Elise had her first of several followups with the special care clinic. The Toledo Hospital has a followup program that they offer most of their Nicu preemie patients. Since Elise had such low APGAR scores immediately following delivery, we were offered this followup care. So, this past Thursday, Elise met with a neonatologist physician, nutritionist, speech therapist, and physical therapist. The news was good-- she is developmentally at or past where she should be at 5.5 months. Developmentally Elise should be functioning at a four month level as she was born almost 6 weeks early. But Elise can do most of the things that other 5.5 monthers can do.
The only concern was from the physical therapist. Like a lot of preemies, Elise has a stiff neck on the right hand side. Apparently this is common with preemies because they are treated and cared for only on one side as they stay in their islet beds! If we help Elise to stretch her neck muscle over the next several months this is of no concern. However, if untreated, this tight muscle can develop a hard knot that can affect many things from rolling, walking, down to hearing issues. So several times a day Jeff and I have to carry Elise in a modified football looking hold. This allows her head to passively hang and stretch out the tight muscle. Personally, I think she looks super comfortable and enjoys her new view of the house.
Our next followup won't be until November-- unless Elise's neck doesn't improve beforehand- which is unlikely if we keep carrying her around like a football!
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