Developmental Specialist Appointment

The girls had their appointment with the developmental specialist on Saturday. This was the first time the specialist would actually evaluate their development as the other visits were more to get to know the babies and explain the role of the specialist. The girls are now 4 months adjusted age based on when they should have been born. So at 4 months, a baby is really starting to develop skills like grabbing on to toys, spending a majority of their time in tummy time, socializing, and problem solving.

Addison went first and she was very social, smiling and trying to please the specialist. Unfortunately, she did not score very well in several areas. She scored very high in communication and personal social skills because she is such a happy baby that smiles and talks to everyone around her. In other categories she fell behind her adjusted age. The specialist was concerned because she seemed to follow objects but then lose them or start focusing on something else in the room. This has been a concern for us for the last few months but we thought she was getting better as she now focuses on people really well but she doesn't seem to be focusing on objects as well as she should be. The specialist rec commended that we get her into the opthomologist as soon as possible to see if there is any underlying eye issues that is preventing her from seeing things properly. She also scored low on her fine motor skills. She is more apt to have her hands clenched in a fist like a newborn rather than having her fingers open and exploring things around her. She would grasp on to toys but not really pull them in front to observe them.

We were very sad to learn that she has fallen behind and we are concerned about the possible eye issues so we will talk to the pediatrician on Wednesday and find out if we can get her into the opthomologist as soon as possible. The specialist also recommended that the girls be spending most of their day in tummy time. As of now, the girls will maybe spend 5-15 minutes a day if that in tummy time and this is not acceptable. Babies learn all of their development from being on their tummy and strengthening their muscles starting with their head an neck muscles, moving on to holding themselves up on their forearms and then into crawling and walking. So now, we need to be more aware of how important tummy time is and each care provider will need to work with them several times a day to improve their development.

Riley did much better on her assessment. She scored very high in every category except her gross motor skills which is related to lack of tummy time. Riley is doing everything a 4 month old baby should be and more. It is hard not to compare the two babies, but the therapist wanted us to be aware of what a 4 month old baby should be doing and she used Riley as an example. We felt better knowing at least one of our girls was not hindered from being born prematurely, but I am very sad knowing that Addison has some work to do to get up to her adjusted age. To help Addison, the specialist is referring us to the Arizona Early Intervention Group that helps babies that have fallen behind get therapy to help them move up in development.

We hope that the eye exam does not reveal anything too severe and we can just work on some therapy to get Addison up to speed. We should know more in the next few weeks but if you can keep us in your prayers, we would greatly appreciate it.