Physical Therapy: the U Seat

God never ceases to amaze me with what He already knows and how little I do and how He loves to surprise me with His knowledge.

Lily's physical therapy is one of those things.

You see what I didn't know back when we were matched to her was 1) that she would need physical therapy (although I began to understand that soon afterward) and 2) that God would provide for free physical therapy in our home once she got home. God once again used His command to us (Malachi 3:10) to bless us. As we filled out the paperwork for her PT, we had to supply our tax return. Because of our charitable giving and our family size, we discovered that our income was put in a bracket that qualified for free-to-us therapy for as long as we use them or until Lily turns 3! Go God!

Anyway, one of the first pieces of apparatus our PT brought us was the U-seat. For Lily, it was love at first use. Because of Lily's underdeveloped pelvis (on the left side), she has trouble balancing while sitting. She has had to do what we have dubbed the "tripod sit" to keep from tipping over...2 legs and one arm for support. With the U-seat, Lily can sit supported with both hands free. She loves it! Now she can play with both hands while in a seated position and develop her core strength at the same time!

Over the weeks that we have had the U-seat, Lily has gotten quite comfortable with it and will crawl into the seat and sit down independently. She will also crawl over it, sit on top of it, hang over it backwards, flip it upside-down and crawl into it...and the latest feat? Push it over to the couch, climb on top and try to get onto the couch. Alas, she is still too short to make it!

The improvement in Lily's sitting between the U-Seat and another fun PT apparatus (I'll share that one tomorrow) is immense. Last week we caught her several times sitting straight up and down for several seconds with no hand support and no U-seat! And, then a few days ago (as I blogged on New Year's Eve) she started sitting independently for long stretches! Yippee!

Let's hear it for the U-seat!

U-seat or baby recliner? You decide!

In Him,