Brenna Update

Baby Brenna (who has been magically transforming from a baby to a little girl) is 16 months old today! A little recap of her story, for those who may not be familiar with the particulars:

At 38 weeks of pregnancy a dilated ventricle on the right side of her brain, likely caused by a minor stroke, was discovered during an ultrasound. As a result, she was delivered via C-section. The affected ventricle is responsible for left-side body movement. The consequences of her condition could not be fully known at birth, but she has been monitored by a neurologist since day 1.

When she was about 5 months old we observed a general lack of use of her left hand, arm, and leg. Her muscles and bones are all fine, but the path a signal would normally travel from her brain to her left limbs is obstructed. Luckily, the human brain is AMAZING, and it's completely possible to re-route a signal. At 7 months old Brenna began in-home therapy sessions twice a week (once each for occupational and physical therapy).

She has made major progress since that time, and particularly since January, when she began tolerating the therapy sessions much better. So, although she still can't walk or crawl (she does get around just fine by scooting on her little bum), we have every hope that she will be able to at some point. She currently wears braces on her legs to support her ankles and make sure her form is good. She also wears a soft splint on her left hand to stretch out her thumb joint - she uses that hand often, but the thumb usually stays tucked in.

Every specialist and therapist we have seen has been completely optimistic about Brenna's prospects for fully and normally functioning limbs. It continues to be clear that the extent of her disabilities is purely physical. Her advanced verbal skills are a comforting evidence of this fact. At this age my other girls could probably say 4 or 5 simple words (hi, dada, mama, uh-oh, etc.). Here is an (incomplete) list of words Brenna uses independently (it feels like she's adding a few every day, so it's hard to keep an accurate list):

Mama
Daddy

Ashy (Ashlyn)
Kay-ee (Kaylee)
Out
Baby
Milk
No (paired with a hand waving vigorously back and forth in front of her face)
Snack
Thank You
Hi
Bye
Backpack
Hair
Bus
Cracker
Bath
Book
Ball
Apple (she thinks all round fruits are apples)
Done
Again
Bright (with a hand over her eyes, her way of asking for a light to be turned on)
Hat
Pen
Uh-Oh
Hand
Down
Vacuum (she LOVES the vacuum)

We are VERY thankful to have this darling girl in our family!