Might as well update...since I've been reminded that I promised.

Well, you probably noticed that I changed a lot of the blog. Didn't lose any of the previous posts, just changed it up for fun.

Well, since August 24th I think we've been to a couple of doctors. We have gone to developmental, had another physical therapy session, and seen Dr. Owens (the neurologist).

The Developmental appointment went well. We are still in that stage where we don't know what the long term effects of the brain injury will be for Ella. She is consistantly in the 5th Percentile of Development for her age (3.5 months at the time of the appointment). Ella still has very little head control, doesn't keep her eyes centered, and holds her head to the right side most of the time. They want to monitor her again in December to see if she has started hitting her where she should be on the developmental charts. So much of this delay is because she was HEAVILY sedated for the entire month in the NICU. Once the cloud of meds cleared from her head she could finally start to develop, so in turn she's a little more than a month behind everyone else her age.

Physical Therapy is going well. We are through a system called ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) and love our PT. She works will Ella doing a massage to start the session, then some stretches, and then we work on tummy time (which Ella has been hating lately) and some positioning. We are trying to keep Ella's head "mid-line" 100% of the time, but need some engineers to help with some ideas. How do you keep a baby from turning her head to the right without hurting her or suffocating her...it's tricky. Mostly we just play with her while she's awake on all of her head stuff and ask others to be aware of it when they are playing with her. We have PT every week and will start having it every Wednesday at 7:30 am...for anyone who knows me this is HUGE...I'm NOT a morning person...especially when I don't have anywhere to be that day. I sure love this little girl. (this picture is after some "tummy time"...which wears her out)

Neurology went pretty much the same. We talked about a lot of Ella's "issues" and what is normal and what isn't. I'll give you a list of developmental items that Ella should be able to do at this age: Notices faces, Smiles Responsively, Smiles Spontaneously (she passed all of these); Follows to midline (can sometimes), Grasps Rattle (can't do this); Equal Movements (passed), Follows past midline (can't do this very well), Hands together (sometimes, not consistant), Vocalizes-not crying (passed), laughs (not really yet), squeals (nope), she failed ALL of her gross motor skills including: lifts head at midline while on tummy, head up to 45 degrees, and 90 degrees; doesn't use arms to lift up chest, hold head steady, and rolls over. We have a LOT to work on. There are so many fun things coming up on the developmental chart that I'm excited to see how much she grows this next month. We have an MRI probably in the next few weeks (we'll find out at the end of this month) to see the update on the brain bruises (from the seizures and infection) as well as double check the enlarged blood vessel that she has in her brain. They are conserned that it is something they would need to operate on...and I can't fathom the words "brain surgery" so PLEASE pray that the blood vessel is gone or a non-issue. (this picture is from the waiting room...daddy and E were very excited about the appointment)

Here are some fun pictures:

Hanging out at the Byers' with the Brannon's (wearing the dress from Mexico our friends brought back from Kent and Sarah's wedding):

Mommy's friend, Wendi, came all the way from Florida to meet Ella...here's a picture of the girls.