Whitney Clinic Follow Up

The Whitney Clinic is something that we will do every year for the girls until they are three years old. The Whitney Clinic's purpose is to catch developmental delays in sick or premature babies. Last year when we went to the Whitney Clinic we got an all clear from the neurologist, nurse, and the developmental therapist. Since they were babies there wasn't a whole lot to the exams and they were mainly testing to see if the girls had cerebral palsy which is common in micropreemies like Presley and Kourtney and even more common when preemies have brain bleeding (IVH) which Presley had a grade 1 brain bleed and Kourtney had a grade 2 brain bleed. So it is of reasonable concern. Last year we got cleared of any cerebral palsy and it was such an amazing relief! P&K's little brain rewired itself and they are absolutely perfect! This year, we got even more confirmation of their amazing progress since we were able to test their development. The "test" is more like playing and Kourtney had an absolute blast playing with a room full of all new toys. Presley and Kourtney are considered 19 months adjusted, 23 actual. Kourtney tested in a 25 month level! Amazing! To think that she is actually ahead developmentally blows my mind. From such a rough start, this tiny little being went through so much and had to overcome everything as they basically spent the last of their second trimester and all of their third outside me in this little isolette and to see them now, testing above and ahead of what anyone expects of them truely is a blessing that I could never express how grateful I feel with words. No words. Amazing. That's all I have. Of course, I would be proud of her either way and of course I feel guilty when some of my other preemie friends don't have the same report or outlook. They did test a little low on their speech development, in the 13th percentile for their adjusted age, 19months) but if that is our biggest problem, I will definitely take it! Besides, it is common in twins to have twin talk, which the girls most certainly have, and for preemies to have speech as their only developmental hurdle is not even a worry of mine. Presley unfortunately couldn't be tested. Presley is an outgoing, wild child at home but when taken somewhere like a doctor's office setting, she completely clams up and won't do anything. Just stares. Poor baby already knows what is coming--either shots or a hospital admission. She knows what people in scrubs mean and what doctors wearing white lab coats bring in with them. The poking and prodding and hospital admissions have really scared her and I don't blame her one bit. It sucks. So since she is doing everything the same as Kourtney, we are assuming her scores would be similiar and right on point as Kourtney's. I also think we made the mistake of letting Travis take Presley for her testing and me taking Kourtney. It should have been the other way around as I always can seem to calm her down and open up to strangers better. Oh well, maybe next year will be different. The waiting room was honestly the hardest part for me. Seeing kids with limps, and with thick, heavy glasses on reminded me that it wasn't a dream--it really happened. I had twin girls at 25 weeks and although my little girls escaped that horrible experience unscathed and with minimal damage to their little bodies, that others aren't so lucky at all. It was hard to see and not want to just scoop my littles up and hug them just a little tighter for being perfect. I guess everyone needs those kind of reality checks in life though to remind you to truely be grateful for what blessings you have in your life.

My little mini me

 

Burning off some energy before we head back home