Look out! Morgan is on the move now!

Yesterday's Physical Therapy appointment went very well. Morgan was ready to show Mrs. Karen all of her tricks. She crawled across the room with her hips up and using both legs and arms, she stood up and set back down, and she crawled up the stairs like a pro! I was very proud. She agreed that Morgan has made very impressive improvements in just one week. All of our hard work has finally paid off. She is now just like every other 10 month old. The only problem we have left to concur is the knots on both sides of her neck. The knots are from the torticollis and they just don't want to go away. We have been doing stretches and massaging her neck three times a day since December. I am a little frustrated that they are still there. One thing at a time I guess. As for physical therapy, we will go back in two weeks. That's right not one week but two week! We are very excited. If she is still doing this well in two weeks we will be on our own for one month and then back for a follow up visit. After that we will go once a month until she is walking well just to make sure she is 100%! So for now, I only have to worry about doing her stretches. It is such a stress relief to not have to worry about doing "therapy" with her anymore. We will of course continue to watch her and encourage her, when needed, to use both arms are strengthen her legs. She will be running around here before long.
We have an appointment at Vanderbilt next week. Morgan has been wearing her helmet for 2 months now and is expected to be in it for 2 more months. I am praying we go next week and he says he thinks she will be out of it next month. We are seeing so much improvement and she has the cutest little head now. I can't wait to get the helmet off so we can admire her sweet little head anytime we want.
Morgan's incredible progress over the last week is such an amazing answer to prayer. Thank you to all who have been praying for her. It has been my prayer that Morgan's helmet journey would bring our family closer to God and closer together. I am daily seeing this prayer and so many others answered.

Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

This is a just because picture! Morgan keeps very warm in her helmet even in the snow!

It is so fun to see your little one experience their firsts. Their first smile, first laugh, first time to roll over or walk. It is even more fun to see those firsts when you have been working so hard to help them accomplish one. At physical therapy this week we worked very hard with Morgan to help her pull up to a standing position. Her little legs just didn't seem strong enough to hold her up for more than a few seconds. The next morning we went in and she was standing up in her bed holding on to the side rail just smiling at her Daddy. What a proud moment. Now she is pulling up on everything. Hopefully this new found skill will really help to strengthen her trunk. We are still working on getting her hips even, and trying to strengthen her trunk. She is really doing well. It is amazing how fast she is changing. Everyday she is learning a new skill. It is very rewarding to be able to see her finally accomplishing the skills we have been working on for so long. I feel like we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know in a few months from now she will be running around this house and I will be trying to keep up with her. I am sure at that moment I will be wondering why we went to physical therapy!

I praise God for Morgan's progress and for being able to learn more about his wonderful faithfulness through this experience. As we have gone through this experience and all of it's ups and downs, I have been reminded of His amazing grace. We are always in the grip of his hand and never far from his comfort and love. I have found so much comfort in knowing that God is still in control!

Making Progress

So much has happened since my last entry. I will try to keep it as brief as possible. We went back to Vanderbilt this week and saw Dr. Kelly. He said that Morgan was making some improvement! He sent us over to have her helmet adjusted. They removed a layer of the lining from the back. Hopefully over the next four weeks we will really start to see her head start to reshape. So far it has only been a subtle change. The appointment went very quickly and Morgan of course did great! We have really been hoping Morgan would only have to wear the helmet for 3 months, but Dr. Kelly told us we would probably be looking at four months. That was disappointing to hear. We are going to keep praying for 3 months anyway! Here are some pictures of her in her helmet. We put new stickers on it this week. We think it is pretty cute.


Today we had a physical therapy appointment. Morgan seems to be sitting much straighter which means she is not holding one hip higher than the other anymore. YEA Morgan! On the down side she still wants to use her right hand more than the other. This unfortunately affects the way she crawls, sits up and props. You can see in the above picture her right arm and hand have been wrapped in an ace bandage. This is to encourage her to use the other arm and hand. Of course when her physical therapist wrapped her up today Morgan just set there.Tonight when I tried to wrap her she acted like I was causing her pain. After several tries I got it wrapped and she did great. We played with her bowling set and she rolled the ball with her left hand successfully!!!!! After I removed the wrap she rolled the ball with both hands. Mission accomplished. We will wrap her arm and hand twice a day during our structured play time. We will go back next week to see the therapist and see what happens from there. I look forward to the day when I can sit down with Morgan and play and not have to worry about which arm she is using or which way she is rolling and just enjoy being with her. Today, that day seems so far away.

Physical Therapy Update

Morgan had her first physical therapy appointment with her helmet on yesterday. She is doing well. A few little issues seem to have returned since starting helmet therapy. She is doing great with holding her trunk straight and reaching for things with both arms. The problem we are going to be trying to correct over the next two weeks is with her hips. While sitting she seems to raise one hip higher. To help in correcting this I will have to place a towel under her left side while she is sitting. I will keep a towel in her highchair, car seat and swing as well. Basically anytime she is sitting we will use the towel to try and correct this problem. She is also working on crawling. I learned a few things I can do to help her pull her knees up and use both legs while crawling. Right now she likes to use her elbows and one leg to scoot along. Lastly, the muscle in her neck is very tight again. She was not happy when the Therapist was stretching her. I will have to stretch it out several times a day again. The muscle issue is from the Torticollis. The Torticollis is what originally caused her to start favoring one side of her body over the other. It is a lot harder to stretch her well with the helmet on but we will figure it out.
As for sleep...she has not slept as well the last two nights. Last night she was up several times. I guess we can't complain too much. Overall she is adjusting so well. I think that her body temperature is starting to adjust to the helmet as well. I have not noticed her sweating as much today.
She has done so well and we are so thankful. We have seen so many prayers answered already!

physical therapy apointment today

Morgan saw Mrs. Karen, her Physical Therapist, today. Morgan is doing great, and seems to have corrected the problem of favoring one side of her body over the other. We will continue to go to therapy to work on strengthening the muscles in her neck from the Torticollis. Our next appointment will be after she gets her Helmet. We don't know if the helmet will help this issue or make it worse. At this time we will just have to wait and see.

In addition to Morgan doing so well in therapy, another wonderful thing happened. We found out, after being on the waiting list since last May, Avery got in preschool today! What an answered prayer. I think Avery will really benefit from having this time for just her. Lately, she has had a hard time sharing the all the attention with Morgan. Unfortunately with all that is going on, the spot light seems to have been on Morgan a little too much. I think Avery has enjoyed me making a fuss over her today. We have spent a lot of time talking about preschool and all of the new friends she will make. Avery will be in school two days a week. We are very excited for Avery and I know she is going to love preschool. Thursday will be her first day, and she can't wait.
That is all the updates we have for now.
P.S.- It snowed today! I know that has nothing to do with Morgan's helmet but it just needed to be said! This was Morgan's first real snow.