Finally Getting It

“Always show the you in you that makes you the you that you are.” ~Chindinma Obietikponah

Finally, the day was almost here, August 9th. This is the day Isabella was to get her DOC band, her helmet. We made the trip to Dallas with company this time. My beautiful cousin, Elizabeth, was going to be celebrating her 15th birthday with a quinceanera on Saturday, August 6th. We decided to take care of two events with just one trip. We departed Thursday evening for Duncanville, where my aunt and two cousins live. I must say, I really enjoyed letting someone else do all the driving while Isabella and I slept in the back seat. On Friday and Saturday, we were all busy preparing for Elizabeth's very special day. On Sunday, my parents headed back to Odessa and Isabella and I spent a couple extra days with our family. On Tuesday morning, the day of Isabella's appointment, I got to drive my aunt's second vehicle, a BMW, to the appointment. This time, we had two appointments in one day.

The first, at 8:00 am, was to get Isabella's helmet. Her therapist walked in with the DOC band around a big, yellow sponge. She took it off the sponge and let us examine it. Isabella was very intrigued. She then asked me to sit Isabella on my lap and began with the question, "How do you feel about this?" I answered her honestly with, "I am ready to get this started. Ready to get it on, so that we can hurry and get it off." She put the band on Isabella for the first time. Isabella instantly started looking up. She was trying to see what this thing was that was on her head! She was touching and tugging at it. The therapist told me to distract her when I see her doing this. She took the band off Isabella and told me, "Your turn." as she handed me the helmet. After I put it on her, she left the room to give us some time to let Isabella adjust to the new headpiece she would be wearing twenty-three hours a day for the next eight to twelve weeks. After fifteen minutes, or so, she returned and took the helmet off Isabella's head. She noted the pressure points on her head and their degree of redness. She, once again, went over the care and cleaning instructions of the band. She also stressed that this helmet is like "a winter hat" and it would be very important for me to keep Isabella cool. She informed me that Isabella would most likely sweat quite a bit the first couple of days. This little girl is very hot natured as it is! Now, there is going to be another layer keeping in heat.

For the first day or two, it would be very important for Isabella to wear the helmet in three hour increments. This will give me the opportunity to evaluate the pressure points on her head and their redness. The helmet should not cause her any pain or discomfort. The red spots should and did fade within a few minutes. Had they become very red and not faded, we would have to let them adjust it before we went all the way home. This is why we had our second appointment that day at 11:00 am. By this time, Isabella was not paying as much attention to her new helmet. And the red spots were pink, which was very good. The therapist explained that since her head is almost as broad as it is long, the helmet will put resistance on the spots on the sides of the head. This resistance will prevent it from continuing to grow out side to side and encourage it to grow in the back. When you look down on Isabella's head while she has the helmet on, you can see that there is plenty of open space in the back. The therapist told me that her head will soon fill this space and they will even have to shave away some of the foam on the inside of the helmet to make more room for her head to continue to grow. We were set to go. Our next appointment would be in one week to evaluate how Isabella's head adjusted to the helmet.

That evening, at 9:05 pm, Isabella and I boarded her first airplane. I was nervous about this flight. How would she act? Would she get fussy? Would I be the mom with the child that won't stop screaming? Of course, all you can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Like always, Isabella far exceeded my expectations. She did so good. She observed every inch of our little space, played with the people across the isle from us, and even enjoyed a few pretzels. A short 50 minutes later, we landed. It had been a long and eventful five days. We were ready to be home!

As soon as I had the chance, I decided to add a little character to her new headpiece. I added some colorful flower and butterfly stickers. Across the front, I put the word "beautiful." What better word to describe her? Over the next few days, Isabella wore her helmet just as required. The only time we took it off her was for bath time. This, I think, is her favorite time of the day. She loves to play in the water. She splashes and laughs and screams and plays with her toys. We have an oversized sink in my parent's laundry room. It is the perfect place for her baths. After bath time, we put the helmet back on her and she continues on her way around the house without interruption.

                                 
I have been so busy explaining our trips and about the helmet that I have not mentioned the milestones Isabella has passed the last few weeks. Just a month ago, when I placed Isabella on her tummy, she would pretty much stay in the same spot. Then, before I knew it, she was able to push herself around, but she went backwards! That didn't last long, though. July 28th was a very special day for two reasons: It was my hero's birthday, who is also my mom, and Isabella began to crawl. She doesn't crawl on her knees though. She pulls herself with one leg and uses the other to scoot along. Two days later, on July 30th, she did something else that she had never done on her own before. She pulled herself up into the standing position. It was a perfect time for me to set up one of the pictures I had been waiting to take since I first knew I was going to have a baby.

 Over the last few weeks, she has gotten very quick about getting around. Lola is constantly on the run from Isabella now! And Isabella is content chasing her all over the house. She is always pulling herself up on anything that is within reach. One of her favorite spots is our dinner table chairs. They are heavy, metal chairs that she can hold on to. But, she did fall back and had it not been for her helmet, she would have hit her head on the tile floor. I guess she is going to have some extra protection for a while.

So, Isabella, my love, you continue to awe and amaze me. I love to watch you from a distance. I love to listen to you talk, which you do loudly and very, very frequently. You learn something new every day. You get a little more adventurous and mischievous every time I turn my head. You keep me on my toes and you make me fall in love with you even more every time I look into your beautiful eyes. You give me such great hope for what our future has in store for us.

Love, Mama