Developmental Delays

Hi everyone!
Happy November!

Introduce yourself and give us some updates on your kiddos!! Its starting to get cold here BRRRR! I am definitely a summer girl, how about everyone else??
Anything big coming up this month, appointments or fun stuff??

Post a recent pic if you can!

Kari

I'll go first I guess.
Kari here with Kristin who is 4. She has severe delays. WE have a neuro appt this month and it MY birthday! Yay! Not sure what we're doing but I told dh we need to go out. Kristin is doing okay. The seizures are bad right now and our options are limited so thats kind of stressful. They are starting to work on yes/no at school which is exciting. Still waiting for afo's so she can stand again and her wheelchair should be here by Christmas.

Like I said I hate the cold. I like this time of year though with all the holidays. Once January hits I just can't wait for April to get here. I"ve been having a hard time with photobucket lately but I'll post some small pics below.

Kari

I am not sure if I belong here or not.  Maybe you can tell me if I don't....I am Jorja Rae and my husband Clint and I have 3 children:  D'Artagnan (10) Amadeus (8) and Dulcinea (1 tomorrow).  I am an active member of the adoption board and the international adoption board but was looking for a board that can give me support for my daughter's medical condition.  I will give you her history as I know it. 

When she was 4 months old she was found abandoned in Ethiopia.  She was diagnosed with developmental delays.  At that time she could roll over but could not hold up her head any better then a newborn baby.  We found out about her when she was 6 months old and she could hold her head at that point. She had a diagnosis of Hydrocephalus but no treatment was available.  We got a video of her at 8 months old and she could not sit yet but by 9 months in a picture she was sitting in her crib.  At 10 months old we were able to go get her.  She could sit when put in that position but could not sit herself up.

We brought her home 7 weeks ago and she  immediately received a shunt.  The doctors are thrilled with her progress given that she had to wait so long for treatment.  Two weeks ago she began sitting herself up! 

I am so proud of everything that she can do that I don't really see what she cant.  I have yet to go in public and not be asked if she is walking yet.  No she cant walk, she cant pull up, and she cant crawl, she cant rock on all fours.....but she will.  I know she will do all of those things but it might take her twice as long to do them as other so called "normal" babies.  Last week, I took her to get her pictures taken for the first time.  I wanted to have her next to the big "1" like each of my boys.  The photographer kept trying to stand her up next to the props even though I told him she could not do it.  It scared me, gave me all kinds of anxiety, and I was almost in tears when we left.  I just need somebody to understand the unconditional love I have for my perfect child and not the broken one that almost everybody else thinks she is.

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Hi and welcome! You definitely do belong here. You have a beautiful family and your love for your new baby is inspiriing. Its so wonderful that she is making such progress. She looks absolutely wonderful sitting up i that picture. this board is quite a mix of things and people.
I'm so glad you introduced yourself.

Kari

Kristin 7/08

Sorry, I've been MIA as I am back at full-time work!

Anna is 4 and developmentally averages around 15months across the board (though more like 18-24 on gross motor).  She is an absolute love bug the majority of the time, but does have some pretty incredible tantrums that may actually be seizure related as we've recently been told that she doesn't just have absence seizures, but partial complex as well.  She has a bunch of appointments this month to see if she is considered to be on the Autism spectrum, so we'll see what happens with that.  Anna is also 100% tube fed, has grown out of severe reflex, has a variety of sensory issues, and has hypotonia.  She is LOVING her daycare and the kids there have really welcomed both her and her little sis, Maddie, which is fantastic!  Potty training hasn't been successful, but Anna has picked up a few new sayings, so she does talk a bit once in awhile.  She likes to say "Where is he?" "I see you" "Watch" and "Ready, set, go!"

Maddie is 15 months now and is caught up in all areas we think except for speech, but it's starting to come along.  She has started squawking and babbling, and has attempted a few true words.