PT for P

I took Pierson to see a physical therapist yesterday afternoon....with Rane, at 1:00, during both their nap times. It was quite fun. Ella-Ann is at camp this week at her school all day (8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m) so at least I didn't have to drag her there. We were there for an hour and a half and Rane did pretty good. He was hard to handle at times and it was difficult to listen to the therapist explain things to me (like 100 things) but I managed. At one point Rane turned the lights off in the room so we sat in the dark until I could find the switch. I was exhausted by the time we got in the car to leave, as was Pierson! On the other had, Rane was screaming on the way home because he wanted to stay!

The therapist evaluated her, measured her head and found her to have a moderate case of torticollis, which is a stiff neck. She said the entire right side of her body is stiff as well. I never noticed (shame on me) that when Pierson turns her head her neck muscles majorly protrude and are super tight. The therapist had to point it out to me. She has a flat head on the right side, which I have mentioned before, but that doesn't have anything to do with the torticollis. She has a difficult time turning her head to the left and keeping it there so it just automatically falls to look right. Pierson is also learning her midline to be a little to the right, since that is the way her head naturally falls, instead of center. There is about a 15-degree difference between how far she can look to the right and left and bend her ear to her shoulder. If we were to let this go she could have physical developmental problems so I have to take her to therapy once a week and do many exercises with her three times a day. Since Pierson is not fond of her stomach, which is probably why she doesn't roll much, I have to start getting her used to laying on it by having tummy time at least 5 times a day. This also helps to stretch out the front of her neck, which is also tight. Keep in mind Pierson is only awake for a maximum of 1.5 hours in between naps and in that time I have to feed her a bottle, feed her solids, run errands and now do a bunch of exercises! I have a lot on my plate but I can do it! The good thing is I have Ella-Ann, who adores Pierson, wanting to help me as much as possible. I think I can, I think, I can, I think I can!