More dr. appts. {sigh}

The doctors just can't leave Ryker's head alone. I'll start from the beginning (I should warn you, this could be a long one!). I should have gone to Utah for my great aunts funeral, but Ryker's 9 month appt was scheduled for the same day and I had some important questions that I wanted to get answered. Plus it was with his regular pediatrician who had been out of the office for a long time because of knee surgery. SO I skipped the funeral. Well, karma bit me right in the butt because I got a phone call that morning from the dr's office saying Dr. Edwards had hit his knee (the one he just had surgery on) on his way out the door, so he wouldn't be in for a few days. We would have to see a PA. So, we get to his appt. at 8:30 and go through the usual routine. Weight- 18lbs. 14 oz. Height-28 in. Head measurement- I don't even remember because she freaked out! Ok, HELLO, you've seen Ryker before! You have asked about his head and we've told you it's fine and been checked out. But no, after freaking me out about a few other things he wasn't "meeting", she told me that Ryker's soft spot on top of his head had closed and it wasn't supposed to close until 18-24 months. So we needed to see the dr. who comes up from Primary Childrens. She also informs me that she would like him evaluated by the infant/toddler program. She felt that he wasn't meeting a few milestones (not crawling or trying to pull up on things). The nurse brings me numbers for both programs and sends us on our way.

I call and make appointments with both and of course Google what happens when a soft spot closes at 9 months old. ......................FYI: DO NOT GOOGLE A MEDICAL CONDITION THAT YOUR CHILD MIGHT HAVE! The photos and info I saw on google terrified me! They all said that he was going to have to have surgery. Like MAJOR surgery. They showed babies who's soft spots had fused early and what they do is split them from ear to ear or forehead to back and remove part of the skull!! And the photos of the poor babies afterwards were horrid! Swollen faces, black eyes, and the incision!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. No way could I have my baby go through this! I just had to hope and pray that Ryker's soft spot wouldn't need surgery. Our appt was 1 week away so I had all that time to worry about what Ryker was going to have to go through.  Well the day finally came and we met with Dr. Morales, a plastic surgeon.  He brings all of his own staff to the pediatric center in I.F. The 1st nurse we saw looked at Ryker and asked if we were there because of his forehead........uh no.....what's wrong with his forehead?? The 2nd nurse walks in and asks if we are there because of the flat spot on the back of his head.........uh no......there's a flat spot?? FINALLY, the dr. comes in and ASKS why we are there. He measures his head, checks all of his soft spots and says "so who referred you to see me? Because his soft spot isn't closed."  He actually seemed kind of irritated that he had to see us because there was nothing wrong with Ryker's head.  All that worrying for nothing. So, all in all, Ryker's head is big, but just fine. Maybe now they will leave it alone!



Ryker bug at 9 months old! Happy & Healthy as can be!

Next appt., the infant/toddler program. I'll be quick with this one. I used to work at The Learning Center with disabled children, so this program is not new to me. They evaluate your children in all levels; motor skills, fine motor, speech, etc. and for free might I add. To make this short, a social worker/service coordinator comes to the house with a developmental specialist and scores Ryker in all of these areas. They go back to their office, add up the scores, see where he's at on some scales, determines if he's behind, if he is eligible for treatment and then helps you coordinate that treatment plan.  They felt that Ryker lacked in his motor skills so he qualifies for PT.  We meet with them next week to set up our treatment plan. His PT will come from the hospital to our home to work with Ryker.  Just so everyone knows, Chad and I think that where Ryker is at developmentally (both mentally and physically) is just fine. But, we decided to give PT a chance. It can't hurt.  I will update everyone on Ryker's progress as we go. P.S. Ryker has started to crawl since he was evaluated. :)

That's pretty much it for now. We are excited for the summer to start and our weekends are filling up fast. We can't wait for all the family reunions and other fun stuff we will be doing!