Crosby Silas.
where do I start?? first. this kid is filled with JOY. he wakes up smiling and goes to bed smiling. no joke. he brings joy to others by his sweet, sweet smile.
what a kid. he was born one day before his due date and beat his older sis by only keeping his momma in labor for 6 hours. he came out with a platinum streak on his head of hair……let me just say that this kid was already making the ladies swoon in the delivery room with his 'silver fox' look .
at around 8 weeks this momma started to notice that he couldn't hold his head up to the left during tummy time. talked to the doc plenty of times……and got reassurance that 'all is fine.' but this momma wouldn't give up :) what can i say? i'm a fighter.
one thing led to anther and we moved back to sunny Arizona. fate or destiny……whatever you wish to call it….. led us to my redheaded irishman's cousin who has been practicing pediatric/schoolage physical therapy for years (an amazing, incredible breast cancer survivor and one of the strongest, GOD-loving women I know!!!) She evaluated Crosby and did notice something.
torticollis to be exact.
torti……WHAT?
torticollis. there is wide spectrum of what torticollis could be but in layman's terms its this: a baby's neck & head is tilted to one side (right or left) with signs shown from birth or after. it causes the baby to favor one side of the body due to the pain the baby has from using the weak side. it can cause delays in physical development, not normally cognitive development. Crosby's was shown from birth……I, being the worry-ful momma I am…..noticed it from week 2 and confirmed it when he started laying by himself on his tummy.
I of course started to internalize this……."could I have DONE something better? or something different….?" for instance, did I gain too much weight….? I did gain 50 pounds!!! NO JOKE. in pale comparison of the 25 pounds I gained with my sweet daughter. "did I walk/run too much during the end of my pregnancy….?" I was walking 1-2 miles the last 3 weeks each day of my pregnancy trying get the little man OUT…..
back to us just moving to Arizona…...after we moved back, my redheaded irishman's cousin started physical therapy with Crosby at about 4 months. about a month later she suggested we get his head evaluated at a cranial facial specialist. you know…..the places that eval your child to see if they need one of THOSE helmets. yep.
so off we go. we got his head evaluated and can I just say that it was the most incredible, GOD-experiences ever?!
first…..it confirmed why Crosby had torticollis. the cranial facial specialists complete a 3-D image on his head and it digitally measured and evaluated it with state-of-the-art technology.
we heard news that was music to this momma's ears: it wasn't your fault. EVERYthing he has due to torticollis is due to EVERYthing in utero. meaning: all the issues with his neck were due to him being in your belly, momma!
basically they explained to me like this: small frame momma+bigger babe=OUCH in his neck.
as Crosby continued to grow and grow, he had virtually NO room and his head just happened to tilt and stretch as he was growing.
he also had these two ridges at the side of each side of his head (same as his daddy, the redheaded irishman!) I thought this was hereditary…. nope…..it actually was caused by him sitting SO low in my stomach his HEAD formed around my pelvic bones. yep. he was head down for about the last 4 months of his pre-delivery life and had NO room to grow. poor kid! I later talked to my mother in law……when she was preggo with my hub in the 70's they had to make her a special "maternity belt' because my hubs was sitting so LOW in her belly too!
like father like son…….
second…….my redheaded irishman's cousin was wanting to get back to physical therapy with little ones (birth-5) and through Crosby having torticollis and the networking with his physicians, she has started working for a company that specifically works with babies & little ones with torticollis & cerebral palsy & other early intervention practices.
so where is Crosby at now??? he had now been in 10 months of physical therapy and doing incredible. he has hit ALL his mile stones and with the help of my redheaded irishman's cousin, he is walking and doing amazing.
Crosby might have some physical set backs, but let me tell you he is so far ahead cognitively its amazing. he talks like no other kid, let alone a little boy.
words he is saying at 14 months:
momma, dadda, what's dat? that guy (referring to his toys ;) good night. sister. gramma. grampa. penguin (i KNOW!) ball. dog. water. all done. down. no. yes. awwww. this. hi. bye bye. bath. splish splash.
this kid. he is something amazing.
love you, little buddy.
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