So we went to the pediatrician on Wednesday. Avery weighed 13 lbs. 8 oz. and has grown quite a bit in length. Everything went well there.On Thursday we went down to Texas Children's and saw the neurologist that Avery saw when she was four weeks old. She thought that Avery was making good progress in some areas. She is smiling, laughing, looking at us, cooing, and razzing. In other areas Avery hasn't made progress. She doesn't bring her hands together or to her mouth and the Dr. still did not see some of the reflexes that she needs to see. She also tenses many parts of her body. She at times arches her back very hard, curls her toes tightly, and makes a very tight fist. The Dr. said that this is typical of a child with low tone. The Dr. decided to run some blood tests that might give us a diagnosis. They took the blood yesterday and we won't know the results for 3 to four weeks. The doctor would not tell us the things that she was testing for because she did not want us looking all of them up and getting upset before we even know if Avery has it. That was a good call on her part.
One of the things that the doctor noticed about Avery reminded me of one of my previous students. I taught special education for 5 years and saw many kids with different kinds of special needs. Anyway, I realized that she was most likely testing Avery for what that student has. It really got to me. Please pray for me during the next few weeks. This whole thing is like an emotion roller coaster. When we see doctors it is all fresh again and there is always new info to take in and process. Then in a few days everything goes back to normal. Then we see a doctor or therapist and it starts over again.
I really need your prayers at this time. People might say don't worry until you know what the actual diagnosis is but that is very hard when you are in the situation.
I was having a moment today when I was holding and hugging Avery and Levi saw me crying. He hasn't seen that much so he looked very concerned. I told him I felt sad and asked him what makes him happy when he feels sad. He first said a baby song (I think he meant lullabies). I said what else. He said my daddy makes me happy when he comes home from work. I said anything else and he said Jesus and The Lord. He then started singing the words "The joy of the Lord" in a tune that he made up. There were some very very high parts to his song and I started laughing. I guess Jesus knows how to make me happy through Levi.
We won't see the neurologist again for three months. We will be waiting for the test results to come in three or four weeks. Thank you for reading and keep praying.
