Moving Her LEFT Arm!

Today was a great day in the Madsen home. Kate started off the morning by moving her left arm! I excitedly called Robert and told him the great news. Kate has repeatedly moved her arm today, and I have video evidence! You can watch the clip to see it for yourself!

I went to St. Louis a few weeks ago, and the team of doctors I met with were very positive about Kate's diagnosis. I met with a physical and occupational therapist afterwards, and they gave me more exercises and things to do with Kate. We stay busy each day working on Kate.

On another note, Max has been extremely busy. He is getting into EVERYTHING!!! He uses chairs to get up on counters, beds, dressers, etc. He found a pen the other day while I was blowing my hair dry, got the lid off, and colored me a pretty picture all over the glider cushion! He was so proud of his artwork. Max is adding to his vocabulary at an astounding rate. It is so cute. He says "love you!" when we put him in bed. Max entertains himself really well. Yesterday when he was supposed to be napping, Max was playing in his room. Rob went and checked on him after 30 minutes or so, and Max had pulled everything off his bed, put his fireman hat on, and was crawling on his furniture. When he saw Rob, he climbed out, and said "Hat!" So silly! Max can be a picky eater. He didn't want taco soup or chicken fried rice, but he did want black beans, chips and yogurt! He dipped the chips in the yogurt, and ate them! Yuck! Yesterday Max stayed in nursery all by himself! It was a first. There were many tears shed (by Max), but he did it. Hopefully this trend will continue. Max is strong enough to hold and push the vacuum now. He thinks it is awesome to vacuum the house.

Brachial Plexus Palsy

Things have been busy since Kate was born over a month ago. Although Kate was not large when she was born (7 pounds 12 ounces), she got stuck when trying to come out. As a result, when the doctor pulled Kate out, he stretched her neck, causing shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia causes birth brachial plexus palsy.

The brachial plexus is a bundle of nerves located under your collarbone. It controls your arm movement. Fortunately, Kate's shoulder was NOT dislocated and her clavicle was NOT broken. She has had x-rays to confirm.

The brachial plexus nerve has many different branches. The C5 and C6 nerves control your shoulder and bicep. C7 controls your tricep. C8 and T1 controls the wrist and hand. Kate has been able to move her wrist and hand since birth, so the C8 and T1 branches are normal. She regained use of her tricep (C7) within a week or so. However, Kate has not been able to move her bicep or shoulder yet, so we know the C5 and C6 branches are damaged.

There are three possible options for how the C5 and C6 branches are injured. We know it isn't normal. We are hoping it has not been severed (avulsion or rupture). We also hope it is not the neuroma option (partial severe). We would really like it to be neurapraxia, which means stretched. If the C5 and C6 branches are stretched, then we don't have to do any "repairs" (i.e. surgery). In 90-95% of infants that have birth brachial plexus palsy, by the time they are 3 months old they will be able to move their shoulder and bicep if the nerve was only stretched.

At this point, we take Kate to occupational and physical therapy each week. We have seen a pediatric neurologist and a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. We saw the neurologist first, and she suggested we take Kate to St. Louis Children's Hospital as they have a brachial plexus palsy center. We then saw the pediatric orthopedic surgeon. She was very familiar with brachial plexus palsy. We felt very comfortable with her, so we have not yet decided if we are going to go to St. Louis or not. Kate has follow-up visits every month with the orthopedic surgeon. If we go to St. Louis, they will also want to see her each month. We are going to see if our insurance will cover the medical bills there or not.

We are praying that Kate will bend her elbow. If she can do that, her nerve was just stretched and with therapy she should make a full recovery.

Acts of Love

Max is my sweet boy. He is very tender hearted.

 

I put Kate on the bean bag yesterday, and he wanted to give her loves. I did not prompt him or anything. He just gave her kisses and hugs.

 

Here he is making ice cream for his dad. He is smashing the Oreo's.

 

This shows the ultimate act of love. He is sharing his blanket with Kate. It was a sweet moment for me to capture on camerea.

 

Max has been adjusting well to life. He has done a fantastic job transitioning lately. Texas to Arkansas. Crib to toddler bed. Only child to big brother. I am so thankful for my Max.

Beautiful Girl

Kate is a beautiful little girl. She has been adjusting to life rather well. Typically she prefers to suck her thumb over a pacifer, as seen in this picture.

 

I like the pink background, but had a difficult time getting the shot I wanted.

 

For Christmas, she got this adorable hat. It is so soft. Her eyes are so big here.

 

I liked this one too.

 

Merry Christmas!

A Few More

Max doesn't mind holding Kate for a few seconds. He isn't sure what to think of his new sister. He knows her name, but he has no desire to "play" with her.

 

Today we changed Max's crib to a toddler bed. Rob put him down for his nap, and we could hear him playing in his room. When things finally settled down, Rob went in to see where Max ended up. He is asleep on the chair with his blanket on his head! Too funny!

 

Although Rob is not a huge fan of these pictures, I like them. It shows just how small Kate is.

 

I have seen this done in a collage where her feet are the V in LOVE. I thought it was a cute idea.

 

Photo Shoot

Taking pictures of a newborn can be tricky. I am going to do another photo shoot tomorrow, but here are some favorites from today.

 

 

 

 

Kate Jane

Kate Jane Madsen was born at 12:38 am on December 10, 2010. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces. She was 20.25 inches long. She has a head full of hair. We are so glad she joined our family. Here we are right after the birth.

 

Here is a picture of her first bath. I included it because you can see all her hair.

 

Max giving his sister a kiss.

 

Max saying hello to Kate. He is not sure what to think of her at this point. He knows to be soft, and he is amazed by her crying. I think he will be a great older brother.

 

Kate does have shoulder dystocia, which means that when I was trying to push her out, she got stuck! The doctor had to pull her arm or head (not sure which), and it stretched a nerve in her shoulder. She currently does not use her left shoulder or elbow. However, she is able to move her wrist and fingers. We will be starting physical therapy with her today. Hopefully she will be able to regain use of her arm completely.

I still need to do a photo shoot of Kate. I have been trying to catch up on sleep in my "downtime."