United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I gave birth to my beautiful babygirl on march 4th 2008, they delivered her head but her shoulder got stuck....they pulled her out and immediately they noticed that her arm was limp..she only had finger/wrist movement..she was perfect very healthy...just that problem occurred (could have been prevented) They said she had temporary paralysis... but now the story changes...i did research on this and im so glad i found a forum board like this...

We go to therapy..i do ROM all the time and we see dr kozin from shriners hospital for children...he said hopefully we see elbow bending in 6 weeks...she did improve a lot since birth...though she cant raise her arm or bend her elbow...she lifts her arm off of the ground...her muscle tone is much better she is very strong sometimes its hard to bend her elbow...u tickle her neck by her affected shoulder and she shrugs a little....
Do you think she will maybe recover soon?
I heard you shouldnt lift under the armpits...i dont under her affected arm but do on under her other is this bad????
thank you for everybody that reply's to this!! <3

Alivias Mom,

Like you said in response to my posting, your situation sounds like mine. Brachial Plexus injuries are so complex. It would just depend on if some of the nerves are stretched or torn. Nerves grow at only 1mm per day, so they look for more movements at the 3month age. My son can lift a little, he has shoulder movement now, finger movement but his wrist turns inward. It is wonderful that your baby girl is healthy otherwise, but I know it doesnt take the hurt away from this. I emailed you also. Continue doing the physical therapy and time will tell. Hopefully she gains more movement. Is the email in your profile current?

Hi Tamara.. Are you local to Shriners? I'm in Ambler.
-francine (Maia's mom - age 10)
francine@litzfamily.com

hi,
One of the hardest parts of all of this is the waiting. My son didn't have any movement until he was three months old. His entire plexus was involved. These injuries are like snowflakes, no two are alike. My son is almost two now and still has limited very limited movement. I really used to worry about how he would do things, such as, crawling,walking,climbing, etc.,but he has taught me that he can and will find his own way to do things. He is a very active child and does everything other kids his age do. Be patient and just enjoy being mommy. I feel like I missed out on my son's first year of life because I couldn't look at him without seeing his injury. It took me a long time to see Joseph and not his injury. That might sou d strange but that's how I felt. Keep doing what you're doing and try to be patient.
Joseph's mama. Lobpi