Melody Update

Melody has made lots of strides in the last month or so. She continues to crawl all over the place. In the evenings her little elbows are red from pulling herself all over. Tonight I noticed several bruises, too. She is into everything as pulls herself up and then can land pretty hard on her elbows.

She is really getting fast and sure gets mad when we thwart her efforts to get into the bathrooms, drawers, or into the boys legos. She throws tantrums by going rigid and making fists and shaking. It is really pretty funny, but we are trying not to encourage her.

This month Melody has had a head CT scan to make sure her shunt is functioning properly, which came back with a favorable result. She also saw the orthopaedic nurse practicioner who gave her an all clear on her hips. We'll return in 6 months for another followup, but it was wonderful news. The Nurse Practitioner also looked at Melody's AFO's (ankle foot orthodics) for the first time since they were fitted and said they are doing exactly what they need to be for her feet.

At Melody's checkup this month she was 22 1/2 pounds. She is on the small size for both height and weight, which we expect. Her head size is always over the 100th percentile, but that is the spina bifida and the shunt, so that is normal for her.

The most exciting thing is that as Melody does the "army crawl" everywhere, we are noticing that she is pulling her knees up more and more. She can really get her bottom up off the ground and we are working with her in a traditional crawling position as well as weight bearing on her knees. She is bending her knees now more than ever and moves more from the hip all the time.

This past month we're been back to active physical therapy twice each week. That will go through next week, and then we'll have a month off before going back to active again. It really makes a difference, especially in helping us know what to do at home. I think she has already met her goals for this month.

Her movements can be pretty unorthodox, but they are pretty entertaining, too. It is amazing how determined she can be and how creative. It is amazing what people can do. We've seen Melody grab her leg and almost throw it to get it out of her way, or where she wants it. She also has grabbed her pants to help her sit up. She'll lean over and almost dive onto her belly to get into a crawling position if she is in a hurry.

The question I am asked most often is "will she walk someday?" I truly believe along with most of the doctors and physical therapist that she will. What that will look like is anyone's guess and best guesses are that she will be 3-4 years of age before she is walking. From everything I can tell, Melody has limited (if any) feeling and movement below the knee. For the very first time this past month Melody pushed off when her foot touched the ground. This was very encouraging, but it will be a long journey to learn to walk without feeling the ground. For now it is one step at a time.

We are excited about how well Melody is progressing. So far, every goal that has been set has been attained. We'll take it one step at a time and look forward to seeing what Melody will be doing next.