High Risk Infant Follow Up

5am rolled around much to early for the trio.  Mommy and Grandma P. got us up and dressed us in comfy clothes early in the morning and loaded us into our carseats.  Today is a big day! We are going to Seattle for a BIG appointment.  Our other Grammy is meeting us to help out today at this BIG appointment. We arrived at daddy's work to pick him up at 6am.  Once we were on the road we headed to Seattle to the University of Washington.  Mommy, Daddy and Grammy got us out of our seats and carried us to the elevators and into a big building called the University of Washington Medical Center.  We wound down many halls and road down a couple elevators until we reached our destination which was CHDD (Center for Health, Disability and Development).  We got checked in early and sat to wait.

Today we are seeing how much progress we have made since we came home from the NICU! We get to test our cognitive, gross & fine motor, and social skills.  We also get to test our hearing and see a pediatrician who is going to measure and weigh us today.  It's a big deal! I am really nervous because I don't like to go to the doctor. I get really scared at the doctor because most of the time we go there to get shots and I don't like those! Mommy says we don't have to get shots today, but I am still scared! I don't know a lot of these people we are going to see today so I'm not sure I should trust them yet! Mommy says she'll stay with me and Daddy can go with Melissa.  Katelynn will love being with her B.F.F.(Best Friend Forever) Grammy.

So anyway, once we were all checked in, they paged our providers who came one by one to get us.  I was the last one who was called.  My first appointment was to find out how I was doing with my cognitive and motor skills.  I worked really hard for the examiner and I did pretty well.  I'm behind in a few areas and have some catching up to do even for corrected age.  She says I'm probably where a 10 month old would be at this point.  The test is hard because I'm not walking yet (I'm only cruising holding onto things!).  Mommy isn't worried though. She knows I'll catch on to walking soon! I'm good at climbing.  Some of the other hard test items included getting the bunny from under a clear box with a hole on one side! I could get the bunny when the hole was close to me but couldn't get the bunny if the examiner turned the box! I got so frustrated with this test and I whimpered a little.  I even gave the examiner the stink eye! Another hard part of the test was pointing to pictures she was telling me to find.  I was thinking so hard about the pictures, but she moved to fast! I had a hard time putting cubes in a cup! I did get 2 in before I had to quit! One of the things I was good at during the test was showing my beginning pincer grasp on a little pellet and playing a game of catch and toss with the examiner! I am sort of a social guy sometimes, but I'm also a very sensitive guy so the examiner had to be careful not to make me too sad.  At the end of the test, the examiner let me play with some really fun toys.  I liked trying to drive the car around on the table and chair! After I played for a few minutes the examiner showed Mommy and I where to go for our next appointment.  For my next appointment I was to get weighed and measured.  When I was walking to my appointment I saw Katelynn with Grammy! I waved at them.

Katelynn was getting done with weight and measurement and headed to the pediatrician.  She would soon be doing the same test I had done! Grammy says Katelynn did a good job on her test too! Her examiner says she is right on for her adjusted age so she's a little ahead of me in a few areas.  Katelynn is very close to walking independently so the examiner said she has some mild immaturities compared to full term 13 month olds, because we are preemies and we are almost 16 months (13 corrected) this puts us at a disadvantage and behind a bit, but that's ok! We will catch up eventually! We aren't in any hurry! Everyone thinks we are doing amazing for our rough start!

Melissa showed solid skills for her corrected age during the exam today.  Daddy says some of the things she did well were pointing to dog, balloon, spoon, and shoe.  She also crawled and pulled herself to stand to get things from a chair, she was able to put the blocks in the cup, she was also able to get the bunny when it was straight on but she too got frustrated when she couldn't get the bunny from the side.  Those examiners are so mean, not letting us grab that bunny! Her examiner said she had some mild immaturities like me and she needs to continue OT!  That means all 3 of us need to continue to see our friend at OT until we can walk! We like that idea! It's fun to go there!

After everyone got weighed and measured we all saw the pediatrician.  I got a good review for my height and head growth! The pediatrician and team all got a kick out of my social skills! I'm such a charmer! I've always been that way, even in the NICU, Mommy and Daddy were told I was a social baby and I'd often be caught at night socializing with the other babies around me or trying to get the attention of doting nurses!  Their only comment was that I seemed to have already established my handedness and this is awful young for that.  They don't want me to forget to use my right hand while I develop skills with my left! I'll work on this with OT! Katelynn got a good review from pediatrician as well with a note to monitor her growth carefully as she is still small! Melissa got an ok review from the pediatrician but it was noted that she is growing on her own curve and while she continues to progress in her development she has the most work to do with the OT!

Our last appointment of the day was our hearing screen! We all have normal hearing and our ears are clear! The hearing test was fun! We got to watch the bears when we turned toward the sounds! 

After High Risk Infant Follow Up appointments we went over and visited our friends in the NICU! We'll post about that later on! It was a special visit! We saw a few of our wonderful nurse friends and even the doctor who delivered us!

We were all so brave!  We will go back to High Risk Follow Up next August! Until then we will continue to grow and learn!