Success!!

      So, ever since she was born, Jessica has been afraid of water. It took her a while to get used to even the little infant bathtub, and when we switched to the big girl tub she freaked out again. Even now, bathing her in a tub other than ours is enough to send her into fits. We believe that the reason behind this is actually from her birth. When she was born, she had way too much amniotic fluid in her lungs. (All babies have some, from living in a water environment, but usually its a very very tiny amount). They had to suction out her lungs once in the delivery room, and then, later that evening Jessica stopped breathing, and they ended up needing to suction out her lungs a second time.  So basically, she had stopped breathing because she was drowning. We think her subconscious still remembers that, (studies have shown that there are subconscious memories of birth) which is why she is so afraid of the water. We are attempting to help her overcome that fear by taking her swimming.

   We started last summer, mainly in backyard, blow-up pools. As you can see, she wasn't terribly impressed. I would try to set her in the pool, and her feet would start lifting before they touched the water, and she would start "revving up" to full on crying. We didn't try very often last summer.
     Fast forward to this year. (Unfortunately no pictures) We've now gone swimming 3 times with Jessica. The first time was an indoor pool, but it did have a kiddie section that started in like a beach. So I sat down there, and slowly inched my way deeper. She handled it, but wasn't very happy, and had basically turned into a leech (wrapping herself around my neck) as soon as we entered the room with the pool. However, by the end of the evening, I was able to be in water about 3 ft deep, and we were able to bounce a little with her, and we were able to hold her out at arm's length. She also would actually smile at people as well, though only when held in close, and she would go to some of our friends to be held.  Then, probably about a month ago (maybe only 3 weeks) we went swimming with some friends at their apartment complex pool. Unfortunately, that meant that the shallowest was 3 feet deep. Plus it was only about 65-70 degrees outside, and the pool was NOT heated as we had been told. So with the inability to ease into it, and the cold water/air, Jessica cried for the first few minutes I was in the water, and then just resigned. She just cuddled into me and looked down all dejected-like, and she would not even let Nathaniel take her. (Oops, I think that was a step backward)
     Friday, we tried again. It was some nice, hot weather. Perfect for going to the pool. So we packed up and headed over to the Scera pool. Started off a little better, she whimpered a bit when we walked by the pool (going to the changing room) but she wasn't acting the part of a leech. So we got all changed, and put on our sunscreen and hats, and we headed into the pool. She was not willing to walk, so I sat her on my lap, and started in 1 inch of water. We got to where it covered her feet, and she could reach it, and stopped there for a while, and Nathaniel convinced her to start playing with him. She was giving him 5, but his hand was just under the water, so she was splashing like she does in the bathtub at home. We inched a little deeper, the water covered her legs, and we started asking her if she wanted to sit (absolutely not), so we asked if she wanted to stand. We eventually got her to stand on her own in the water (holding our hands) and even walk back and forth between us. Then we walked back to where the water wasn't quite as deep (it had been up to her chest) so she could sit on her own and splash. She sat entirely on her own, I wasn't even touching her for a bit, but because she wasn't as steady in the water I wasn't very far from her.
     We probably only stayed for about a half hour, maybe 45 minutes, but it was well worth the cost anyway. That trip went far better than we were even hoping. Especially after the apartment pool, I was worried that she would be as bad as the indoor pool, so her walking and sitting on her own was a HUGE success for us. YAY! I'm hoping we can take her swimming at least every other week, so we can get her to not only tolerate, but actually enjoy the water.