We all have moments where we feel like a failure. Today, I've had mine.
Little B had a doctor's checkup because of suffering a cold a couple weeks ago. We took him in ASAP because Daddy B, Daddy K, Little K, and Momma K all had bad flu bugs and we didn't want his sickness getting out of control. And of course, it didn't help that he developed a fever over 103. Very scary and he was so pitiful with the fever combined with a hacking cough and wheezing. He wouldn't tolerate Daddy B holding him long so I grabbed shut eye the few moments I could find. We took him in the next day but unfortunately, Dr. V was off since it was Thursday. So, we saw a different doctor and I was NOT impressed. She used her iPhone for 5 minutes calculating his med dosage. That makes a momma very nervous and needless to say I looked the dosage over carefully (since it was one we had in the past, I knew what to look for). Plus, Little B just didn't seem too fond of her and she wans't very personable like Dr. V. and her back-up buddy whom we really like too. Well, she lost even more points with me today because she hadn't even told us that she'd diagnosed him with bronchitis and asthma! We found that out from Dr. V. at the recheck when she was talking about how the bronchitis was gone and the asthma wasn't asthma it was the wheezing he gets during his colds which we are all hoping he'll outgrow. Needless to say, I was further frustrated that the other doctor hadn't even told us an accurate diagnosis (she'd said upper respiratory and start of possible ear infection). I will refuse to see her if Dr. V. isn't there the next time because I am very unimpressed.
So, back to the checkup: his lungs were clear and she had no concerns for his cold. However, I had a few questions of my own because Dr. V. is about to go on maternity leave and I wanted a couple of little things addressed before seeing our second favorite doc because we haven't seen him in a while so Dr. V. was more likely to remember past discussions. The first was that my mom had noticed Little B walking slightly inward and sure enough, when I watched he was. So, Little B will now have to wear his shoes in the house because that should help straighten out his foot the little bit it needs. Then came the harder questions. First was that the more I've read over the last few months, the more I've felt like Little B has the symptoms of having large adnoids like his momma. He's ALWAYS drooled a lot; he's a mouth breather just like me. Dr. V. and I had discussed sleep apnea because he snores at times and is very restless in his sleep combined with always being a bad sleeper, but had decided to try some different sleep techniques and see if the snoring became consistent or not. So, after bringing it up today, Dr. V. agreed that based on my med history of having adnoid issues and the issues I described, I'd probably hit the nose on the head with my diagnosis. However, the ENT will have to put tubes up his nose to see up high enough so instead of starting there, we are going to assure sleep apnea is not the issue first because it only requires a monitor. If that shows issues, he will be referred to Riley for a sleep study. So, a lot to look into in the coming weeks and hopefully it'll resolve breathing/sleeping issues. I just feel bad that I didn't bring up the issue sooner than I did because Little B could've had to deal with this less time.
Then, last but most important, was discussing his speech. Little B has said multiple words over the past year: mama, dada, duck, cat, ball, and as recent as at the doctor's office - button. I feel like I'm forgetting a few, but the point is that it's 6 words over 9 months of talking would seem good except for the fact that dada is the only one he's used consistently until Christmas time when he started using mama again (he'd said it at 9 months) and duck is just now coming around again. Cat and ball were definitely said a few times over a couple days and then gone. I'd talked with Dr. V. at his 12 month checkup about concerns and she'd acknowledged to monitor it. Well, not only is he still not improving with words, he isn't doing great at following our instructions and even worse isn't good at showing us what he needs. Last month, he was suppossed to have mastered using two words skillfully (such as hi and bye). This month, he was suppossed to have been able to show at least one body part. And in the coming month, he's suppossed to use three words regularly (besides mama and dada of course. So, in asking the doctor today, she did say it was a problem now and that he needed a First Steps evaluation. Crushing to a social worker who tries so hard to make sure her child has everything he needs to find out he may be developmentally behind and need speech therapy. It feels like we haven't done enough for him and that we missed signs that could've got him help earlier. We always just assumed he was so advanced physically that it was somewhat normal that verbal wouldn't necessarily be up to par. Physically, he's still a month to three months ahead of the game but I'm so concerned about his verbal lag. We read at least three books per day if not more; he sits and reads to himself; we sing; and we identify objects and repeat the words to him. I hope that First Steps will help him and us in identifying ways to help him improve his verbal development.
After today, I definitely feel like strides were made in the right direction, but I need to act sooner from now on so that I know Little B gets the best opportunities and doesn't struggle. I just want to protect him and for him to be a normal kid and enjoy his childhood.
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