Physical Therapy

I debated many-a-times writing this blog post but I was afraid people would think I was looking for attention. That's not what this is about. I'm writing for awareness. To take away some of the STIGMA that comes with having a developmentally delayed child. So I'll start from the beginning...

Averiana Eden was born last April. She is different than her sister, although they have a lot of facial similarities. Pretty much, from the start, she's been the polar opposite of Bri. Bri is independent, friendly, outgoing, and a big ball of energy. Avi is much more relaxed, not as warming to strangers, very hesitant and is content if you're just snuggling with her. Obviously as she's getting older, she's blossoming into a different girlie. 

We knew early on she was behind on her gross motor skills. She sat up late, she rolled over late, she had a funny frog/army crawl. When she was a baby, I had noticed her head was getting flat in the back and asked her child care provider to make sure to give her more tummy time (she hated it and wailed which is why we weren't great about it either.) If you've ever heard Avi wail, you know she reaches a painful octave. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive myself for taking her there. I don't know if tummy time would have made a difference in her case but I still feel like she would've been taken care of better elsewhere. Finally, around Thanksgiving of last year, we switched providers. Best decision I made. 

We had gotten her tested 2 times. The first time was for sitting up, she wasn't doing that just yet. Well of course, the day before the visit, she started sitting up on her own so the lady told me to just keep an eye on her. The next time was because she wasn't making any progress on standing or I want to say rolling from back to front. I don't really remember, I just knew something was wrong. The physical therapist came for another eval but she tested so high on all the other levels that she didn't qualify for services. She was just a bit delayed. All this time, I'm bringing up my concerns with the pediatrician and he just told me to have AZEIP (Arizona Early Intervention Program) come out (which I had done). 

While we were moving, she was making great strides. She did the funny army crawl but while we were in AZ, grandma reported full on all 4's crawling. Great! I thought! She's 15 months and finally crawling! She was pulling herself up to the gate too. Bri walked at 16 months, Adam was 18 months or so. So I thought, she's catching up but will just be late like Dad and Sis.

Well, it's time for her 15 month checkup so I go to a provider here in MI before my insurance runs out in 2 days. As soon as she laid her down and opened up her legs, she was shocked. Her knees touch the ground in this position so they are pretty floppy.

She said she had weak hips, should have physical therapy and see a neurologist. There were other things she said during the appointment that made me feel like I should be questioning my mothering skills, which wasn't a great feeling. Needless, to say, I was pretty upset. We are about to not have insurance coverage and my baby was going to need some expensive therapy and doctor visits.

I applied for insurance, we got coverage for the kids and soon we started physical therapy. She has made so many strides. She is still not walking but doing all the things she needs to do to get there.

Standing :)

This thing is neat :)

The point of this post is, if you think something is wrong, advocate for your child. If something ends up being wrong, do your best to get those services for your child! I don't know if we hadn't gotten coverage what we would've done, I'm just thankful we did. If you think your child has a speech problem, there are people and services out there to help! It's so much better and more effective if it's caught early. There shouldn't be any shame. If you think there's something wrong with your child's walk or they aren't pick up things with their fingers (fine motor), there's help for that! Does it make me feel bad that my kid needs help? Well, yeah but I have to swallow my pride and do what's best for her! Here's some pictures from today's re-eval. She's getting there!

Balancing...

She says lots of words including, ball.