Showing posts with label milestones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milestones. Show all posts

Sai Kishore is creeping with support now !

Sai Kishore is ready to creep...

That's what our IAHP advocate said to us on the last visit.

Eight months back, SK was able to crawl well and push himself up to the quad position and hold for 5 seconds at most.Later on, he was able to do it for a maximum of 15 seconds after which he will fall down and start crawling.

He was not able to move past this stage and was getting a bit frustrated.It was a tough period for us.He didn't want to crawl anymore. 

When we showed our advocate one such video where he holds the quad position, falls down and stays put there due to frustration, she said that he was ready to creep and that's why he didn't want to crawl. She advised us to give him some torso support to creep and it has worked. 

Now, he is happily creeping around the house ( of course, with support) and smiling at everyone with his eyes saying " Look, I am creeping now !". He wants to do it all day. 

Here is one such video where he creeps in cross pattern.



This is definitely a great moment for us.

There is still a long way to go but what is life if you don't celebrate the little things... For these little things add up to give great happiness one day... Every small achievement will soon be one amazing success. That's what we hope for and work for... 

Clinical Evaluation Visit - Part 1

JANUARY 2017 

It was on January 11th, 2017 that I got an email from IAHP that, for the first time ever, a clinical evaluation visit was scheduled to happen in India. It was such a great surprise for us because we were wonndering how we could take SK to Philadelphia with so little finance in hand.

We registered for the evaluation visit as soon as we received the mail because we didn't want to miss such a wonderful opportunity.The Evaluation was to happen in the last week of March and that meant I would be less than 2 months postpartum when we attend the evaluation.I had to plan well before the visit on how to tackle any health issues that might arise during that period.

Our slot was confirmed and we were eagerly looking forward to that event. There were days when I would be so worried whether I could make it, health wise.I was wishing to have a normal delivery and for my recovery to be quicker so that I could attend the evaluation without much to worry about.

Arranging the finance was not an easy task.It was taking so much effort on our part and we were still looking for ways to pay the fee amount.

FEBRUARY 2017 - MARCH 2017

Welcome Chanakya !

Baby C was born on Feb 3rd,2017 after approximately 10 hours of labor. I got dehydrated when I was 8 cm dilated and I started to cramp during the pushing stage. I was getting tired with every push and the doctors had to deliver the baby using forceps for the safety of the baby as well as mine.

While I was being stitched, I realized how lucky I was to at least have a normal delivery under such a situation. Yes, it sucked that I had 30+ stitches, but we were safe and Baby C was healthy.

It took me a few days to even walk without trembling.Sitting was more painful than standing or walking.I had severe blood loss and my haemoglobin levels dipped to 6.6!I was not able to regulate my body temperature and I constantly felt dizzy. The doctors suggested blood infusion in order to up the levels of hemoglobin. After a session of blood infusion, my hemoglobin was 8.8. At this point, I was allowed to go home with a prescription of iron supplements.

There were many other ailments of which I am not going to write here but it was a really tough time. It took me more than 20 days just to sit and more than 40 days to sit comfortably. I used to worry whether I would be able to travel and attend the evaluation.It was only with the help and support of my husband and our family that I was able to recover quickly than expected.

A million thanks to my husband, without whose support and encouragement, I would still have been lying on the bed saying 'I can't'.

Even as I am writing this, I haven't healed completely; but, I know that healing takes time and that I would be totally fine in a few more weeks.

Planning for the visit

We planned to leave Chanakya with my mom so that we could attend the evaluation with complete focus on SK. I was exclusively breastfeeding baby C and I didn't want to him to be formula fed while I was away. So, I calculated the amount of milk that he would need when I wasn't around and I started pumping a few days before to build up a stash.

Other than that, I had to review all the old notes and write down the details which were required.It was a daunting task as I had 5 big notebooks that contained information about his daily program.

The Evaluation Visit

Days flew by and it was time to leave for the evaluation.So far, everything went as planned and I had 3.5 litres of milk in the freezer on the day I was leaving to New Delhi.It was not easy on my mind to leave a 6 weeks old baby at home but the fact that baby C was still getting my milk gave me some peace.

In order to maintain the supply while away from the baby, I had to exclusively pump every 2-3 hours. I had to wash all the equipment, sterilize it and safely store the expressed milk after every pumping session. It was tiring but well worth the effort because I bought back home more than 2 litres of milk.

Even after so much planning I had to face a few issues with engorgement which fortunately subsided after a few pumping sessions. Luckily, I did not get any plugged ducts or mastitis in that period.



SK with his paternal grandma at the airport


I was also worried whether SK would feel groggy or disturbed after travelling in the air. I was comforted by the fact that he managed the travel so well.Throughout the visit, SK was wonderfully co-operative and thus the evaluation went smoothly.

PART 2 - click here

SK is 18 months old- Update

After 4 months of intense therapy, we charted his developmental profile.


Developmental profile- SK- 18 months


VISUAL: He has moved three blocks up. That is a great news!
AUDITORY: He has moved 1 block up. He is in the process of reaching the goal 'understanding of 10 to 25 words and 2 couplets'.
TACTILE:He has moved 1 block up.
MOBILITY: He still remains at level 2. Yet, his crawling technique has improved. Now he can crawl up to 200 ft/day. He is now pushing up on his arms with the intention to sit up.
LANGUAGE: He has perfected level 3. On his way to level 4
MANUAL: His prehensile grasp has improved a lot. Now he is able to bring both his hands forward to receive or take an object. The control in his left hand is still less than perfect so he stays in level 3 functional.

According the developmental profile at 18 months we see that his neurological age is 9.25 months. In a span of 4 months he has grown for approximately 4 months and now his injury is moderate, relatively diffuse and bilateral. This evaluation was done at home and a formal evaluation is yet to be done. We are planning to take our son to Philadelphia this year in order to get a complete evaluation and work plan.

We are so happy with the improvements and we look forward to seeing much more like this in the near future.

For more information on IAHP & Glenn Doman visit their website : http://www.iahp.org/
For the initial developmental profile of SK click here

Current goal: Teaching Sai Kishore to sit independently


I am an INTP. For those of you who do not know what it means you can refer to the picture below for an explanation.


MBTI personality types
16 personality types - MBTI


Being an INTP is tough. Only 3% of the whole world's population is INTP and female INTPs are even rarer. This makes it tough for me to relate with people around me. 

There are lots of advantages being an Introverted intuitive perceiving thinker. For example, INTPs are strong in logic, quick learners, idea generators etc. 

Coming to the drawbacks, INTPs are very curious- curious to the point that they keep on learning new things and forget to perfect what they have learnt. When in one angle it is good not to keep doing the same thing over and over, this constant jumping around results in less productivity.

I have been trying a lot not to do this jumping around when it comes to SK. Most of the times, I start with listing out what I have to do. Then I try to get as much information as possible regarding the to-do list. When scouring for information I find something new and start searching about that and completely forget what I had intended to do. 

In that process, I will have surely learnt something new; but what about my to-do list? I am in such a position where I do not have time to build my knowledge. I have to concentrate more on my to-do list and try to accomplish them step-by-step, one-by-one.

That's why I decided to make a step by step action plan for my to-do list.

So, here comes the first goal... Making SK sit independently.

Step 1: Making him push up on his arms. 

Step 2: Strengthening his core.

Step 3: Getting him to sit when propped 

Step 4: Muscle memory technique to get him to sit up on his own.


I have not set any deadline for this because I do not want to rush my baby to make milestones happen.I just want to help him in the process. 

I had enrolled in the WTD course provided by IAHP that was to happen on June 28th and unfortunately it got postponed to October. I am waiting to attend the course; meanwhile I just cannot keep my baby idle. He demands us to keep him entertained. So , I decided to take things into my hands. I will keep doing things in my way until I attend the course and get an action plan to work on. 

The above 4-step technique is my husband's idea and yes , he is an INTP too. 

Do you know what personality type you are?  If not you could find out yours here: http://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

There are many other websites out there that provide the same test. Feel free to cross check your results with a few more websites before coming to a conclusion about your MBTI personality.

6 months - 9 months - a 3.5 min read

6 - 7 months :

  • Said 'baa' for the first time
  • Started playing with his pacifier
  • Started sitting for 45-50 seconds when placed in the sitting position

The shivering that occurred when he was in his 5th month repeated itself. This time the episode lasted for 5 minutes. The moment the shivering ended he looked comfortable as if nothing had happened.

Those shivers resembled 'shudder attacks' which are neither common nor uncommon in infants below 1 year. 

A few times he twisted and turned himself as if he was cramping due to dehydration. This was different from those shivers and was same only in the fact that he was still fully conscious and responding.

During this period he had nearly 10 attacks of both types together. Those attacks were only a minute or so in length. It looked as if he had no control over his body when the attack occurred.

7 - 8 months :

The shudder attacks were continuing. When we asked his pediatrician about those attacks he said that they were not seizures and that we needed to consult a neurologist to know more.

Half way through this period the shudder attacks completely stopped and instead , all of a sudden, one day he started to bob his head. The head bobbing went on for a week and stopped abruptly.

It was this period that we started to question our beliefs. Was our baby boy really free of medical issues? He started to show delay in achieving his milestones. The boy who was achieving all the required milestones way ahead of his peers was starting to lag.

I had my own theories for what was wrong with him. I strongly felt that we could almost always tell what problem someone has with their brain by observing what he/she is not able to do and we can correct it to some extent by proper stimulation. Say for example, if someone has a problem with posture and balance and is unable to co ordinate his movements , it is highly likely that his cerebellum is damaged. So, if we try to stimulate his cerebellum, his posture and balance might improve.

I found that Glenn Doman , whose method of teaching I was following for Sai , had worked with a lot of brain-injured children and all his learning methods were a product of the research done with brain-injured children. I contacted the IAHP( http://www.iahp.org/ )and they were polite enough to answer my questions. Finally, they suggested that I read the " What to do about your brain-injured kid" book by Glenn Doman for a complete understanding.

The book was an eye-opener and it cleared most of my doubts. The main reason I liked the book and believed in it is that the theory I had and the idea of the book coincided. For more on my views regarding the book and therapy click here

We bought the ' Fit baby, smart baby, your baby' book, also by Glenn Doman and started giving him the exercises mentioned in the book.  Within 2 weeks of starting the program we were able to see so much changes in him both physically and skill wise. 

Seeing significant improvements after implementing the exercises, we bought the ' How smart is your baby book?' in order to evaluate him as per the developmental profile designed by Glenn Doman. We found that our baby was lacking skills in the motor and manual areas. In other areas he was perfectly on time with his peers. 

8 - 9 months :

All the shudder attacks & head bobbing were gone for good. 

By the end of 9 months,
  1. He was still not able to sit without support
  2. He was not able to crawl in cross pattern
  3. His left hand was not good enough with grasping objects.
  4. He was not able to point at objects nor was he able to look at an object that was being pointed at.
  5. He didn't take mini push ups.
Even though he met a lot of little milestones , the list of milestones that he did not meet was becoming longer . He had developmental delay. We had to accept the fact that he needed special care and attention. 

3 months - 6 months - a 2 min read

3 - 4 months :

  • Started the Glenn Doman reading & math program when he was 3 months old.
  • He loved reading different kinds of books- touch and feel books , puppet books , picture books and even sound books.
  • Started to understand emotions through tone of voice. 
  • Started demanding that we rock him to sleep and he wouldn't sleep otherwise.
  • Head control - was able to raise head to 45 degrees and hold it steady
  • Slept overnight for the first time
  • Started rolling with ease

4 - 5 months :

  • Started semi - solids.
  • Started thumb sucking.
  • Started blowing bubbles
  • Was able to hold objects for more than 20 seconds when placed in his hand.
  • Was saying words like 'a-goo','mm-aah' etc.
  • Started lifting his bottom to push himself forward
  • Started using rake grasp

One day , he started to shiver violently as if he was feeling cold . I wrapped him up in a blanket and hugged him close to me.
Even though he was shivering, he was fully conscious and was still responding. The episode ended in 2-3 minutes.
We thought that it was a SEIZURE. It had happened only once so we couldn't conclude anything out of it. It did not occur again in the next few weeks.

5 - 6 months :

  • Started grabbing his legs 
  • Started to understand object permanence
  • Started trying to imitate facial expressions
  • Started grabbing and pulling objects towards himself

WHAT WAS HE NOT ABLE TO DO BY THE END OF 6 MONTHS :

  1. Passing things from hand to hand
  2. Sit without support
  3. Crawling in cross pattern
  4. Mini push up

Since it was only 4 milestones that he had not achieved by the end of 6  months we were not much worried. We still believed he was completely normal except for the fact that he had a small head. Even his pediatrician was amazed at his progress and he said that it was okay if the baby was not able to sit unsupported by 6 months and that there was still time . So, we continued providing him a stimulating environment and did not worry much about milestones.

For his pictures from 3 - 6 months click here

From birth to 3 months - a 3 min read

Birth - 1 month :

Sai Kishore was diagnosed with microcephaly & micrognathia during the 20th week anomaly scan.

At birth, his HC ( Head circumference) was 27 cm . Doctors were concerned that he might not able to feed properly due to micrognathia(small jaw). To their surprise , he latched on beautifully and had no problems in feeding.

After he was vaccinated , he got jaundice and it did not settle down. He was given photo therapy.The bilirubin levels were increasing instead of decreasing. Finally, we decided that we were not giving him therapy anymore and that we were leaving the hospital that day. Against medical advice we took him home. His bilirubin levels returned to normal after a week.

Since he was taken away for therapy when we were in the hospital , I was not able to feed him properly. I had to undergo so much pain postpartum due to that fact. Since he was fed from bottle when in the therapy room , he started asking for bottle and refused to breastfeed.I tried breastfeeding him whenever he wasn't very fussy and the rest of the time he would feed from the bottle, the milk I had expressed. By 3 weeks, I was exclusively pumping because he strongly refused to breastfeed.

He was named Sai Kishore on Sep 02,2014.

Milestones achieved - Month 1  : Grasp reflex, Giggling & smiling, visually tracking a moving object, light reflex, startle reflex, movement of arms and legs without bodily movement, Babinksi reflex. *


1 - 2 months :

  • He started saying vowel- like sounds. 
  • When put on tummy , he tried to move forward.
  • He had his growth spurt at 6 weeks.
  • When he was 7 weeks old, he started to bat at toys and started moving forward when he was in prone position.
  • By 8 weeks he was able to give different sounds and he expressed himself a lot through facial expressions and vocalizations.
  • He rolled over for the first time from his back onto his chest.
  • By 9 weeks he started drooling. He was able to balance his weight on his legs. Social smile.

Milestones achieved - Month 2  : Cooing, batting at toys, lifting his brows, social smile, responding to voice and face, sucking fist or a few fingers.*


2 - 3 months:

  • He started to understand cause and effect. He started reading books with me and he enjoyed it so much. His first book was ' The very hungry caterpillar'. He also loved looking at contrasting patterns.
  • There was a short period where he was crying inconsolably for 20- 30 mins a day. He crossed that phase quickly.
  • He started laughing.
  • My breastfeeding goal number 1:  ACHIEVED. I had exclusively breastfed him for 3 months.

Milestones achieved - Month 3  : Laughing, Recognition of face, Squealing, Lifting head and turning side to side, bringing hands together,Following people across the room. Enjoys playing with people , aware that his hands and feet are his, hands open and shut.*


*  I have only listed out some of the important milestones. He met all the milestones for birth - 3 months on time. He was even quite advanced in a few sectors for his age at that time.

For his pictures from birth to 3 months click here