Victoria is Nine Months!!!

 Here it is November already! Truly our days fly quickly by.  Today Victoria is nine months old.  We are so thankful that God has given her to us for this long already.  She is a blessing to our family, and we thank God for her. 

                                                  Aaaaaa!  They took me to the doctor!!! 

Last month we had an appointment with a doctor in our area, and he connected us with the Gillette Childrens Hospital in St. Paul.  We were able to get an appointment within a day of having to be in Minneapolis anyway, so we did not have to make two trips, for which we were thankful...it is a long trip down that way.  We got to the hospital around 10:30am and were not done until around 5:00pm, so it was a rather long day.  We saw a pediatric neurosurgeon, a pediatric neurologist, various nurses, a physio therapist, and one other doctor.  They were all thorough, knowledgeable, and treated Victoria as if she were a person and special...which she is, of course!  They were surprised by her overall good health, and by many problems which she does NOT have...but which often come with her condition. They were also able to answer some questions we had.

 We were able to stay with Ilyas and Tami Masih while we were there.  We thoroughly enjoyed their generous hospitality and catching up...(thanks so very much!!)  It was so nice to spend time there.

We picked up Reuben at the Minneapolis airport the day after Victoria's appointment, then headed home.  We were thankful for the nice traveling weather...and that the deer stayed off the road.

Victoria sleeps through the night...the majority of the time...and is content most of the time.  She has discovered that she can sooth herself with her fingers, and enjoys playing with them. 

Did you know that different positions you naturally hold your baby in are actually good for their muscles??  I have always carried my babies with their back to me...(like in the above photo) and it is amazing what you can do with the extra hand when a baby is contentedly in that position.  I hadn't been holding Victoria in this position because of the weight of her head and her tendency to tip forward.  The physio therapist told me that it would work different muscles, though, so we're back to this cozy hold...at least some of the time.  We are also doing various compressions, and encouraging movement other ways, as well.  She even gets 'tummy time'...which does require a little creativity.

We found that we had already found many things which stimulate her development...but were glad to have them confirmed and find more ways to encourage development, as well as try to help prevent various muscle problems.  One interesting the pediatric physio therapist suggested doing is getting her into a crawling position and then putting gentle pressure in the hip area to encouragement the proper forming of the femur ball in the hip socket. So many things to learn...never a dull moment.  : )

JoAnna with Victoria

 If I had a photo where Victoria looked half smothered by little big sisters, while  she is trying to have a little lunch, it would an accurate one.  JoAnna and Esther both think that a little cuddling and nursing baby is an invitation to come start kissing her and I often have a little entourage gathered round at lunch time.  They also love to hold her.  With a good chair and a soft pillow  we can let them hold her for a little while, anyway and they feel quite privileged. In the photo above and right, JoAnna still has on her nightgown and her special morning hair style...at least she wakes up cheerful!   The position on the lower right is probably Victoria's favorite position to be held in.  She does get tired of being held though...and then she just needs her own bed.

A little cuddle with Elizabeth

Victoria sometimes sounds a little funny when she sleeps...but mostly she sleeps peacefully...sometimes with hands in front like above, sometimes with her hands straight up...I'd say above her head, but they don't reach that far.  She never sleeps long with her hands covered.  If I happen to cover them, she promptly remedies the problem.

We want to thank all of you who have prayed for us over the last nine months.  It has been a journey with many ups and downs...but through it all we have been thankful for our God who is good ALL the time.  We don't know all of what is down the road in our future...but we know Who will be with us all the way.  Our prayer continues to be that God will be glorified through our little Victoria...and through all of our lives, as we lean on Him for strength.

                                                                                       Good-bye for now, and may God  bless                                                                                              you   all!!