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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Happy 6 Months and Spine Obsession

Can you believe Liviana is 6 Months old? She has developed so much in just the last week or so. She grabs at anything and everything in her sight. She is so interactive....she is coming such a little person. She is SO happy and anyone who has the joy/privilege/luck to be around her will be touched by her.

She continues to make strides towards crawling. She has crawled backwards a couple of times (well scooted really). She uses her arms to move from side to side but has not quite gotten the hang of going forward yet. She actually lets out this really sad, pathetic little whine when there is something out of her reach. I try to help her along with moral support but I eventually move the object closer because she persuades me with her high pitched whimper and big blue eyes.

Liviana has graduated to sink baths. I don't usually get to see her sitting around with no clothes on so I had not noticed the shape of her spine/back while sitting. We of course knew that spinal issues were a real possibility because of her hemivertebrae but I had hoped that she would have an equal number on each side and they would cancel each other out.

In her bath the other night I was struck by the appearance of her back. The left side almost looked sunken in while the right protruded a little. Even when she changed positions it still looked uneven. Later, when I was looking at her again it almost seems like the shoulder blades on each side are no where near lined up. the left is lower and further to center while the right is higher and further to the right. Now, Livi did/does have the torticollis issue although it is MUCH improved. At first I thought it could be from one side being more developed than the other. The issues on her back however are opposite of what I would expect if that were the case.

She has her 6 month appointment tomorrow morning (yes, we have an awesome doc who sees patients on Saturdays). I will talk to her about it of course. She also has her follow up with the Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. G. in September. I'm sure we will just wait until then because there is nothing they can do about it now, if she is developing curvature.

I have attached a photo of her back. I know you really probably can't see what I see but it is worth a shot. Incidentally, those little marks (dark spots on the left side, there are four total) are her surgery scars since it was done laproscopically. She is so amazingly lucky to have been in the hands of the surgeons here at Children's.

4 comments:

Cindy said...

I can't believe she is already 6 months old! She looks very healthy and happy. And it sounds like she will be crawling very soon.

I also have a bit of spine obsession. At our last follow-up appointment with Claire's surgeon she said it looked from her x-ray like she might be developing scoliosis. There is nothing we can do right now except wait and see. I'm interested to find out what Liviana's surgeon says about her spine when you go this fall.

Elizabeth said...

Has it been six months? I can't believe it but she is so adorable. (I am like you - when they give that sad look and want something - I move it closer too.)

I think I see what you are talking about in the pictures but it is ever so slight. This said, we tend to see it more so than most.

Keeping Livi in my thoughts and prayers -
Elizabeth

Shash said...

Ahhhh, six months already! It's amazing how fast time flies and she's such a trooper. It amazes me how happy they can be when they have went through so much.
Her back, even if there is a problem, is soooo cute. I love lil babies. I'm having Mama fever wanting this lil tyke out now!!
How did the 6 month apointment go????

Brian and Cassi Reed said...

Yah, my sort of induction date is august 18th, that is if i am dilated at all, otherwise they are going to let me wait a while longer, yes we are moving to the omaha,c/b area, the town is very near Treynor Iowa, about 30 minutes east of the omaha zoo on highway 92, so after our little lady is out of the hospital we will be doing follow up in omaha, an i will be calling you for sure to get some good recomendations. All in all, i hope that i just go into labor naturally around the 18th so there is no induction, but we'll see!
see i write too much!
Cassi