Can’t stop worrying about Cerbral Palsy

[Qwerty93]

Hi,

I’m hoping some people can put my mind at ease!

My little one is 5 months and sometimes feels really stiff, and other times not. Her stomach is weak. Like once I had to use full force to lift her arm up.

I first noticed things where odd when she looked asymmetrical, the left shoulder appears internally rotated and hand is 80% of the time with thumb in.

She never really moves her arms above her shoulder. Only occasionally have I seen her do it. And it’s really hard to like get her in jackets etc! Her fingers seem curled.

The right side can also be fisted too but I would say more open than the left.

Her movements can be jerky and her co-ordination for a 5 month old seems to be behind I would say.

She can hold toys, and grab at toys and bring to midline, and bring to mouth etc.

She has okay head control!

She can roll back to front (right to left). On tummy time though she’s not very good at lifting her head. She’ll do it. Then get tired I guess and have to then lift it up again.

Her legs also concern me. Again. Look asymmetrical. Can kick them, Infact does so quite a lot. My concern her is that the feet tends to turn inward, and she does cross them at the legs, and when kicking the legs will go over and under and hit each other after a few kicks.

She can get feet to mouth and does play with them.

She babbles, smiles, laughs, can track with her eyes. Very alert. For sure.

When she’s eating and falling asleep her hands/arms will move up and down.
She also arches her back ALOT. And I can’t think why!

All I can think of is CP.

I have seen a dr, general paediatrician, 2x nhs physios and they’ve all said she’s doing great developmentally and actually think I’m crazy first time mum. So much so I’ve got referred to a psychiatrist, but all I’m telling them is how much my little one has CP and no one believes me.

Is there anyway the above could not be CP and something else?

The only thing I can think of what caused it as I didn’t have a traumatic birth, but when she was 2 days old in the hospital, I was putting her the hospital crib and she sort of dropped into it. I didn’t think anything of it as she stayed asleep. Now I’m wondering what if she was unconscious or something and had lack of oxygen with brain swelling and I’ve not noticed!

Help :(

@LittleSnakes yes! That’s another thing what heightened my thought of CP, as she postures so different to the others.

Just a thought OP. Do you think DD has any issues with reflux? That can cause babies to go rigid and arch their backs and throw out their arms as they try to ease their stomach discomfort.

My daughter (3) walks with turned in feet! Has come from learning to walk at 15 months (later walker due to hip dysplasia and casts) and she doesn't have CP.
I really think you need help with your anxiety. You've had multiple HCP's tell you that your daughter is doing well developmentally.
What is making you think CP? Why is your brain jumping straight to that?

I know a baby vvv well with CP and they do none of the things you've described OP.

My son has cerebral palsy and did very few of the things your daughter is doing.

I was the first person to spot that my niece had CP, (I am not medically trained), but the main thing that i noticed was that the things I observed were permanent, not intermittent. Try not to worry so much, she sounds like she is progressing brilliantly.

@QueenoftheFarts thanks! Yeah. The stuff I’ve notice also are permanent. Such as posture, admittedly the tone appears to fluctuate.

@peboh I noticed all stuff I listed, and it was all that mentioned on forums from parents asking similar questions and then when I googled (wish I never) everything I noticed fit with the CP description.

Is she progressing in her development? That interesting her postures are different from other babies. What do your friends say? Even if she did have it, what could be done at 5 months anyway?

She may be a little early to diagnose for CP but trust your instincts. Keep an eye and don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion. You are not crazy either and don’t need a referral to a psychiatrist. All the things you have listed are genuine concerns.

Hopefully you can see these

@LittleSnakes it will be guilt, as surely it must be from the drop in cot. And her fist wasn’t like that on the photos before and then from the photos afterwards it’s fisted.

My son had one sided abnormal tone and walked on his tip toe on one side. He was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at 18 months. This diagnosis was withdrawn at 3. He is now a super sporty 10 year old.

Trust your instinct, often times health professionals dont listen, its too easy to label you as an anxious first time mum. People saying that their child has C P and is not doing all the things your baby is doing, there are a great variance in the severity of C P

OP, it really doesn't sound like CP.

However, it's remarkably similar to what one of my best friends have just gone through with her DS (8mo, diagnosed at 4-5mo) - symptomatic asymetry. I have never heard of it until she told me. She visited multiple doctors and physiotherapists and it took a fourth doctor to diagnose it correctly. Her little boy was referred to physio, they did lots of exercises at home as recommended and he's doing really, really well! A bit of hard work, yes, but he's fine and well.

I am absolutely not meaning to plant any further worries in your head, I'm just trying to make you realise that it's really not likely to be CP, but could be something else that you can rectify. I have anxiety and it could be that you have it too as an FTM. But I won't go bashing you for this as it's important to recognise that a mother's instinct is extremely good. Have a read about this and see if this might be it. I really, really don't think you should worry about CP though, FWIW. Take care xx

My daughter has very mild cerebral palsy that affects the right side of the body. I spotted it at six months because she couldn't weight bear through her right leg and couldn't reach with her right arm and couldn't roll. I didn't get taken seriously until she was 9months to a year. No one online can tell you if your baby has it or not. People can make you feel better but it's not based on anything as we don't know you or your baby. Please just listen to the health care professionals around you and if you are concerned keep a watchful eye but don't let anxiety ruin this time with your baby.

@Qwerty93

Hopefully you can see these

I have three almost grown boys, none of these pictures strike me as odd at all, I've seen each of them in those postures on numerous occasions and they're just fine. 😊

A lot of this sounds totally totally normal OP. And actually movement is very good if already confident rolling over etc.

DS1 "failed" a lot of his early assessments on grand motor stuff - he didn't roll over for ages, didn't crawl (ever), didn't pull to stand on time, walked late. He's 9 now and he is absolutely fine, actually very able academically and perfectly normal physically, he is just a very cautious person who likes to be sure before he does something!

I can see the left side does look a little different from the right. Have you got photos of her fist from before? I wouldn’t imagine a drop into a cot would cause that amount of damage though.

Do you have any other photos that show front of both of her legs? It's not obvious from this angle.

Does she clench her left fist all the time or occasionally or a bit more often than the right?

My DS does all the things your DD does in these photos (he's 6mo) - occasionally he'll cross his legs, clench one or both fists, put his feet awkwardly. He's a strong boy, but still only young and clumsy.

So photo one and two are before I dropped her; fist is like a natural angle, and the right side of her head doesn’t seem swollen.
Photo three, four and five are after I dropped her; (that’s the crib I dropped her in by the way) the fist is clenched and flat against the mattress. And her temple and above eyebrow looks swollen.

At the time I didn’t notice any of this. It’s only when looking back at the pictures.

Three four & five

@PurplePansy05 I would say that she probably prefers her right, so will grab first with the right but can grab with the left too. And will pass from left to right mainly. But if it’s closer to the left, she’ll use that. If it’s in the middle of both she’ll go right. And if it’s right, she’ll go right.

I would say, the left fist is there 80% of the time, and the right maybe 50% of the time is fisted.

I don’t know if you can see. It looks like the left shoulder is internally rotated. And one hit rotates inward and one outward and like I dunno they scissor sometimes.

@Qwerty93 looking at those pictures I have so so many similar ones. It really doesn't look like anything to be concerned about. I know how Google can lead you to these things and anxiety will grasp them and won't let go. I had bad postpartum anxiety and briefly convinced myself my lo had cerebral palsy too, very similar symptoms to what you've listed, preferring one side, keeping one first balled up etc and he's now absolutely developmentally normal and causing havoc at 15 months. Please don't dismiss the psychiatrist, I wish someone had picked up my anxiety and sent me some help like that. It strips all the enjoyment from those first month's and it's not fair on you.

Also, I don't know if this helps or not but it helped me, apparently if you Google the symptoms of a common cold one of the top results is HIV not a cold. Google is the devil for anxiety so definitely avoid like the plague.