Sharing the journey

Emma is almost eight years old.  Now seems like as good a time as any to share the journey that we have traveled so far with Emma.  I hope we might be able to help one person feel that they are not alone in their journey.  Having a special needs/mentally challenged/retarded child feels that you alone blazing your own trail to help your child. 

I have not shared this story in entirety before.  I have shared parts and pieces and glimpses into what we have been through with our very special girl. 

Emma is our second child.  Emma was born at full term at the bulk of 10 pounds.  The labor was normal, nothing traumatic, there was meconium in the waters but that was the case with her older brother too.  Emma scored well on the apgars and we took our big girl home the next day.  We started our lives as a family of four and enjoyed having a boy and girl. 

Time passed and the children grew.  Check ups were plentiful as they always are with newborns.  Nothing unusual. 

About six months into our lives as a family of four, I noticed that Emma was not as interested in playing or getting mobile.  I did compare Emma and Archer.  The advice new parents are given is to "not compare your children."  I am so grateful that I did make comparisons between Emma and Archer.  I took my concerns to our pediatrician.  Our pediatrician is a well respected doctor in town.  Dr. Duddy addressed my concerns that Emma wasn't interested in crawling or reaching for toys.  We decided to wait and watch.  Emma did seem like a normal 6 month old, she lit up when she saw her parents or brother, she would laugh, and was happy.  Emma would babble but I noticed that it took great effort for our girl to produce the sounds.  So, we carry on.  We notice the long fingers that Emma has and we notice the comments from every random stranger about the long fingers Emma has.  Emma tried baby food and is not a fan, she prefers to nurse but she is too old to not start on solids.  We take our concerns to Dr. Duddy.  I am a little fuzzy at this point as to how many appointments that occurred before we were given a referrel to Nevada Special Children's Clinic.  Dr. Duddy all through this process had said, "9 out of 10 times in cases like these the child catches up to their peers."  He would also reconfirm his evaluation that "she doesn't look retarded, she has no facial abnormalities or odd shaped head."  Upon handing the referral to me he again reassured me, "I am sending you here because of YOUR concerns, not MINE."

So, the professional is telling me that she will catch up, he doesn't see anything unusual and he isn't worried.

To be continued...........