Elsie's story- part 4

If you have missed them, here is part 1, part 2, and part 3.
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So next in line on our Cerebral Palsy journey was to get Elsie's MRI.

I was a good blogger at this point so here is what I posted that day:

Repost- March 17, 2008

Today we had Elsie's MRI. She is one tough cookie...poor thing had no idea what was going to hit her! The nurses were so nice, and of course Elsie was all smiles...UNTIL they put the IV in...she was MAD...being held down by Mom, Dad and a nurse, with another nurse sticking the IV in...HORRIBLE!!! But then it was in, she calmed down, I rocked her for a little while until they took us to the MRI room. They told me to be aware that when they sedate her, her body will go limp, and could stop breathing, but not to worry, they have people there just in case, as if that makes me feel better! Anyway, they start to give it to her, she cries cause they said it burns as it goes in, and then all of the sudden her head falls back and her legs seize up...then they say "Go ahead and lay her on the table now." I was so worried, but they said she is okay she is just going asleep, so I laid her down. That is when I broke down...my baby laying there with her arms all floppy, still a little conscious, but her body completely lifeless...oh man...so hard. Then they took us to a room to wait. We were supposed to be there when she woke up...but when the nurse came in she said "Well, she is awake and laughing at us" So we went in there and sure enough...our little Elsie was as high as a kite! So funny! Anyway...she is a trooper! We love that girl! We should get results in the next couple days.

Before the IV...she has no idea what is coming!!!

Daddy loves this girl!!!
Very mad about the IV in her foot!!!

Getting calmed down after the Iv stick
Here is Elsie VERY loopy!!!
Still a little loopy!
On the way home with her new friend from the hospital, Buttons... (very cute it is hand-made and donated to the hospital)

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We didn't have anything solved by doing the MRI.
Which was kinda frustrating.....but what can ya do.
The next big stride that Elsie made was when she started being able to hug us.
She was so week in the arms that to put her arms up and around our necks was just so hard.
Here is my post about that.
She melted my heart that day.
I remember it like it was yesterday.

Repost- April 4 2008

We have never gotten real hugs from Elsie.

The lack of strength in her arms has made it hard for her to stretch her arms to go around something...when you asked for 'loves' she would be very sweet and lay her head on your shoulder, but you never got a wrap around squeeze from her...

So in the last few days she has grabbed us around our necks and she won't let go...my heart is so happy to see her able to express her love the way she wanted to.

Nothing makes me happier than to get one of these squeezes from little Elsie...and she is more than happy to hand them out!!!

Anyway, just thought you would all enjoy some pictures of Elsie's newest milestone!

Then at the end of April 2008, Elsie started to cruise at 33 months of age.

We were so excited....

Again, thanks to blogging here ya go.

Repost- April 23, 2008

  

So Elsie has been making great progress.

In the last few weeks she has learned to do a lot of fun stuff and I wanted to document it.

Last week she started to pull herself up standing. She does it all the time and she is perfecting it now. She also will cruise a little bit along the couch, and she laughs the whole time, both the excited and scared laugh all mixed into one.

She still can't stand alone without support, but that is what we are working on now.

She has also managed to learn to climb a few steps...perfect timing now that our stairs are hardwood!!!

And she has finally learned to use a straw. This has been very hard for her to figure out. The muscles in her mouth are so weak, and her tongue tends to push everything forward, and it still does, she just learns to cope with it and get it to work for her anyway.

It started with Capri Suns..the straws are thinner, so takes less suction to get the drink up...after a little bit she caught onto that, and then we tried the big straws. She gets very excited when she gets a drink up the straw, and chokes up a little bit some of the time. But she loves it.

I love that with every little thing Elsie learns she is SO excited! She makes me appreciate all the little things we can do ourselves with no problem!

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Next up was Elsie's new ride!!!!!

We knew she needed some kind of aid when walking.

She just did not have the balance, but she wanted to do it so bad!
We started with a loaner from Katie, her P.T.
But then she got her very own shiny GOLD one!

Repost- May 5, 2008 

Elsie's Physical Therapist brought this to us today to try out. Elsie knows what she needs to do to walk. She just has trouble with her balance and her legs tend to buckle under her. So we have been thinking about getting a pediatric walker for her, but we weren't sure if doing that would hinder her from walking on her own some day. We didn't want her to become dependant on it. But we decided to give it a try. She loves it. This one is an old model, and we are going to go next week to a open house thing where there will be many vendors and we can figure out what would work best for Elsie and her needs, but for now this is our loner, and you can already see how much she is loving it.
Madi had to help her out on the grass, it was a little harder to push around there.

Repost- May 16, 2008

Elsie got her new ride today!!! She is loving it. This one works MUCH better for her...first of all..it's GOLD...how could that not be better, right??? NO, but really, it stops when it starts to roll backwards...which is a good feature. The front wheels swivel, which makes it much easier for her to maneuver where she wants to go. She loves it and has worn herself out today walking with it. Her little legs get tired pretty fast, but she loves it, so she keeps going! She will sleep good tonight, that is for sure. Sorry about all the pictures, but she just looks so cute...I can't help it! I should post a video, I will do that another time.

Loves and kisses for her daddy! That girl has him wrapped around her finger!!!


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Okay, that might be enough to post for now.
Again, the girl amazes me.
She is such an angel to us all.
I am so Thankful to her.
I plan to continue to post these until I am up to date.
I had been totally fine with the diagnosis up until she turned 3.
That is when I had a hard time.
I will get to that.
Thanks for reading.
It really is so important to have other aware out there of not only Cerebral Palsy, but all other disabilities out there.
They have a heart and soul too.....I think sometimes people forget that.
I also wanted to out out there, don't be afraid to ask questions.
We would much rather you come and talk to us instead of staring.
Elsie is perfect for this....she doesn't wait for someone to come up to us....she is always there with a big smile on her face saying "HI" to all who will look at her.
More to come.