Rex has a gross motor development delay.
I remember when I was getting ready to be home last summer, I was excited because I would get to be home when Rex would start crawling so I wouldn't miss it. He didn't start sitting up well on his own til around 7 months (July 2010). Then the end of July came, no crawling... no biggie...he was only 7 months. Then August rolled around...still no crawling...and it was time for me to go back to work. In the mean time, everyone is asking/saying "Oh! I bet he's crawling all over the place!" I would get a little sad every time someone would ask me if he was crawling yet because I had to say "Nope, not yet." But! I also completely understand because I would probably ask the same thing, even now. I went back to work and he still wasn't crawling. September rolled around and so did October. Still no crawling. At one point for a little while, he would scoot backwards on his belly. But still no crawling and no pulling up. Then I realized that he also wasn't pulling up and was not able to go from laying down to sitting up. There were times he would get on his knees from his belly but he never lifted his head up at the same time he was on his knees. Obviously, I began to worry. I didn't know if I was being an over-worried mommy or if something could really be wrong. I would mention it to his doctor when we would go in and he insisted Rex was fine and that I needed to sort of push him more to do things on his own. I kept giving myself (and Rex, I guess) new "goal dates..." I would think "By Halloween he'll be crawling!" That didn't happen so then I would shoot for Thanksgiving. That didn't happen so I just "knew" he would be all over the place by his birthday. But still, no crawling, no pulling up and no sitting from laying down. I was worried before but now, I was really worried.
In the mean time, Rex kept getting ear infections, which I know is very typical in little ones. His pedi referred us to an ENT who we went to see in December, just before his birthday. He decided it was best for him to get tubes because his hearing was beginning to be effected and there was fluid in his ears. We set the surgery for January 23. Over the month of December, Rex got more mobile...Rex style! He army crawls when he's on his belly and scoots on his butt when he's sitting down. Still no crawling, no pulling up on his own and not moving from laying to sitting. At Rex's one year check up, I mentioned everything that I was observing. What caught Dr. Azim's attention was the fact that he did not go from laying to sitting, so he referred us to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention Services). Finally! Some answers! I was so anxious to get them out here to assess Rex to see just what was going on. ECI is one of those things that you don't want to encounter but when you need them, you're so happy they're there!
Three ladies came to the house yesterday to evaluate Rex. They did a series of assessments that I am so interested in, by the way, because early childhood special education was my primary focus in college. The watched him do all kinds of things and asked me lots of questions. Just as I thought, they confirmed my concern that there is in fact a gross development delay. They also confirmed my thoughts that in every other area, he's doing great! In fact, he is above his age level in most areas. Woohoo! Go Rex! It's just that gross motor development that he's having a hard time with. So, starting next week, he will be working with a physical therapist here at the house so we can work on getting him "up-to-par." At this point, he has a 33% delay meaning he is at about an 8 month level in gross motor development. I asked the occupational therapist what her thoughts were as to why he had a delay. She was aware of his constant ear infections and she attributed a lot of it to the fact that there's fluid in his ears. She explained that there are receptors in your ears that make you aware of your surroundings and motions. It seems like those receptors are being impaired by the infections and fluids which could be a big part of Rex's delay.
Bottom line: I'm writing all of this because I don't want to forget it. I really want to document his progress so that I can look back on it to see how far we go and the amount of time it took. I know that within a few months, we probably will not even notice he had a "delay." I'm trying not to set anymore "goal-dates." As a mom, it's hard not to be hard on myself about it. I'm sure I'm not the only mom (especially new mom) who takes blame anytime anything is "wrong" with their baby. I would start to wonder what I did wrong? What could I have done better or different? It's been especially hard for me because of the fact that I've worked around and been around kids so much that I know what he should and should not be doing. I'm anxious to see how things change after he gets the tubes in on Monday.
I will keep updating with his progress-for myself and for anyone who's interested in reading! I can't wait to see how this goes! Like I said before, ECI is one of those things you don't necessarily want but you sure love when you need them and they're there!
Stay Tuned for updates!
No comments:
Post a Comment