Paediatric Appointment..
So yesterday, after being referred by her GP in June, I finally took AJ to the hospital for an appointment with the paediatrician regarding her lack of mobility.
I know all children develop at different rates but AJ is nearly 17 months old now and not only doesn't walk (or even close to it) or crawl but doesn't even pull herself up. Whatever position you put her in, that's where she stays. If she's lying down, she can't sit up. If she's sitting up, she can't stand up (she can lie down, but only by toppling over and then she can't get up again).
She sits on her bottom and spins around in circles and that's as mobile as she gets. She just doesn't seem to understand to use her arms to pull herself up or to steady herself. If you sit her in a swing or a shopping trolly, she doesn't grab hold of the bar to hold on/steady herself. If you hold out your hands to her when lying down she will take hold and pull herself up with no problem but it never seems to occur to her to use e.g. the cot bars for the same purpose.
It's been weighing on my mind for months and months that there seems to be some issue here and I was hoping an appointment with the paediatrician would give me some answers - either, yeah, she's a bit behind but just leave her be and she'll get there in her own time (in which case I can stop worrying about it) or, okay, there does seem to be a bit of an issue here and *this* is what we can do about it. Because I have no idea what to do for the best to try and encourage her - if I try and push her into doing stuff she doesn't want to, she just cries and I don't want to create negative associations.
So anyway, yesterday was her appointment.
The doctor was very nice, if a bit scatty, and for some reason AJ decided to be a little monster throughout the appointment, fussing and crying and squirming around on my lap - totally not like her!
But anyway.. the doctor listened to her chest and checked all her reflexes and range of motion etc in her joints - knees, elbows, and ankles - and seemed quite unconcerned with the results. We talked through what AJ can and can't do regarding mobility and speech and dexterity (feeding herself etc) and the general upshot is that:
a) she is behind, both with mobility and with speech, but the doctor did comment that she probably would get there when she's ready (which is kind of a relief);
b) to be on the safe side, they will take bloods to test for muscular conditions (such as muscular dystrophy); the doctor thinks this is very unlikely as no family history and no physical indications but best to rule it out;
c) they will organise a "full team" assessment whereby AJ is seen by the physical therapist, speech therapist and occupational health in order to get a full picture of exactly where she is at developmentally right now - they will then see us again in 4 months and see how she has developed over that time and, I guess, decide at that point what, if any, assistance is needed to encourage/aid her development.
Overall I'm left feeling a little disappointed (and still worried!) as I was hoping this appointment would give me some indication as to whether there is cause for concern but I guess I can understand that it's impossible for them to accurately judge how a child is developing based on a single instance... they would need to see how the child develops over a period of time to get a feel for what the progression is.
I also need to go back to the hospital with her this afternoon for them to take the bloods for the blood tests (not looking forward to that at all... it's bound to be traumatic for her, and therefore for me!) and again tomorrow for an x-ray of her hips which was arranged by her GP when he referred us to paediatrics - the x-ray should have happened before the paediatrics appointment but it seems the referral went astray and it had to be resent! Not looking forward to that either as getting a 16/17 month old to lie still for an x-ray promises more trauma and tears... and I've had to phone the x-ray department today and check that they can even allow me in the room with her, given that I am 23 weeks pregnant! Thankfully they have said yes and they will kit me out with a lead apron... otherwise I'd be cancelling the appointment and rebooking for when hubby or mum can come along, cos no way I would leave her alone in a strange room with strange people to be held down and x-rayed!!
Oh fun and games. Kids, eh? Who'd have them? When does the worrying about them bit stop? When they're 18? 28? 38? 58? 108? :/
I know all children develop at different rates but AJ is nearly 17 months old now and not only doesn't walk (or even close to it) or crawl but doesn't even pull herself up. Whatever position you put her in, that's where she stays. If she's lying down, she can't sit up. If she's sitting up, she can't stand up (she can lie down, but only by toppling over and then she can't get up again).
She sits on her bottom and spins around in circles and that's as mobile as she gets. She just doesn't seem to understand to use her arms to pull herself up or to steady herself. If you sit her in a swing or a shopping trolly, she doesn't grab hold of the bar to hold on/steady herself. If you hold out your hands to her when lying down she will take hold and pull herself up with no problem but it never seems to occur to her to use e.g. the cot bars for the same purpose.
It's been weighing on my mind for months and months that there seems to be some issue here and I was hoping an appointment with the paediatrician would give me some answers - either, yeah, she's a bit behind but just leave her be and she'll get there in her own time (in which case I can stop worrying about it) or, okay, there does seem to be a bit of an issue here and *this* is what we can do about it. Because I have no idea what to do for the best to try and encourage her - if I try and push her into doing stuff she doesn't want to, she just cries and I don't want to create negative associations.
So anyway, yesterday was her appointment.
The doctor was very nice, if a bit scatty, and for some reason AJ decided to be a little monster throughout the appointment, fussing and crying and squirming around on my lap - totally not like her!
But anyway.. the doctor listened to her chest and checked all her reflexes and range of motion etc in her joints - knees, elbows, and ankles - and seemed quite unconcerned with the results. We talked through what AJ can and can't do regarding mobility and speech and dexterity (feeding herself etc) and the general upshot is that:
a) she is behind, both with mobility and with speech, but the doctor did comment that she probably would get there when she's ready (which is kind of a relief);
b) to be on the safe side, they will take bloods to test for muscular conditions (such as muscular dystrophy); the doctor thinks this is very unlikely as no family history and no physical indications but best to rule it out;
c) they will organise a "full team" assessment whereby AJ is seen by the physical therapist, speech therapist and occupational health in order to get a full picture of exactly where she is at developmentally right now - they will then see us again in 4 months and see how she has developed over that time and, I guess, decide at that point what, if any, assistance is needed to encourage/aid her development.
Overall I'm left feeling a little disappointed (and still worried!) as I was hoping this appointment would give me some indication as to whether there is cause for concern but I guess I can understand that it's impossible for them to accurately judge how a child is developing based on a single instance... they would need to see how the child develops over a period of time to get a feel for what the progression is.
I also need to go back to the hospital with her this afternoon for them to take the bloods for the blood tests (not looking forward to that at all... it's bound to be traumatic for her, and therefore for me!) and again tomorrow for an x-ray of her hips which was arranged by her GP when he referred us to paediatrics - the x-ray should have happened before the paediatrics appointment but it seems the referral went astray and it had to be resent! Not looking forward to that either as getting a 16/17 month old to lie still for an x-ray promises more trauma and tears... and I've had to phone the x-ray department today and check that they can even allow me in the room with her, given that I am 23 weeks pregnant! Thankfully they have said yes and they will kit me out with a lead apron... otherwise I'd be cancelling the appointment and rebooking for when hubby or mum can come along, cos no way I would leave her alone in a strange room with strange people to be held down and x-rayed!!
Oh fun and games. Kids, eh? Who'd have them? When does the worrying about them bit stop? When they're 18? 28? 38? 58? 108? :/