Diana had her NICU followup today. I had no idea it was going to be this involved. She had an audiologist test her hearing, all checked out okay. Then she was observed by a speech pathologist, occupational therapist and a physical therapist while the neonetalogist observed from behind a mirrored window. Just for clarification, she is 7 months old but her adjusted age would be 5 1/2 months old. Here are their findings:
Her weight was 16.8 pounds, which is at the 90th percentile for a 5 month old. Her head circumference of 42.5 cm is at the 75th percentile. Her fine motor skills place her at 7 to 8 months with a developmental quotient of 115 and a percentile of 84. Diana's speech/language skills place her at 5 to 6 months. She is vocalizing, but not babbling. She does recognize her own name. Diana's gross motor skills place her at 5 to 6 months with a motor quotient of 102 and a percentile of 55. Diana remains tight at he ankles and resists stretching of her heel cords. Diana loves to be in extension, as she is in a jumperoo or exersaucer*. She tries to move on her head, although she can flex nicely from her abdomen.
*Because Diana has been placed in a jumperoo or exersaucer, she has developed her back and leg muscles too much and not enough of her core muscles. The team was worried about her ability to crawl and have suggested discontinuation of the jumperoo or exersaucer. This is the first time that I had heard these toys were bad for kids but apparently they are. Since I had this appointment a couple other people have told me this as well, namely occupational therapists. So for all of you other parents out there who use these and whose kids LOVE them, my suggestion would be to use them on a limited basis.
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