(Like I could ever really do it)
This has been quite a week. It started with my grandmother dying late Saturday night, just before midnight our time. I had a good cry - for all the time I never got to spend with her, and because I'd now never get a chance to really get to know her. Sunday we spent the afternoon with my family, and my parents flew to North Dakota on Tuesday. Tomorrow is her funeral. I wish so much I could be there.
Also Sunday night Sophie broke out in hives on her arms. Monday morning it was spreading to her face, and by Monday evening her arms were covered in welts and her face had a rash all over one cheek. I bathed her and it helped a lot, used her steroid cream for her eczema and it improved more. Turns out she came into physical contact with pollen on a chair she was sitting in and that was the culprit. She has had nasal allergies for a couple months and is finally old enough for medication for them. Yesterday was her 6 month checkup and we got some Zyrtec - spots were cleared up this morning! It was also the first time in a long time she didn't wake up with a crusted-over nose.
However, we found out something else at her checkup. She has a condition called torticollis. We had noticed for a while that she kept tilting her head to one side, but she hardly ever holds it straight. It's worse when she's getting tired; her ear will touch her shoulder then. She also obviously prefers her right arm and uses it 90% of the time for splashing, playing with toys, and things like that. It is mild now, as she CAN still straighten her head and turn to the other side, and use her left arm, but if left untreated the muscles will tighten and she will lose range of motion. Her pediatrician thinks we can treat at home with therapy without going to "real" PT. If she doesn't improve by her 9 month visit we'll have to go to outside therapy, though.
I am not so sure. I am feeling VERY overwhelmed with this. I understand how important it is - this will not get better on its own and could cause severe problems if it worsens. But I don't know if I'm doing the stretches correctly with her. I don't know if I can do them enough to be effective since I'm not home with her during the day, and I am so afraid of failing her in this. I am blessed that through everything, from her seizures her first week of life to her ear infection that seemed like it would never end, even through her exercises she is a happy, easygoing baby. This would be so much harder if the treatments hurt or made her cry. I think it's uncomfortable for her but I can get her to laugh throughout. But it's still scary and overwhelming for me, like a big cloud of suffocating worry that envelops me when I think about it. And the worry won't help her at all.
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