So as we zoom towards Thanksgiving and the holidays in general, I am looking forward to time with family and friends as we gather around our table for delicious goodies. I want to make sure everyone has something that they like, especially Becky. As our picky eater (I prefer selective eater personally) I will be lucky if she eats the rolls. What a challenge! In all of her former preemie-ness, Becky remains steadfast in her interest in only certain foods. As I am told this follows closely with the Preemie Diet as it were: chicken nuggets, bread, pasta, macaroni and cheese and all foods that are basically yellow. We were super excited a couple of years ago when Becky ate corn on the cob. Apparently this is a starch but we prefer to label it a vegetable to give us hope! If there are other preemie Moms out there that have dealt with this, please give me hope! I certainly welcome it!

Happy Thanksgiving all! I am truly thankful for my life, my family and for my work in the preemie community – including connecting with the wonderful Nicole Conn, my business partner.

Well it appears that our former preemie Becky made a magical turnaround in the PE classes’ timed tests. Apparently all they had to do was “tell” her what they wanted and she did it. Huh!

While that would normally alleviate my concerns, I am fully aware that many other issues that we haven’t focused on as of late (due to the strong focus on fine motor) are coming full and center now. Whether it is falling trying to get into the carpool car, not alternating on stairs consistently and having no interest in physical kid stuff like scooter or bike riding, I am very aware that Becky’s balance and coordination may be a bit off right now and that the Sensory Processing Disorder is at the root of that and her selective eating. We have a consult with a private OT in December and will be exploring Lift Me Up, a local horse riding therapy program. As it is, I suspect Becky’s IEP will be dropped unless something else comes up that the school system believes to truly impact her education. While I understand that budget cuts and program rules dictate this it is hard not to feel alone in this process. How I wish for the days of Early Intervention and ChildFind. Sigh.

Becky is truly thriving in Kindergarten but appears to be having a problem with gross motor skills again. Apparently she failed all of the timed tests in Physical Education as I found out the other day in the Parent/Teacher Conference. I was surprised but not totally shocked. Becky has done this a number of times, but this time it might actually be more severe. We’ll see. The IEP (Individualized Education Plan) is up for re-evaluation and while I had pretty much assumed Becky would be dropped from the program, now I am not so sure. They are currently doing a Psychology, Cognitive and Social Work evaluation on her but I am now asking for a more concrete look at the motor skills again. I fully realize that Becky’s motor delay may not qualify her on the IEP front but that we may have to head toward private pediatric occupational therapy and also hippotherapy to help her with sensory and other issues. It still amazes me that her medical and developmental professionals told me early on that she would catch-up by age two. She is now 6 and we’ve been in every county program for special education. I really wish the NICU and pediatric professionals would say “should” catch up by age two and not assume that this will be the case.

Nicholas is so very used to wearing his little Fever Scan strip as you can see from the pic below:  But now the whole family has taken to using them as a very easy and painless way to take temperatures.  Our other son David had a Fever Scan made by Hallcrest on for 2 and a half days because he had a nasty fever.  Then Alexandra, our second oldest at 15, wore one when she got sick.  They really do save parents a lot of trouble trying to get kids to take their temperature…makes life easier for everyone!  Preemieworld’s Safety Thermal-Pak will be ready within a few short weeks so you can all have that peace of mind as well — especially important in this terrible swine flu season.

Nicholas with omni-present Temp Strip