Is quickly becoming my least favorite month. Looking back to last year, it entailed four trips to the ER and three hospital admissions.
Fate would have it that April didn't get off to a great start yet again. Both babies woke up with 100+ fevers and were extremely cranky. Not good timing due to the fact that we were headed out the door to our 18 month developmental follow-up appointment. It would seem obvious that we would reschedule but it takes months to get in and Daddy had rearranged his travel plans to go.
Surprisingly, Lila Grace held up rather well. She enjoyed the testing as a new toy was placed in front of her every minute or so. She focused, listened and carried out the tasks requested of her with little trouble. Lila received a glowing report and was right on target. She appears to be a typical toddler - funny, frustrated and and full of life.
Adeline, on the other hand, was not at her best. After waiting for Lila Grace to complete her one and a half hours of testing, Adeline took her seat at the table. She was clearly not feeling well but seemed in good spirits. However, she didn't focus and was unable to carry our many of the tasks. Some requests involved skills she has yet to master and others were ignored. She had the glazed over look and wasn't very interested in the objects she was asked to manipulate. I didn't think she did horribly, but I knew it was far from her best. The result, not as much progress made as we had hoped for.
Adeline has always hovered over the fence of normalcy. She drifted to the low end of normal during our last appointment and unfortunately, landed on the high end of "not normal" this appointment. Over four months time she only made two months worth of progress. Now whether or not that has anything to do with illness or the fact that she was asked to point to the spoon (something she has never really had fond feelings for due to her oral adversion) instead of an Elmo or a car, is anyone's guess. I think she could have done more, shown a greater understanding of questions asked and been more participatory had she felt better and been driven by motivating objects. On the flip side, Lila Grace did fine with the same tasks under the same conditions.
It is hard to know how to feel when walking away from that office. Last time, we were left with, "She is doing great, BUT you should have her see a geneticist." This time we were told, "We can't rule out mental retardation and probably won't know for sure until she is four and a half." Four and a half!!!!!! Do they think I can wait that long? I have been waiting 19 long and agonizing months for someone to tell me what her future holds. I don't feel like I have the patience to wait for THREE more years.
