March, 2013

The kids have been getting rid of one doctor after another, and weaning off meds. They no longer have to see the neuro surgeon for Robbie's brain bleed and Harper's head shape. Harper no longer has to see her dermatologist for her hemangiomas, and she is off this med 3x/day. They don't have to see the eye doctor for 4 more years. The only specialists in their lives now are the GI doc for reflux, and their developmental specialist who works with them to make sure they don't show any signs for developmental delays or disabilities. To date, they are not showing any delays or disabilities. I was guaranteed 100% that there is no "Wheelchair Cerebral Palsy" in either kid by the developmental specialist, but sometimes preemies do have some small characteristics of CP which can be detected by a specialist who feels some muscle group becoming more rigid, but does not typically affect their lives in any noticeable way. This is always a possibility in preemies and especially a preemie with a brain bleed, but nothing is diagnosed until they are at least 1 year of age. Harper will wear her helmet for another 4-8 weeks while her head continues to round out.

Both are sitting up, babbling and talking to each other all the time, stealing toys away from each other, and starting to crawl if they really want something like if Harper spots a TV remote or a cell phone laying around. Somehow, she is able to reprogram an entire tv schedule without anyone noticing until it's too late. Robbie can play catch, throws the ball over hand with left or right hand, and if it is thrown back to him, he will play this for hours.

This is the email I received today regarding the Ladies Home Journal Essay Contest:

Dear LHJ Reader,
Thank you so much for entering the LHJ Personal Essay Contest. We were completely blown away by our readers’ passion and enthusiasm when we received nearly 4,000 entries, and even more touched and surprised while reading your insightful, poignant essays. That’s right, we read every single one (we promise!), and again and again we were moved to tears, laughter, and every emotion in between, sincerely touched by each writer and her deeply affecting story of personal growth.

We’d love to publish all of them, but unfortunately we promised a prize to only one winner. She has been notified as being the winner of the contest, and we hope you’ll read her essay in our June 2013 issue.