March... Run!

I plan on running everyday this March.  So do nearly 14,000 other dedicated people.  Running is a passion for me, I absolutely adore it, and I am likely addicted to it but I understand it is hard and not fun for others.  Instead I challenge you to exercise everyday in March.  Make healthy choices. Care for your heart ~ it cares for you!



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Learning

My life has changed since early October of 2011... when I found out I was having twins. I knew things would be difficult. I knew things would be different. I knew things would change. I did not think life would ever seem normal... but it does, finally.  Easton and Elle are now 9 months old. Elle crawls, cruises, and jabbers.  Easton waves, kisses, and does math calculations in his head.  He also commando crawls and has started babbling.  Ava is still Ava. She is hard-headed, spoiled, and awesome. I love to listen to her giggle when she plays with Elle, it is a deep-belly giggle that can only be described as a love-laugh.  She watches out for Easton and knows more about therapies than most adults will ever know. So do I.  I thought I knew a bunch, being a speech pathologist.  Boy, was I ever wrong.  I am learning tons and I have a huge ways to go.  I have been wanting to be trained in specialty areas. Of course, most of my colleagues and friends know I am a wannabe audiologist, speech scientist, and aural rehabilitation geek but I don't have specific training that others throw on their resumes like Beckman, Kaufman, NDT, Vital-Stim etc.  The courses I want to be trained in take years - being a mother, I am not ready to dedicate that time solely to my career.  Please don't get me wrong, I love my career, and spend my days invested in speech pathology - but I need to be a Mommy too.  So, I started beating myself up about not going to trainings, not looking for local things, not doing courses online.  Then I stopped and thought about my life.  I have been blessed with three kids.  One who allows me to keep my literacy skills and phonemic awareness up to date.  One who keeps me in sync with baby speech, jabbering, babbling, and rapidly developing vocabulary and consonant repertoires.  And one who is teaching me all about motor development and positioning.  My training is far better than anything I could pay for - at least from my perspective today, and that's perfect.  In fact, it is changing me as a therapist and as a mother.  It is shaping my experiences and giving me some advantages.  I couldn't be prouder of any of my children and really of me.  We are meeting family needs and all learning together!

L.O.V.E

On Valentine's Day you have to talk about love.  So many folks think it is overrated, but I just adore Valentine's Day. Probably because I met Terrence on 2/14/2002 and we were married on 2/14/2007. Just a guess. 

In honor of this great day I will list fourteen things I love:

1) Terrence Bumgarner - I very much love him!
2) My Children, Ava, Easton, and Elle - Ava wants to be a cowgirl, Easton is sleeping swaddle-free, and Elle is sleeping all night by herself and crawling.
3) Herbal, hot teas - chamomile, tension tamer, kombucha, earl grey - bring it on!
4) Knee Socks - this way I can run in shorts all year long (without socks of course in warm weather), wear shorts around the house in the winter, and wear knee boots with most outfits
5) RUNNING!
6) Family
7) The first 15 minutes I arrive at work - coffee table time and daily camaraderie; it is so enjoyable.
8) Salad - Stupid thing to love, but salads are yummy.  Especially with salmon.
9) Sleeping - I am beginning to get a good deal of this, about time the twins are one week away from 9 months.
10) Talking (I get paid to talk, I love speech pathology -  wow, instant segue to number 11)
11) Speech Pathology - Helping people is a passion, I enjoy working with children, I like to hear children say their first words, I like to get a child to engage who cannot engage with others, I like teaching parents, the list goes on
12) People involved in the care of my children - whether it is daily care, help some weekends, or early intervention folks - you all rock!
13) Momo and Yoshi, why I love them, I don't know.
14) Being home with my gang, best place on Earth.

On the Other Side of the Table

This was a piece I have submitted to the ASHA Leader, a publication for nationally licensed speech pathologists and audiologists.  It may not get published but we will survive, we always do.

I pride myself on being a mother. When I had my first baby I thought I automatically joined the ranks of the families I worked with because now, I too, had a child. But it does not work that way. As a therapist you are on “one side of the table” and gaining the perspective of the other side is something that can only be learned the hard way. On May 21^st of 2012, I started a journey to the “other side of the table.” That was the day my twins were born. I had healthy full-term twins, but, unfortunately my son, Easton, had issues. It all started with jaundice. Then there were latching problems, as well as colic. I quit eating gluten, dairy, eggs, citrus, and tomatoes. I taught Easton to latch. I weighed him two times a week and frequently consulted with a nutritionist and a pediatrician. At Easton's one month checkup, I heard the words Failure to Thrive, which did not resonate well with me. Around this time I started noticing Easton was not responding to noise, would not look at my face, and was very unhappy. Although premature, the diagnoses of Autism and Cerebral Palsy were already crossing my mind.

At age three months, I had him evaluated by the early intervention team, with whom I work. Easton was seen by my colleagues, the people who threw me a baby shower, the people I eat lunch with, and the people I rely on to help break bad news. Now I was on the other side of the table. It was terrifying.

Easton was diagnosed with a sensory disturbance, hypotonia, and mixed development. He failed his vision screening. It was recommend he receive occupational therapy (OT) and visit an ophthalmologist. We also were introduced to an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and a service coordinator. I cried.

The ophthalmologist visit revealed Easton had moderate farsightedness which allowed him Visually Impaired Services (VI). Then a follow-up ophthalmology appointment, only one month later, revealed his vision was fine. With a diagnosis of Visual Maturation Delay, VI services were discontinued.

Next, we started OT. I did infant massage, I swaddled, I made things visually stimulating. I dyed my blonde hair dark brown and started wearing bright red lipstick. This kid was going to look at me. Then he did. He even smiled. He started eating better, sleeping better, and playing better. OT was short lived. We were then introduced to physical therapy and that is where we stand at present. As I come up on Easton's six month review, I reflect on what it feels like to be on the the other side of the the table. We still have a ways to go, but to be honest, I feel blessed to say I am a speech pathologist who has been on both sides of the table. I have gained a different perspective for what I do and luckily have Easton to thank for this experience!