The Baby Expert: Yet Another Thing to Worry About

For the past couple months, I’ve noticed that Caitlyn’s legs seemed to be extended straight and stiff, with her feet almost always flexed to a point, more often than other babies. They were rarely in a relaxed state. No one else seemed to really be concerned about it, so I initially dismissed it as nothing. But then I read, awhile back, that babies whose muscles are always tensed up could have developmental problems.

When we went to the doctor’s last Tuesday for Caitlyn’s wellness check, I mentioned my concern to the doctor. She examined her leg muscles and agreed that they seemed more muscular and tighter than they should be. When she picked Caitlyn up and tried placing her feet on the table, her feet remained pointed and refused to be placed flat on the table. The doctor referred us to a specialist at another hospital and an appointment was made for the following Thursday.

When I came back from work yesterday, I asked Jessie how things went. She said the doctor made the same comments as our pediatrician, but this time making the additional comment that he felt Caitlyn’s arms were also a bit more muscular than normal. While he wouldn’t outright say if he felt anything was wrong with our baby, he scheduled an appointment for us this Friday with another doctor to have an ultrasound done of the brain and spine to see if anything's neurologically wrong.

Immediately, I’m having flashbacks back to when the doctors told us Caitlyn might have spina bifida. It’s not a pleasant feeling. I’ve forgotten that your worrying doesn’t stop just because your baby’s been born seemingly normal. There could still be a slew of other problems just lurking around the corner.

I began searching again in earnest to see if I could find the cause of what might be wrong with our daughter. The doctor had mentioned that Caitlyn might have a mild case of hypertonia, which is a condition marked by an abnormal increase in muscle tension, resulting in a baby who’s constantly stiff and rigid.

Hypertonia is also sometimes linked to spastic cerebral palsy, a disorder of movement and coordination. In spastic cerebral palsy, a brain abnormality sends signals to the body that overactivate certain muscle groups. The most common treatment is physical therapy, which loosens and stretches the tight, overactive muscles. Obviously, this is the worst-case scenario and hopefully things won’t pan out that way, but it’s hard not to think about it.

Luckily, I get a half-day off at work today and am able to accompany the wife to the hospital. The doctor examines Caitlyn and says that while her muscles may be a little tense, it doesn't seem to be out of the normal range for babies. She doesn’t see much to be concerned about and says that our baby doesn't have hypertonia.

I’m about to sigh a breath of relief when she checks Caitlyn’s bottom, near her coccyx bone, and notes that there’s a slight indention there, which maybe, could indicate some motor problems. Oh, for Pete’s sake!! Come on!! Give me a break!! Is there or isn’t there a problem?! I hate these wishy-washy answers. To be on the safe side, she gives the go-ahead to schedule an ultrasound for next Thursday. Sigh, another long week of sitting around and worrying.

However, one positive thing to come out of all of this so far is that it really puts things into perspective as to what’s important and what’s not. Before, Jessie would constantly fret about whether or not our baby would ever develop double (folded) eyelids or not. That seems pretty petty now. All I want is my daughter to be happy and healthy. Nothing more, nothing less. Double eyelids be damned!