Kylee & Doc – Therapeutic Horseback Riding!

That’s right! Our little animal lover, Kylee, is now taking horseback riding lessons and she is over the moon excited!

We’ve had multiple therapists over the years tell us they think Kylee would benefit from therapeutic riding lessons and we’ve never done it. Their sweet Granny Linda mentioned a couple of months ago that she would like to make it possible for Kylee to give riding a try (thank you, Linda!!!!). While each of the quads would love the experience and both Kylee & Brody could really benefit physically from it, we opted to let Kylee take lessons alone to start with. Something SHE got to do, that was special and just for her, something that set her apart from her brothers and sister. She is in a 5 week riding program and has lessons once a week at a local, Christian based, facility where trained instructors work with her to improve overall development. Below, Kylee & Linda say hello to another horse while her horse, Doc, gets prepped for their ride.

If you know Kylee at all you know she’s alwayyyyyys loved animals. The ONLY animal that has ever scared her…..are horses, believe it or not. Granted it’s been well over a year, but each and every time we offered to let the babies ride the horse at the zoo, Kylee was terrified and wanted nothing to do with it. She’s had maybe one or two pony rides over the past couple of years at festivals and such which has gotten her a little used to riding such a large animal, and apparently that was all she needed. We went to the ranch a few weeks ago so she could meet the horses and she fell in love instantly! Her first lesson was a week ago and she couldn’t wait to get on!

Kylee is in private lessons so she is the only one in the arena during her designated time. She had a total of 5 trainers/volunteers walking with her the entire time she was on the horse. Talk about attention ;)

I tagged along for her first lesson to snap pictures, of course. Not sure if it was the Batman shirt I was wearing or the braided pigtails, but I was asked by several people if I was Kylee’s sister! I get the “are you the babysitter” question pretty often, but never the sibling. If it means I’m looking young in some people’s eyes, I’ll take it ;)

Linda and I sat in a nice shady area watching her do her thing! She enjoyed every minute of it and her big grin never faded. She loved saying “Walk on, Doc!” to get him moving! I couldn’t help but laugh as she was easily distracted by dogs she would see out on the farm that she had met previously. We could hear her from across the arena asking “where was that dog? where did he go? why was he back there?" where is so-and-so?”

She practiced guiding the horse and holding the reigns tightly with both her right hand and “lefty”. She weaved in and out of poles and practice putting rings over them with both hands as well!

Once her riding time was over she got to help lead Doc back into the barn and put up equipment too!

Can’t wait to see how she continues to progress and if she develops a love for riding. If you have a child or loved one who has benefited from horse therapy, leave a comment or email me! I’d love to hear all about your experience!

Complete Blog Neglection…

I have been QUEEN of it these past two weeks and it’s come to an end! Lots of stuff coming your way, so stay tuned! We’ve been good and have been busy enjoying this (mostly) beautiful Texas weather! More than ever I’m wishing I could stop the hands of time, just for a bit. Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin turn THREE next week, I can hardly believe it! I’m praying we’ve got nice warm weather so we can spend the day just the 6 of us doing some of their favorite things.

Miss Kylee Mae finished up her constraint induced therapy last week. She wore her “bracelet” for 7 weeks during almost all waking hours. I’ll start by saying I am SO SO happy we did it and encourage any other parents looking into it to go for it. I was so anxious at the beginning about how she would handle it and adjust but she did great. It even got to the point where she would ask for it each morning after she woke up “got to wear my bracelet, Mommy!” It also helped that so many of YOU who know her in person talked about how BEAUTIFUL it was on her each time you saw her, so thank you for the encouragement!

Since having the brace off, she of course went right back to using her “good” hand for just about everything but has involved her left hand MUCH more than before. You can definitely tell she is more aware that it is there and is starting to use it to help her function.  Before the brace/splint she would very rarely use her left hand (without being prompted) to assist in helping with ANYTHING. Now she is using it, sometimes without being prompted, to help stabilize objects. Before the constraint therapy she hard a very hard time pointing and now she's able to point to things pretty easily. One of her biggest struggles is being able to using her thumb and index finger together. Picture putting a coin into a piggy bank by pinching the coin and releasing it into the bank or even picking up a cheerio off a flat surface. Such tasks are very very hard for her left hand or “Miss Lefty” as we call it. Slowly but surely she is making progress. When she was little bitty she would get frustrated and simply give up on what we were trying to get her to do. She’s become much more patient now and really tries and concentrates on fine motor activities. Makes me so so proud!

Below you can see how well she’s holding the puzzle with her left hand. Her little index finger doesn’t always cooperate but hopefully that will improve with time. Looking at this picture makes me think of our NICU days. While seeing them in such bad condition after birth, I couldn’t help but stare at their helpless bodies and wonder about her (their) future and how  prematurity would affect her growth and development. We’ve had our fair share of trials but in the grand scheme of things, it’s been nothing. Seeing her in this picture kicking prematurity's butt WITH a smile on her face makes my heart swell. We are so SOO soo truly blessed!

Here’s a few of “Miss Lefty” working beautifully at helping hold Kylee’s cereal bowl ;)

Oh my sweet Kylee Flower, once again, if there’s anything you should ever know it’s just how proud your daddy and I are of you. Love you so much baby girl!

 

Developmental Check Up - Brody & Kylee - Advice? Anyone?

First, I apologize for being distant the past week or two. Between doctors appointments, busy toddlers and 5am workouts I'm exhausted to say the least! I've deprived the poor things from play dates and all the regular outings we usually go on. Our near future surely consists of pumpkin patches, walks around the neighborhood and the zoo....gosh that zoo has been calling my name! One thing that business cannot get in the way of is our beloved doctor's appointments! This week Brody and Kylee had a check up with their developmental pediatrician. Unlike our "regular" pediatrician, our developmental ped evaluates them thoroughly and addresses developmental issues due to their prematurity.

Both Brody and Kylee did well, as always, and impressed Dr. Roberts with the remarkable progress they've made since their discharge from NICU. There were times we would have been THRILLED to know they would EVER reach the point where they are now...walking, talking, learning...thriving. They are both still a tad bit behind in some areas according to their adjusted age (28months) but are making progress we are all happy with! Brody's motor skills at this point are those of an 18-24 month old. Cognitive level was 27months, Receptive Language 30months, Expressive Language 30months and Fine Motor 27months. He weighed in at a whoppin 28lbs 4oz (25%) and is 36inches tall (50% - and to think a neuro said he would always be on the short side ;).

Kylee like Brody scored at 18-24months for Gross Motor, 28-29months Cognitive, Receptive & Expressive Language she's ahead of the game (no surprise there for those of you who know her) at 34months and Fine Motor she was also right at 28-29months. Our big girl weighed in at 27lbs (23-50%) and is 37inches tall (50%). Her head is still pretty low on the charts sitting in the 3rd percentile but Dr. Roberts isn't too worried and will just keep a close eye on her development. We've been faced with another therapy option for Kylee and I gotta tell you I'm stumped :( For those of you who remember our "on the fence" feelings about Brody getting a cranial helmet we're now feeling a little iffy on the new therapy the docs have mentioned to us on several occasions.

For those of you who don't know, Kylee suffered a bilateral brain bleed, grades 1 and 4, the 4 being on the right side of her brain. This brain injury has affected the left side of her body, her hand in particular, and has resulted in hemiparesis (a type of Cerebral Palsy). The therapists and doctors have asked us to consider Constraint Induced Therapy. The therapy would consist of constraining her right arm to where she is not able to use it, at all, for a long period of time (weeks) in hopes to strengthen and encourage use of her left hand. I've heard of this kind of therapy before and about how effective it is, however, most of what I hear is how well it did for adults after brain injuries such as stroke. The difference between an adult and a child, an adult can understand the point to the therapy, a two year old, not so much. I personally don't know of anyone who has been through Constraint Induced Therapy with a toddler. Obviously it would frustrate the crap out of her, not being able to use her one and only "good" arm/hand. I'm just having a hard time thinking about weather or not the frustration will outweigh the benefit. Who knows, maybe it won't be as bad as I'm imagining?? On the other hand I am fully aware that the sooner and more aggressive we tackle the problem the better the outcome we'll have as her brain is still "plastic" as the docs have always said. So I know it's a long shot but if any of you readers have been through this, please give us your advice on the matter. We'll be doing research of course, but to hear from someone whose been through it would be great. Thanks!