On Friday Avery had her (long) NICU follow up appointment. It is usually 4-5 hours and she normally sees 6-7 specialists. This time it only ended up being about 3 1/2 hours because they didn't have as many kids scheduled and we got her eye exam out of the way the previous week. She also didn't have to see the Feeding and Nutrition specialists because she is doing much better with her chewing and eating regular table food.
She saw the eye Dr. a week ago Friday and surprisingly her eyes are actually better then they were about a year ago. Both her near sightedness and her astigmatism are milder. I need to get her some new glasses now because the ones she has now are too strong. I was a little concerned with her right eye, it sometimes goes a little cross eyed. He said she has a mild case of a condition that makes it to where she can't move her left eye to the far outside so when she tries to her right eye will cross a little. He said it's nothing to be concerned about and she won't ever have to have it corrected.
The Pediatrician (Dr. Bybee) did a full physical evaluation. He checked all her major organs and general health and everything looked great. He did hear a very slight heart murmur but isn't concerned at this point. He said he will just listen for it next time and to have her regular Dr. listen for it the next time she is seen. He said some kids have them on and off during childhood but they usually go away. Since she was born at 25 1/2 weeks gestation he can't believe she hasn't ever had to be hospitalized or had to go to the Dr. for anything other then her well child visits. We have been so blessed with both kids health! Neither of them have ever had ear infections or gotten really sick at all. We have yet to make a ER or InstaCare visit... knock on wood!
Next she saw the Nurse who took all her measurements.
Head 46.4 cm
Weight 26 lbs. (10%)
Height 95 cm (50%-75%)
She is staying the same on her growth curve-which is good. She did jump on the chart in height-she must get that from her Dad.
After she saw the Nurse she saw a Psychologist (Mike Steffen.) He was very impressed with her cognitive development. I told him I was a little concerned about things like her learning her colors and animals. Most of the time when I ask her what color something is she says "color" instead of saying an actual color. So he did a bunch of color testing. I was surprised, she aced it all. A couple of the ways he tested her was he showed her a picture that had different colors of crayons on it and then gave her different colored discs and asked her to put the colored disc on top of the same colored crayon in the picture. She put them all in the right place her first try. Then he had three small cups and placed a red dowel in one, a yellow dowel in another and then a blue one in the last one. He then gave her five more of each colored dowels and told her to put them in the right cup. She put them all in the right cup except one-which she hurried and fixed once she realized she put it into the wrong cup. He said she just might not have the vocabulary yet to vocalize the colors but that she knows them. He also did things like build a small wall and then took it apart and told her to build it. She built it the exact same way he did. He was really impressed because he said a lot of kids her age can't do that yet. He said to work on verbs with her. For example, show her pictures of people doing things and ask her what they are doing... like playing, eating, sleeping etc. He also said to work on counting objects with her.
Next she saw a Speech Therapist (Ann Sumner.) She did really well naming objects and using complete sentences and pointing out the correct objects. She fell within a few months of her age on all results which is considered the "normal range." Her verbal skills score was 2 yrs. 8 months (compared to her adjusted age of 2 yrs. 9 months) and her understanding score was 2 yrs. 5 months. Near the end of the evaluation she wasn't wanting to focus much (we had been there almost 3 1/2 hours already) and we kind of laughed about her doing awesome "when she wanted to." Which is completely the way she is. She has a hard time sitting still most of the time, but if it is something she is really interested in she does awesome! Which I'm pretty sure is typical of most 3 year old's.
All of the Dr.'s and staff are awesome! They are so patient and genuinely concerned about the children. I am so proud of Avery and grateful that she is progressing so well. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome to such a scary situation. We love you Avery!
Loved B&W again!
*Photo taken by Maddy.
