Developmental Delays

Hunter is set up with a program called Early On. The awesome social workers at St. Joe's NICU had it arranged when we left the NICU. Hunter qualifies for Early on because of his extreme prematurity and low birth weight. Early On is two therapists that come to the house to work with Hunter. His therapists are the ones that told me that they see no signs of Cerebral Palsy in Hunter. Early on set up an appointment with a doctor that is known for her work with former micro preemies, babies with disabilities, and cerebral palsy babies and children. She knows her stuff to put it bluntly. The therapist thought it would be important for me to meet with her. I have been so nervous for this appointment. I've had butterflies for a week. My biggest fears are still the quality of life that Hunter will have due to his prematurity and all the medical problems he has associated with it.

After my sleepless night, staring at the ceiling, wondering if Hunter will be okay, I met with the doctor this morning. Now, I'm asking myself - why didn't I sleep? Hunter is doing great! She said that it is very rare to see a baby born at 24 weeks gestation to be doing as well as Hunter. Does everyone remember my emails when I was excited to see Hunter reached 2 pounds? Those days are in the past. Hunter is up to 15 pounds 5 ounces, she has no concerns whatsoever. She sees no signs of cerebral palsy at this point. She recommends that I continue to get Hunter checked, I continue to do what I’m doing for him, that he's still followed up in the developmental clinic at St. Joe's, and the therapist needs to come to my house. I was even complimented that I was a great mother and I’m doing everything right. That is such a relief to hear. Hunter has been so complicated and this is all new to me. It has been very scary. But, she told me that Hunter is where he’s at because of his parents. And, she can tell he is a very happy baby. I have another word for him. I say: SPOILED!

As far as Cerebral Palsy is concerned, she said that I won't know for sure until Hunter starts reaching more developmental milestones like crawling and walking. That will be the sure sign whether he will have issues from his prematurity and brain bleeds. I might have other appointment likes this one. But, this doctor said that she can usually tell if a child will have cerebral palsy at Hunter's age. If a baby exhibits signs of CP, she won't waste her time labeling the baby with this disability because it opens the baby up to a ton of stuff that the government will offer a baby with disabilities, but she said that she can't label Hunter with that. WHICH IS AWESOME!!! The doctor noticed that his muscles are a little stiff, but nothing out of the ordinary for preemies. I will keep up on that. This doctor was very kind, offered many tips, and was very informative.

The only negative thing out of this appointment was she said that Hunter had some developmental delays. This means that he might start crawling a little later than most kids. Or, his walking might be a little delayed. I knew that this was going to be the case back from my NICU days. The NICU warned me about babies born as early as Hunter will have developmental delays. But, they always catch up to other children before school age or around that time. His developmental delays are nothing that calls for anything different. It is nothing substantially noticeable. Hunter continues to develop. He is constantly doing new things. It is awesome to watch! This is why there not too concerned about his developmental delays because he continues to progress and is not reaching any stand stills.