As I have blogged before, I am the very proud Captain to Team TNT; Tiny N Tough in this years March for Babies. However, I have yet to make my monetary contribution, because I wanted it to be something that relayed my passion for this cause, and in the name of all of the babies I know who were taken to soon. This epidemic is earth shattering to so many families, including families that I know, and many moms I have grown to love.
So I have decided to graciously steal another blogger's idea; and Blog for Babies. For every comment I get in response to this post, I will donate $1 to the March of Dimes. Furthermore, my place of employment offers a 2:1 match for donations made to this organization, so this could be BIG. My goal is to get 100 comments, and I need your help.
I am asking you to comment back on this post and help me reach my goal, and Fight for each and every miracle, so that one day, another family will never have to write a blog like mine.
How you choose to comment is up to you, but I would LOVE to honor other miracles on my page as well, not just Dawson. So if you are commenting in memory or honor of another miracle and are comfortable doing so, please comment with their name and I will add them to my Team Page's scroll. If you are commenting on behalf of My Miracle please let me know, I love to see Dawson's #1 fans who have been with us for 9 months now.
Thank you for considering joining me in this fight; for it means so much.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Developmental Assesment Clinic
When a baby is born premature and graduates from the NICU, they are given follow up instructions to be seen by the DAC; Developmental Assessment Clinic. This is done at around 6 months Adjusted. (Adjusted age = Age that a baby would be HAD they been born on their due date) We had our appointment today, and I am going to post his updates to coincide with his 9month birthday which is Thursday. ( 9mos...HOLY $&*%!!)
During the appointment you see a Fellow from the unit, a nurse, a physical therapist, and audiologist (however for us this is in a different office) and usually either a Neonatologist or a Psychologist. The last 2 (whichever one shows) admister the Denver## test, which is a review of Language, Social, Gross Motor and Fine Motor skills and determine where the baby is at for their age.
-Gross Motor/Fine Motor Skills- This is the category that I was TERRIFIED of being reviewed on today. Merely 1 month ago, we had a follow up appt with our PT from the NICU. She did an overall review and determined that even though Dawson was almost 5 months old, developmentally he was at about 3.5 mos. She recommended PT every week. So my MIL has been taking Dawson faithfully every Wednesday to the "baby gym" to "work out" (exercise ball and all! Go Big D!) Well, I am sooooo sooo proud to say that today, Dawson was showing signs of being in the 5 month/early 6 month stage. He was being a total ham and standing up, rolling over, lifting his head you name it, he nailed it! My big guy! And here is my plug for the Lansing mamas- for real..Sparrow Peds services= AMAZING!
They are recommending that we start seeing our Early On teacher once a week instead of once a month, just so we can move forward in catching him up to his ACTUAL age, not adjusted. We need to close that gap around his 2nd birthday.
-Language/Social- Again, Dawson thrived today. While we have no idea what he said, he told that Psycologist his entire life story (which is a long one, as you can see he gets his chatting skills from his mama!) He laughed, cooed, babbled, smiled and then squealed. And then screamed and fell asleep!
-Hearing- Dawson was not having any part of this examination. He allowed them to stick the monitor in and blow the puff of air in the ear canal (this measures ear drum movement) and then that was that. He was done and there would be no more testing on his poor ears. So we have to go back in 2 weeks for a follow up, but the drum movement was good and reaction to sounds was EXCELLENT in his motor skills eval so they are not concerned.
-Vision- Blah. My baby is an Auditory baby 100%. They feel that Dawson's vision is actually poor in both eyes, and his right eye is very cloudy, and the left eye has a very small pupil, which they could not get to dilate with light. He does follow things but usually reacts to a sound more than a sight. He will not focus on a face or object, so at this point we are back to square 1, and cannot really tell what, if at all, Dawson can see. We are being referred BACK OUT to another pediatric Ophthalmologist (either at U of M or Beaumont) that specializes in ROP/Visual Impairments/Special needs. They want to do this as soon as possible, because they feel that we are already losing some of the vision that Dawson may have or have had.
They do feel that his vision impairment is affecting his physical development, because some of the developments that he needs to pass his assessment/therapy's, need sight. So they are referring us to a Visual Therapist/counselor within Early on, hopefully bi-weekly, but at least once a month.
This is where my emotions take over. I am going to back up a bit and go back to Sept. when we were discharged from Dawson's retinal specialist. When the specialist decided that there was not a surgical intervention she could do, we were referred out to see an Ophthalmologist/Optometrist. And to be frank, I don't remember which because at the time, I didn't realize there was a difference. So I found one (optometrist) in our network and made an appt. The appt. went well, he was very kind and said that they would continue to work with our retinal specialist should he see a need, but thought we could work with Dawson's vision and glasses would not be needed. Turns out, this is all not correct. The Fellow today was very concerned with this diagnosis and felt that we should NOT have seen an optometrist, and that with Dawson's ROP needs, this "Dr." should have referred us out immediately when he found out that D's disease was not something he was familiar with. So not only does it tick me off that I was not made aware of the specific specialization that would be needed to treat D, I am mad that the Optometrist told me he could handle D's stage of disease and he really can't. He is technically not even licensed to treat it because he is not a Pediatric Ophthalmologist. But it also makes me mad at myself for not knowing the difference. When they explained that to me today my heart just sank thinking that I could have put Dawson's vision at stake for being un-educated about his situation. It still makes me upset. So now I just have to wait for all the referrals to come in so we can move forward. Hopefully, if not by the end of the week, then early next.
Overall, it went okay. His eczema is getting worse, and they gave me some natural ways to treat that more frequently (Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize)and they also wanted an X-ray of his chest because it appears he has a cosmetic abnormality on one side (the heart side...oh goody) but his heart tones sound great and they are not worried, it would only be cosmetic (hopefully, we shall see what the X-ray says).
So for now, we rejoice in his developmental leaps, and worry about what vision developments may arise. We shall see.
As far as his 9 month stats, he weighed 13.5lbs with clothes on. I, like always cannot remember his length but I will get it on the 13th when we see the pedi for his well-child. Head circum looks great. Dawson is eating 3oz formula/3oz BM every 4 hours and currently sleeps through the (or most) nights. He is wearing 6month (3-6mo) clothing which is right on target with his AA. We also were given the go-agead to start mom and tot swimming at the Y, so I am super excited to see how Dawson likes the pool!!
My family on Christmas Day.
Dawson says it's his turn next for presents! He of course, was spoiled rotten!
Reindeer feet!
Catching one of his first laughs on camera. He is so funny when he laughs!
Dawson and I, the day after Christmas. Santa brought him this in his stocking and he LOVES this teether.
Playing with a new stuffed animal yesterday, this dolphin in longer than he is but when we sat him on it he was bouncing around like he was ready for a ride. This pic. makes me think he may like seafood hah!!
Dawson; the newest member of the Sophie Fan club (And Please be assured, this picture was soley a photo op, we do not leave Dawson on the counter, ever)
Dawson "riding" on his dolphin last night. Ryan was bouncing him and he had me cracking up, so I thought I would share!! You can actually see in this though how he favors 1 eye over the other.
During the appointment you see a Fellow from the unit, a nurse, a physical therapist, and audiologist (however for us this is in a different office) and usually either a Neonatologist or a Psychologist. The last 2 (whichever one shows) admister the Denver## test, which is a review of Language, Social, Gross Motor and Fine Motor skills and determine where the baby is at for their age.
-Gross Motor/Fine Motor Skills- This is the category that I was TERRIFIED of being reviewed on today. Merely 1 month ago, we had a follow up appt with our PT from the NICU. She did an overall review and determined that even though Dawson was almost 5 months old, developmentally he was at about 3.5 mos. She recommended PT every week. So my MIL has been taking Dawson faithfully every Wednesday to the "baby gym" to "work out" (exercise ball and all! Go Big D!) Well, I am sooooo sooo proud to say that today, Dawson was showing signs of being in the 5 month/early 6 month stage. He was being a total ham and standing up, rolling over, lifting his head you name it, he nailed it! My big guy! And here is my plug for the Lansing mamas- for real..Sparrow Peds services= AMAZING!
They are recommending that we start seeing our Early On teacher once a week instead of once a month, just so we can move forward in catching him up to his ACTUAL age, not adjusted. We need to close that gap around his 2nd birthday.
-Language/Social- Again, Dawson thrived today. While we have no idea what he said, he told that Psycologist his entire life story (which is a long one, as you can see he gets his chatting skills from his mama!) He laughed, cooed, babbled, smiled and then squealed. And then screamed and fell asleep!
-Hearing- Dawson was not having any part of this examination. He allowed them to stick the monitor in and blow the puff of air in the ear canal (this measures ear drum movement) and then that was that. He was done and there would be no more testing on his poor ears. So we have to go back in 2 weeks for a follow up, but the drum movement was good and reaction to sounds was EXCELLENT in his motor skills eval so they are not concerned.
-Vision- Blah. My baby is an Auditory baby 100%. They feel that Dawson's vision is actually poor in both eyes, and his right eye is very cloudy, and the left eye has a very small pupil, which they could not get to dilate with light. He does follow things but usually reacts to a sound more than a sight. He will not focus on a face or object, so at this point we are back to square 1, and cannot really tell what, if at all, Dawson can see. We are being referred BACK OUT to another pediatric Ophthalmologist (either at U of M or Beaumont) that specializes in ROP/Visual Impairments/Special needs. They want to do this as soon as possible, because they feel that we are already losing some of the vision that Dawson may have or have had.
They do feel that his vision impairment is affecting his physical development, because some of the developments that he needs to pass his assessment/therapy's, need sight. So they are referring us to a Visual Therapist/counselor within Early on, hopefully bi-weekly, but at least once a month.
This is where my emotions take over. I am going to back up a bit and go back to Sept. when we were discharged from Dawson's retinal specialist. When the specialist decided that there was not a surgical intervention she could do, we were referred out to see an Ophthalmologist/Optometrist. And to be frank, I don't remember which because at the time, I didn't realize there was a difference. So I found one (optometrist) in our network and made an appt. The appt. went well, he was very kind and said that they would continue to work with our retinal specialist should he see a need, but thought we could work with Dawson's vision and glasses would not be needed. Turns out, this is all not correct. The Fellow today was very concerned with this diagnosis and felt that we should NOT have seen an optometrist, and that with Dawson's ROP needs, this "Dr." should have referred us out immediately when he found out that D's disease was not something he was familiar with. So not only does it tick me off that I was not made aware of the specific specialization that would be needed to treat D, I am mad that the Optometrist told me he could handle D's stage of disease and he really can't. He is technically not even licensed to treat it because he is not a Pediatric Ophthalmologist. But it also makes me mad at myself for not knowing the difference. When they explained that to me today my heart just sank thinking that I could have put Dawson's vision at stake for being un-educated about his situation. It still makes me upset. So now I just have to wait for all the referrals to come in so we can move forward. Hopefully, if not by the end of the week, then early next.
Overall, it went okay. His eczema is getting worse, and they gave me some natural ways to treat that more frequently (Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize)and they also wanted an X-ray of his chest because it appears he has a cosmetic abnormality on one side (the heart side...oh goody) but his heart tones sound great and they are not worried, it would only be cosmetic (hopefully, we shall see what the X-ray says).
So for now, we rejoice in his developmental leaps, and worry about what vision developments may arise. We shall see.
As far as his 9 month stats, he weighed 13.5lbs with clothes on. I, like always cannot remember his length but I will get it on the 13th when we see the pedi for his well-child. Head circum looks great. Dawson is eating 3oz formula/3oz BM every 4 hours and currently sleeps through the (or most) nights. He is wearing 6month (3-6mo) clothing which is right on target with his AA. We also were given the go-agead to start mom and tot swimming at the Y, so I am super excited to see how Dawson likes the pool!!
My family on Christmas Day.
Dawson says it's his turn next for presents! He of course, was spoiled rotten!
Reindeer feet!
Catching one of his first laughs on camera. He is so funny when he laughs!
Dawson and I, the day after Christmas. Santa brought him this in his stocking and he LOVES this teether.
Playing with a new stuffed animal yesterday, this dolphin in longer than he is but when we sat him on it he was bouncing around like he was ready for a ride. This pic. makes me think he may like seafood hah!!
Dawson; the newest member of the Sophie Fan club (And Please be assured, this picture was soley a photo op, we do not leave Dawson on the counter, ever)
Dawson "riding" on his dolphin last night. Ryan was bouncing him and he had me cracking up, so I thought I would share!! You can actually see in this though how he favors 1 eye over the other.
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