PT Update

Maddie is rocking physical therapy! I am so, so proud of the progress she has made in five short weeks. Maddie's physical therapist is contracted out through the county's CDSA. During the physical therapy session yesterday, members of Maddie's Early Intervention team came out to watch Maddie in action with the PT. We reassessed her Individal Family Service Plan.

The IFSP goals were created two months ago, on March 10. EI ensures that the goals are functional and will help Maddie gain independence. Our original goals were:

1. Maddie will feed herself by holding her bottle and picking up finger foods.
2. Maddie will tolerate tummy time for extended periods of time.

We were able to mark off both goals as ACHIEVED! (She still doesn't prefer being on her stomach, but because she is able to move around on her tummy and roll over, we can't force her to stay on her tummy any longer.) We had to revise the IFSP to include her new goal of moving throughout her environment independently. More specifically, we are working on helping Maddie transition from prone position (on her tummy) to sitting, and sitting to prone. 

Despite a rough start, our PT really is fabulous. She has acclimated to my obsessive picture taking habits. She'll even hold the pose to make sure I got video or pictures. And if it wasn't to her ideal standards, she'll say, "Wait. Do another one." She knows that I actually refer to the pictures to help me work with Maddie.

\

Jesse and I try to work with Maddie three times a day for 20-30 minutes each time using the stretches I learn from the therapist. I work with her after breakfast and lunch; Jesse works with her after dinner.  Jackson knows when I roll the ball out that it is time for Maddie to "exercise".  Madeline loves the ball, but she is so good at the ball stretches that the PT told us to use the ball as a warm up and cool down. We have a lot more floor exercises to incorporate. The PT makes it look so easy but I am not very fluid with the movements.  

These are the series of stretches to encourage Maddie to move into a sitting position.

When she is in a prone position,

tuck her knees under,

roll her from knees to hip,

and wait for her to walk herself up with her hands

until she is sitting upright.

I'm not going to lie, I haven't even come close to mastering moving her from knee to hip in a natural motion. Neither has Jesse. Hopefully we'll figure it out before next week.