Yep... Still Miracles

A couple of weeks ago, the babies had their follow up appointments at the children’s hospital. At these appointments (that they will go to every 3 months until they are 2 years old) they see a nurse, a neonatologist, a physical therapist and an occupational therapist. As we made the turn onto 95^th street, I could see the hospital. Automatically, my stomach turned and my eyes filled with tears.  So, as we approached the hospital, I became more and more anxious.

We didn’t have to wait too long… maybe 20 minutes in the lobby. However, from the time we arrived to the time we walked out the door to leave was 3 hours! The babies were crabby as hell and hungry since they refused to take their bottles cold. It was pretty much a nightmare.

The neonatologist said they looked great and he didn’t have any concerns. We were extremely relieved and anxious for pt/ot to come into the room. By the time they did come into the room, both babies had reached their breaking points. It wasn’t pretty. After playing around with both of the babies, they came to the conclusion that they wanted to refer Cameron to early intervention for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that he favors his right side. He sleeps on this side of his head and tends to want to turn this way. The second reason was because he makes fists a lot. He actually barely opened his hands for them, but I knew that he did it often at home. Either way, they referred him and decided to refer Violet, as well, just so she could get into the system. The early intervention coordinator came by last week and set up the appointment for this afternoon.

As much as I know the babies are doing well, it just really sucks that I have a constant anxious feeling about their growth and development. I hate when I’m reminded that they are preemies and that they could have major health or developmental problems.

The physical therapist, developmental therapist and coordinator arrived at noon and right away I was very comfortable with them. They weren’t intimidating or there to just do a job. They were great with the babies and really explained everything they were looking for in great detail. They asked a bunch of questions about each of the babies and the pregnancy and then assessed each baby individually. When they were finished they exchanged a glance and a few quick words and then told me that NEITHER baby qualifies for any early intervention at this time. BOTH of my amazing miracle babies are perfectly on target for their adjusted ages. I couldn’t help but cry as they told me how wonderful they think the babies are doing and how impressed they are with their progress and current ability levels.  I listened as I cried (and made the developmental therapist cry, as well!) all while thanking God to have been blessed with such perfect miracles. It astounds me every single day of their lives how incredible they are, how hard they fought and how proud I am of them.  While I still can’t believe everything happened the way it did… and it still haunts me every night… I’ll never forget how lucky I am to be Violet’s and Cameron’s mommy. I must’ve done something right in my life to deserve these miracles.

The developmental therapist was wonderful and gave me her contact information if I ever have any questions down the road. The road is not finished as they have many milestones to accomplish, but this one was huge. She also recommended the book, “Touchpoints” by Dr. T Berry Brazelton, MD. I just ordered it on Amazon so I’ll let everyone know how that turns out!