PT
...as in Physical therapy, or as our Pediatrician said, Henry's Physical Trainer. Hmm, i'm going to use this post to sort out how i feel about today's 9 month check-up and our PT referral. First the facts (some of which i've mentioned before). Henry was born exactly on time and on the small side-- 6 lbs. 10 oz. That wasn't surprising, because I'm tiny (along with my entire maternal family) and my husband is from a family of beanpoles. Henry definitely tends towards that physique-- long and skinny. His weight gain has been a bit schizophrenic as he started small, gained big, and then leveled off-- had stomach surgery at 2 months and then grew but just not much. Between 4-6 months he basically didn't grow at all. Now we're back on the weight growth track but he's still below the 5% percentile for weight (75% for weight to give you an idea of his string-beaniness).
He's about a week shy of his 9 month birthday, but he had his Pediatrician check-up today. We had been a little "concerned" about his development. He scoots backwards and pivots on his stomach but he doesn't get on all fours, crawl, pull-up, or heaven forbid-- cruise. He also doesn't wave bye-bye, say mama and dada and mean it, or an number of other amazing things his contemporaries seem to do these days. He is the happiest most calm baby ever, amazing at engaging even non-baby types, and a wonderful sleeper and eater.
The Pediatrician suggested we have a consult with the PT because he's behind in his gross motor skills. She said that since he was nutritionally lagging for awhile his muscles were a bit behind on their development and that the PT could give us specific exercises to do with him. I get to call tomorrow.
I feel a bit upset i guess. Upset our concerns were founded and that the being we created isn't perfect. But the less dramatic and weepy part of me feels good that we get professional help. Someone else pointed out that this just means he'll have the tools to catch up even quicker. Still-- there's some amount of malaise about this-- not exactly good news.
He's about a week shy of his 9 month birthday, but he had his Pediatrician check-up today. We had been a little "concerned" about his development. He scoots backwards and pivots on his stomach but he doesn't get on all fours, crawl, pull-up, or heaven forbid-- cruise. He also doesn't wave bye-bye, say mama and dada and mean it, or an number of other amazing things his contemporaries seem to do these days. He is the happiest most calm baby ever, amazing at engaging even non-baby types, and a wonderful sleeper and eater.
The Pediatrician suggested we have a consult with the PT because he's behind in his gross motor skills. She said that since he was nutritionally lagging for awhile his muscles were a bit behind on their development and that the PT could give us specific exercises to do with him. I get to call tomorrow.
I feel a bit upset i guess. Upset our concerns were founded and that the being we created isn't perfect. But the less dramatic and weepy part of me feels good that we get professional help. Someone else pointed out that this just means he'll have the tools to catch up even quicker. Still-- there's some amount of malaise about this-- not exactly good news.
posted by Tallis Ford @ 5:43 PM
10 Comments:
At 6:18 PM,
Cataclysm said…
Hey Tamra,
Rian is 2 days shy of his 9th month and just started shooching backward this week and the stomach pivot. None of that other stuff though either. He seems to have developed the pincer grip a little too quickly though as he picks up minute bits of crud from the floor to eat...
Let me know what the exercises the PT suggest - I always thought it was maybe Rian's huge head that is slowing him down but maybe I should be doing stuff with him too.
take care,
Kris
Gawd its hard! Esp with Henry being a smallish guy but if we all were hooking up for coffee, comparing him to Rian would make them both seem quite normal!
At 7:27 PM,
Tammy said…
"He also doesn't wave bye-bye, say mama and dada and mean it, or an number of other amazing things his contemporaries seem to do these days."
Sam doesn't do any of those things, but neither do any of his same-age buddies, so I'm not concerned. It hadn't occurred to me till I read your post that I'm lucky that Sam and his pals are roughly in the same place developmentally. It definitely spares me some worry I don't need.
I know everyone says this, but try not to be too concerned about most of these milestones, especially if your doctor has assured you Henry is okay. He sounds like a happy guy, and he definitely looks bright and alert and happy in his pictures. Those are DEFINITELY things to be grateful for.
(Whoops! Sorry if any of that sounded preachy, Tamra. I was aiming for "strongly supportive" and may have overshot the mark.)
At 9:01 PM,
Tallis Ford said…
D-- don't worry i only got the supportive vibe. Before Henry was born i never, ever thought i would be a mom worrying about comparing her kids to others. And honestly about 90% of me is cool with where Henry is and hey, if we can help move him along even better. What's hard is we have a couple friends that have babies that are 2 months younger than Henry and they're quickly catching up to him developmentally. Their personalities are so different --rearing to go when Henry just wants to sit and watch the world go by, but still it's hard to quash this feeling that bubbles up inside. Something along the lines of feeling genetically programmed to want the best for my kid. Clearly the learning curve is going to be in channeling that unexpected feeling.
Tamra
At 9:16 PM,
Anne-Marie said…
It's funny how we just can't help ourself in comparing our kid to others - the good and the bad. I'm always thinking 'well, (my) Sam isn't crawling but he's really good with solids so there! Or, hhhmmm, Sam's still getting up at night but has 2 solid naps per day so take that!'. I think it's in our mommy genes to worry and want the best... This said, Henry looks like a cutie and I would try not to get too stuck on the things he 'doesn't' do yet. My experience is that the minute I start to worry about it, it changes. For example, today, outta nowhere, Sam started scooting backward on the bed. That kid gets me every time!
At 12:04 AM,
Tammy said…
Ha! A-M, that's hilarious. I tend to think of each of our guys as having his own special pageant talent. Your Sam eats solids like a champ! Rian has his amazing pincer grasp! They're both sweet and mellow! And my Sam scooches and yells! Gold medals for all!
Anyway. Tamra, thanks for taking my words in the vein they were intended. Oh, and something I just remembered my mom telling me: apparently I didn't say any words -- not even "mama" -- until I was 18 months old, when, almost overnight, I started speaking in full sentences. So you never know what's percolating behind those innocent little eyes. These guys are full of surprises.
At 11:42 AM,
Cataclysm said…
This totally works! The 'Sams-Rian-Henry' test to overall child development. As long as we're keeping up with each other, we ARE the new normal! And Anne-marie's Sam can adjust 3 weeks as he's the young guy in the new standard!
I still remember at about 3 months going to the baby group and seeing a little girl the same age as Rian do a perfect cobra push-up. I was really bummed out for the rest of the day because I had to deal with the fact that Rian was not going to be the best at everything. It surprised me how tough that adjustment was!
And that little girl is walking now and has the most amazing social skills (she looks out her front window and waves to people). Now I'm cool with it - though her lucky parents can send her to university in a few years and not pay the ridiculous tuition we're going to have to pay!
And not to put pressure on but Daniel who is a year is now pointing at things - his mom who is uber-mom says that its a sign he doesn't have autism. So now I'm trying to get Rian to point at things (and was wondering if, maybe because he doesn't look at me when he's breastfeeding - he gets kinda zoned in the moment - maybe he does have autism and I haven't recognized it yet). But honestly, I wasn't crazy before I had a baby!!!
So I take it the Sams and Henry aren't pointing either so I should chill, eh?!
At 3:11 PM,
Melissa said…
tamra, how much does henry weigh now? i only ask because nile had the exact same birth weight (he was born march 26 9 days late)...he's still not too into the solids & definitely does not say mama / dada & mean it. or wave hello or goodbye or point..
i don't know if i mentioned this before, but i absolutely LOVE the photo you posted of him a while bac wearing that sweet hat (your grandad's hat, i think?).
kris - i think i was at the same mom & baby group where you saw the little 3 month old girl do the perfect cobra - funny b/c i had the same reaction as you..i was bummed out b/c nile absolutely hated tummy time back then & was nowhere near that advanced..but whatever! he's happy, he's healthy, he's my baby & that's all i need right now. when they're in university it won't matter who started to walk / crawl first.
At 8:21 PM,
Tallis Ford said…
Henry currently weighs (at 5 days shy of 9 months) 15 lbs 12 oz. He's 28.5" long. So, he's 75% or so for height but less than 5% for weight. Yikes, never have percentiles bummed me out so much!
He's definitely not pointing at things but he does wield a mean pincer grip and he's getting his first tooth today!
At 9:08 AM,
Melissa said…
hey tamra, nile is 9.5 months & he's still in the 15lb range...i spent alot of time during my pregnancy really worried because my tummy wasn't very big (when they measured it with a tape measure each visit) and nile seemed to be very small ("small for dates" is what they called it) they sent me for countless ultrasounds & kept asking me if i was SURE about the date of my last period..(like maybe he was actually alot younger than we thought, thus smaller than he should be)...but once he was born & he was healthy i realized that all my worry was not needed and i haven't really worried since. i don't take him to get weighed regularly so i have no idea about his percentiles & for me, i prefer it that way. sometimes all of that information is worrisome in itself, you know?
(although i must admit, since reading your post i've started to wonder, "am i a bad mom because i'm NOT worried? should i be worried?")..ha. anyway, so if it makes you fee any better, nile is older than henry & about the same weight..it will be interesting to track their future growth progress.
At 8:53 PM,
Tallis Ford said…
Melissa-
Sorry to take so long to get back to you, but absolutely i don't want you to start worrying! I'm positive Henry is just fine and that even if we never saw a therapist he would turn out just fine and eventually start moving. Way i figure, if there are resources availalbe that our insurance will cover, i'm certainly not above taking advantage of them.
BTW, i think Henry (and Nile's) weight isn't an issue in itself-- the main problem was that Henry stopped gaining for awhile.
Let you know what i find out!
Tamra
Post a Comment
<< Home