Thursday, October 9, 2008

Happy Half Birthday, Ava!


My baby will be 6 months old tomorrow! It is so hard to believe! She has brought so much joy and happiness into our little family in her short time here on Earth :) Today we had her 6 month appointment and we had some troubling news. The nurse asked if I had any concerns and I noted that I was a little concerned that she was not rolling over yet and when the doctor came in I asked him about her hands. They are always in such a weird position and it seems like she has just really started using them to explore things. She held them shut in the newborn position for longer than I thought was normal. After some exploration and lots of tormenting of the baby, the doctor suggested a neurological consult. I asked if perhaps this could all be due to the fact that she is still swaddled and he said it was possible. He asked if I wanted to wait a little while before proceeding to see if she starts to make leaps and bounds once we stop the swaddle. I said I would like to give it some time, but not too much time because if it is something more, I would really like to get on it. Of course, being the psycho mom that I am, I came home and looked online. The thing that has come up over and over is Cerebral Palsy. Now, she has very few symptoms of this, but I can see why the doctor would be concerned. The muscle tone in her hands and wrists are red flags and the fact that she cannot roll over is also a marker. Just say a prayer that she begins to build up muscle tone over the next few weeks now that we are no longer swaddling her. Also say a prayer that we all don't go crazy for lack of sleep. I know that I would rather miss out on some sleep than see my baby suffer, but I also know it may be a tough couple of nights. She is in bed right now and so far so good (knock on wood!)

3 comments:

Jessi said...

The internet is evil! I did the same thing when we were testing Ashlyn and the things I found just sent me into panic. I pray that Ava builds up muscle tone and everything is alright!

ps 6 months??!! WOW!

TG's Mom said...

I forgot to tell you that Shan and Dan went through something similar with Ava. The doc freaked them out because of the way she was holding her hands. They switched doctors and Ava has had no problems since. It worked itself out. We are thinking about you guys and sending lots of love!!!

Kristine said...

Hey Sara - I'm sure Ava will be just fine. It's good that your Doc was aware of the symptom and proactive, but I can understand the concern you would have. I'll be thinking of you going through the swaddle transition.

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