Yesterday was our now-annual NICU Follow Up clinic. This is an appointment where Will meets primarily with an Occupational Therapist to be tested on his developmental progress. This is how they calculate how he's doing based on his "adjusted" and "actual" ages. Again, for preemies, thier "acutal" age is the number of months they physically are. Will is physically almost 27 months old. His "adjusted" age is only 24 months--the age he would be if he were born on his due date (which, conincidentally is today--isn't that crazy??). This "gap" makes less and less difference as he ages, but when you're looking at infants, there's a huge difference between a 3 and 6 month old or even a 10 or 13 month old.
So, ANYway. It's a two-hour appointment that is supposed to kind of be "playing" but it's in a closet-sized room with "developmental" toys from the 1970's. Supercool. I can't even tell you how proud I am of that boy--he was so well behaved and cooperated for the FULL two hours, I couldn't beleive it. They had him do all kinds of crazy things--can he stack blocks, put pennies in a piggy bank, put pegs in a peg board, pretend to feed a baby doll with a spoon, hold a crayon, stand on one leg, walk backwards. Does he know where his hair is, his shoes are, his bellybutton. They also show him pictures and ask questions to determine if he comprehends things like "him" and "her". If he uses "ing" words (i.e. there was a picture of kids at a picnic table with fruit and when they ask him "What are those kids doing" does he say "eating" or "eat") The list goes on and on.
I'm thrilled to report that Will is again testing at or above his actual age for all areas of development (AGAIN, with one exception--gross motor--which is no surprise. Did you know he should be able to walk up and down stairs just holding on to the railing? I'd never even let that druken sailor try to find out if he can do it! He's testing at only 19 months for gross motor!!). I'm particularly proud that his receptive and expressive communication (language) are testing between 32-39 months. He cracked me up too--when Pam (the OT) would ask him a question he didn't know the answer to, he'd try, try, try again then put his hands up and simply say "I don't KNOW!"
It was an all around awesome visit. We stopped at the NICU and saw some of our old angels--some of our favorites were there...it actually brought me to tears to see that room. We've visited the NICU many times since we left all those tubes, beeps and buzzers behind, but this is the first time Will ran down the hallway to see them, and TALKED to those nurses who rocked him and fed him and, simply said, saved him. It was surreal to look at him, and how much he's changed, and look at those beautiful women who looked just the same...
I am a lucky, lucky, lucky mama, and I think that maybe, finally, I too, am well adjusted....
