15 Month Checkup

Madison had her 15 Month Checkup today. It went good for the most part! She's growing like a weed... 23 lbs 3oz (75%), 31 and a half inches long (79%), and her head was 18 inches (50%).

It took a while to go through all of Madison's doctor visits & things that have gone on in the last couple of months, but the only new appointment coming out of this checkup is going to see an orthopedic doctor. Madison's spine curves some & her chest bone sticks out pretty far, so we are going to get those things checked out. We go to that doctor the end of October.

She also has had feeding & speech evaluations. Based on those evaluations, they want her to do feeding therapy every other week & speech therapy once a week.

For feeding, she needs some help with chewing her food before swallowing. Right now we're still having to give her pureed foods with every meal & then soft solids. She gets choked easily on firmer or harder foods because she's just trying to swallow them whole. She also is tongue-tied, so they think that could be limiting her tongue movement. (So we may be getting her tongue clipped in the next few months).

For speech, she had a mild to moderate delay in expressive & receptive language. Basically the biggest things she was behind on are words (she only says 3 or 4 & doesn't have a lot of different sounds) & following commands. (I think part of that is my fault because I am with her all the time and know what she wants or needs. She doesn't really have to ask for anything).

We are still waiting to get her glasses. They were supposed to be in today, but the eye doctor said it will probably be early next week before they are in.

I know there are some things that she is going to be behind on due to some of her medical problems & hospital stays, but after her evaluations and checkup today I've been feeling a little down. I'm afraid that she would be doing better learning-wise in a daycare or where she's with other kids. (But I know medically the best thing for her is to be home with me right now). Today on the 16-month checklist at the doctor's office she wasn't doing probably half of the things on the list. Some of the questions they asked me on things she was doing, I hadn't even thought to let her try that yet. I guess I just need to look more at the milestones & work on specific things from that list every day.

Some of the things she wasn't doing yet that I can think of off the top of my head were:
-Does she climb up on things? (Umm no, she just started walking pretty good by herself)
-If you ask her to get an item from another room will she go get it?
-Does she get your attention or ask for help in some way if she wants something?
-Does she sing along with songs? (Nope but she'll dance)
-Does she play peekaboo? (Nope only patty-cake)
-Can she put a small object in a clear bottle? (Never thought about doing that)
-Can she brush her hair? (Well she wears a helmet all the time, so never thought about letting her try that)

I just feel like there's a lot of things that never even crossed my mind, and it makes me feel like I should have known or had an idea what to do.

She had to get several vaccines today & we got her flu shot, so she'll probably be feeling pretty puny the next couple of days.