We're Aware of Spina Bifida, Are You?

October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month! Almost one year ago our lives were completely changed with Abby's diagnosis. Although we were thrust into an entirely new world with complicated implications, we have learned so much and wouldn't change a thing about where we are today. The Spina Bifida community is actually pretty extensive (much to our surprise, as we had never heard of it before the diagnosis) and incredibly welcoming, helpful, and loving. We've made some great connections - such a great support system to learn from. If you want to follow a really positive page on Facebook, check out "Redefining Spina Bifida." That page gave me a lot of hope and I still love reading what they have to say. Really great!

This is a really great summary of things to do with Spina Bifida that I saw on Facebook. As always, if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask me!

Yesterday was really exciting! Abby was able to get her new brace from Shriner's. She'll wear it during the day and the other brace with the bar at night. It's so much lighter and easier to put on than her other one. We can also have her wear pants and shoes again! We can hold her on our hips. We can do so many things - a huge blessing. We have yet to convince the darling girl that it's a good thing. She hates it. Apparently she's forgotten how to be confident about sitting up. Every time she wobbles, she looks up at me with terror in her eyes. She's slowly getting used to not having the constant weight on her feet though, so hopefully she'll soon grow to love it like we do. Our doctor was also pretty adamant about her not chewing on the brace. It has a cushion made of a different material than her other one and can deteriorate a little easier. For those of you who saw Abby, she LOVED to chew on the straps of her other brace (maybe we're bad parents, I don't know...but she loved it and it did no harm). For now I've got her wearing a slipper bootie over her brace to help her get used to not chewing on it. It's fuzzy enough she doesn't like it in her mouth. Wish us luck.

It's kind of hard to tell, but Abby has a longer bar for her nighttime brace. It's about as wide as my shoulders. The length will help ensure that her hips stay where they need to be.

In other news (or not news, I'm not sure), we're still working on rolling over. That may come more easily now that her feet aren't bound together. She constantly has her body in a sitting position as well, which makes it tricky to roll over. One day it'll happen.

These cute feet are so tiny and are still in 0-3 month shoes. So funny compared to the rest of her chubby body! I love it!

We love the little munchkin and we love having her in our family! Yes, Spina Bifida was completely unexpected and difficult to swallow. Yes, we've had to adjust our whole perspective on life. But yes, we have grown and loved and learned more in the last year than we have (well, at least me - you'll have to ask Rhett about his thoughts) at any other time. I've loved this adjustment. I can proudly say that I love someone dearly with Spina Bifida.

I mean, really. How can you wish yo had anything else?? She's absolutely perfect.