Well, The Wiggles were on The View today, I usually don't even watch The View but Joey's PT & OT were both here and they saw The Wiggles so I turned it up for Joey. Up until now I've refused to watch anything like that. No Wiggles, no Barney, no nothing. The only children's thing I've let Joey watch is his Baby Einstein DVD. Well, even at 10 months old, The Wiggles caught Joey's attention. Joey seemed to like listening to them. So we've been sucked into The Wiggles craze!
His PT & OT usually don't come to the house together but every couple months they like to just to "compare notes" and to give eachother ideas. They both can't believe the progress Joey is making each time they see him!
I just got the Dr's note from Joey's trip to the DS clinic from a few weeks ago. I can't believe how much this doctor went into detail! The note is wonderful! He said "his length is 68 cm, 3rd centile; weight 7.8 kg, 3rd centile; head circumference 44.5 cm, 10-25th centile. On the Down syndrome growth chart, his length is at the 25th to 50th, weight 50th and head circumference 90th centiles". I have DS growth charts, but I have no clue what the heck I'm looking at!
Why can't they explain that in English to where I could understand?
He also said that Joey should have a pediatric opththalmology evaluation done within the next month to see if there is indeed a modest left esotropia (WebMD & google here I come!). On that note, I'm off to the DownSyn forum to post this to see if anyone can explain growth charts to me! Or if any of you could help, please do!
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11 comments:
the growth charts are just a percentile of where each child falls related to his peers of the same age. If he is 25% in weight it means he weighs more than 25% of boys (it's separated by gender too) and 75% of boys his age weigh more than him. Is that what you were looking for?
I have no clue what I'm looking for, I guess I just don't understand what it means.
Michelle is right on - it's just how he compares size wise to other boys his age. The DS chart compares him to other boys his age who have Downs Syndrome. Doctors use those charts to determine whether or not a child is growing normally. If they very far off the charts in either direction, it can be a clue that something is wrong.
Yes to whar everybody have been saying. 25th percentile for length means that if you line up 100 random kids, 74 will be larger and 23 will be smaller than he. Since kids with DS tend to be smaller, lighter and have smaller heads, they get their own growth charts. Same for weight and head circumference.
The percentile of a single measurement doesn't mean much, by the way. It's important to look at how a child develops over time. If he's on the small side, but growing steadily in his percentile (still at 25th after 2,4,6, etc months) then he's doing well. It's only if a child "falls out of his percentle", for examle moves from 50th to 5th over a few months that doctors will be concerned.
That's "24 will be smaller", not 23. Grrrr.
I hate growth charts to...they make my head hurt!! I am so glad that he is doing good. He looks fantastic!!! I love the name Joey!!!!
Did you get a chart for head circuumfrence too? I would love to have a copy of it if so! I have been looking for one!
yeah to Joey growing so well :-)
It is fantastic that Joey is still moving ahead so well. Especially after the few medical hurdles he's had these last few months. What a strong fella.
When I look at those things I just refer it to my wife who has a flicker of a clue. As for the Wiggles, my kids loved them. We used to watch them up until Disney took them over. After that it seems that they lost something.
Yes, they are correct. The Beast is only in the 10th percentile in weight and height...but 75 % in head cirum. That means that 80% of kids her age are bigger than her!! But only 25% have heads bigger!!
This is really just a graph that doctors use to make sure your baby is growing properly. If he is small, or big, it doesn't matter...they just want them to stay in their own range. If he were to ever fall dramatically, or increase dramatically, that's when they worry about anything. It's really more for the Dr.s than the parents.
Esotropia- is often refered to as 'lazy eye'.Essentially it means that there is a weak eye muscle, which then can cause the eye to turn either outward or inward. In the most severe cases they may have to perform surgery on the muscle, but most often-the individual might have to wear a patch over the good eye and that forces the eye with the weak muscle to 'exercise' and strengthen the muscle. There are also other exercises they can have patients perform. If you look at an eye diagram-you will see that there are muscles on all sides of the eye and those muscles are what move your eye up/down/sideways. This is a very common problem and I don't know if DS children have a higher incidence but it really is nothing serious and very common. Hope that helps.
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