Connor with Gung Gung... and thoughts on the screaming cries

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Yesterday Gung-Gung finally dared to hold Connor on his lap! (His right arm is non-functional) Here are the smiling pair!



Connor's screeching cries have me somewhat worried that it is a sign of a developmental disorder. His screeching cries are ear-piercing and Connor writhes his body as if in pain.

So today I read up some on autism - I thought of this disorder because my ex-husband's sister had an autistic child (the last I heard from them this was the initial diagnosis so I could be mistaken), and I recall that she used to say her baby would scream as if bloody murder. My cousin on my Mom's side also has an autistic son.

There happened to be an article in this month's Today's Parent magazine that I subscribe to, and it referenced the Autism Speaks site. It is alarming that, according to the site, 1 out of 150 children are diagnosed with autism; and 1 in 94 are boys with the autism spectrum. There is also thought to be a genetic link to having the disorder. From what I read there, such as learning the signs of autism, Connor has so far hit the milestones that he should, such as babbling by 12 months. So Connor has none of the listed symptoms, everything in his development seems normal. However it is far too early in Connor's life to diagnose this if it is the cause or not.

I did a search for "baby screams loudly", read several articles/threads and did not find any writers linking a screaming, crying baby to any disorder. So this has put my mind more at ease.

This evening Connor was screaming/crying again while we were with Po Po and even Po Po was worried that something was physically wrong with Connor. However I was able to calm and soothe him, and found that he wanted more food (his previous feed had been interrupted).

I think the fact that I am able to calm him and soothe him during these episodes means that he really is just overtired or hungry, or going through growing pains, ie. a growth spurt; I think he is due for his next growth spurt now.

Boy, I sure did not prepare myself for all this worrying as a new Mommy, although how could one prepare for that anyway?