Post-NICU follow up...

Today Avery had her 2nd Post-NICU follow up appointment. She saw a couple Nurses, Psychologist, Nutritionist, Occupational Therapist and a Neonatologist. She was also suppose to get her hearing tested at the hospital but after already being at the clinic for 4 hours I rescheduled her appointment. She will get it done when she gets her eyes checked again in a couple months. Overall her appointment went very well(besides the feeding issues that I'm fully aware of.)

The Nurses weighed her, measured her length and head and asked general questions about her health, eating and motor skills. She weighed in at 17 lbs. 14 oz.(10-25 percentile), length was 28 1/2 in.(25-50 percentile) and her head measured 42 cm(2 percentile.) These measurements are based on her adjusted age of 10 1/2 months instead of her actual age of 14 months. They base everything on adjusted age until they are 2 years old. They were really happy with her measurements and growth. Her head is a little small but they aren't worried about it. Maddy's head has always been on the smaller side as well(15 percentile.)

Avery really liked her appointment with the Psychologist. She basically played with her for about 1/2 hour. She gave her all kinds of objects and toys to see how she handled them and what she did with them. She would show her a toy and then hide it under a towel to see if Avery would try and find it. Of course she did. She also had her pick up things like cheerios to see if she is using her pincher grasp and switching from hand to hand. Avery did really well with this as well. She also laid a board with little holes in it to see if she would put her fingers in the holes. Avery really liked putting her thumbs in it. Avery also loved banging all the toys together. The Psychologist also asked about her motor skills and language development which are both on track.

The Nutritionist went over her feeding issues with me. Avery has a strong aversion to any solid food that isn't smooth and pureed. She will eat any fruit or yogurt as long as it is smooth and there isn't any kind of chunks in it. She doesn't quite know what to do with the chunks and will make herself gag. She also won't suck on a bottle either. She had reflux really bad and it was painful for her to eat so she just learned to not like to eat and became very passive about it. I have to squeeze the formula into her mouth with a squeeze bottle and then she will swallow it. The Nutritionist gave me some new things to try and then sent us to see the Occupational Therapist.

The Occupational Therapist mainly focused on her feeding. Avery's motor skills are developing very well and she is on track in all areas. We gave her some pieces of gram cracker and let her try and eat it. She liked it until a chunk broke off and then she would make herself gag and throw it up. We also tried putting some small pieces of gram cracker in her banana puree but that didn't go too well either. She gave me some more ideas and things to try. Some of them are a little messy and I'm not to excited about it but hey we'll try anything at this point.

The Neonatologist was very nice and thorough. I asked her about Avery's chronic runny nose(5 months) and she thinks it might be because she spits up so much and some is draining out her nose. She addressed all areas of her development and did a physical exam. She also gave me a couple more feeding tips and a prescription for her reflux and a referral to a G.I. specialist.

Over all I was really happy with how her appointment went other than it was four hours long. Thank you Jamie for watching Maddy for me!