Developmental Appointment

Maxim had his big appointment with the developmental doctor yesterday. This is the first time he has seen her since he was in the hospital. This appointment was booked months ago as it takes up to 6 months to get him in and we were told how important it is for him to see this specialist. This doctor sees all babies in the NICU and then again when they are 6 months old after they have gone home. The doctor does tests on him to see how he is doing developmentally to see if he needs any further help by any other specialists. I know this sounds like what nurse Jackie does when she comes to the house and that's what we thought too, but we continued with our scheduled appointment because we were told how important this is and it's necessary. 

It ended up being a very good appointment. He weighed in at 15 pounds and is 25 3/4 inches long. The doctor told us that all of her tests were to measure him against a 3.5 month old since that is his age developmentally. She told us that there are no expectations of him to test older than that. She informed us that she was immediately impressed by his hospital records and how well he did in the hospital. Then after she saw him she was impressed again at how alert he is and she said that it seeems as if he has forgotten he is a premie because for the most part he is not acting like one nor does he look like one. She did tests with him on his back and he tested at a 5.5 month old. He tested as a 3.5 month old (right on target) for all stomach exercises. Other tests he sat at a 4.5 month old. For all tests he was either at or above his developmental age, so that was great news! The only thing we have to work on him for is his flat head. I guess premies tend to pick a side they like and they only look that way and move their head in that direction. This causes a flat spot and if not corrected it could lead to neck problems down the road. This is not something Andy and I had noticed, but once she pointed it out now we see how he only goes to his favorite side. She gave us tips and exercises to do with him to fix it. There is no specialist needed unless he is not showing any improvement in the next 6 weeks then he will need to see a therapist to fix this behavior. She was not concerned at all since it is not that bad.

She also informed us that we cannot put him in any jumpers or activity sets where he stands confined. Nurse Jackie also informed us of this too, but the doctor explained in more detail why these are bad for premies. Since premies did not fully develop in the womb they are missing "something" that allows them to play in those activity centers without developmental problems. If a premie uses a jumper this can cause them to be a tippy toe kid and it also causes issues with them being able to walk and know their boundaries. Something about how they did not learn flexion in the womb, and they are learning it now. 

She was also very impressed with how he is such a happy and very chill baby. She liked how much he was talking and giggling. He was just his normal happy self and it was great as a mommy to see how he kept impressing the doctor. He had two very proud parents in the doctor's office yesterday.

The big man will see the developmental specialist again in early May. He will also continue to see nurse Jackie as the next time he will see her will be in February. It's pretty nice that we have all these resources to make sure the big man doesn't begin to face challenges that we cannot detect on our own.