A Visit from the CDSA

Mommy and Natalie

One of the side effects of having a preemie baby (or two) is that your life soon becomes a plethora of acronyms. NICU, CPAP, PDA, ROP, SICC, mls, ST, OP, PT, CDSA...

Today we had a visit from our case manager with the Durham CDSA - Children's Developmental Service's Agency. The CDSA is really a wonderful agency. It provides services, like Occupational, Physical, and Speech therapy to children who qualify - mostly free of charge. The girls receive their speech/feeding therapy through the Agency. They were also previously evaluated for physical therapy, but it was determined they didn't need it. Since it had been quite a while since we'd seen Elizabeth, it was time for an update.

She was very pleased with their progress. She observed their feeding therapy and we discussed their IEP (Individual Educational Plan - I think those are the right letters!). We discussed their goals for the future - obviously, eating more is at the top of the list. Others include: the next set of skills - waving, clapping, standing, walking. Since we have a complete developmental evaluation at Lenox Baker (Duke clinic) in a few weeks, we are waiting to see if they have any recommendations for PT or OT. But, Elizabeth is going to come by once a month to play with them and show me new exercises to do with them. I'm very excited about that.

It's also nice to hear how great the girls are doing and how healthy they look. I still worry about their size and weight. Our one year pediatrician appointment is just around the corner and I'm living in fear of the "g" word. G-tube, of course. Even though they appear healthy and even have little fat rolls on their legs and cute little pokey bellies, they do not consume enough milk/calories for their size. I'm still worried about their little brains starving.

Speaking of size, we were at church Sunday and we took the girls to the nursery for the first time. I confess that I never actually left. It wasn't that I was worried about leaving them, I was just really intrigued watching them with other people and other babies. They've never been around other babies and very few other people, so it was interesting to me. Anyway, there was an adorable little baby in the nursery as well. He was 3 months old and twice the size of Natalie and Abby - at least in width! His parents said he was 17lbs! He was so chubby and adorable.

There was also a 7 month old in the nursery. She was so tall! and had the cutest smile. It was interesting though to compare the girls to her since Natalie and Abigail are about 8 months adjusted. They seem to be right on track.

Watching the girls' development is an intriguing and joyful past time. I get such a joy from just watching them play. If anyone wants to join the fun for some really cheap entertainment - just come on by! I'll supply the popcorn:-)



Mommy and Abby