Scare

Declan woke up yesterday from his afternoon nap at my sister's very upset. This is unusual for our little boy. She could not console him. He seemed like he had a crick in his neck. She gave him some Tylenol and told me about it when I picked him up. I noticed his chin tucked towards his chest, but did not think much of it. He was happy on the ride home. When we got home I put him down to play and he became very frustrated. He was not turning his head, chin still tucked to his chest. I tried to get him to crawl, but he could not get down into the crawling position. Tried putting him on his stomach to crawl and he couldn't do it and had a hard time sitting up with his head lagging behind. He even fell over a couple of times. I put him on his back and he couldn't roll over. I immediately took off his kinesio tape wondering if that had anything to do with it, even if it had worked the week before. This was absolutely heartbreaking. What was wrong with my little boy? Was it from the physical therapy? Did he forget how to crawl? Was it hurting him physically to crawl?

Jason got home and Declan and I were sitting on the floor, of course with me in tears. Remember I work with children and have for many years that are developmentally delayed. This can be a good and bad thing when raising your own child. Yesterday...it was bad. I knew something was definitely wrong wrong. He was still happy yet frustrated and hurting it seemed.

I called the pediatrician's answering service. First I spoke to a nurse who said to bring him in to CHOA if I did not hear from a doctor within 30 minutes. Then a doctor called me back, from another practice (they had paged the wrong practice) and she said bring him in first thing in the morning, then a doctor from our practice called and said that give him Motrin and see how he was in the morning. Declan was already asleep at this point. I would put him on his stomach to fall asleep and he could not lay down on his own. He sat up for a good 15 minutes playing and I am assuming kind of fell over to sleep. Again...heartbreaking.

I dropped Declan off at my sister's house this morning and he was not himself. He was still acting the same way. I was at the mercy of time. I wanted to call the PT to get her advice and see if this was common and then call the doctor...both not open until 9:00. All of this going on while I am trying to get everything closed up for the school year and prepare for summer school. I was crying on and off all morning. If you know me...I am not a crier and it is very unlike me, but I was having a hard time keeping it together.

I talked to Declan's PT (Again...who I LOVE) and she said it was not common and that I needed to take him in (short version of the conversation). Talked to our pediatrician and he said to bring him in. When we got to the doctor I showed him EVERYTHING that I was concerned about. I even showed him how he could not crawl and Declan fell on his face while trying to do it. I also mentioned how the torticollis was not found by him and he needed to be very aggressive when checking him today...and he was.

He brought in another doctor and they both examined him and he wanted the doctor on call to see his baseline of where he was (she is also the on call doctor through the holiday weekend). They both seem to think that it is viral or muscle soreness, but seemed a little concerned. I cried again. I am supposed to continue to give him Motrin through the weekend, but if anything seems to get worse of course I need to bring him in. It is very nerve racking with the torticollis and the eye and everything is weak on one side. I could not help but to freak out a little bit. The doctors did make me feel at ease and I once again remember why I picked this practice. Declan seemed even better this evening. I did ask about the crawling...huge milestone to "forget" and he said he will need to see him next week if he isn't crawling or moving around.

Pretty much no one knew this was going on. My poor mom and best friend are out of town and will find out this on a blog. Sometimes it is just easier to write things.

By the way...apparently this is very common when children get a viral infections or something like strep. They just get sore. So...I am hopeful that our baby boy will be back to moving around and not frustrated anymore by the time the weekend is over. He better be...his Mom wants to spend every minute she has with him before I start ESY :-)

I have never felt so many emotions now that I am a Mom. Our boy relies on us 100% and to see him hurt and frustrated was very painful. He has been through a lot for a 9 month old. I have no idea how parents that have children with serious and chronic illnesses or disabilities do it. I definitely pray for them everyday. This is nothing compared to what so many families go through.