No HBOT today..

The whole family has a cold. We can't go into the chamber because it would be uncomfortable. Olivia enjoyed a day at home and grandma's! If our noses and sinuses are all cleared up, we'll be back in the chamber for Wednesday.

She's saying Mama!

She said "mama" so great, but of course daddy missed it! So we tried to get her to say it again, and she did! (not as good as the one we missed, but oh well) You also get to see adorable eve steal the show (or camera) and say bye!

Counting, pointing, and trying to say mama.

Olivia is counting the pictures on my shirt, she then points to me and attempts to say mama. Eve makes an appearance too showing us how well she is walking and pointing!

Hanging with my favortie friends at HBOT!

Olivia likes the mobiles they have at the center. Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for!

Day 32

Olivia was lively, energetic and happy today! She was alert and excited to interact with people. She had a great day at school and was smiling getting off the bus. After having her snack in the car, she took a nice nap on the drive to the HBOT center. I think she could've slept longer, but we had to wake her when we got there. She woke up slowly, but livened up when she saw her favorite people in the office.

Olivia was very cooperative going into the chamber. She lays right on me and puts her head down. Today the center was full of people, so Olivia waited patiently with her head down on my chest until we slid into the chamber and our movie started. Today we watched “Snow White and the 7 dwarfs.” When that finished, we watched “Lord of the Dance.” Olivia likes the music, singing, dancing, and the rhythm of the tapping and drums.

Olivia was happy during the dive. I can always tell when there is someone outside the chamber nearby because Olivia starts beaming with happy smiles and sounds. She likes to play games with the people outside the chamber. A simple game of putting her hand on the glass and having her playmate matching their hand to hers is great fun.

When we came out of the chamber, Olivia was full of energy and strength. She was pulling me and her favorite people around the office to find the special stickers. She used to not have the strength to pull anyone, usually I had to slow my walking to stay at her speed. Wow, how that has changed! Her happy run looked even more peppy than before. Her legs look much stronger. I'm thinking that they are now strong enough to jump, but she just needs to learn how. I'm also wondering if she still needs her ankle braces. She looks great! When I pick her up and spin her around, her body is much tighter and stronger. She can pull her body into me and bring her knees up. I'm loving it!

Today was our last dive of the week. I'll try to take some home videos to demonstrate her new strength and skills. Our next dive will be next Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 31

We are in the home stretch! Today was pretty good. It felt more like a Tues. than a Friday. Funny huh? Olivia was tired coming off the school bus and slept the entire ride to the center. . She woke up very sleepy, but happy. She was calm getting into the chamber and for awhile inside.

Then she started army crawling me. She just wanted to get up close to me. I think she wanted to count my freckles, but her nails need trimming, so she was scratching me instead and I had to stop her. She sang a little in the chamber and was pretty calm throughout the dive.

When we came out of the chamber, that all changed! She was super energetic and excited. She was checking out the center and all the people in it. When we finally left, she went running throughout the parking lot.

Olivia is getting a bit more defiant. She'll shake her head “no” when asked to do something that she doesn't want to do. Thats pretty new. She has an opinion now... She used to just go with the flow. I could take a toy away from her and it never phased her. Now, if its something she really likes (like play dough) she'll get mad! Its not making my life easier, but I guess its a good thing developmentally.

This morning we we finished getting Olivia ready for school, I told her we need to get her coat on to go to school. She got all happy and said “go go go!” It was really clear and appropriate!

HBOTOLIVIAwithMommy

Cheek to cheek with Mommy!

OliviaInHBOTchamber

The tech signs "all done" Olivia responds to this and gets ready to come out! She then runs out of the room to get a sticker!

HBOTOlivia

Here Olivia is hanging out. Grandpa tries to play with her, but she's not that interested. She gets very excited when her favorite receptionist comes to visit!

Day 30

Wow! ¾ done! Today was a great dive. The air was cool, Olivia was cute, and the time flew. Olivia stayed up by my pillow today. She went to my side, which is better than right on top of me. The only thing is that she kept wanting to put her face on my face. At first it was cute, her soft little cheek felt nice, but after 20 min or so, it got old. We started playing little tickling and peek-a-boo games, sang some songs together, and then we started counting. Olivia has taken a liking to counting. She can't say the numbers, but she uses her pointer finger, points to objects, and makes the right rhythm and tone of counting. Another really good advance is that now whenever I ask her to say something, anything, she responds back to me with a sound. Its just coming out with vowels or G sounds, but she's trying! I wonder if it sounds right in her head.

Olivia made friends with an elderly lady yesterday as we were waiting to be seen for an appointment. This woman was talking to Olivia, showing her the jewelry she was wearing, and asking her questions. I told the woman Olivia didn't talk, but she kept asking her questions and to repeat words. This woman told me that 16 years ago, she had suffered a stroke. When she came out of the stroke, she thought she was talking, but no one understood her. She said it took 6 years of speech therapy to regain her ability to speak intelligibly. She said she thought Olivia was talking, but we aren't understanding her. Maybe she's right. I'll try to listen harder.

Day 29

Today felt like a Friday. Olivia was very tired, and I'm not sure why. She's been sleeping pretty well at night. I'm hoping its because she is developing and not fighting an illness.

She was cranky in the chamber...very 'sensory' seeking. She likes tight squeezes, likes to bite things and nudge her head into people. Unfortunately for me, I was at the receiving end of all that stimuation. I don't have anywhere to go in that chamber. I am vulnerable to head butts, biting, and just getting my personal space invaded. Even though its very small in the chamber, if positioned well, we could both be comfortable and have some personal space. Olivia purposely gets into my space. She puts her face on my face. She pushes her weight into me. She nudges her head into mine. She bites on my clothing with the risk of getting my skin as well.

I really don't know how to help her with this. All I know is that its no fun to be close to her when she's like this.

Day 28

Olivia was funny today. When we were walking into the HBOT's front door, Olivia noticed it wasn't the usual receptionist at the desk. She abruptly stopped in her tracks and wouldn't walk in. She knows the person who was at the desk, it just wasn't who she was expecting. I picked her up and brought her in. I made sure to find out the tech that she loves was in the other room and as soon as Olivia saw her, she dropped my hand like a bad habit and went running to her.

I don't think I mentioned this yet, but I found a way to get Olivia to say “mama” I've been trying to get her to say it for years now. If I say it with a scruffy 'frog in the throat' voice, she'll repeat it (in a scruffy voice) Its really funny, but not how I imagined my daughter would say “mama” I guess beggers can't be choosers. She still doesn't call me “mama” but its a start!

She actually doesn't label anything. She whines to get my attention and will then sign. She hasn't comprehended the concept of names yet. I wish she would!

Day 27

Not bad for a Friday. I'm tired. Olivia slept good on the way there and woke up happy. She was good going inhto the chamber, but since taking the week off, she forgot how nice it is to stay at the foot of the chamberc and watch movies. She army crawls up me so that her face is on my face. The chamber is feeling more tight because of that and the leftover halloween candy we are finishing.

Olivia stayed happy for the entire dive and came out happy and energetic. We enjoyed a nice walk outside after the treatment before getting back into the car for the 1hr+ drive home.

Only 13 more dives! We are not going to know what to do with ourselves!

Oh! Something really cute Olivia did today. In the car on the way to the center, Olivia was giggling. I'm not sure what was so funny, but she had an adorable little giggle!

Day 26

Ugh...I guess we were due for a rough day. Olivia had a great day at school and I'm grateful for that. She was very hungry on the ride to the center and ate alot, so she didn't fall asleep until we were most of the way there. She had a hard time falling asleep as well, so that meant she was cranky, kicking the back of grandpa's seat and whining, until she finally calmed down. She woke up cranky The receptionist commented on how she didn't know this Olivia. I told her I was all too familiar with her.

Needless to say, she didn't want to get into the chamber. Luckily, she didn't put up a fight, but just wasn't her normal happy self. I put on an extra blanket because it was so cold out today. That was good and bad. It was bad because the chamber felt extra tight. The tech had to squeeze us in because instead of Olivia hanging out towards the bottom of the chamber where there's more room, she chose to lay right on top of the italian sub I had for lunch. Next time I'll remember not to have a big sandwich before going to HBOT. It was good because for some reason Olivia was sensory seeking and needing to bite. The blanket was getting bit instead of me. I later took her water bottle apart to give her the straw to chew on. It seemed to help quite a bit. Towards the end, Olivia was getting impatient, so the tech was nice enough to play with her a little bit with a stuffed tiger that Olivia likes.

When our time was up, the tech signed Olivia's “all done” and Olivia was really happy. She was excited to get her sticker, run around outside a bit, and slept most of the way home. I guess it was just one of those days.

Running after HBOT!

Coming out of the chamber she sent kisses to the technician. She then did some happy feet dancing, took the tech by the hand and ran with her to get a sticker!

Olivia midway through HBOT treatment

Olivia is doing great! We can't wait to see how she'll be by her 40th treatment.

Day 25

Olivia was so cute today. Her smiles shine so bright! She stayed up close to me in the chamber and was very cuddly. At the end of the dive, the technician signed “all done” to Olivia through the glass. Olivia perked up and smiled. Her face was adorable...it was like she was thinking, “Hey! You know my language!”

Olivia's verbal imitation is improving. She'll copy the “uh-oh” sound, the kissing sound, raspberries, and now will imitate a low scruffy “frog in the throat” sound. She started doing it last week. Probably cause her throat was scratchy, but now she'll do it when I do it. This is very good! Next, hopefully, it will be consonant sounds...and then words!

day 24

A terrific dive! Olivia is so very happy to come to the HBOT center. She is very vocal, waving and greeting her favorite people. She was ready and excited to get into the chamber. She was wonderful during the dive. She cuddled and played with me and interacted with grandpa and the technician. It was a little tight in there...probably had something to do with all the halloween candy we ate last week.

We took a video in the car on the way to the center today. She is very responive and her processing is getting much quicker! Her teachers are very pleased with her progress. We are so happy!

We took another video of her getting out of the chamber. She was blowing kisses to the technician and grabbed her by the hand to go get stickers! You can also see her happy feet dancing and running!

Update

Hi!
Sorry we haven't posted in awhile. Olivia and Eve caught a cold on Friday and have been keeping me busy ever since! We haven't gone to HBOT all week. We will be starting back on Monday. If we were to go into the chamber with sinus congestion, it would be painful.
Olivia is doing great otherwise. This week she started pointing to pictures on paper. She's not always accurate when pointing to a certain item, but is trying which is new! Her little sister Eve is pretty good at it and is teaching Olivia. Its awesome! (not to mention adorable)