"Your son is extrememly spastic....I think he has Cerebral palsy."

My son is smart. Not in that conventional smart like other parents talk about when talking about their kids but he is very 4bright. No, my son didn't start crawling at 4 months, talking at 5 months, walking at 6 months and eating with a spoon at 9 months. My son is smart for the fact that he has already learned to never give up. He does things at his own time and in his own way. He figures out things at his own pace but understands more than you know. I wouldn't call it normal a bit, but it's normal for him.

For a background, my son was born premature. I had him at 25 weeks. Earlier in the pregnancy (around 15 wks) I fell and it caused my placenta to tear away from the uterine wall. I almost miscarried and was on bed rest. Needless to say, I was happy that I even got that far in my pregnancy. He was born Nov 16, 2005 at 1lb and 6.8 ounces and at 11 in in length. At 20 years old my self I was scared out of my mind. He stayed in the hospital for 5 months, going through 3 surgeries and multiple middle-of-the-night scares. Heck I have been through it all with him...him not breathing, his brain having a bleed, him on life support, his bladder having a hole in it, his heart over circulating blood, him not being able to eat, him being transferred to 3 different hospitals, me pumping for breast milk for 2 and a half months before it dried up....everything....not to mention other things in my not so normal life. Eventually all of that passed and he was finally home at almost 6 months old on April 19th, 2006. He was perfect to me.

At about 8 months I started to noticed that he wasn't crawling and that really bothered me. Of course doctors assured me that he was ok, he would catch up at 2 yrs and that it is normal for a micro-preemies to be behind. In fact he just came home and I would be happy that he hasn't had to go back to the hospital. I accepted that and went on. Finally on October 25th (my birthday) my son started to crawl. He was one month away from being a year old. I figured that he was ok and that he would walk soon.

At 18 months my son couldn't hardly stand up and cried when ever he was made to stand up. He would cry like in pain then fall because he had no balance and this kept up for months. I took my son to the doctors again and once again, they reassured me that nothing was wrong and that he will catch up at 2. I was not buying it his time. Finally at 2 years old he started to walk and by that time with no help of his doctors, I called the school district. They were finally helpful and put him into a 2 hour class once a week for therapy. Only the teachers were obviously not qualified. My son scared them every time he had problems with balance as if they never saw such a child. I was concerned about my son and thought that since these women are professionals, they should have the answers to my questions. I asked one of the teachers "Is is normal for him to sit in that "W" position?" and the teacher told me "Oh, sometimes I sit in that position too!". After that day we never went back. I called the Regional School District again, complaining about the care my son received and requested another therapist. My son was given a in-home Occupational Therapist. She told me to never let him sit that way.

I finally moved....not just because I wanted a bigger place but because I wanted better service. I finally found my son a pediatrician 2 months after moving to LA County from Kern County and I was nervous. She looked at him, had him to walk and talk with her and she finally said what I had wondering all along: "Your son is extremely spastic....I think he has CP." She ordered x-rays and blood tests and finally gave me the referrals that I needed: nutritionist, occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, and a Ortho doctor to check his bones. I'm finally on the road to my son's recovery. Of course, she's not a specialist and the specialist would have to officially diagnose my son....but now I have a name...and to me that has opened me up to almost every possibility.