact that Keira is quite overwhelmed and overstimulated much of the time. We've assumed contentment because she doesn't fuss BUT the rapid breathing, the hiccups, and the googly eyes, to some extent, are her stress responses. During these times, we learned, she's doing all she can to maintain homeostasis. The more calm we can help her to be, the more she will be freed up to grow and develop.

The OT taught us baby crunches and sit-ups, squeezes, massages, and joint compressions. It was really quite incredible what we noticed over the following two days. Keira startled much less AND when she's calm, she LOOKS at us. Not only that, her eyes are aligned and tracking together. This is encouraging, to say the least.

With this new knowledge, comes more insight as to how K is different from a "normal" baby. She throws up if we try to feed her in the car, gets extra fussy and disregulated if I schlep her around with me for multiple errands, and, as we see now, looses her appetite. So maybe you can see why I was nervous about McCall.

Oh...I just have to tell you... I wanted to take Keira to the studio and introduce her to Annie and Lisa. Lights, kids, noise, new people, I planned for it to be the only outing of the day. And, as most moms understand, the time we ended up going was just before but not quite feeding time, so I was sure I'd have the awkward issue of her being fussy/needing to nurse, etc.

Well. We walked up those stairs and into the studio and Keira was happy. She was calm and alert and breathing regularly. You would have thought we'd just walked into our own house. And when Lisa came to hold her she SMILED. I couldn't believe this and was so touched by the symbolism of it. Lisa remarked that K probably DOES know the place, she was there often enough in utero. Lisa had a heart to heart with Miss K. "We have big plans," she said. "You and me are going to dance." This made my day, my week, my month. My only regret is not snapping a photo.

Merry Christmas, Loved Ones.

P.S. Last weight was 10 lbs 8 ozs. Head growth continues at a good rate. Blood work looks good and her liver panels are normal now.