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We had our developmental pediatrician appointment yesterday. Since the last one was so negative, we were dreading this one, but thankfully, it was a much more positive experience.

Rachel is now 8.5 months. She weighs 16lbs 1oz (7.29kilos) and is 67.5cms long. This is all great, and puts her between the 10th and 25th percentile for both. Her head is now 40cms, which is a full cm growth in the last month, so this is very good news. Her head is still small, too small to even be on the growth charts, but having said that, it is plotting steadily on it's own curve. This of course means something for her cognitive ability in the future, but as yet, we don't know what. The pediatrician thinks that Rachel is better than her growth chart suggests that she should be. And everything becomes a lot clearer by around age two. So we wait...

So she had a full check up. The first great piece of news is that Rachel will now be moving on to regular formula. This makes me so happy! Bye bye stinky Nutramigen! She is also growing out of her reflux, so although she is still on medication, she will probably finish with it in the coming months.

Socially, she is great. The pediatrican thinks that the fact that she is so happy, smiley, giggly and interested in everything is all very positive. She thinks that it is all age appropriate. Physically, the picture is not quite as bright, but certainly not too bad either. Her legs are good, not all that stiff, and she is weight bearing on her feet quite well. Her right hand is great, but the left is not so good. Occupational Therapy has now been suggested, as well as a visit with someone specializing in developmental delays. Having said that, her left hand is no longer constantly clenched in a fist, and the arms are not as stiff as we expected.

Obviously, Rachel is not sitting yet, and is still lagging by about 4 months. But everyone agrees that she is making great progress, so it's ok to be optimistic. Her issues will not just go away, and she still has lots of things to work on, but the future is brighter than we thought. The next check up might be totally different, but for now, we are definitely thinking that things could be a whole lot worse!

One of the faces of Rett Syndrome.

Rett syndrome is a unique developmental disorder that is first recognized in infancy and seen almost always in girls, but can be rarely seen in boys.

Rett Syndrome has been most often misdiagnosed as autism, cerebral palsy, or non-specific developmental delay

Rett Syndrome is caused by mutations on the X chromosome on a gene called MECP2. There are more than 200 different mutations found on the MECP2 gene. Most of these mutations are found in eight different “hot spots.”

Rett Syndrome strikes all racial and ethnic groups, and occurs worldwide in 1 of every 10,000 to 23,000 female births.

Rett Syndrome is a developmental disorder. It is not a degenerative disorder.