SK's Stander

Before we had Sophie Kate, I would see the parents of special needs children and I would know that those parents took care of all those children's needs. I knew that they had to feed them, bathe them, dress them, etc. I knew that they probably had to take care of each and every one of their child's needs.

What I didn't know were all of the other things that went along with not being able to stand/walk. You gain bone density by weight bearing. So our kids bones tend to be more brittle than those of typical children. Also, the socket at the hip/leg joint (ball and socket joint) becomes deeper with weight bearing. Therefore our children are at a huge risk for that ball and socket joint to become dislocated b/c it is so shallow. We go every 6 months to get regular xrays of SK's hips so that her doctors can stay on top of this.

It is huge for these kids to weight bear to strengthen their bones and joints even if they are not capable to standing on their own. This is where SK's stander comes into play for her. It allows her to weight bear in a unique way that she wouldn't be able to experience otherwise. I know y'all have seen pictures of her in her stander before, but I have recently made a video of her in it.

I was talking to one of her therapist last week and we were discussing some the therapy things that were a priority for SK over the summer, since we wouldn't be going to therapy as regularly as we do during the school year. The stander was at the top of the list, so I will make it a priority for her over the summer. This will be something she will battle her entire life.

These standers cost a lot of money and we have been very fortunate to have had a loner stander from our Early Intervention group. The thing is we have to return it when SK turns 3, which will be November 3rd of this year. Thankfully,Trussville School System has one that SK will be able to use at school until we find another way to get one for home use.



As you can see from the video SK enjoys being in the stander, I'm sure she likes seeing her world from a different perspective. It's a continuous thing around here, there is always something that could be done. From feeding to stretching to standing to stimulating her vision to working on activating toys it can be around the clock if you let it. The trick is finding that balance. Her schedule has to be God led not mama led. I tend to push push push and I end up pushing the fun right out of our lives. When her schedule is God led then we are all much happier and content with things and being content with where you are and what you have is huge. It can only be truly obtained when God is in control, he's the only One that can satisfy what our soul longs for.

Thanks for checking in on us.