99.9% walking!

Kara deduced that since she rode in shopping carts at the store, she should be able to get in this one too, except that for some reason, she could not fit into the little seat, this made her mad! She began to whine and then when she realized she could not get out, she began to cry for help. Mommy came to her rescue, and no sooner had I removed her, that she climbed right back in to try once more!

Look at this little face. the last few weeks Kara has been so sad, tired, not herself at all. I took her to the pediatrician and he said she was fine, and of course when she was there she smiled at him and sat in his lap, but most of the time she lies down and sucks her thumb.

I asked if we could do blood tests and her doctor said everything was fine in August and he did not see the point, well as someone who sees doctors every three months for blood work, I can tell you, it changes drastically sometimes, so having normal tests in August means literally nothing to me. He would not order new ones, and I am upset with him. I will keep an eye on her and if I am still concerned, I am asking again.

Tom and I keep commenting, "what is wrong with Kara". Her preschool reports she is not acting like herself either. They said all she wants to do is lie around suck her thumb, they are also concerned about her. She keeps missing her class because she either has diarrhea or a runny goopy nose. She is supposed to get therapy there, so this is bad all the way around.

I am so frustrated, she also sleeps fitfully, so I am thinking that perhaps we need to see an ENT and see what they think about the possibility of sleep apnea. I have to call for that referral Monday, may as well take all three girls, it is time for them to see this doctor anyway. I am having a hard time finding doctors who see the girls as individuals and not as Down syndrome children only (their term, not mine, I believe in people first language). I discontinue to see any doctor who uses the phrase "All children with Down syndrome have this", because I know it is ludicrous and when they do say it and believe it, they fail to do diagnostic tests to back up their presumptions, all they seem to want to do is throw a prescription at me.

I think that prescriptions are their way of shutting up parents, but often do very little for their patients, and what happened to looking for the root of the issue, why always blame Down syndrome on health concerns? Tell me WHY, seek the answers, back it up with testing, help my daughter (s), PLEASE.

Kara has been concentrating on walking, it is all she does besides eating and sleeping, and sucking her thumb (which is all chapped and nasty looking). She often has a look of pride on her face when she walks a long ways. She smiles and plays and giggles, but not like she did before, her Kara'ness is dimmed. I am perplexed, I can't think of why except for the addition of Amanda, and yes Kara is extremely jealous of Amanda getting attention, or Meghan for that matter. She can;t tell me, "I want you to hold me, not her" or how she is feeling either. She knows a few sign's but rarely uses the now and when I try to get her to learn new ones, she cries and pushes my hands away.

She should be talking by now, I know Kara is bright, she had amazing problem solving skills and she can do puzzles, shape sorters, etc with ease. She seems very interested in signing time videos as well.

I am taking her to see a developmental pediatrician, I hope she can help Kara. Originally it was Amanda who was supposed to see this new doctor, but I got home from our (Amanda and Kara both saw him) appointment with the pediatrician last week, and began to wonder why not have Kara see the new doc too?

So when the office called with referrals and phone numbers, I asked about Kara seeing the developmental specialist too and the assistant said only Amanda was going to see Dr Rice, and I began to plead for Kara. You moms understand, when we feel something is wrong, it usually is, I gave my reasons and I begged, I am not too proud to admit that, but this is my beloved Kara we are talking about here, and something is WRONG with her. I said; "Kara has been adopted too, her development is also extremely delayed, she is completely non-verbal, and her behavior is confusing" and then I said "I have three daughters with Down syndrome, not just Amanda, we can;t ignore the other two when we are trying to get answers about Amanda". The next day the assistant called back and said the referral for Kara was called in as well. She was very sweet to me, syrupy sweet, but I could tell she felt my worry over Kara and believed me, thank goodness for that.

I am worried about her, and doggone it, the pediatrician should have listened to me, why don't they think moms know about their kids? I suppose he felt my visit was frivolous, I took Amanda because she has a yellow tint to her skin, now I figured it was from beta carotene, but so many folks freaked out about it, I kept arguing that if it were her liver, the whites of her eyes would also be yellow. They definitely are not, but I felt the only way to prove she was OK, was to have her doctor look at her. He said the same thing I did, it was because she ate too many yellow and orange foods. We have made an effort to feed her more green food. :o) I took Kara because she looks and acts unwell to me.

Now Kara's walking is improving, she is bending her knees more, still has a wide stance, but she can turn, back up and turn in circles too. One thing she has begun to do as she has joined the vertical world is reach up on counters and knock things down. She also tries to touch the stove. The whole world looks different when you are walking, and she gets to re-explore our entire house.