This is about our daughter, Whitney, and our journey through discovering, treating, and diagnosing her developmental delays.

At about 5 months, we noticed she stopped gaining weight on breast milk. She always had quite a time of it breastfeeding, but we managed. Doctor did not seem worried. We started supplementing with formula. She gained weight very slowly. Up until this time, Whitney seemed ahead...she rolled over completely at 5 weeks, she was imitating speech sounds at 2 months. All that stopped.

At 8 months, Whitney sat up. Seemed normal. However, she showed no interest in feeding herself, crawling, or picking up small objects. She was soft and floppy. There was more going on, but we were blind to it. We waited patiently for her to do things that other children her age were doing.

At 10 months, she was rolling to get places. Still no crawling. She would not cross midline, and would rarely pick up small toys. Her thumbs seemed permanantly tucked into her fists.

At 11 months, Whitney still did not crawl. She started perfecting the military crawl but dragged her legs everywhere. She was nowhere close to walking....very unstable. She is not feeding herself...no defined pincher grasp. Everyone kept saying "kids develop at their own pace...she will be fine." I was not so sure.

Denial...mom and dad's best friend. Everyone, including the doctor, said she would catch up and that she was fine. We believed them, but I started to worry....more that usual.