The Neurologist

The Neurology Appointment
Monday, March 15

After six long weeks, Addison's appointment with the Neurologist finally arrived. The seizures, while constantly in the back of our minds, have now become almost a distant memory (thankfully/knock on wood). Two episodes, three weeks apart - with her first cold in the middle - seem like a blur. We tried not to think of it or worry about it too much in this time, and just patiently awaited this appointment.
The appointment was at 6pm, so Tim had the day off and I went in to work early so I could leave at 5pm to get to the appointment in Niles. We sat with the Neurologist and re-told the story of her two seizures, stories that we have repeated over and over again, it feels like a scripted narrative.
Tim told his story, how this also happened to him four times between the ages of 6 months and one year. He was placed on seizure medication until he was 5-years old at which point he was taken off and did not experience any more episodes. He knew this information at the time of Addison's first seizure and that was very helpful to the medical staff and Addison's pediatrician. However, Tim did find it odd that this possible genetic issue began with him - which is why he never thought it was genetic.
Then, we found out that this also happened to Tim's mom twice when she was an infant. So, another piece of the puzzle.
The Neurologist found all of this background compelling and was happy that we have this family history to explain Addison's episodes. Since Addison has already had blood work, an EEG and a CAT scan - all clean, plus the fact that her seizures were not accompanied by a fever, the next steps would be to get her on a prescription and/or schedule her for an EEG. But since the family history has resulted in the seizures being outgrown with Tim and his mom growing up just fine - there is seemingly no need to drug her up or subject her to rigorous testing.
So, in essence this is a closed case. We will revisit if (again, please knock on wood) Addison experiences regular seizures. For the meantime, we still have her syringe medicine to give her in the event of another seizure. But until that happens, we are moving on. We hope that she has outgrown this and that we have put this behind us.
While this is an answer, but not a "cure" and that it can still happen - we are not going to lose sleep over it. We are educated and prepared in the event of a recurrence, but we will drive ourselves insane if we fret over it day and night. Besides, there are already hundreds of fears we are already equipped with as parents!

Thank you all for your support, prayers and concern over the past couple months. Addison continues to grow and learn in so many amazing ways, that everyday we are thankful to witness it.

Addison - the 9 month old!

Addison has officially been *out* of me for as long as she was *in* me! Even though her name changed from Silly Baby to Addison Grace, she is still very much a Silly Baby! So let's take a look at her progress in her 9 month!

9-Month Check-Up

Height

28 1/2" - 90th Percentile

Weight

19 1/2" - 50th Percentile

Head Size

17 1/2" - 50th Percentile

Addison received the first round of H1N1 vaccination and will receive her second dose in a month. The rest of her check-up went well.

Talking

Last week, I decided that Addison officially said "mama." It went from just being a noise she made to being what she would say when she is nursing, or wants me to pick her up, or I walk in a room, or walk her away from her. She does, however, still say "mama" sometimes when in context it does not make sense for it means "mama." In those instances, I think she is saying "more", especially when it involves eating. Which is another good achievement since we have been working on teaching her that word, both by repeating it and using the sign language motion for it when we are feeding her.

Addison may also be trying to say "kitty." Although it will take awhile for her to actually be able to say it. But it is a word we say a lot - every time the cats are nearby we say "look at the kitty!" or "what's that kitty doing?" So she certainly has heard it enough. When the cats do get close to her, she sounds like she is trying to make the *k* sound. Yes, it is probably mostly Mommy reading into it - but hey, it's fun!...And maybe I'm right :0)

Eating

If Addison's height and weight growth are any indication, she is quite an eater! She has now been introduced to Gerber's full line of fruits and vegetables. She really enjoys Gerber Graduates puffs, so we always have them on hand for her to feed herself during meal times. We also give her her own spoon during meal times for her to entertain herself. And, as you can see from the picture, she really does enjoy it - and cute faces like this make it fun for us too!

Now that she has passed the 9-month mark, we will begin feeding her some table foods and the meaty versions of those Gerber foods.

Crawling, Kneeling, Standing

Just one month ago, Addison was rolling all over the place. However, now that she is much better at just sitting right back up after she tips over (and she tips over less often), she doesn't need to roll to get herself back into position. But even more important than that - Addison has learned to crawl!

In just one month's time, Addison mastered the art of the "army crawl" where she would kick her legs out while pulling with her arms. Every once in awhile, she would get up in crawling position, and rock but most of the time one of her legs were still tucked under her from being in the sitting position.

But then early last week over at Auntie Lorie's, Addison took to all-fours and began to crawl. Mommy and Daddy didn't get to see the full-out crawl until two days later, when she took four full crawl-strides in the living room. Just two days later, she was crawling - fast - all the way back and forth Grandma G's family room floor.

Addison has also begun pulling herself up to a kneeling postion when holding onto a foot stool or coffee table. Last week she also advanced to pulling herself up to kneeling, then letting go and being able to stay in the kneeling position!

She does not stand alone yet, and has not pulled herself up to standing except when assisted by us. Sometimes when she is in crawling position, she will pull her leg up so that she has a foot flat on the ground. When I watch her crawling and feel how much she still needs my support when she is standing - it seems that her standing and walking is a long ways away. But as babies go, I know she will be standing and walking before I can believe it.