1. Twenty-four weekers don't "catch up".
2. Even if 24 weekers did "catch up", looking cute in a picture would not indicate one way or another whether that had occured.
3, Even if 24 weekers did "catch up", they would only catch up to the level of a child at their age with their same disabilities.
To set the record straight in case anyone is confused:
1. Noah is not a "normal" 3 year old.
2. He will never be "normal".
3. He's doing pretty darn good for a deaf-blind 24 week preemie who spent 7 months in the hospital, eats a pureed diet, spins in circles when overstimulated, and vomits regularly. We're ok with that.
5. Telling us that he's all caught up is not going to make us feel better about our life and it might make us really annoyed.
Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.
4 comments:
I am so sorry that you have to say this. I am probably one of those ignorant people that have thought, "wow this boy is all caught up to a 3 year old." I now know that will never happen. But you clearly DO have a wonderfully happy, well adjusted 3 year old. He just happens to have other things working against him. You and your family are so strong and I am so impressed with you and your husband but especially Noah.
~Cheryl
You don't know me but I "check in" with you every day.
I always love your honesty and your strength in your posts. But truly, there is no denying that that pic may just be the absolute cutest picture I have ever seen!
Oh Emily,
How I echo your sentiments exactly!! Noah looks incredibly happy in that pic and I could just squeeze his cheeks. I think my brain explodes at work each time I hear one of my co-workers actually use the dreaded phrase, "oh, they usually catch up by age 2 or so". I have done so much extra educating on our unit (level III NICU) on follow-up and life-long issues because as professionals, we cannot afford to misrepresent the facts. (sorry for the rant)
Noah is awesome and you are amazing parents. But you are right....Micros do not catch up. Eli is 3. Eli still has a MIC-key button, aspirates, has mild CP, is getting AFOs, has BPD and asthma, and goes to special school. Eli is also happy, hilarious, witty, and bright 3 year olds I know. To each their own. But don't tell me he is "caught up" either.
((((HUGS)))
LOL! Right on! We're almost 4, and I can't even figure out what "caught up" means...
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