Brissy Boo is 7 months! - Trip to Geisinger

My sweet baby girl is growing up so fast.  She is developing more and more of a personality everyday. It is funny because there are times that the things she does remind me exactly of the things Brooklyn used to do and then there are other things are totally unique about her.  Bris is a much more laid back baby than Brooklyn was.  Brooklyn liked to be entertained and kept busy and Bristol is happy keeping herself content with some toys and just watching what is going on around her.  She will sit for an hour or more and just play by herself.  She loves to play with Brooklyn now too though.  Although, she can't really play much.  She likes when Brooklyn gets in her face and kisses her, and gives her toys, and takes toys away lol.  She is always giggling and laughing at Brooklyn and the boys.  She is babbling up a storm and is rarely quiet.  She grunts, and groans, and jabbers non stop.  She is sleeping a little better now that I started putting her on her belly.  She is much more comfortable sleeping that way but does not like tummy time at all if she is awake.

We made a trip to see a pediatric neurologist at Geisinger a few weeks ago.  I had caught few episodes of Bristol "twitching and jerking" on my phone and had showed it to the peds here in town.  They were a bit concerned so they sent us for an EEG just to be sure it wasn't seizures or anything serious.  She was suppose to be sleep deprived for the EEG test so we had to keep her awake the entire 2 hour trip to the hospital.  Not fun! The EEG was terrible and she screamed and screamed until she finally fell asleep.  They first had to measure her head with different measuring tapes and make marks with a red marker on her scalp.  After the marks were there, they put several...like 20 + electrodes on her little head with a sticky putty type stuff.  This is the part that was the worst because they had to push on her head and she hated it!  We ended up having to wrap her up in a thing called a papoose board that swaddled her so she couldn't thrash around.  I was against it at first but it ended up being comforting to her because she fell asleep shortly after.  Derek and I were able to be right next to her the entire time so she could always see and hear us.  They let her sleep for probably 30 minutes before they woke her up to test her while awake.  They flashed lights in her face and made loud noises to see how she and her brain reacted to different stimuli.  After about an hour and half we were done.  She finally got to get her head washed off and take a long nap!  

All hooked up and sound asleep

Finally a nap after a long day!

In the afternoon we saw the doctor in the office and went over the results of the test.  We showed him the video and he immediately knew what it was.  He said that her EEG test came back normal and that it looked like she was having benign shuddering attacks.  So basically what that means 

is that she her nervous system is immature and she isn't able to handle excitement or a lot of stimuli at once.  She shudders a lot when eating and when it is loud.  He told us just to keep an eye on her and if we notice anything different to give him a call.  He also gave us some different sensory things that she may begin doing since she is already doing these ones.  He said she may start flapping her hands and shaking her head.  He said these are all things that she should outgrow in time.  I, of course, being a worrier, and working in special education instantly thought autism with the sensory issues.  I asked if it was possible that these were signs that she would develop autism and he said no, it did not signify anything like that at all even though they are symptoms of autism.

So at 7 months Bristol:
* eats baby food like a champ!  I am going to be introducing more of a variety now
* still drinks 4-5 ounces every 3-4 hours
* sits up on her own without tipping...for the most part
* chews on everything
* loves to play with her toys
* has only 2 bottom teeth still
* reaches for everything in sight
* will not lay on her belly to play...only to sleep
* is not interested in rolling over and doesn't even attempt it
* gets on all fours instead of her belly when we try tummy time and rocks back and forth
* loves to babble and jabber at whoever will listen...or to herself
* weighs 20 pounds!
* wears  size 3-4 diapers
* wears 6-12 month clothing depending on the brand
* loves attention from her sister and brothers
* does not use the rock n play anymore to sleep :(
* loves the water and to splash and play in it
* enjoyed the beach and the ocean
* is a great traveler in the car
* entertains herself very well
* is the happiest, smiliest baby ever!