What an exciting week! Leah had her first physical therapy sessions this week – one regularly scheduled, and one that was a make-up due to a scheduling mix-up last week. Leah enjoys PT so far and I think she’s going to benefit a lot from it.

Leah had another dilation on Thursday morning. I’m happy to report that the site had not become further constricted; it was still at 7mm when they put in the scope. They were able to stretch it up to 9mm. The end goal is 12mm, but we’re not sure how long that will take. At this point they have her down for weekly dilations instead of the biweekly dilations they had initially recommended.

Leah’s procedure was a bit more rough on her this time around. I’m not sure why, but she seemed to be in more pain afterward. She was crying hysterically, and ultimately they had to give her some morphine to ease her discomfort. Her voice was hoarse for the rest of the day.

After Leah’s procedure, we took her across the street for her regular 9-month check-up. She saw her usual doctor and also one of the docs who treated her in the PICU. While we were waiting for them to come back into the room, Leah started trying to turn over. She has been rolling onto her side for a few weeks now, but she’s never been able to get all the way over. For some reason, on this occasion she seemed determined to get onto her tummy, and tried several times with no success. I think there was something shiny on the wall. When the doctor came in, I warned her to be extra cautious in watching Leah during the exam as she seemed determined to roll right off of the table. The doctor decided to give Leah a few minutes to play while she observed, and spotted the BabyBug so she wouldn’t fall. After a few tries, Leah actually rolled onto her tummy! With no help! Whaaaaat! Good girl!!!

Here is a video of Leah rolling over again this morning, on the floor, on a nice, safe foam play mat atop an area rug atop an extra-thick carpet pad, with lots of encouragement and prompting. But it figures that the first time she rolled over would be on the doctor’s exam table, several feet off the ground, with only her motivation for SHINY propelling her. ‘Cause that’s just how she rolls.

Okeedoke. Enjoy some pictures. 🙂

Just a random sweet smile.

We had lots of fun in our PT session.

We played with fun and exciting toys…

…we used fun and exciting toys as chin rests…

… and when things got too fun and exciting, we knocked out with 10 minutes to go.

Thursday morning. “Good morning, Mama! Where are we going today?”

“Dilation? Really? Are you sure we can’t just go back to Disneyland instead?”

By the time they were ready to take her in, Leah was REALLY hungry.

Afterward, she was very, very sad. I think this is post-morphine.

These little sleep smiles are just the sweetest.

Nicole of Nic’sNacks was kind enough to send Leah this ADORABLE hat a while back. I’ve been dying to dress Leah up in something totally ridiculous (read: adorable) so that she’d really look like a Cabbage Patch doll. Valentine’s Day proved to be the perfect occasion. With her teeny tiny nose, I think she really pulls it off quite nicely!

Cutest dollie ever!

“Hey, who turned off the sun?”

Proof that Leah was not entirely horrified by this experience…

…and proof that she was, at times, not amused. (The second pic was from a little bit later in the day)

VICTORY!