he's a little bit

Jaxon had his 9 month appointment Wednesday. he is 17 lbs, 26 inches and in the 5th percentile. he's 2 lbs and 2 inches smaller than Branson was at 9 months old. Dr Pruitt said he looks great but he's not as happy with his physical progress. he is rolling over great but he's not pulling up, pushing up on his hands while laying on his stomach, he props on his elbows, he can't sit up and balance. he should be doing all these things by now. he also has a wondering eye or eyes we can't really tell. it's like he's focusing and all of a sudden one eye goes in another direction. Dr Pruitt said they shouldn't be doing that after 2 months. So tomorrow he goes for an eye appointment in Concord with Cabarrus Eye Clinic who specializes in pediatrics. They are going to do a full eye exam and see exactly what is going on. Dr Pruitt said it could be as simple as astigmatism, one eye sees very clear and the other isn't as clear so it "unfocuses". He may need to have an MRI to check all of his "wiring" because his motor skills and eyes may be linked to a neurological problem. He should be starting OT (occupational therapy) soon. And if after 3 months he's not progressing as much as the therapist or Dr Pruitt would like for him to be he will schedule an EEG & MRI, if he doesn't need one before.

We don't know what is causing this to happen in BOTH of my boys. Branson was lower extremities and gross motor problems. Jaxon is upper & fine motor. After I told Dr Pruitt everything Branson went through and the medicines I was put on with him and the ones with Jaxon he said with as many combinations as I had they could be some of the effectors. Since no one in my family has ever had these issues with their babies it could either be one of 2 things; all the drugs to stop my labor OR it is a gene I carry. No one else in my family has preterm labor,

small babies or babies with these types of problems. I've never had a normal pregnancy to know if it's the drugs or not. Dr Pruitt doesn't seem very worried that this can't be fixed. And I have high hopes because we were told that Branson may never walk & now look at him! You would never know anything was wrong. Although it has affected him with his speech and developmental skills it can be fixed. And every day he is learning new words, he's just smaller than other kids his age and sometimes you may not be able to understand everything he says but he's happy and healthy. Just as Jaxon is. He's happy, content and growing.

But still wish us luck. This will be hard for such a small child to go through all of this and not be able to talk and tell us what or how much he can see or can't or what hurts. Although we know he can see. It's going to be hard for him to understand what's going on in therapy. But he's such a happy boy he'll think it's more of play time than therapy. I will keep you all updated and let you know how things are going.