Sprout07

Hi everyone. My 19 month old girl has been in Early Intervention getting PT once a week for about 10 months. She was delayed in every gross motor skill going back to sitting up and rolling over. She rolled from her belly to her back by about 3 or 4 months but going the other direction was difficult for her because her arm got in the way. We finally took her to the pediatrician at about 8 months because she still was having trouble sitting and rolling to her stomach. When she did sit, she would keep her legs straight out in a "V" in order to support herself. But I wouldn't say that her legs are always stiff. Her evaluation for PT said that she has low muscle tone because of the back to sleep thing. She said that they are seeing more and more delays because babies are hating tummy time because they aren't used to it thus resulting in weak upper body and torso strength. With exercise, she learned to roll, stand at a table, crawl and now walk independently. However, things we have noticed are that she used to tilt her head to the side a little, when trying to learn to crawl and stand she always kept her left leg stiff which got in the way, her left foot used to turn in when she stood, and then when she started walking when you held her hand she would take a big step with her right foot and bring her left foot up to meet her right one. With practice, she now walks pretty straight and evenly but does sometimes rotate her left leg a bit. It seems to be taking her longer than the average child to be off and running.
As far as other areas she seems perfectly "normal" if not advanced. SHe has about 10-15 words, she can say "bubble", she can point out every facial feature, she has always been able to grasp things in her midline with ease, she has good fine motor skills, she can hold a crayon and scribble, she can use a spoon and fork to feed herself although it isn't always a neat process. So because someone mentioned it to me, I am wondering if the source of her problems is actually CP. Can these be just low muscle tone with no underlying cause? Or is the fact that the problems tend to involve her left side is it likely that she has a mild case of CP? Would her therapist have a good idea that this is what it is? She has never mentioned that possibility to us. She just says that she is low muscle tone and tiny for her age. I'm sorry this is lengthy, but I just wanted to convey a true scenario. In any case, she is the love of my life and she cracks us up and is very smart and playful. I just would like to know if there is something that is the underlying cause. I feel kind of betrayed because no one mentioned this at the beginning of the evaluation.