Our L-Man had his first preemie developmental evaluation on April 12th. On this day his adjusted age was 6 months, 2 days old and his real age was 8 months, 27 days. He weighed 15 pounds, 6 ounces (10-25th percentile for adjusted age), he was 25 1/2 inches long (10-25th percentile for adjusted age) and his head circumference was 43 centimeters (25-50th percentile).
Landon waiting for his turn!
Landon was evaluated by one of his perinatologist and two child developmental experts – a occupational therapist and a physical therapist. He sat on my lap in a small room. We sat across a small table from the occupational therapist and physical therapist. They basically played with Landon — handed him different toys and watched him play. What they really were doing was evaluating his cognitive and fine motor skills. He was handed 1 – 3 small red die and they watched as he manipulated them in his hands. They watched as he transferred the object from one hand to the other. They watched as he tried to pick up more than one die. After ringing a bell they handed it to him to watch him figure out how to make it ring. The put the bell on a washcloth and watched him pull the washcloth toward himself to get the bell close enough to pick it up. They dropped a toy on the ground, watching to see if he looked for the toy on the ground. They hid a smaller toy under a larger one to see if he could problem solve to look for the smaller toy under the larger one. They put the die inside a cup to see if he would dump the cup or reach in to get a dice out. They handed him a book and watched him manipulate the pages. They scored him at the age equivalent of a 7 month old.
Then Landon got really sleepy and decided he wasn’t too impressed with the therapists making him perform. When it was time to evaluate his gross motor skills Landon put his two fingers in his month and laid down on the blanket! He cried when they talked to him or tried to perk him back up. If I wasn’t in direct sight he cried. Landon did not want to show them how he can roll, get up on his hands and knees or how he scoots. They said he was ‘solid and strong’ and they had no concerns. He was scored at the age equivalent of a 6 month old.
They also described him as ‘quiet and very observant’. This is right on!
He will have a follow-up evaluation when he is 1 year old (adjusted age). He will begin to have his language skills evaluated at the 18 & 36 month evaluations.
After his evaluation we took Landon down to the NICU and said hello to many of his NICU nurses and one other perinatologist. To say the least they were AMAZED by him. They were amazed he has no medical or developmental concerns. A couple nurses took pictures of him to show to the rest of the staff! He continues to amaze everyone!
Landon’s main perinatologist is presenting his case at the annual Montana Perinatology Conference in a few weeks. Hopefully with what they learned from Landon more babies born with his condition can be saved! I pray that every baby born with Hydrops Fetalis thrives as much as Landon is.
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