Just in Case

Sarah, as you may or may not know, is now 18 months. She’s not walking yet, but is making progress toward doing so. Tonight, for instance, she willingly walked between the couches at my parent's house several times. And then she walked to Grandma when Grandma asked to see her. So yes, we’re making progress, but she’s still a bit behind on her gross motor skills. And honestly, I think she’s just fine; she just has her own schedule.

(This picture has nothing to do with the post – it’s just one from November 2009 that I really like. I have one of Timothy also, and he’s about the same age as well.)

However, her pediatrician is concerned. He wants to rule out that there is nothing that he’s missing that would prohibit or impede her walking abilities (and some other gross motor development). At her 15-month appointment, he requested that I schedule her an ultrasound of her sacral dimple.

Not long after that appointment, I learned that our medical insurance would be changing. I weighed my options and discovered that if I waited until January when our insurance changed, the ultrasound would cost less at the new insurance-covered hospital.

On Friday, Sarah had her 18-month appointment, and since she is now older, her pediatrician wants to have an MRI instead. Her bones are bigger and more dense, and he thinks that he’ll get a better picture with an MRI than with an ultrasound. (This test will make sure there is nothing wrong with her spine or spinal cord.)

I have also mentioned that I scheduled an appointment with a neurologist. This is because Sarah has no muscle tone. You hold her underneath her arms and she just lets them flap limply. Her pediatrician thinks there is probably nothing wrong – it is something that she is slowly developing and will grow out of later – but again, he wants to be sure.

The neurologist will evaluate her global hypotonia as well as her slow development of gross motor skills to make sure there isn’t an underlying cause that the pediatrician is missing. It is mostly likely just a mild case (she wasn’t diagnosed with hypotonia until this last appointment), which means she likely won’t need any thing special beyond what we’re currently doing to get her to walk. I won’t know much more until then; her first appointment is in March.

So at this point, all these tests and visits are just in case. It’s likely that she is just fine, but I would hate to ignore the symptoms now and possibly find an underlying cause that an MRI or neurologist can see that I can’t. If there is something wrong, it is better to get treatment now than wait for the problem to get worse.

But I know the real reason behind all of this. Sarah is just jealous that Timothy had an MRI at 12 months and wants to have one too. She wants to one-up him also by having to visit a neurologist. I always knew she would be different. She has been from day one. But really, Sarah, can’t you pick something else to be different at? We’ll love you just the same.

Promise.