developmental pediatrician

it was the appointment of the year.. much anticipated.. and here are the results:

*wren is beautiful

*she's doing great

that is what i had to promise to post on the blog. haha.. yes, i told the pediatrician about my blog, and asked her to write everything down so i could post it, and she wouldn't do it. she also made me promise
not to worry.. she said that "it's her job to be nit-picky"... and that the things that she told me about weren't really things that anyone would notice but her. all of her conclusions are based on wren's adjusted age- which is 3 months. (that is the age calculated from the expected due date.)

you guys know me, and you know that i'm not one to worry too much. things are just going to happen as they do. with that said, i'll go over some of the things that we're going to be working on.

firstly, we're going to be doing more belly time. wren absolutely will not tolerate belly time! i don't know why, the crazy kid would only tolerate her belly for 3 months. and now, i suppose she's saying "i'm fed up with the belly" when she's screaming her head off. the docs solution to this is to do tummy time multiple times a day.. many times a day even.. to make her used to it, not make her hate it. so, it makes sense, if she won't tolerate an extended period on her belly, to give her many short periods on her belly.

she also noticed that wren favors her left hand. this is called asymmetrical grasp. this would be ok if she was old enough to

establish handedness, but she's not.(that comes as early as 18 months or so.) she's been referred to physical therapy, and we'll have an early intervention appointment soon. (hopefully... all that depends on insurance.)

she does have many many things in her favor. her laughing, cooing, standing, and holding herself up. (her neck should be stronger, but just a little.) her rolling, and movements are going good. her bowleggedness is pretty pronounced, but the doc said that that was normal, and it will clear up soon. also, the fact that she's had no seizures, no IVH (intraventricular hemorrhage, or brain bleed.), no severe vision problems... all these are in her favor. some of the other things she mentioned were developmental toys, changing positions and exposing her to new things.

the doctor also said that sleep training is a great asset to children's development. the routine gives them something to understand... they know what to expect from the world. and also learn to adapt when the routine is changed. this is something that i've been going back and forth on for a while, but overall, decided to stick with. i'm really glad to have the doctor's explanation of things backing what i'd decided to do. haha... you know how much i rely on the opinion of doctors! but it makes sense when you think about it.. how safe and comfortable do we feel when we have a routine, and life is on a schedule? life is so hectic without knowing what's coming next.. life can be so out of control, and children feel that too. (she didn't say that i should strictly stick to it, but that i should use it as a tool to teach her to adapt as well.) but, sleep training has been awesome, and (with only a few mishaps) she's been sleeping through the night for about a month now. momma loves this! (and it's the only way that i keep this blog going!) i've got her on a wake up, feed, nap, feed, up for a while, feed nap, feed, up for a while, feed, bedtime... there could possibly be another feed there at the end, depending on how early i put her down... but i shoot for about 10pm. she's been sleeping until 6 or 7 every morning. listening to her cry really sucks, but it has been totally worth it to have this outcome. especially with them adding in these breathing treatments.. i have to do everything based on her eating schedule, so it's great to know sorta what to expect.

all of this sounds great, and it seems like she's doing good... but having a preemie, or a high risk child really changes so many things. it's such a scary thing to have this little life, and you want so much for everything to go "as planned"... to not have any physical or mental disabilities... to have a perfectly healthy little baby... and there's just no guarantee. this appointment was especially hard for me.. and the follow up in february will be hard as well. in fact, scratch that, not only will that be hard, but the next 2 years.. which is what they tell me it will take for her to officially be in the clear. or to know for sure what sort of disabilities she could have. and those are just the lower level disabilities. they obviously can't test her algebra capabilities at 2... that will take longer. so, in true charla form, i've got to decide not to carry this one with me... it will do nothing but weigh down the next 14 years or so of my life... and we all know that worry is a heavy burden, and a cruel master. please continue to pray that wren is healthy and happy, and that she grows into the perfect little one that we all hope. i'm giving this one to god. (and i'm getting some more developmental toys!)

we can't even see where she started... she's come so far.