Team work

When we first brought Havyn home from Ethiopia in March we were overjoyed with our amazing daughter. However, it was obvious that at 6 months she was rather delayed and we had quite a bit of work ahead of us. Thanks to our amazing ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) workers- our occupational therapists and speech therapists- we were soon working our way towards recovery.

A lot of the issues Havyn was having revolved her being 2 months premature. She was having a lot of swallowing issues and horrible reflux. After a swallow study we found out she was indeed aspirating- even on her own saliva. Poor baby had been in horrible pain. We soon began thickening her formula and she also began sleeping on a wedge. It was a balancing act really- she would eat small amounts every 2 hours- but had to be kept upright for at least an hour after her feeding. ECI also wanted us to push tummy time so in between feedings every 2 hours and one hour being upright we then went down on our tummy. Lots to juggle. However- it began to pay off and she is now almost caught up and growing in leaps and bounds. She is 16 lbs and ready to take off.

Honestly though I have to attribute most of her success to her support team- Mya, Aleigha, Kaden and Carson. They are her biggest fans (as well as mommy and daddy and her oldest brothers and sisters). They encourage her, cheer her on and have crawled by her side. :0) Even ECI said that older siblings are the best therapist there are!

I am so thankful for these amazing, beautiful kids and I am so very, very blessed.

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