[Mom of 7 GEMS]

Hi all...it's good to see so many here from the old forum. I was KatznKids4Me on the old forum...but thought this new name was more fitting, at least for now.

I am the mom/adoptive mom of 7 beautiful GEMS... which depending on how you look at it either means I truly have my jewels in my crown in living breathing creations... or as I sometimes jokingly refer to them as my "Green-Eyed-MonsterS"

My youngest, previously referred to as Nemo, is now Matthew, and is doing very well. He is now 7 months old, and is very healthy. He's still small, the doctor isn't happy with his growth overall, but I think he looks great. He isn't going to be terribly tall, his bio mom is only 5'2", so I truly think his genetics is helping keep him small.

He has dropped drastically on the Head Circumference charts...whereas he was above the 50th %ile, he is now between 10 & 25... whereas his body is only at about the 3-5th %ile.

He has only had the 2 surgeries, the last one in April, and is due to have a CT done again in October...I'll know more then as to how much regrowth/expansion of his brain tissue has been able to happen. He was diagnosed with Porencephaly, and while he is VERY alert, and seems to really catch onto things and ideas quickly, he is definately behind in his developement. We are fairly certain he has CP, but to what degree, it yet to be determined. Those shaking episodes when he gets excited or upset are still very present, and I've noticed that when he gets a little excited or upset his legs stiffen up like two hockey sticks. Sometimes, when he is even relaxed, his legs look too rigid for my liking, and I think that it can sometimes even get him upset, he stiffens up, and can't relax, so he gets upset.

I noticed a couple of people mentioned that when the weather changes they get headaches...I've noticed in the last few days that Matthew is more cranky than usual, and thought this morning that maybe it was related to the weather here too. We are still sunny and warm...but no where near as hot as 3 days ago, and lots of wind. Could that be a significant enough change to cause headaches in a little one with a VP shunt? Lizard, I noticed you said Tylenol doesn't seem to help you... what about Motrin (ibuprophen)? I don't want my little one to be miserable, but I don't want to rush to the NS if it's just a little pressure change either.

Thanks for any input, and it's good to be here!

Dori