Developmental Testing

I enrolled Nick in a formula study through UTMB right before he left the NICU. The study was designed for preemies. The formula has extra calories. The hope is that, they will grow faster and catch up to other babies their age quicker. Since it is a double blind study, I don't know if he got the "special" formula or not. Participating in the study had a few perks. First, FREE formula until he is 18 months! I planned on breast feeding, and was successful at it (or at least pumping) for 3 months, but when he wouldn't take the breast, things started to go downhill. The opportunity came up for the study and I jumped on it. The biggest factor in my decision to have Nick participate in the study were the developmental meetings.

Every few months, I bring Nick in so they can measure his development. I meet with a doctor, a nurse and an occupational therapist. They give Nick a battery of tests, including, developmental, cognitive, verbal, and physical. The nice thing about this is that, it is a way to catch issues he may be having early on.

Today, we had our first meeting. Nick went in as his usual charming self. He smiled at all the ladies. He talked and talked to them.

The did some testing on his hearing, whether he could turn towards sounds etc. He did well with that. He did not do so well with the cognitive portion. He registered as a 3 month old in that part of a test. (The hope would be that he would register as a 4 month old, his corrected age.) Most of the physical tests he did well on. He even managed to score in the 5 month range on some of his tests. He does not do well on his tummy though. He hates tummy time, and has decided that, if we try to put him on his tummy, he can just roll over.

I was a little disappointed in his results. They felt he was average with other preemies in his age group. Hearing your kid is average is slightly disappointing. Even more disappointing because I thought he was doing really well. I do not in anyway expect him to be like a 7 month old. I did think he was on track with his corrected age of 4 months, but they felt he was a little behind.

On the plus side, they showed me some things to work with him on, and we started this evening with great success. They are also referring us to Early Childhood Intervention. Here, he will meet with a team of occupational, and speech therapists. They will start to monitor him more closely, appointments once a month instead of every few months. We will make sure he is on track. I will probably have more exercises to work on with him at home.

On the positive, or at least funny side. They did not have to wait long to view/hear the vocal part of the test. Nick talked their ears off... in his own little special way. They said he is a very social baby. He loves to be talked to. There were even a few points during the testing where he wasn't really doing what he was supposed to be doing because he was so focused on the ladies around him, and trying to get them to smile at him.

At one point, they doctor was filling out her paperwork, and she commented that he "vocalizes his attitude". I thought that was pretty funny... he definitely does that well!

Almost forgot... New weight... 11lbs, 15 ounces. We can just all it 12lbs Right? He is also 23 3/4 inches. Gained 1lb and 1 inch in a month. Everyone was very happy with that.