The big Green Monster

A little back story before I explain the Monster.

When Kiya was in for a sick baby visit a couple weeks ago, the pediatrician, that I very much dislike was the only one available at the two clinics closest to us, made a passing comment that Kiya's ears are asymmetrical and that she has a flat head and would likely need to wear a DOC band to correct it. She said nothing else and barely answered my questions and sent me on my way with the antibiotics for Kiya's ear infection, a referral to a pediatric therapist and a TON of anxiety.

No one who regularly interacts with Kiya thinks she had a flat head but I made the appointment with the therapist anyway. I was going NUTS. I truly believe all medical websites should be banned for new parents. They are AWFUL!

After a week of obsessively checking Kiya's head every chance I got, we had our appointment. The physical therapist was nice enough and she was willing to explain things which was helpful. She measured Kiya's head and said her ratios of length to width were all very good. She did think Kiya's ears were a little off but let me tell you this was a less than accurate test as it involved trying to get Kiya to sit still and then using her fingers as the measuring device. Anyway, after hearing what she had to say, we opted not to go the DOC band route as much research suggests that they aren't effective in children over 10 months, it cost $3000 and the therapist felt that Kiya's head shape wouldn't necessarily change and wasn't in anyway severe or even moderate.

While there though, we did discover that Kiya has TERRIBLE posture. She slouches. It is very obvious if you look for it. She has stronger neck muscles on one side which is part of the issue. A lot of this stems for her finger sucking. She leans that way to suck on her fingers so her body has gotten comfortable that way. The therapist and I went through a bunch of exercises that we are starting with Kiya to help straighten her out. We will see the therapist again in a few weeks and then decide what to do next. One option may be calling Birth to 3 again and having them come out and reevaluate her and proceed that way, but we shall see.

One of the things the therapist suggested was to get a big yoga ball and use it to help Kiya stretch her back and core muscles as well as practicing shifting her weight from one side to the other. So obediently I went out and bought one. I got the smallest one I could and yet we now have....the Big Green Monster.

Kiya is terrified of the ball. This came out of nowhere as she was fine with the ball at the therapists office. She freaked out. We worked with her slowly and sat on the ball with her. She is getting better but will only bounce on it, rock side to side on it and stretch her back on it. We haven't been able to successfully stretch her tummy out on it as that freaks her out. We will keep at it and hope she gets used to it. The first day if we even walked by it she would grab on to us harder and start to fuss. By Sunday she was able to sit on the floor next to it and pound on it with her hands.

So it will be slow going with that one. We do have other exercises to work with her on also which she isn't always a fan of hence maybe the need to call in an outside therapist so we aren't always the bad guy. Time will tell. We have noticed more of a desire to pull herself up on just about anything and everything and she will even venture for 1 independent step before lunging forward and laughing hysterically and last night she was laying on the floor and the got herself into a sitting position. I know most kids do this long before this age but she just never did. The therapist said it is likely due to the way her muscles have developed so the exercises will help.

We are anxious to see Kiya's progress with all of this. It was nice to hear the therapist say that overall developmentally Kiya is doing great and showing progress which is a very good sign. She felt that Kiya's fine motor skills were really quite good and that for gross motor she was at the low end of average. She would be more worried if the desire wasn't there. The desire is there she just needs a little push in the right direction and the therapist said it was totally fine that Kiya wasn't walking. We knew that but still nice to hear.