Developmentally Awesome

Thank you to my cute hubby for blogging for me yesterday. I'm halfway through NaBloPoMo and heaven forbid I miss a day. I wouldn't want the blog powers that be to come after me with their keypads of fury.

I am feeling better. Not great. I have major sinus issues that are causing blinding headaches. My left eye's vision has been all wonky from the pressure. On top of that, my ears are jacked, my throat is fire, and I have a fever. It's like the cold from Hades. My lovely doctor gave me a slew of prescriptions, and they have definitely helped. I'm hoping my fever is gone in the morning, I hate calling in sick to work, I feel so guilty. I think my doctor knows that, because she wrote me a note (like I am in school!) saying not to go back to work until Friday. If only it were that easy.

I've stayed away from Maddie for the most part. My doctor (who is also Maddie's pediatrician) told me that she was pretty certain I caught what Maddie and Mike had a few weeks ago - you know, the illness that PUT MADDIE IN THE HOSPITAL. But "pretty" certain isn't "certain" so I've kept my distance. I really hope my little baby didn't feel this bad because that just makes me cry. No, literally, my head hurt so bad yesterday I might have been crying. That was before my magical drugs, though.

I rose from my death bed to accompany Maddie to her NICU follow up appointment, and my mom came down to accompany me. Because she was in the NICU for a prolonged period of time due to prematurity, the neonatologists want to follow her for the next few years to see how she does developmentally. We arrived at our designated floor in the outpatient building and almost freaked out by how many people were in the waiting room. Luckily, the waiting room was for four different offices, so the wait wasn't too long.

When Maddie was called back, we were delighted to discover that the nurse practitioner was one of Maddie's NICU nurses. It was great to see a familiar face. Maddie had all the usual measurements taken. Her head circumference is 38.5 cm, her length is 21 3/4 inches, and her weight is 9 pounds, 8 ounces. Still so freaking tiny!!! But again, the doctors and nurses didn't seem phased by it..so I will try not to be, either.

Her NICU nurse asked me a bunch of questions to get caught up on Maddie's life since NICU discharge. I let her know about her eating habits, medications, and her hospital stay. Then the nurse, doctor, and occupational therapist took a look at her. They were amazed by how well she tracks with her eyes, her interactions with them, and her verbalizations. They said as far as all that goes, she's at the four month level. Her head control was good, but her neck strength lagged a bit behind. So in that case, she is right on schedule for her adjusted age of two and a half months (meaning, how old she'd be if she'd been born on her due date). The therapist said that everything we were doing was right on track and to keep giving her tummy time and sit her upright whenever we can to help her develop her neck and trunk muscles. She doesn't have to go back until August, when she'll be over six months adjusted age. Then she'll have all kinds of development tests.

When we got home, I collapsed, so my mom and Mike set to work exercising Maddie. She had lots of tummy time and back time. She has started reaching out and hitting things, so they were encouraging that. We also rigged her a back support with some Boppy pillows and she looooved it. Her new thing is sucking on her hands. We're glad she can soothe herself with them, but we're a little scared that she might be at the beginning stages of teething. We just aren't ready for our baby to have teeth!