new here

• By M-and-D-Mommy
• Posted June 26, 2009 at 1:59 am
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Hi,
I don't have much time right now, but I wanted to welcome you to the site. I am shocked no one has replied to your message. Thought I'd say HELLO and get this thing bumped back to the top:) Keep in mind that delays are not really all that abnormal for a preemie. My girls are much more delayed than the difference between delivery date to due date. My girls have also not "caught up" by the 2nd b-day (they will be 2 years old actual on July 3rd). People ALWAYS think they should be behind by about 3 months and the prematurity will be gone by the age of 2. It doesn't always work that way:) I am not telling you this to make you worry or to make you stop being being proactive...I guess, I am just letting you know that it is pretty "normal" for a preemie. Stay on top of your ECI program therapist to be sure your little one is getting all the services needed. Do what you can to help the therapists. Read to her and do activies like that daily (if able). I am sure the other parents on this site will have some great ideas to offer to help too. We are here if you need us. One thing I have found - is that other people don't seem to understand everything that raising a preemie entails. We have all experienced this (to different levels) and know what you are going through. This website was TRUELY a lifesaver for me:) Let us help, if we can:) Good luck!!

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• By ronica
• Posted June 26, 2009 at 6:09 pm
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Hi, I just wanted to say welcome. I hope some one will chime in and help you. I can offer no insight because my preemie is only about 4 months old.

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• By mominpa
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 12:29 pm
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Thanks for your comments

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• By mygirlsmom
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 1:35 pm
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Hi!
Welcome to the site. What particular delays are you seeing? You said your daughter is 8 months actual now? For us, the key was doing tons of tummy time to build up their core muscles. Is she rolling over yet? Sitting up yet? Our girls (30 weekers) started rolling over at about 7 months actual, and crawling began around 9 months. It's not so much about when they start to do these things, as all babies, preemies or not, have their own inborn timeline. The key is that you can track development - lifting head, being able to support head and trunk with arms, rolling over, eventually crawling/pulling to stand. Tummy time is a key activity to get there, so I hope you're doing lots of that! Our girls didn't like it, but we would put them on their mat, get down their with them and practice. Some moms do tummy time on their own bellies, too. If she's already up on all fours, you can start the rocking back and forth to encourage movement. M-an-Dmommy had tons of great advice. Let us know what we can do to help!

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• By mominpa
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 1:51 pm
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mygirlsmom,

My little one is 22 month and was a 32 weeker. She had a play date with a 8 month old and i was shocked because of what the 8 month old was doing compaired to what my 22month was doing. My little one has been sick with something until about 1-2 month ago so i know this has a big part in her delay. Also the 8 month old was full term and no medical issues. She currently is up on all 4s rocking. She is able to sit with a little bit of help but refuses to. She does alot of rolling around and loves to stand with support. We do do alot of playing as well and have PT among other services coming into our home. She also is still into the mouthing thing. Everything but food she puts into her mouth. She still doesnt play with toy the way she is suppose to she just mouths them. She would rather have someone sign and talk to her all day. So if ya have any help for me that would be great!

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• By mygirlsmom
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 2:08 pm
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I am so sorry I misread her age! How do your EI therapists and pediatricians view her development? It sounds like you are doing everything you can to work on her progress. As many moms on this site can attribute to, many children that begin with motor and verbal delays do not necessarily have learning delays later on. Some of our babies truly do need to catch up and learn things slower - especially, as you said, if your baby was sick up until a few months ago. It is so hard not to compare your child with others, but just keep in mind that the preemie journey is often very different. I wish you the best!

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• By mominpa
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 2:19 pm
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Thank you so much for your input. Its good to hear she still has a chance of catchin up. Around here they go by her real age and not corrected which makes her look even more behind. As far as EI and peds out look on her delay they do it yearly. Last October they had her between 5-6month old. She was 13 month at that time. Keira, my daughter, also had a small stroke inside me along with her other medical issue. She appears normal and healthy but with a delay and feeding issues. She does have a g-tube because she had silent aspirations. We are not getting her to eat orally in volume to be able to get off the tube. The GI doc did take away 1 of her feeds so we are making progress there. Thanks again and if ya have anything that would be helpful please let me know!

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• By mominpa
• Posted July 3, 2009 at 2:21 pm
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Oppps typo..."we are NOW (not "not") getting her to eat orally...

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