Story submitted by Beth on November 22, 1999 at 20:50:39:
Beth is 32, from Gurnee, IL USA.
Family:loving & supportive husband, daughter Alison 4, son Matthew, 2
I just read Alicia's story and would just like to tell her not to give up. Keep pushing for answers and take every little milestone that your daughter makes and applaud it. Keep your faith and believe that your daughter will get better. Your good attitude will help her acheive much.
Like so many of the other stories I've read, my labor and delivery were truly horrific. After 32 hours of labor (appropriately enough, I labored through the entire day of Halloween) and 3-1/2 hours of pushing, my daughter Alison was born weighing 9 pounds. She was diagnosed with Erbs Palsy the day she was born and we were told that she might fully recover and that she might not ever move her arm and hand. Her left shoulder and arm did not move at all until she was three months old.
While the reality of Alison's recovery (like so many other cases)is somewhere between the best and the worst case scenarios, I am happy to report that Alison just celebrated her fourth birthday. While she probably will never have full rom, her arm is quite functional and she participates in dance classes and rides a bike, runs, jumps and plays. She started O.T. the day she was born and she is still in O.T. but unless she is wearing a swimsuit her injury isn't too noticable.
All new parents of Erbs babies, please hang in there. Keep believing that it can and will get easier.
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