Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech and Language Therapy Update

Last week we had another combination Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech and Language Therapy appointment for Mikail. I just cannot say enough about our therapists. They pretty much ROCK!! I had slacked off on some of the PT and OT stuff the week of Christmas and really noticed how much that caused Mikail to stiffen up again, so we worked hard at his exercises in the New Year and by the time we went to his appointment, he was a lot more limber.

He still has stiffness in his hips/legs, especially the left side, which is somewhat surprising since the stroke was on the left side of the brain, affecting the right side of the body. Once again the evils of the use of 'suction' come to bite us in the butt. The skull fracture most likely (totally likely in my mind) caused by the use of the suction, probably caused some damage to the left side of the brain, affecting his left leg/hips. (How does one keep anger and bitterness away when it always creeps up like this and shouts DR. ERROR!!?! I try. I fail. I try again.) So, we are back to focusing on his hips and legs and the stiffness in his neck. Hopefully we can get him limber enough so that he will be crawling at the right age.

One big hurrah? Mikail is sitting up on his own, unsupported. I still try to keep a pillow behind him because from time to time he will fall backwards, but we were told that is normal. He is even moving from the sitting position to the lying on his belly position. PT and OT were shocked to see this. I was somewhat concerned because he has no interest in rolling over from belly to back or back to belly, but when asked "would you want to take the time and energy to roll over if you can sit and see more of the world?" Me? Nope. Why bother, right? We know he can do it, because he has before, he just has not interest in it.

Speech and Language is also coming along. Mikail is a lot more verbal than he was a month ago. He is experimenting with various sounds and mouth movements, which the S&L Therapist was excited to see. Still no "Mama" or "Dada", but she wasn't worried. He is meaningfully waving 'hi' and 'bye' when people arrive and leave. I thought it was coincidence but was assured that there is meaning behind it for him. My favourite? Giving kisses. I just have to share a video we made of him showing off this skill for Nana and Papa:

So, that is where we are at right now. Practicing. Exercising. Believing in continued miracles as Mikail's development continues.