Back to Story Line: Hip X-ray & Early Intervention

About 4 and a half months ago (according to my Instagram account) (follow me if you want: @mygreatestaccomplishment ) , when Sophia was 16 months old, we had taken her to the pediatrician to express our concerns about not walking, along with an SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) checklist I had printed out from the internet. At this point, her sleeping was at the very worst it had and has ever been (knock on wood).

We had recently switched to the practice after being disappointed with our first choice. We still don't see any one doctor there, so no one really knows who Sophia is at this point, and they still don't almost 5 months later... but non-vaxers (more on that later) can't be choosers, especially in our area, so here we are.

Our concerns about SPD were dismissed ( because honestly, Sophia isn't sensitive to light, sounds, articles of clothing, and whatever else was on their standardized form) and we were given a referral for the early intervention program in our State (Connecticut), Birth to Three (abbreviated B23 from now on).

We also received orders for a hip x-ray, because it was medically necessary to rule anything physical out. We went the next day. Sophia was so tired, SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE ENTIRE PROCESS. It was a small miracle. We had to wait in the tiny waiting room (me holding a sleeping Soph) while the technician called our doctor and discussed the results. I was so nervous, I can barely remember the details of the room, and couldn't tell you what it looked like if I tried. My gut told me that nothing was wrong with her hips, but here I was at an imaging center with my baby anyway. I held it together as the nurse told me to come in to talk to my doctor's office on the phone. The moments between "hello" and "the x-ray came back all clear, nothing's wrong" are probably the longest moments of my entire life.

She was fine. 

I left a message on the B23 hotline as we were leaving the office. A couple weeks later, December 4, 2012, 2 women came to our house. One was a physical therapist, and conducted the interview, and another was (I suspect) an Occupational Therapist, and played on the floor with Soph.

Sophia didn't say a word the entire time they were here, which was over an hour. She had said words like "mama, dada, dogga, ball" to me and my husband, but wasn't crazy about having strangers at the house, so she got a score of zero words. She demonstrated her scoot and was not, at the time, pulling up on anything to stand or cruising.

She qualified for services almost immediately by just looking at her for the motor delay, but they just had to ask me the full hour of questions. Her scores came out as follows:

Motor development - significant delay. 

Social/emotional- moderate delay. 

Communication - significant delay.    

Everything else Age appropriate.

 

 We had gone into this thinking the only thing that needing addressing was the walking. Clearly, an hour "snap shot" of a child is going to get varied results, depending on the day, time, and mood of the baby, but my husband and I both felt that it was important to get Soph all the help she needed, realizing that she could "Graduate" once she caught up to her peers. We were leaving for a 2 week vacation and the holidays were quickly approaching so Sophia didn't START services until January 2013. Since then, someone comes to our house every Tuesday. The physical therapist and occupational therapist alternate weeks so Sophia sees each one every two weeks.