High Risk Infant Follow-up Clinic

Andrew and Hailey were born at University of Washington Hospital in Seattle, 2 months early. Since they were preemies, they were put into a program at UW Hospital that watches and monitors their development for their first 8 years. It is a phenomenal program, and we are so fortunate to have great doctors assessing the health of our twins, ensuring that their development is relatively on track.

So, this morning we had our big assessment for this year. It is a 3-hour long appt, and it includes assessment of overall physical health, cognitive testing, motor skills, hearing, and other mental development. Greg went through the tests with Andrew, and I went with Hailey. They literally go through about 100 different exercises, and they are watched and assessed by doctors. Some of the examples of tests are: stringing beads, stacking blocks, recognizing shapes/colors, buttoning a button, having them hold a pencil and draw, running and stopping, counting, matching items, determining who has 'more,' putting items in, behind, between, on top of other objects, detemining the shape of things that they cannot see but can only feel, etc. It was very interesting.

Well, the great news is that the kids are both right on track! They are completely normal for children who were born in August 2007 (even though they were born in June 07). They are assessed as though they are 31.5 months old, even though they are 33.75 months old.

Hailey scored about 2 months ahead on the Mental /Cognitive scale, and at about 98% on the Motor scale. Andrew was a little ahead on the Motor scale, and just slightly below on the Mental /Cognitive scale. So interesting!

Other stats: Hailey = 30.0 pounds in weight, which is 75% (slightly above avg.). She is 92.5cm in height, which is about 50%. Andrew = 31.4 pounds in weight (not sure of %), and 94.7cm in height, which is a tad below average.

We are so grateful that our preemies have turned out so healthy - they are perfect, and the doctors had nothing but good things to say about them. Whew! We are also so grateful for our fantastic health care we have through Microsoft. Many thanks to Bill Gates, who has decided that Microsoft will pay for any and all medical expenses for his employee's families. We are forever grateful that we haven't had to pay a penny for our children's health care. Praise the Lord.