Shout Out to Children’s Hospital

 In the category of pictures that bring a smile to my face, this one just might be at the top.  Keep reading and the awesomeness of this picture will become more apparent in a second….and seriously, she is a beautiful baby, no?

So today’s the day when I can’t feed my baby for 4 hours.  And just when I expect her to get to the apex of hunger and frustration she will then be subject to multiple tests, all for reasons she will not be able to understand.  I’m not looking forward to it.  I hate to see my babies in pain.  I wouldn’t do it of course, if I didn’t think it was going to help us in the long run, but still…no fun.  So if you happen to be thinking of us today, feel free to send a prayer in Lamp’s direction.

However crappy this day might be I know that we are in good hands.  I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again…we’re very lucky to be here in Cincinnati where we have one of the top Children’s hospitals in the nation.  I’m not even making that up to make myself feel better…it’s true.   So although I’m not looking forward to today’s events, we’re lucky to receive such top-notch health care.

One of the ways that Children’s has really been amazing is with Lamp’s physical and occupational therapy.  It might seem a little young to start seeing PT’s and OT’s at 3 months old–even I wondered what they’d really accomplish so early–but they have totally exceeded my expectations.  First, our OT Molly, not only fits Lamp for her brace, but she actually makes the braces herself.  She explained to me that not many OT’s can actually make braces anymore and usually you’d have to go to an orthopedist.  Seeing an orthapedist would take weeks just to get an appointment, and you’d probably wait another 2 weeks to get the actual brace…and then they’d charge you $400 for a little piece of plastic and velcro.  A very important piece of plastic and velcro mind you, but still.  And with Lamp growing so much these days–as most babies do her age–she needs a new brace every 2-3 weeks as it is.  So you can see that an orthopedist would be a ridiculous (and expensive) way to go for people in our situation.  So Molly fits and makes the brace during our appointment.  She checks it and rechecks it to make sure it’s on right and sends us on our way.  And (get this!) she doesn’t even charge us for the brace.  Oh and if I need to see her before our next appointment, I can call her directly and reschedule.  Tell me that’s not amazing.

Then there’s our PT Amy.  I knew I liked Amy the first time we met.  Within seconds she got right down on Lamps level and was just really, really great with her.  One of my biggest worries with Lamp was that she wasn’t going to be able to play like most babies because she’s lacking in the arms and hands department.  We bought her a play mat a while ago which allows us to hang her toys really low so she can reach them with her longer arm…but I worried that she’d get bored with that soon.  As I discussed this with Amy on our last visit, she quickly whipped up a somewhat crude, but functional little arm band that can be strapped to Lamp’s arm and then have other little rings or toys strapped to the band.  As she put this little arm band on, right away Lamp was bringing those rings up to her mouth and playing with these toys.  By herself!  She was LOVING it.  I was loving it.  I was so excited I want to do a round-off-back-handspring right into Amy’s lap and give her a kiss.  But that would have been inappropriate on many levels.  When I got home from that appointment I found a wooden toy rattle from when Sassy-pants was a baby and it’s a perfect fit on Lamp’s little arm. That’s the awesome picture above…Lamp playing with a toy all by herself, while sitting up!  Lamp loves it.  I don’t think I would have thought to put it on her arm had it not been for her PT, Amy, and now my little Lampy has even more ways to explore her little world.

Hooray for Children’s Hospital!  Hooray for Molly and Amy!