Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Day 1

Well, the day I never thought would come arrived! We had our first day at the clinic and we survived!!!

We were greeted by the intake coordinator and she hugged me. After all the time spent fighting to get us here, I wasn't surprised to get one. I probably would have hugged her anyway! We went through triage where Sarah was found to have a bit of a raw throat and a tiny cough, but she seemed okay otherwise. I have no idea where that came from, but she seemed fine for the most part today, other than a pretty big sneeze at one point. I hope it's not the beginning of a cold.

Anyway, the only other problem we had in triage was when the nurse practitioner went to look in Sarah's ears. She was NOT having that! We'll have to try again tomorrow, and I warned her we will need other people to hold her down. It usually takes two or three of us at the pediatrician's office.

Sarah got to hang in the playroom while I got the tour. Kennedy Krieger is a BIG place! It's really nice, though. They have a ton of different feeding rooms, great speech rooms, OT, etc. All therapies are integrated into the program, but they will also work in some IEP goals too so she doesn't lose the progress she's been making at school and through private speech therapy.

After my tour and meeting with her feeding therapist, I hung out in the playroom with her for a bit and then we went off to meet her speech therapist. I'd forgotten that we met her years ago when we went for an oral motor consult. Considering that was August(?) 2009, I suppose I'm forgiven! Anyway, she seemed nice and we went over what I'd like to see Sarah get out of the clinic, what she's been doing in private therapy, etc.

When we got back from that, it was time for Sarah's lunch. This was just a baseline feed. She ate like she normally does, and was offered two foods she doesn't normally eat. She gave them normal refusals, although I have to admit her cookie refusal was pretty funny. She decided to say "cowabunga!" and try to break it up like Cookie Monster. I think she gave them a pretty good feel for what she does.

After that, the playroom was unsupervised, so Sarah and I hung out for a while there until the playroom staff came back. I ran to go grab some lunch for myself while she watched an Elmo DVD. Later, I met with the nutritionist and went over goals (again) and food allergies. I also met with her OT shortly after that. I think I must have told people our goals 100 times today!

Sarah didn't eat as much as she usually does for lunch, so she was READY when it was time for dinner. She nearly ripped my arm off as she went to the therapy room. She got the same meal as she had for lunch and practically inhaled it. She did the same "cowabunga" routine with the cookie. Goofball. I think that may have been a record time for a meal for her.

We left to go home after that, and I got a bit of rest time before it was time to take her to her dance class. She had a great class and seemed to enjoy the fact that it was the night where parents get to watch class. Even her little brother wasn't too disruptive.

I took a few pictures of her at the clinic today and at her dance class, but it's late and I am too tired to post any.

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