Therapy

Well, our 4-week old is officially in therapy. Last week, we went to out first OT appointment with Ellen Carlin.

We took Mikayla in because we knew that she has some sort of sucking issue that does not allow her to empty the breast completely. As a result, she was unable to fully stimulate me to produce more milk, and she does not get filled up by me alone. So, we have been dutifully feeding her a couple ounces in the bottle, then I breast feed her 20 minutes or so (so she associates the satisfaction factor with the breast instead of the bottle), and then I pump. (As a sidenote, the milk supply is back, and the freezer is actually getting filled up with extra!)

Ellen performed essentially what is reflex testing to evaluate our little girl. In a nutshell, she identified that Mikayla has some week muscles in her cheeks, lips, and jaw. Her tongue is actually pretty strong, but she as trouble coordinating it all. She gets a bit disorganized sometimes when she tries to take a pacifier or the bottle, and it often takes her some time to latch on properly.

As a result, we have entered a 10-12 week physical therapy program to round out her facial muscle development. We have a series of exercises that we do at home 3 x per day, and each week we will build on the exercises that we need to do.

Often times, these types of development issues go unaddressed, and can lead to problems later on such as not being able to handle certain textures of food (thus becoming labeled as a "picky eater") speech development issues, or even language delays. Ellen often has kids enter her program at the point that these latter issues have presented themselves. So, our intention of course is to head off these potential issues now, and sooner than later allow Mikalya to nurse and be fulfilled without me having to pump each time...cuz, phew, what a time consuming PITA (Pain In The You Know What...) But, anything for this sweet little addition to our family...