Emma Grace~ Erb's Palsy

A lot of people ask me why I take Emma to therapy and what is Erb's palsy. (what Emma has) So I thought I would blog about it! : )

Every child is a miracle don't get me wrong! When Emma was born her birth was very difficult, Dr's fancy talk "Severe Shoulder Dystocia" Basically Emma's left shoulder got stuck on my bone and they couldn't get her out, after several different maneuvers, one broken arm, a very over stretched brachial nerves in her left arm, she was born. : ) When Emma was born they had to resuscitate her twice and then after a very quick peek at our new bundle of joy they whisked her off to the NICU for the night. They told us what went wrong and what to expect, that she may never be able to move her left arm........it was a big shock to Tim and I. We had NO idea how much our lives were about to change. Emma's broken arm healed perfectly fine. But her left arm was and is a slow process. She was not able to move her arm for the first four months of her life. She has been in physical therapy since she was 8 weeks old.

I am very grateful to God for her and all the miracles He continues to do with Emma. First they didn't think she would be able to move her arm, at four months she was able to move her forearm for the first time. : ) Then they thought that that would be the extent of her function, well at six months she was able to move her shoulder. God definitely has His hand on her. She did really well and compared to most kids who have Erb's palsy (that's what they call it) she is remarkable.

What is Erb's Palsy??

Erb's palsy is a form of brachial plexus palsy. It is named for one of the doctors who first described this condition, Wilhelm Erb.

The brachial plexus (BRAY-key-el PLEK-sis) is a network of nerves near the neck that give rise to all the nerves of the arm. These nerves provide movement and feeling to the arm, hand, and fingers. Palsy means weakness, and brachial plexus birth palsy causes arm weakness and loss of motion.

These nerves carry the signals from the brain to the muscles that move the arm. The nerves carry signals back to the brain about sensations such as touch, pain, and temperature.In some children, the affected arm is noticeably smaller than the unaffected arm. This occurs because nerves do have an effect on growth. Although the affected arm will continue to grow as the child grows, it grows at a slower pace, and the size difference will become more noticeable as the child gets older.

In Emma's case her elbow is slightly locked meaning she can't straighten her left arm out. So IF Emma stood still : ) and you looked at her you might would notice her left arm stays slightly bent. She also has internal rotation of her shoulder. The back of her shoulder lacks in muscle, so her shoulder is turning inward and her shoulder blade wings out because there is not enough proper muscle to hold it down. The supination in her left hand/arm is not very good. She can not turn her palm up in that arm. She can go as far as turning her thumb up. But, again Emma is doing VERY well with all of this! If you researched kids with this condition, you would see just how bad it could of been. We are so thankful to God that this is all we have to deal with, she can still do things, she might have to do some things differently, but she can do them!

It's been hard (for me) to deal with this. I do feel a lot of guilt, not that I could of done anything different, I just wish I could take this for her and she wouldn't have to deal with any of this. I wish I could take her place ( although I still have my own physical issues because of the birth)! I have been told that it is a long process of surgeries, therapies, and waiting. She may need surgeries through out her childhood to help her arm lengthen and grow as she grows. I was told by her Dr. that Emma will probably need to have a muscle transfer surgery, where they would take some of her good muscle from the pectoral area and transfer it to the back to help pull her shoulder back and possibly give her some more supination in that arm.

It's hard for Tim and I to make this decision of surgery now or wait or no surgery at all! It scares me to hear the DR say that if we don't transfer muscle, her arm will slowly turn all the way inward, not only would it look bad, but it would have no more function, and I'm sure be more painful. We think about how this is going to effect Emma's future, the physical scares she will have, being a girl how is this going to effect her self esteem when she is a teenager! Will she be able to drive a car when she gets older, will she be able to hold her baby one day with both her arms. How will she do everyday task that we do and don't think about like, reaching up with both hands to get something off a high shelf, or even button her shirt! She already struggles to get her shirts on and off because she can not turn her arm the way she needs to to take it on and off.

Oh the worries of this Mommy's heart!

So thankful for God's word and how it gives me peace!

Please pray for us! Emma is going on Tuesday for a sedated MRI. It is suppose to take three hours, then next Tuesday we are scheduled to meet with her Orthopedic Surgeon to discuss the findings of her MRI. Whether or not it is the right time to do a muscle transfer surgery or if we should wait and watch a while longer. It's a hard decisions for Tim and I to make. We have noticed that since Emma has gotten bigger her left arm is smaller, bent up, and turned inward more. She is having more and more difficulty with dressing herself. We appreciate all of your prayers!

She is a blessing and a miracle to us! ( all our girls are :) ) Thankful to God for all His blessings.