Our „Vojta-ing“
Our story began, and with it the most wonderful days of our lives, with the birth of our son Pavlíček – actually, it started eight months before that. Yes, eight months. Pavlíček was born just at the beginning of the ninth month of pregnancy and was therefore considered a premature baby. And although I didn’t admit any risks during pregnancy, after the birth I began to examine everything carefully, as I blamed myself for this premature birth.
Once, a colleague mentioned a visit to a physiotherapist who perfectly examined all the reflexes of her full-term son. We agreed that neither of us would have thought that such things were even checked and what conclusions they could lead to.
This thought kept spinning in my head, so I decided to contact Mgr. Krucký and ask him to examine our son.
The first visit to the physiotherapist took place before the end of the postpartum period. Naively, very naively, I hoped that Pavlíček would do relatively well despite his early birth… On the way there I was cheerful; on the way back I cried the whole time.
Pavlíček didn’t do well at all compared to our expectations. We had noticed that he lay in a “croissant” position at home and didn’t lift his head properly, but the rest? No, as lay parents, we really didn’t notice.
The comforting talk from people around us that “every other child has this” didn’t comfort us at all. On the contrary, we started looking at the people around us who thought everything was fine, yet one had back pain and another complained about their legs. We suddenly saw countless such cases.
That’s why we decided to listen to the physiotherapist’s advice and start treatment, mainly for Pavlíček’s sake. We didn’t want him to have pain or develop incorrectly when there was a way to influence it.
Doctors suggested waiting until he was three months old. But what would we see then? That we had lost a month and a half? Now we have the Vojta method, and we’ll try it. There is cerebral palsy in the family, so we were scared.
At first, we practiced one exercise 6-8 times a day, truly before every breastfeeding. Gradually, we noticed moments when Pavlíček lay really straight. Was that the first success?
Two days after starting the treatment, Pavlíček began to reward us – he started laughing out loud by himself!
A week later, there was another visit, and Pavlíček was given two exercises. It was still necessary to practice very often. I must add that Pavlíček didn’t tolerate the exercises well at all; he started crying immediately. I cried through many sessions with him. Many times I thought – why us? How did Pavlíček reward us further? In two weeks, he started smiling when I smiled at him. I was glowing!
Pavlíček began to make progress after progress. He started turning onto his side on time and doing it correctly. Soon he also discovered his hands.
At the third check-up, we received another exercise and important information. I asked if he would be disabled. The physiotherapist Mgr. Krucký told us the most important sentence: “I have seen many children, and though I shouldn’t say it yet, from my experience I dare say that Pavlíček will not be mentally disabled; he fixes his eyes perfectly.” During the next visit, I was encouraged even more – Pavlíček should not have cerebral palsy!
However, we were also “deflated” many times because Pavlíček didn’t always do what he was supposed to. The main problem was asymmetry – one half of the body developed more than the other. The recipe was simply practice, practice, practice.
Even though Pavlíček started turning onto his tummy and discovered his feet, the asymmetry was still there. It was hard to watch him not wanting to practice and crying through it. Only the first exercise began to entertain him, where we looked at each other and I sang. But the enthusiasm vanished with the second and third exercises.
At seven months, Pavlíček started crawling on his belly, gradually gaining speed and exploring the world. Finally, he could get where he needed to be. It was amazing!
However, it took a very long time for Pavlíček to get on his knees to crawl properly. Meanwhile, he started standing up in his crib and walking around furniture, but still wasn’t crawling. There was still a “setup error,” so the Vojta-ing continued. By then we had four exercises and Pavlíček had huge strength and resisted us. But he just wouldn’t crawl on all fours.
The exercises were constantly adjusted to the needs of his body. There was a phase where two of us always had to be there to hold him. The grandparents always left the room, saying they wouldn’t watch us “torture” the little one.
Yet finally, the day came when Pavlíček was on all fours and crawling along nicely. I cheered, thinking we would stop. We didn’t. There was still a problem with one leg. But it was no longer a pathology! Just a minor issue to be tuned through exercise.
We could hardly imagine a time when we wouldn’t be practicing. We adjusted our routine to it. Pavlíček wasn’t crying anymore; he was “scolding” me when I held him in a position he didn’t want to be in.
Finally, the day came when Pavlíček took his first independent steps, and they weren’t delayed at all. Pavlíček caught up with everything, and even moved ahead of his peers. In fine motor skills and thinking, he was soon very far ahead.
Pavlíček was skillful and mentally very well. It was so superpower to hear the praise. Now I always left the physiotherapist feeling happy and smiling.
The day came when we visited the office for the last time. It was almost exactly one year of living with “Vojta.” It was wonderful; Pavlíček walked into the office on his own two feet. We, who had been so afraid and cried so much, finished the therapy with a perfect result: perfect posture without a single flaw and great fine motor skills.
Today I think about how to further develop Pavlíček so we don’t hold him back, since he has such a great start. It was worth it. I wish a lot of strength and patience to everyone who meets the same challenge!