Just a quick update on our developmental evaluation from last Friday. The therapist came to the house and did a number of tests with Michael to decide if he's on track with his developmental age, which is now 5, almost 6 weeks. These tests included seeing how long he can hold his head up, whether he tracks things with his eyes, make eye contact, his range of motion with his arms and legs, batting at toys, and whether or not he can hold things. He passed most of the tests on point, some he scored directly for his age and a couple even scoring higher then he should have. The only thing he doesn't do is grasp things but they said that is up to a 3 month skill so no need for concern there. His head control is getting better and better also, they said he should have basically full control by 3 months. He still has the occupational therapist appointment this Friday but as of right now they are not thinking he will qualify for the therapies at this point. The OT is basically coming to check on his feedings since he still has that issue with sticking out his tongue while he's sucking and just to make sure his spitting up is normal. After he comes we'll get the official reports and have a meeting to see if he'll need any therapy at this point. But, like i said it doesnt seem like he will for right now.
In other news we're sleeping pretty good, most nights we have a 5-7 hour stretch and then another 4-5 hours after he eats... not bad! An official weigh in will be next Friday but we're probably somewhere in the 10 - 10.5lbs range. Daddy weighed himself at the doctor last week then weighed himself holding him and it was about 10lbs more... so yeah :) Thats all!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Eyes and Evaluations
Today was Michael's follow up eye appointment with the eye doctor he was seeing in the NICU. Now lets just remind you, Mikey is not a fan of eye exams and now i know why! First they put a bunch of drops in there to dilate his eyes then they use these crazy looking things to hold open his eyes while they look in them. He actually didn't mind the things that held his eyes open but he was not thrilled when the doctor touched his eyes. All in all he did pretty good. The decision for now is that the laser surgery was a success and the ROP is gone. As for what he can see, well obviously we don't know yet but babies his age basically have great vision... he said at his next appointment in July if he could talk babies his age would be able to read the eye chart. Since obviously babies that young can't talk yet they just sort of wait to know what he can see until later on. Right now we have to watch and make sure his eyes "tighten up" and make sure he doesnt have a lazy eye. Thats all on the eye front.
Birth to three a program run by the state came out last week (they come to the house) and set up a couple of therapy evaluations to see if Michael qualifies for on going therapy. He has to meet 5 things off the list of criteria and right now he only meets 4 (low birth weight, low gestation period, parental concern (whatever that means), and his ROP ) so he might not qualify. But, they come out and fully evaluate him anyway... he has a general developmental therapist and an occupational therapist who will be seeing him and after they see how he's doing they'll decide if he qualifies for the whole program. He's actually doing fairly well with development to his adjusted age so we'll see. If he doesnt qualify right now we can have them come back and reevaluate him later later if he shows delays in walking, talking or has vision problems or things like that.
Besides all the medical stuff, we're doing great. Michael is sleeping a little longer at night and that is always great news :) I'm a little tired of not being able to go out anywhere, but soon enough we'll be able to venture out more and more. We might make his first big outing the NICU reunion on the 6th. Can't really think of anything else to write so goodnight!
And as a closing note, his Daddy would like to add that he is the awesomest kid on the planet :)
Birth to three a program run by the state came out last week (they come to the house) and set up a couple of therapy evaluations to see if Michael qualifies for on going therapy. He has to meet 5 things off the list of criteria and right now he only meets 4 (low birth weight, low gestation period, parental concern (whatever that means), and his ROP ) so he might not qualify. But, they come out and fully evaluate him anyway... he has a general developmental therapist and an occupational therapist who will be seeing him and after they see how he's doing they'll decide if he qualifies for the whole program. He's actually doing fairly well with development to his adjusted age so we'll see. If he doesnt qualify right now we can have them come back and reevaluate him later later if he shows delays in walking, talking or has vision problems or things like that.
Besides all the medical stuff, we're doing great. Michael is sleeping a little longer at night and that is always great news :) I'm a little tired of not being able to go out anywhere, but soon enough we'll be able to venture out more and more. We might make his first big outing the NICU reunion on the 6th. Can't really think of anything else to write so goodnight!
And as a closing note, his Daddy would like to add that he is the awesomest kid on the planet :)
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The first few weeks
Well all, the first few weeks have been going excellent so far! Of course we prefer Michael would sleep a little more but, well... he is a "newborn" after all so no sleep is to be expected. We'll take no sleep as long as we can have our baby home with us!
Since being discharged Michael's been to three doctors appointments. First he went to the cardiologist who gave him an excellent report... his PDA is closed (remember that pesky PDA from his first month of life??) so that is excellent! The doctor did an echo cardiogram and EKG and gave him an "all clear" report. He still has his PFO but this causes no issues in life unless he wants to be a career scuba diver or fighter pilot. There is no need for follow up with cardio.
Next he went to the urologist to check on his kidneys. Just a refresher he has hydronephrosis which is dilation of his kidney. This could resolve on its own but maybe not. I'm not really sure what kind of issues (if any) this will cause him if it doesnt resolve but for now its no big deal... follow up scan in July. She also said his hernia looks good, though shes not the one dealing with that a doctor at Fairfax will be doing his surgery whenever that time comes. We need to make a follow up appointment for that but they said to check back when he's around 6 months or 10lbs
And then finally he went to the pediatrician on the 10th, who also gave him a good report. He got his 4 month shots and otherwise it was fairly uneventful. At his appointment he weighed 8lbs 6oz so he is gaining weight well (at discharge he was 7lbs 8oz) so almost a pound in a week. Don't know what he weighs right now but I'm guessing around 9lbs? Maybe more, who knows. His newborn sized jammies are getting a little too short on him so he must be growing!
Coming up in the next month or so we have a weight check at the pediatrician, the kidney scan, a development clinic at Fairfax, an eye doctors appointment and the "birth to three" program offered by the state
We aren't entirely sure what birth to three is, i guess they assess his development and help us get him therapies and such if he needs them. We'll find out more tomorrow when they come over to get him signed up.
So stay tuned folks, there are many fabulous things on the horizon!
Since being discharged Michael's been to three doctors appointments. First he went to the cardiologist who gave him an excellent report... his PDA is closed (remember that pesky PDA from his first month of life??) so that is excellent! The doctor did an echo cardiogram and EKG and gave him an "all clear" report. He still has his PFO but this causes no issues in life unless he wants to be a career scuba diver or fighter pilot. There is no need for follow up with cardio.
Next he went to the urologist to check on his kidneys. Just a refresher he has hydronephrosis which is dilation of his kidney. This could resolve on its own but maybe not. I'm not really sure what kind of issues (if any) this will cause him if it doesnt resolve but for now its no big deal... follow up scan in July. She also said his hernia looks good, though shes not the one dealing with that a doctor at Fairfax will be doing his surgery whenever that time comes. We need to make a follow up appointment for that but they said to check back when he's around 6 months or 10lbs
And then finally he went to the pediatrician on the 10th, who also gave him a good report. He got his 4 month shots and otherwise it was fairly uneventful. At his appointment he weighed 8lbs 6oz so he is gaining weight well (at discharge he was 7lbs 8oz) so almost a pound in a week. Don't know what he weighs right now but I'm guessing around 9lbs? Maybe more, who knows. His newborn sized jammies are getting a little too short on him so he must be growing!
Coming up in the next month or so we have a weight check at the pediatrician, the kidney scan, a development clinic at Fairfax, an eye doctors appointment and the "birth to three" program offered by the state
We aren't entirely sure what birth to three is, i guess they assess his development and help us get him therapies and such if he needs them. We'll find out more tomorrow when they come over to get him signed up.
So stay tuned folks, there are many fabulous things on the horizon!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Welcome!
Welcome to our new blog! Now that Michael is out of the hospital we will be continuing to document his progress (and everything else we do) here! So welcome!
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