pediatrician visit and Update

Hi family,

Jayme had a pediatrician appointment this morning for her 3 yo check up. It was also a follow up on all the results from Shriners evaluations and testing. pediatrician is still not convinced that Jayme isn't on the Autistic Spectrum. With her ability in knowing all her letters, letter sounds, numbers, colors, shapes, etc but with huge delays in so many other areas, she is just...well, concerned at this point.

Her hemogram showed she was slightly anemic. So we are really going to be watching her diet and upping high iron foods. Not an issue for Jayme as she loves most things that are high in iron. pediatrician doesn't want to start her on an Iron Supplement quite yet, as it can be constipating and we are really working on attempting potty training at this point.

Jayme has had many episodes of "bluish" lips and nail beds. We find this is especially prevailant while eating or concentrating on something. At first pediatrician pushed it off that Jayme was holding her breath too long sometimes. But after consulting with another pediatrician in her office, she called back and said they would like to air on the side of caution and will be setting her up for an Echocardiogram in the next week or so. I am relieved, I know it will be fine, just will be nice to hear it officially!

We discussed ADHD, but pediatrician is really not wanting to even talk about that at such an early age. Thinks many of Jayme's issues are more drug/alcohol exposure related than out and out ADHD.

We also discussed the fact of Jayme NOT sleeping!! Takes her forever to fall asleep, then once asleep, wakes up anywhere from 3-5 times nightly, screaming/crying or destroying her room. We had to install a baby proof door cover on the inside of her door knob, otherwise she was wandering around the house in the middle of the night, watching TV, eating snacks, etc. We tried Melatonin for a while, but found it stopped being helpful after about a months time. Same thing when we tried it with Aly.

pediatrician put her on a super low dose of Clonidine at bedtime to see if this might help her to fall asleep sooner and help her to stay asleep all night long. So far so good, she fell asleep about 30 min after taking the medication and is still sleeping. I pray it works, husband and I are becoming very sleep deprived!!

Well that's the update for now. I will post once I hear about the Echo and the next hemoglobin test.

Thanks and hugs,
Vickie
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
I hope the echo comes back clear and the clonidine works out. Does your pediatrician want you to continue to work on a thorough rule out of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)?
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
Well at least they are listening and working with you!!! I also hope the echo comes back clear.

We go for our 3 yr consult next week... but still can't find a developmental pediatrician. So I am hoping our pediatrician. will have some thoughts. She has been the only one in this town so far who has a clue!

Good luck
 
Hi,

Jayme already had a full neuro work up at Shriners last year for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other issues. Neuro felt that she MIGHT be on the low end of the spectrum and wants to recheck as she gets a bit older.

pediatrician wants to watch it a little closer than that and wants me to either journal or video or both and also have Special Education preschool and daycare to do the same.

Daycare provider said she has noticed some repetitive speech patterns (saying the same word over and over and over), lining up of legos or books or whatever, kinda being in her own little world alot of the time. Many times when she feels Jayme is "not using her listening ears" are the times she is intensly lining stuff up. She is not into playing with other kids, she plays side by side but not give and take kinda play. She is extremely cautious around those she doesn't know well.

pediatrician is wondering what is causing these behaviors: Drug/alcohol exposure or something else or both. So, she wants to check her every few months and either watch the videos or read journals. We have an AWESOME pediatrician, she adopted a child who is now 4 yo from another country and is dealing with alot of the same issues we are. She says it has really opened her eyes about exposed kiddos vs kids with other issues or both!

Anyways, thanks for the reply. At least this time around, I am not freaking out so much as I was with Aly. I know there is help out there, no matter what the issues end up being and know how to access them. Just praying real hard about the Echo!!

Hugs,
Vickie
 
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