The Trials and Tribulations of Torticollis

Yesterday Cam and I left the house at 7:45am and headed over to Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines to get a second opinion on his torticollis from a pediatric physical therapist there. Our appt. was at 9am, we didn't get in there until 9:15am, and we didn't get out until 10:50am. I learned quite a bit in that time. The first thing is that she classified him as low-tone--meaning he has low muscle tone. It is something called hypotonia, though she said there is a wide range of it and he is in the normal range. It is something pretty common among preterm babies and basically it just means that he will eventually hit all of his developmental milestones but will probably be a little delayed because it will all be a little harder for him to do. The good thing is that by the time he's 2 years old he should be caught up and you will never know he had a problem. However, for the next few months we are going to have to do a lot of work with him.

We have been working with a physical therapist here in town but she is not a pediatric one. I really like her and think she's been doing a great job but the PPT thinks that she has been focusing more on stretching, whereas she feels we should focus more on strengthening. She said that if we continue to go to the PT in town he would eventually get better but it would probably just take a little longer. She feels that rather than twice-a-week stretching sessions we should do once-a-week strengthening sessions. She said that we could start seeing her or that she could work with the PT over here and kind of coach her through the correct exercises. Cody and I talked it over last night and though we really like our PT we just feel that we need to do the absolute best thing for Cameron and start going to the pediatric PT. After all, she sees cases like this all day long and we just feel that she is best qualified to help both Cameron and us. She showed us a lot of new exercises to do with him and set us up for our first appt. on Tuesday. It was all pretty overwhelming and a lot of stuff to learn all at once but I think we can get the hang of it and hopefully get a lot of exercises in throughout the day. I have also been concerned about the shape of his head but she reassured me and said that it really isn't that bad and that there is plenty of time for it to go back to a more natural shape.

After we were done there we waited for Cody to bring Owen over (so he could head back to work) and then myself and the boys headed to Cameron's dr. appt. I scheduled a follow-up last week to check the status of his ear infections. I am so glad I did because as it turns out, they are still infected and he had to be put on a stronger anti-biotic for another 10 days. Hopefully that will clear it up and we can finally get this child well! We go back for his 4 mo. well-check and Owen's 3 year well-check next week so she will check to see if it's cleared then. Like I said before, my life is just a series of doctor's appointments!

We finally made it home at 2pm and we were exhausted. Cam was so tired he slept from 8:30pm to 6:30am!! Woo-hoo! That's his longest time yet! Ah, I long for the days of a full-night's rest again. :)

I do think sitting in that waiting room yesterday was good for me. I have been so worried and stressed out over all that we've been through with Cameron. But after seeing all those children come in and out with problems much worse than ours, I am so thankful that at least what we are dealing with can be fixed. It is stressful but it's nothing like what those families are going through. Though the biggest lesson I learned was that even though they all had so many difficult things they were dealing with, every child still had a smile on his/her face and still made their parents smile. They helped me see that happiness is not defined by what you don't have but what you do have. And I have a wonderful husband, two great kids, and a pretty great life. So I will take what I learned from those sweet little children and smile my way through all of this.

Bowling Frenzy

The second night we were in Murphysboro a big group of us took the kids out to eat at our fave Mexican restaurant and then bowling. You have to know Molly, Michelle, and I to really understand what a serious thing it was for us to take kids and hubbies along on our sacred restaurant ritual. It is the one place we always go when we are home and we always manage to do it with just the 3 of us (and sometimes Beth). No husbands and especially no children!!! But this time the only way we could make it was if we took everyone with us so we decided to give it a whirl. It was absolutely crazy but a lot of fun! We sat at this big long table and Molly ended up at the end of it. At one point she leaned over and said, "I'm missing all the conversation! What am I missing?" Cody replied, "Don't worry. All you're missing is, 'Sit down! Don't do that! Be quiet! Eat your dinner!'" So while it wasn't our normal girls night out, it was still a good time. Here's some bowling pics:

I had to get a picture of the shoes. Aren't they just too cute?!

Owen still didn't quiet get the hang of really rolling it down there but he was better than last time. And he was defintely better at giving others turns, which was nice for me because I didn't have to chase him as much.

And good 'ol Caders got to get in on all the bowlin' action this time around. Last time we went he wasn't even walking yet so he spent the entire time watching from his stroller. But this time he was ALL over the place and he loved it! Though I think his parents were a little worn out by the end of the night! Thankfully Uncle Matt and Aunt Jess were there to lend a hand.

Lots more to come!

We're Back!

After a long hiatus, I have finally made my way back to the Muhs News. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures posted yet as my time is very limited these days. Right now I feel like my life is a series of doctor's appointments separated by maximum amounts of poop and minimal amounts of sleep. So goes the life of a Mom I guess.

Things have been crazy busy around here. We made it back from our week-long visit in Murphysboro. We had a great time celebrating Owen & Maddy's birthdays, Easter, and Cameron's Baptism. It was quite hectic but enjoyable. Once we got home, all THREE of my boys got sick and are still on the mend. Owen and Daddy are still fighting it but feeling much better than they were. Poor little Cam had a double ear infection and is horribly congested with a terrible cough. I'm crossing my fingers that it will be over by the end of the weekend. He still graces us with his adorable little smiles in between coughs. I've managed to stay fairly well for now, though I am exhausted. Cameron was going 7-8 hour stretches at night before he got sick and now he's getting up more often. He does better at night with me rather than Cody, something I'm sure Cody has trained him to do so he won't have to get up. ;)

We are still going to physical therapy twice a week and are going to the children's hospital in Des Moines next week to be evaluated by their PT. It's mostly to get a second opinion and make sure there's nothing our PT or the doctor is missing. He seems to be doing better but throws a curve ball in there every now and again, such as tilting to both sides rather than just the right like he first started doing. But our PT says that is normal. Weird, but normal. So we are just doing exercises for both sides and it seems to be helping. He's starting to show better head and neck control. He is, however, getting some flattening on his head that we are slightly concerned with. The doctor says we don't need to be too concerned yet and it can still correct itself. Of course, that means lots of work on our part. Meaning, do the exercises, tummy time, and try to keep him out of the swing as much as possible. All are difficult to do with a toddler around by I am trying my damnedest. The hardest is the swing because that is really the only place he'll sleep during the day. But I'm going to keep plugging away and try to get him to nap in the crib as best I can. Any suggestions are welcome and much appreciated!

So that's life in the Muhs household these days. I'm hoping to sort through the hundreds of pictures I have from the last few weeks and get those up soon but for now I'll leave you with my boys in their baptism outfits. I thought it would be fun to compare the two.

I think the outfit was a little small on Owen and maybe a little big on Cam but they both look adorable in my opinion!
Check back soon and hopefully I'll have something new!