It's PT Time Again

Julianna has had relatively few preemie related issues. We are so thankful for that. She does have some long term issues though since she was born so early. At some point early in her life she had a lack of oxygen (doctors think it was during the c-section when her cord prolapsed before they could deliver her). That lack of oxygen caused some parts of her brain (areas related to motor skills) to die and cysts formed. The presence of these cysts is how she was diagnosed with PVL (periventricular leukomalacia).

Julianna's cysts are mostly on the right side of her brain which affects her motor skills and development on her left side. She sees a neurologist to follow her PVL and that diagnosis is how she got into her early childhood center. Today, she had a physical therapy evaluation. We've always noticed some mild issues with her left side, but lately they have started to affect her development. She is about 6 months behind on her gross motor skill development.

She has some overall weakness in the muscles on her left side, her left ankle rolls inward a little, she has some issues extending her arms upward and balancing. She's going to have PT added to her IFSP, but not until after her speech evaluation in 2 weeks. It's a lot easier to have 1 meeting to change her IFSP rather than 2. We're all hoping that by working to strengthen her muscles on the left side we can get her caught up developmentally. I think she's going to love the fact that they are bringing out a mini trampoline for her to "play" with.

Her teacher also gave me Will's paperwork to get him officially into the center. We're pretty sure he is going to get PT or OT since he's had such limited tummy time and is already behind on some of his developmental milestones. But we'll do whatever our kiddos need!