our closet walker...

The friday i left to go to utah, we had a neurology appointment for leah. we scheduled the appointment more than three months ago. it was the last specialist ANYone could point us to to try and figure out why this little girl isn't walking.

{daddy and leah in the waiting room}

i didn't have high hopes for the appointment. i expected to hear the doctor say something to the effect of, "Well, something is wrong. She should DEFINITELY be walking right now. But, I have no idea what it could be!" And my expectations were thoroughly met. The neurologist did watch her for nearly an hour and assured us she is a fully functioning toddler...other than walking. Everything looks good. She has very low muscle tone (which means she is still very bendy) and that could be a reason she is having trouble. It doesn't mean she doesn't have the muscle to walk (she does), it just means she has a tendency to wobble a little more because she is so flexible. Although it looks as if everything's okay, my mom said it best: It's frustrating good news.

The dr. mentioned we should get some blood drawn and get a urine sample to test for some genetic problems or for enzymes that might give us more hints. So this week, since I've had a bit of time, we did just that. Well, the blood part at least (I'm still waiting for some help on how exactly to get her urine into the bag they gave me when she's still in diapers...anyone? anyone?). Leah waited patiently in the waiting room for nearly 45 minutes. Then they took us back and the phlebotomists were really nice. We waited for another 10 minutes ("I'm sorry, ma'am, this is an unusual test, so we have to put it all together right here and get clearance from our manager. She also doesn't weigh very much, so we're trying to figure out how to do all the tests by drawing the least amount of blood possible.") I held her body, one phlebotomist held the arm they were poking and other did the poking. {can you see the blood in the tube?}

Leah did relatively well, considering the circumstances. When we finished, they gave her some toys and asked me to wait just to make sure they got what they needed. About 15 minutes later, she came back and said, "You're really going to hate me. We need 1mL more. Yup. ONE milliliter. Oh well, I knew she tried to draw the least amount possible for leah's sake. So, we held her down once again and poked the other arm. Only this time Leah knew what was coming and wasn't as cooperative. The phlebotomist had to poke and then wiggle a few times to finally hit the vein.

{this picture makes ME want to cry}

Wow. What an experience.

{showing off her pink and purple heart bandage...she had one on both arms}

And to top it off, the following:

While in Utah, my step-sister told me of her friend's little girl who wouldn't walk. Her friend was sure her daughter knew HOW, just wouldn't. So, they put a pen in her hand and the other half of the pen in the mom's hand. That way, the daughter still thought she was holding onto something, but the mom could easily let go. It worked. The daughter walked independently (well, with a pen in her hand) soon after.

So, I tried it with Leah. I've been using a pen all week, just to get her used to it. On Tuesday, I let go of the pen. She took FIVE steps. Yes, FIVE steps. Then, she looked up, realized I wasn't on the other end of the pen and she fell to the ground. I didn't know whether to scream out of joy or pure frustration. I did a little of both. But she won't do it again! She's like a 5 year old needing someone to hold onto the back of her bike even though she can ride on her own.

Any other suggestions?! I'm begging you...