Tuesday, October 11, 2011

can you trip over a milestone?

(author's note: I knew I would be bad at updating regularly...it's why I've never finished that novel I've been working on...)

The girl baby has been pulling up for about a month here or there, but Saturday it was for real and stuff got real real in a hurry. The little woman has no fear. She pulls up, plops down, stands there showing me a jazz hand and takes off, crawling fastfastfast with her tongue out looking for dog hair or electric things to chew on.  It's wonderful...though she's still behind her actual age of 13 months, she's right on target for 11 months, her adjusted age. (Preemie mom talk....adjusted age=time since due date-time till due date. or something like that. They were due November 18, 2010, and we're about a month out from a year from then. Got it?)

The boy baby-this is huge-started babbling in earnest today. He's been "vocalizing" for a while, though without any discernible consonants or syllables. But there he was lalalalaing and babababaing away...he had to tell me about his day...and what a day it was, apparently. This is big for him because I've learned in my research about corpus callosum  disorders can frequently be autistic....the fact that he's babbling using syllables, assuming he does it tomorrow and the next day....is a good indicator that may be one issue we can start to worry less about.  Mobility wise, although he's still not crawling, or even getting himself to sitting from laying, I think he's close on both fronts. Our physical therapist does too. He's getting stronger daily it seems. It's almost like he's lacking motivation...why crawl when rolling is so efficient?

The way the corpus callosum works is that it is a messaging center between the right and left halves of the brain....it's how most people develop good emotional and intellectual intelligence. I hope to learn more about this...he's not eligible for any studies currently being conducted, but I check all the time and am on the mailing list for the NODCC (National Organization for Disorder of the Corpus Callosum.) I keep thinking...maybe she's wrong? Maybe my corpus callosum is thin, too? Maybe their father's is? The rest of us haven't MRIs to look...and I'm curious to know. That's a task for another day.      

The boy's physical therapist told us yesterday that our insurance will only cover twelve more visits through the end of the year. He goes twice a week, so this is obviously only going to get us through another month or so. She suggested talking to BCMH, the Bureau for Children with Medical Handicaps. It works like a supplemental insurance, and if he's qualified and stays qualified, he'll be eligible to stay on it til he's 21. It's through the county, and remarkably I got a call back within an hour! A nurse will be out in a couple of weeks to assess him and determine his eligibility. He'll also be talking to the neurologist who gave him the iffy diagnosis. I cried on the phone with her...I don't want my kid to have a "handicap" and qualify for special programs. I want him to smart and healthy and strong. I want him to be helping his sister destroy the house.

But then I see him and all is well again. He hugs, and squeals with laughter, and is as perfect to me as any child has ever been.

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