March 22, 2005:  The staff from ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) came to the house today to evaluate Theresa for acceptance into their program.  They are a state run program (the Clear Lake/Webster branch is called Program LAUNCH), whose sole purpose is to provide services to children who are developmentally behind in order to meet their needs and try to progress their development as much as possible from birth to age 3 years. (after age 3, they school district takes over therapy, as needed).  In Theresa's case, since she is not eating by mouth, and has high muscle tone in her legs (stiff muscles) and weakness in her neck muscles, they are going to provide at-home occupational and physical therapy.  Families pay on a sliding-scale based on income, regardless of number of services received, and for us it is a God-send, because I won't have to pack her up, find a sitter for Nathaniel, or take both of them each time she needs her therapy.  They also showed Tim and I things to do with her at home (stretches, positioning, etc) to help motivate her and move her along.  Overall, we were very pleased with the number of services they could offer us which will make things so much easier to take care of her.  In addition to the therapy, they can also do her weekly weights from home, eliminating another drive for us.

 

March 23, 2005:  No new news - Theresa seems to enjoy her daily stretches.  She thinks its a game, and smiles whenever we do them!

 

March 24, 2005:  Nathaniel has contracted a cold, and has a runny nose and a cough.  We are trying to keep him away from Theresa as much as possible, so she won't get it as well.  We didn't keep him away from me, though, and I feel a bit run-down, so I'm hoping it doesn't get worse or spread to Theresa.

 

March 25, 2005:  Still trying to keep Nathaniel and Theresa separated. He doesn't understand it, and tries to kiss her and get in her face every chance he can.

 

March 26, 2005:  No new news.

 

March 27, 2005:  Happy Easter!  Theresa seemed a little under the weather, so I called the on-call pediatrician.  She said that unless she seemed to be having trouble breathing, not to worry to much about it, as there wasn't much they could do for a cold anyway.

 

We all went to Christin's house today for a quick Easter dinner and an indoor egg-hunt (it was too wet outside).  Nathaniel loved pikcing up the eggs, until he realized there was candy inside (not that I was about to let him eat any of it!) and then stopped to empty each egg in his basket.  He had lots of fun playing with his cousins, though, and that's what counts.

 

March 28, 2005:  Theresa was weighed today.  She weighs 5.05 Kg (approx 11 lb 1 oz!)  She is doing great, and has nearly doubled her birth weight. 

 

The nurse said Theresa sounded a little congested, and she has thrown up a lot this morning, so we're keeping an eye on her to see if it gets worse or better.  We're praying for better.  I would hate for her to get sick so soon after getting released from the hospital.