Only 2 Months Late

So we're almost nine months into this triplet thing, and I'm just now getting around to blogging about their 6-month Developmental Evaluation. Sorry. This was harder than I thought it'd be!

Call me naive, but I had no idea what to expect when I walked into The Center for Child Development. Honestly, I didn't even really know why it was that we were going...or what was supposed to be accomplished. I was excited, but a tad nervous. I love my babies and am SO blessed with their amazing good health & safe delivery. But somewhere, deep down inside me, I'm waiting for a foot to drop. I'm waiting for someone to say, "Hey, these kids aren't as perfect as you think they are." Not the greatest outlook on things, I know, but I'm just being honest.

So...I was a little nervous.

Since each baby was going to take approximately 30 minutes to evaluate, the Susan Bell RN, MSN, APN, CPNP ("Nurse Bell" for ease of conversation purposes) recommended splitting the appointments 1 baby & 2 babies. Nurse Bell said just to bring the "one" in the best mood to the first appointment, and we'd hope the other two would cooperate when it was their turn. So, Eli (my easiest, BY FAR) came with me (& Grammy Christgau) to the first appointment (way back on 2/27).

Nurse Bell brought us into her office and helped Eli "warm up" to her. In other words, all she had to do was say "good morning" to him, he smiled, and she was in! Nurse Bell put Eli in a wooden doll highchair. He was so cute sitting there like a big boy! She put all different toys in front of him (one at a time) to see how he'd treat them. For instance: a big, awkward silver cup - to see if he'd use both hands together to manage it; spread out blocks - to see if he'd gather them and play with the ones in his periferal vision; a teeny tiny pellet (about the size of a Sudafed pill) - to see if he'd start fine motor skills of raking at it or using two fingers to grab at it; etc. Nurse Bell also took measurements, asked a TON of questions, and observed him outside the highchair (in my lap, on the floor, etc.) It was SO interesting.

Each baby was (eventually) going to go through the same round of exercises. So, when Nurse Bell put Eli (my not quite 16 pounder, at the time) in the highchair, all I could think was, "How on earth is Cole going to fit in there? He'll look like a stuffed sausage!" Not to worry, he fit fine (even though he weighed in at 21 lbs. 7 oz. that day). When Nurse Bell put the tiny little pellet in front of him, he looked at it...raised his eyebrows...and slowly looked up at her as if to say, "Are you kidding? You put me in a highchair...that's generally where I am when I eat...and you put that TINY little thing in front of me? I'm hungry. That's not worth it!"

A few days ago (okay, it might be weeks, by now) the summary write ups came in the mail. Here are my favorite lines from each:

Eli - Behavioral Observations: Eli was alert & very cooperative & smiling throughout the evaluation. (For anyone who's EVER met Eli...this sums up his life...EVERYDAY!)

Cole - Physical Findings: Large male. (Is it me or does he sound like he's 60 years old and 400 pounds!?) This is right after they listed his "Growth Parameters" which included him measuring in the 97th percentile for weight when plotted on a premature growth chart at his corrected age.

Ava - Fine Motor: It's not so much what was written here, but she refers to the fact that Ava picked up the tiny little pellet. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to be able to do that. Nurse Bell got a shocked look on her face and began to panic that she wouldn't be able to get it back from Ava. Even though she was 29 weeks old (23 weeks corrected age), she "measured" at 32 weeks.

All in all, they were great reports. They'll go back for another evaluation in 6 months. But for now, they don't need any therapy of any kind. Praise the Lord.